Tag: thebuyersguide

The 2023 Echo Show 8 is on sale for $100 right now

Posted on by faz_business


Last year Amazon upgraded its Echo Show 8 to make it look better, sound better and respond more quickly to Alexa commands. It made our best smart display list, and if you’ve been eyeing one, it’s on sale at a steep discount. The third-gen, 2023 Echo Show 8 is 33 percent off, bringing it down to just $100 ($50 off), only $10 off the all-time low. Amazon also has stellar deals on the Echo Dot and Echo Pop, offering them for $28 and $20 respectively.

Amazon

Amazon’s Echo Show 8 (3rd generation) has a new design and new features that make it more responsive to Alexa commands.

$100 at Amazon

The 2023 Echo Show 8 has a new design with edge-to-edge glass and softer curves that help it blend into your decor. Inside, it comes with new spatial audio with room calibration that allows for fuller sound than previous model. Meanwhile, video calling benefits from crisper audio and a 13-megapixel camera.

The new Adaptive Content feature changes what’s shown on the screen based on where you are in the room. If you’re standing far away, it’ll display easily digestible information in large font, like the weather or news headlines. As you get closer, it’ll switch to a more detailed view. It can also show personalized content for anyone enrolled in visual ID, surfacing your favorite playlists and other content.

It also boasts 40 percent faster response times for Alexa thanks to its upgraded processor. For privacy-conscious buyers, it has a physical camera shutter that’s controlled with a slider on the top of the device. There’s also a button to turn off the mic and camera. As mentioned, the Echo Show (3rd gen) is on sale for $100 in either charcoal or glacier white.

If you only need a small Echo speaker device for an extra room, Amazon is also selling the 5th-generation Dot for just $28, a steep 44 percent off the regular $50 price. That device has the best sound yet for a Dot device, while offering Alexa, smart home features and more. Amazon’s smallest device, the Echo Pop, also offers Alexa features and is on sale for just $20.

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Apple’s second-generation AirPods Pro are back down to their lowest price ever

Posted on by faz_business


The latest generation of Apple’s eternally popular AirPods Pro are back down to their all-time low price of $180 at Amazon. The deal takes $10 off the typical sale price of $190 and a solid $69 off the $249 MSRP. The last time we saw this price tag was during Amazon’s spring sale in March. Apple updated the charging case when the iPhone 15 came out last year to give both devices a more universal USB-C port (both can also charge wirelessly). If you have an iPhone, we think these are one of the better bits of audio gear you can stick in your ears.

Billy Steele for Engadget

This matches the all-time low price we saw for Amazon’s Big Spring Sale back in March.

$180 at Amazon

The second-generation AirPods Pro (with the Lightning case) came out towards the end of 2022 — the case refresh didn’t alter the buds themselves too much, other than adding some improved dust resistance. That makes these a little older at this point, but new AirPods are not one of the things we’re expecting to see announced at Apple’s upcoming “Let Loose” event in May (we’re mostly anticipating iPad news). A more likely time for a new AirPods reveal is during the company’s annual iPhone event in September. But if you don’t want to wait around to see if such a debut materializes, this deal is a decent time to get your first pair. Or replace the pair you left on the train.

We gave the AirPods Pro a score of 88 when they came out. Engadget’s Billy Steele praised the effective active noise cancellation (ANC) and called the ambient sound mode one of the best on the market. Plus they work fairly seamlessly with all your Apple devices, offering quick pairing, fast device switching and hands-free Siri support. The audio itself is richer with more depth and clarity than with previous Pro generations.

All of that lead us to name them the best wireless earbuds for iPhones in our buying guide. Of course, they don’t work with non-Apple devices. Our current top pick from our guide for Android phones are the Google Pixel Buds Pro, which are currently down to $140 at Amazon after a 30 percent discount.

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The Google Pixel Buds Pro are back on sale for $135

Posted on by faz_business


Google’s Pixel Buds Pro remain one of our favorite pairs of true wireless earbuds, offering robust active noise cancellation (ANC), punchy bass, reliable touch controls and a host of convenient features for Android users in particular. That said, given how competitive the wireless market is these days, they aren’t the greatest value at their standard list price of $200.

Today, though, Wellbots is running a sale that brings the pair down to a more palatable $135 with the checkout code ENGPIX65. This isn’t an all-time low — the buds fell as low as $117 in a similar deal last October and went for $119 for much of the holiday season — but it’s the best price we’ve tracked in 2024. For reference, the device dropped to $139 last month. This offer applies to each of the set’s colorways.

Photo by Billy Steele / Engadget

This is the lowest price we’ve seen this year for Google’s highest-end wireless earbuds.

Save $65 with code

$135 at Wellbots

Engadget’s audio expert Billy Steele gave the Pixel Buds Pro a review score of 87 back in 2022. By default, they have a sculpted, hyped-up sound with thumpy bass and elevated treble. It’s the kind of signature that won’t suit audio purists but should work well with modern pop music. As with many pairs, though, you can tweak the sound with a graphic EQ. The earbuds themselves have an IPX4 water-resistance rating, so they should be able to withstand typical workouts. Battery life is solid at roughly seven hours with ANC on or 11 hours with it off, while the case supports wireless charging. You can connect to two devices at once, and the pair supports in-ear detection, so it’ll automatically pause when you remove an earbud.

Maybe the biggest reason to consider the Pixel Buds Pro is how tightly they integrate with Android. It’s somewhat similar to how Apple’s AirPods work with iOS: You can call on the Google Assistant hands-free, quickly swap between paired devices, utilize adaptive and spatial audio modes, ring the earbuds remotely and access Google Translate, among other OS-specific features. Last fall, Google also added a “conversation detection” mode that automatically pauses your music and turns off ANC when you start talking to someone. All of this functionality is natively available on Google’s Pixel phones; with other Android devices, you can access most of the same tricks through a separate Pixel Buds app.

There are still issues to note. While we didn’t have any comfort issues in testing, the fit may be tricky for those with smaller ears. Call quality isn’t great, nor is the included transparency mode. For more discerning listeners, there’s no support for higher-quality Bluetooth codecs like aptX or LDAC. And again, this is a busy market: Other pairs like the Sony WF-1000XM5, Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 or Anker Soundcore Space A40 can provide better noise isolation, sound quality or overall value in a vacuum. It wouldn’t be a huge shock if we saw a new model at Google’s I/O conference next month, either. Still, the current model remains a well-rounded choice for Android fans today, and this discount brings them down to a more appropriate price.

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