Amazon’s Prime Early Access sale may represent an ideal opportunity to snag a high-performance portable. The company is selling Razer’s late 2021 Blade 14 gaming laptop for $2,000, or a whopping $800 off. That gets you an eight-core Ryzen 9 5900HX processor, a smooth 165Hz 1440p display, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and, crucially, GeForce RTX 3080 graphics. This is an easy-to-carry machine that can readily handle the latest games.
This Blade 14 configuration isn’t using one of the latest Ryzen chips, but it’s still a beast that competes well against other gaming laptops, including larger 15- and 16-inch systems. You’ll have plenty of ports, and the display is a treat whether or not you’re engrossed in the latest action title. Combine this with a 3.9-pound weight and Razer’s system might be ideal if you want a do-anything computer that can follow you most anywhere.
There are a few sacrifices. As you might guess, a Ryzen 9 and an RTX 3080 generate a lot of heat in this form factor. The keyboard is a bit cramped, and you’ll be stuck with the included RAM. You’ll want to look elsewhere if you either game directly on your lap or see yourself requiring 32GB of memory in the future. With this kind of discount, though, you’re getting a lot for the money.
If you’re ready to upgrade your living room setup before the cold, winter months arrive, Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale has a bunch of deals you should consider. It’s not often that most people upgrade their TVs, but this sales event has a number of …
If you have Apple devices on your shopping list for this holiday season, you may be able to save on some of them if you pick them up during Amazon’s October Prime Day. The online retailer has knocked down the prices of many Apple gadgets, including Air…
Stripping back the hyperbole, what does this mean in practice? After all, the whole point of cloud gaming is that you don’t need superpowered hardware to enjoy high-quality games — many existing Chromebooks can run cloud gaming services just fine. That said, the new laptops announced today are quite a bit different than your average Chromebook.
At a high level, Google says that it focused on a handful of hardware features to differentiate these laptops, including large displays with high refresh rates, keyboards with anti-ghosting tech (and RBG keyboards in some cases), WiFi 6/6E cards and generally high specs.
Three new laptops from ASUS, Acer and Lenovo
Acer
ASUS, Acer and Lenovo all announced new computers today as part of this push. First, the Acer Chromebook 516 GE features a 16-inch IPS screen with a 2,560 x 1,600 resolution and 120Hz refresh rate, along with an RBG anti-ghosting keyboard and 12th-gen Intel processors (up to a Core i7). It’s also equipped with a gigabit ethernet port, two USB-C ports, a USB-A port and HDMI. Finally, it has DTS audio via two upward-facing speakers and two more downward-facing speakers on the underside of the laptop. Acer will offer a number of configurations, but the first will be at Best Buy this month for $650 — it’ll include a Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage via its NVMe SSD.
ASUS’ offering is a little different — the Chromebook Vibe CX55 Flip has a 15.6-inch display that maxes out at 1080p, but it’s a touchscreen and it has an even higher 144Hz refresh rate. As the name suggests, the CX55 can flip around into “tablet” and “tent” modes, like many other ASUS Chromebooks. It doesn’t have RGB lighting on the keyboard, but it does have a rather distinctive orange trim, including around the crucial WASD keys; it also has 1.4mm of travel.
Specs-wise, the CX55 uses 11th-generation Intel processors; you can get it with an i3, i5 or i7. The i3 model is paired with Intel UHD graphics, while the i5 and i7 models use Intel’s Iris X graphics. It’ll have either 8GB or 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. Unsurprisingly, the CX55 also has two USB-C ports as well as USB-A and HDMI ports. The laptop will come out this month as well, and Google said in a briefing that pricing would start at $399 — we don’t know what specs that includes, but it’s probably safe to assume it’s the i3 model.
Lenovo
Lenovo’s IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook has a fair bit in common with Acer’s device. It has a 16-inch display with a 2,560 x 1,600 resolution and 120Hz refresh rate as well as an RGB, anti-ghosting keyboard with 1.5mm of travel. Processors include 12th-generation Intel Core i3 or Core i5 options, plus 8GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage (the base configuration starts with 128GB). The port selection is a bit more limited — it only offers two USB-C ports, one USB-A port and a MicroSD slot. Like the other two laptops, the IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook will launch this month; it starts at $599.
Software, gaming services and peripheral partnerships
Google
Naturally, software and game access is perhaps just as important as the hardware here. As such, Google has partnerships with NVIDIA, Amazon and Microsoft to ensure its devices work with GeForce Now, Luna and Xbox Game Pass out of the box. The NVIDIA partnership is probably the most significant, as the company is bringing GeForce Now’s high-performance RTX 3080 tier to Chromebooks for the first time — this means games will play in up to 1600p resolution at 120 fps with ray tracing enabled (assuming the game supports these specs, of course). NVIDIA also made a progressive web app (PWA) so you can launch directly into GeForce Now from your Chromebook’s dock or launcher.
Microsoft also made a PWA for Game Pass, but everything works the same as running Game Pass on a PC — assuming you have an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, you can stream any Game Pass title to your Chromebook. Similarly, an Amazon Luna subscription gives you access to a rotating selection of over 100 games.
Google is also optimizing ChromeOS to make directly launching games easier. When you hit the “everything” search button on your Chromebook, you can just type in the name of the game you want to play and launch it directly, as if it were natively installed. For starters, this will only work with the GeForce Now catalog (as well as apps on Google Play), but Google says it wants to add this search feature for other services as well.
To make sure that anyone checking out these Chromebooks can start playing immediately, Lenovo, Acer and ASUS are all including a three-month subscription to GeForce Now RTX 3080 tier as well as three months of Amazon Luna+. The ASUS option also includes a free SteelSeries Rival 3 gaming mouse, as well.
Speaking of mice, Google also partnered with companies like SteelSeries, Corsair and HyperX (as well as Lenovo and Acer) to make sure their gaming-focused peripherals work with Chromebooks. This includes making sure these peripherals can have their settings fine-tuned in ChromeOS, in some cases via PWAs.
Do gaming Chromebooks have a shot?
It’s fair to wonder how much traction Google’s latest initiative will get. Chromebooks have found a lot of success in education and (to a lesser extent) enterprise settings, but the idea of a full-fledged push to get people gaming on a Chromebook is a pretty major shift. That said, I’m impressed by the pricing on these models — there aren’t a lot of Chromebooks with large, high-resolution screens with high refresh rates. Generally speaking, it sounds like you get a lot of bang for your buck with these models compared to some other premium ChromeOS devices. Naturally, these laptops are a big bigger and heavier than the standard 13-inch Chromebook, but that’s a tradeoff that might work for some people.
Google is also putting a big advertising and awareness push being this strategy, and it’s not tied to a single product like Stadia. Given that Google is being service-agnostic, these laptops should provide a very good cloud gaming experience for the foreseeable future, even if Google doesn’t stick with its cloud gaming push long term. And with other initiatives like Steam for ChromeOS moving forward (Google said it should enter beta soon), it’s fair to say the company seems focused on removing the longstanding notion that you can’t play games on a Chromebook.
With the holiday season right around the corner, you probably have someone on your gift list who could use a new pair of headphones or earbuds. You can pick up their gifts for less right now thanks to Amazon Prime Day Early Access, which has discounted…
When Mark Zuckerberg announced the company he founded would change its name from Facebook to Meta, he added it would be “metaverse-first, not Facebook-first.” He’s shown off dystopian VR offices, looked at space in VR with Neil deGrasse Tyson and talked up the metaverse on Joe Rogan’s podcast. (During that appearance, Zuckerberg said he’s started MMA, doing some critical damage to the sport on the way.)
This year’s Connect kicks off at 10 AM PT today, with a keynote from Zuckerberg, and Engadget’s Karissa Bell has outlined a lot of the questions we still need answering. Will the metaverse ever look cool? How will it handle harassment and misinformation? And can Zuckerberg explain what the metaverse even is, one more time, for those of us at the back of the class?
If you still don’t own an Echo speaker or a Kindle yet…
Amazon Prime Day is, unsurprisingly, the best time to pick up a gadget made by Amazon. We saw record-low prices during July’s Prime Day and a lot of those prices have returned this fall. Discounts cover not only the usual Kindle tablets and Fire TV gadgets but also Eero routers and Blink security cameras.
Including the MagSafe accessories worth your money.
So you’ve upgraded to an iPhone 14, now what? Now you need to upgrade your phone charger from that dinky charging brick you got with your iPhone 6. Seriously, it may well change your smartphone life. We’ve got several other recommendations for charging cables, cases and more.
Gaming laptops have become some of the most intriguing PCs around. They’ve gotten thinner and lighter, naturally — but they’ve also become vastly more powerful and efficient, making them suitable for both work and play. They’ve adopted some bold innovations, like rotating hinges and near desktop-like customizability. Gaming laptops are where PC makers can get adventurous. If you’re a professional in the market for a beefy new computer, and you like to play a few rounds of Apex Legends on occasion, it may make more sense to go for a gaming notebook instead of a MacBook Pro-like workstation. We pick out the best options from the likes of ASUS ROG, Razer, Dell and more. It doesn’t have to cost several thousand dollars either. Our budget pick is $800.
A court in the Netherlands has ruled that a US company violated a Dutch worker’s human rights by forcing him to keep his webcam on during work hours. Hired by a telemarketing firm Chetu, the employee was terminated for refusing to be monitored “for nine hours per day” by a program that streamed his webcam and shared his screens.
“Tracking via camera for eight hours per day is disproportionate and not permitted in the Netherlands,” the court verdict states, adding it also violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The court found Chetu dismissed the employee unfairly and must pay a $50,000 fine, along with the worker’s back wages, court costs and unused vacation days.
Last week, LG announced it would allow third-party TV manufacturers to use its webOS platform, and now its main rival is following suit. Samsung has revealed it will license its Tizen OS TV platform for use in non-Samsung TV models for the first time, partnering with Akai, RCA and a bunch of other brands you… probably haven’t heard of. Those manufacturers will get access to features like Samsung TV Plus (a free streaming platform), personalized recommendations and even Samsung’s Bixby.
Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale remains in full swing. If you didn’t get the chance to shop yesterday, fear not — there are still a bunch of great tech deals available for the final day of the sale. Now’s the time to stock up on household essentials and things you may need for yourself, and it’s also a good opportunity to pick up some holiday gifts, if you’ve already got your list ready to go. There are no shortage of tech deals this time around, too: everything from headphones to laptops to gaming devices and more have been discounted. Here are the best tech deals from October Prime Day that you can still get today.
Sony WH-1000XM5
Billy Steele/Engadget
Sony’s WH-1000XM5 have dropped to $348. We gave the headphones a score of 95 for their great sound, supreme comfort and 30-hour battery life.
Apple’s second-generation AirPods Pro are down to $223 for this October Prime Day. That’s the best price we’ve seen since launch, and we gave them a score of 88 for their improved sound, excellent Transparency Mode and solid ANC.
The latest Apple TV 4K has dropped to $109. While on the expensive side, it’s a set-top box that Apple lovers will appreciate. We gave it a score of 90 for its speedy performance, Dolby Vision and Atmos support and much improved Siri remote.
Amazon knocked $101 off of Google’s Pixel 6a for this event, bringing it down to $348. We gave the budget-friendly smartphone a score of 89 for its attractive design, great cameras and long battery life.
The 10.2-inch iPad is down to $269. We gave it a score of 86 for its improved performance, excellent battery life, better front-facing camera and increased base storage.
The previous-generation MacBook Air with the M1 chipset is on sale for a new low of $799. Although the latest model is outfitted with the M2 chip, this version remains a solid, speedy laptop. We gave it a score of 94 for its impressive performance, excellent keyboard and trackpad and fanless design.
Samsung’s Pro Plus microSD card in 128GB is nearly half off and down to only $18 for Prime Day. It also comes with an adapter, so you can use it with more types of devices. You’ll get read/write speeds of up to 160MB/s and 120MB/s, respectively, and a card that’s temperature, magnet- and drop-resistant.
Ooni’s Fyra 12 pizza oven is 22 percent off and down to just over $279 for this Prime Day. It’s an outdoor personal pizza maker that runs on wood pellets and can reach up to 950 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s also portable with its 22-pound design that has foldable legs and a detachable chimney, so you could take it to a friend’s backyard party if you wish.
The Roomba 694 is on sale for $199 right now, which is close to its record-low price. It earned a spot in our best budget robot vacuum guide for its strong cleaning power, slick design and easy-to-use mobile app. This deal is part of a larger iRobot sale for Prime Day that’s worth checking out if you want more robo-vac options at solid prices.
This Vitamix blender is down to $400 for Prime Day, which is more than $200 off its usual rate. It has five pre-programmed settings for easy use, an included 64-ounce container, plus variable speed and pulse support.
The Razer Blade 14 gaming laptop with an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX processor, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics, 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage is $900 off and down to $1,900. The Blade is one of our favorite gaming laptops thanks to its sleek design and strong performance, and this model has a 14-inch QHD display with a 165Hz refresh rate.
Microsoft’s 13-inch Surface Laptop 4 is on sale for $899 right now, and you’re getting an AMD Ryzen 5 processor, 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for that price. That’s a fairly powerful configuration, so the fact that you can get it for less than $1,000 makes it a great deal. We gave the 15-inch model a score of 87 for its speedy performance, great keyboard and excellent battery life.
The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is $410 off and down to $1,390. We gave the flagship foldable a score of 86 for its brighter main screen, sleeker hinge, updated cameras and much better battery life.
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 4 is $200 off and down to $800. We gave it a score of 86 for its improved battery life, added hands-free applications and attractive design.
Google’s Pixel Buds Pro are down to a new record low of $152 right now. We consider them to be the company’s best earbuds yet, giving them a score of 87 for their deep, punchy bass, solid ANC and reliable touch controls.
Our current favorite budget headphones, Audio Technica’s ATH-M20xBT, are on sale for only $59 right now. While they don’t have ANC, they’re quite comfortable, plus they have multi-device support and a 60-hour battery life.
Lenovo’s 2-in-1 Chromebook is $150 off and down to $280, which is a record-low price. This model earned a spot on our list of favorite Chromebooks thanks to its bright touchscreen, backlit keyboard and its combination of USB-C and USB-A ports. The model on sale includes an 11th-gen Core i3 processor, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.
Shark’s AI Robot Vacuum with clean base is on sale for $350, which is the cheapest we’ve seen it. A similar model earned a spot in our best robot vacuum guide, and we like its solid suction power, good obstacle avoidance and bagless base into which the robo-vac dumps debris after every job.
The Echo Show 5 is on sale for $35, or a whopping 59 percent off its usual price. If you want a smart alarm clock, this is the smart display to get. We like its sharp 5-inch display, ambient light sensor, smart home controls and tap-to-snooze feature.
The higher-end Fire TV Stick 4K Max has dropped to $35, which is $20 less than usual and a record low. On top of all of the features in the standard Fire TV Stick 4K, the Max version also supports WiFi 6 and live picture-in-picture viewing.
The Kindle Paperwhite is on sale for $100, which is close to its record-low price. The updated model has 17 front lights, a sleeker design, an adjustable warm light, weeks of battery life and Audible support.
The Beats Fit Pro are 20 percent off and down to $160 for this sale. We gave them a score of 87 for their comfortable, water-resistant design, good sound quality and ANC and long battery life.
Bose’s QuietComfort 45 headphones have dropped to $229, or $100 off their normal price. We gave them a score of 86 for their clear, balanced audio, improved ANC and long battery life.
Jabra’s excellent Elite 3 earbuds have dropped to $50, or $30 off their normal rate. These already affordable buds earned a score of 88 from us for their impressive sound quality, good battery life, reliable touch controls and comfortable fit.
The Google Nest Thermostat is back on sale for $100 right now, which is one of the lowest prices we’ve seen. It’s an Energy Star-certified device that intelligently monitors the temperature in your home and suggests ways you can save money on energy usage. You can also control it from your phone, changing your home’s environment from anywhere at any time.
LG’s 48-inch A1 OLED smart TV is cheaper than ever at $645 for this sale. This is one of the company’s more affordable OLED sets and it runs on LG’s a7 Gen 4 AI Processor 4K and supports Dolby Vision, HDR10, Game Optimizer and voice controls with Alexa and the Google Assistant.
Samsung’s 32-inch Smart Monitor M8 is cheaper than ever at $500 right now. It plays double duty as a monitor into which you can plug in your laptop and a smart TV with a built-in interface that gives you access to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and other streaming services. It also has a built-in smart home hub for connecting things like smart lights, switches and more.
The original Peloton Bike is more than $200 off and down to $1,225 for Prime Day. It’s a compact exercise bike with a built-in screen that lets you take a variety of cycling, strength, yoga and other classes with Peloton’s digital membership. Also, one of the company’s latest gadgets, the Peloton Guide, is on sale for $250, too.
You can get two Blink Mini wired security cameras for only $30 for this October Prime Day. This camera needs to be plugged in, but we like its compact design, 1080p recording, motion alerts and two-way audio.
A four pack of Kasa’s mini smart plugs is on sale for only $24. These tiny accessories let you turn almost any appliance into a smart one, allowing you to turn them on and off remotely set usage schedules and more.
Elgato’s Stream Deck is down to $90 for October Prime Day, or $50 off its normal price. This is a handy accessory to have for game streamer because you can customize its 15 LCD keys to do things like open apps, switch scenes, adjust audio and more.
August WiFi smart lock
August’s 4th-gen WiFi smart lock is down to $184 for this sale. We gave it a score of 80 when it first came out thanks to its minimalist design, easy installation and mandatory two-factor authentication setup.
Anker is selling quite a robust selection of products at a discount for Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale, and some of the deals even represent new all-time lows for the items. If you need to make sure your devices don’t ever run out of battery, the Anker 737 Power Bank is currently on sale for $100, or $50 less than its retail price. The model has a 24,000mAh battery capacity and has two USB-C, as well as one USB-A, charging ports. Anker says it carries enough juice to charge an iPhone 13 for almost five times, though that number would probably be lower if you have an iPhone 14.
Need a portable wireless battery for your iPhone instead? The black variant of the Anker 633 Magnetic Battery (MagGo) is currently on sale for $55. That’s $25 off and the lowest we’ve seen for the wireless charger on the website. The device has a small kickstand attachment, and since it sticks to your iPhone while charging, it also doubles as a phone stand. This one’s a bit smaller than the 737 Power Bank and has a 10,000mAh battery capacity with a 20W USB-C power delivery port for fast charging times. The white and blue versions are also on sale, but they cost a bit more at $64.
If you’re traveling or just simply need a power strip with an abundance of ports and outlets, you can get Anker’s 727 Charging Station for $66.50, or 30 percent off its usual price. That’s the lowest we’ve seen for the power strip, which has a maximum output of 100W. The 727 Charging Station has two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports and two AC outlets, and it comes with a five-foot detachable cord.
In case you need cords to be able to connect your iPhones and iPads to a USB-C charger, you can also grab a bunch from the sale. A 3-pack bundle of Anker’s Powerline II USB-C-to-Lightning Cable will set you back $22, or $17 lower than usual. The cables come in different lengths — three feet, six feet and 10 feet — and had been tested to withstand up to 12,000 bends.
There are a lot more Anker items on sale at the moment, but they are exclusive to Prime members. If you’re a new user or haven’t been a Prime subscriber over the past 12 months, though, you can sign up for a 30-day free trial.
