FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried says he ‘screwed up’ but didn’t commit fraud
Disgraced CEO said he ‘didn’t knowingly comingle funds’ with FTX’s sister company Alameda Research
“Look, I screwed up,” fallen crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried told a conference in New York on Wednesday but he maintained he “didn’t ever try to commit fraud” and was “shocked” by the collapse of his businesses.
Bankman-Fried, with glassy eyes and visibly shaking at times, appeared via video conference from a nondescript room in the Bahamas. He told the New York Times’s DealBook Summit he was “deeply sorry about what happened” but consistently argued he did not have a full picture of what was going on within the various branches of FTX, his now bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, and its offshoots.
Elon Musk Says ‘Misunderstanding’ With Apple Is Resolved Mr. Musk, who had said the company was trying to sabotage Twitter, met with Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook, on Wednesday.
Twitter will recommend more tweets to everyone, even if you didn’t ask for them
Twitter is bringing recommended tweets to everyone. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Twitter is bringing recommended tweets from people you don’t follow to all users, the company announced on Wednesday. Twitter is doing this because it wants to “ensure everyone on Twitter sees the best content on the platform,” so it’s expanding them even to people who “may not have seen them in the past.”
Recommended tweets appear in the “home” — or non-chronological — feed, which organizes tweets algorithmically. For me, the vast majority of those tweets are from people I follow, but every once and awhile I’ll see a tweet from somebody I don’t. I was under the impression that everyone saw recommended tweets, but based on Twitter’s update on Wednesday, people who don’t already see them now will.
We want to ensure everyone on Twitter sees the best content on the platform, so we’re expanding recommendations to all users, including those who may not have seen them in the past.
You can learn more about them, and how to best control your experience: https://t.co/ekYWf57JSc
The change could help Twitter boost its user growth, which Elon Musk has already claimed has hit all-time highs since he’s taken over. Improved user statistics could be an important way to win back advertisers, though some of the biggest have recently distanced themselves from the social network.
With the change to recommendations, Twitter joins Meta in pushing more algorithmic content, and it marks Musk’s newest stamp on the platform. On his first day of owning the social network, Musk requested that Twitter.comshow the Explore page for logged out users, and he’s working on relaunching the new Twitter Blue subscription that lets users pay for a blue verified check mark.
If you’d prefer not to see recommended tweets in your feed (I’m in that camp), you can switch to the “latest” timeline by clicking the sparkle icon at the top of the feed. But fair warning that you might still see recommendations in your notifications tab from time to time; they tend to show up there for me after I haven’t logged into Twitter for a couple days.
LastPass' latest data breach exposed some customer information
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
LastPass has experienced another data breach, but this time, it exposed user data. According to a post from LastPass CEO Karim Toubba, hackers accessed a third-party cloud storage service used by the password manager and were able to “gain access to certain elements” of “customers’ information.”
It’s still not clear what information hackers got access to or how many customers were affected, but Toubba says that users’ passwords weren’t compromised.
We recently detected unusual activity within a third-party cloud storage service, which is currently shared by both LastPass and its affiliate GoTo. Customer passwords remain safely encrypted due to LastPass’s Zero Knowledge architecture. More info: https://t.co/xk2vKa7icqpic.twitter.com/ynuGVwiZcK
“Our customers’ passwords remain safely encrypted due to LastPass’s Zero Knowledge architecture,” Toubba writes, citing the company’s policy that means only the user knows their master password, with encryption that occurs only at the device level and not server-side.
“We are working diligently to understand the scope of the incident and identify what specific information has been accessed,” Toubba says, adding that the service remains “fully functional” despite the breach. The company has launched an investigation into what went wrong and said it has also notified law enforcement.
New data set improves modeling of supersonic flows around a cantilever Extreme pressures come with high-speed flight. The resulting aerodynamic forces can bring significant risk to deforming the components of the vehicle in motion—even to the point of aeroelastic deformation—when solids behave more like liquids. This can jeopardize stability or controllability of the entire vehicle.
1 billion people will be connected to 5G by the end of the year
The 5G future is imminent. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
5G is about to hit a major milestone. Telecom equipment maker Ericsson says in its latest mobility report that 1 billion wireless subscribers around the globe will be connected to 5G by the end of the year. That’s still far behind 4G, which grew to around 5 billion subscribers in 2022. But Ericsson predicts that 4G growth will peak at the end of the year, with 5G racing in to replace the reigning connectivity standard. While faster speeds are on the way for many of us, we’ll probably have to pay more for it, too.
In North America, where carriers have been declaring the supremacy of 5G for the past three years, around 35 percent of mobile subscribers will be on 5G at the end of 2022. The good news: mid-band 5G, aka the good stuff, now reaches 80 percent of the US population. That’s great! Mid-band provides a sweet spot of wide coverage and truly faster than LTE speeds. But Ericsson sees another trend emerging globally as 5G takes over: carriers charging a premium for faster speeds, and that’s probably not changing anytime soon.
Ericsson’s report on higher prices for 5G points largely to Western Europe, where it’s common to see wireless plans divided up into different speed tiers. But it’s not an isolated practice; Ericsson says that, of the carriers offering 5G globally, “there are 25 percent who charge a premium for 5G, over their 4G service, with an average price premium of around 40 percent.”
In the US, it’s a complicated story. All three major wireless carriers include 5G connectivity on all of their unlimited data plans and can thus claim to not charge a premium for 5G. But that’s not quite true across the board: on Verizon, you need a “premium” unlimited plan to access mid-band 5G, while its cheaper unlimited plans are limited to slower — much more LTE-like — “Nationwide 5G.”
T-Mobile includes mid-band 5G on all of its unlimited plans, but people on its most basic $60 per month Essentials plan are always subject to data deprioritization — that is, slower speeds when the network is congested. Paying much more for the $85 per month Magenta Max plan gets you unlimited “premium” data that won’t be slowed down based on network traffic and your usage.
So, there’s no premium for 5G, but there’s still kind of a premium for 5G. Ericsson sees the trend of using speed to entice customers to upgrade continuing. Of the speed tier approach, the company’s report says, “This pricing strategy is gaining momentum, and now 24 percent of those with a 5G offering use it to segment the market and motivate consumers to move up to higher-priced tiers.” Expect to see more 5G bars in more places in 2023, but get ready to pay for it, too.
Take a trip down memory lane with six superb retro games consoles you can get your hands on without breaking the bank
Since the hugely successful launch of the Nintendo NES Classic Edition back in 2016, the retro games console has become a lucrative little side hustle for the big console manufacturers and smaller retro hardware companies; so much so that machines such as the SNES Classic Mini and Mega Drive Mini – which are both excellent – are now hard to get hold of without paying vastly inflated prices. Here, though, are six superb alternatives you can buy now without too much of a hunt or the need to take out a second mortgage.
Is Spreading Medical Misinformation a Doctor’s Free Speech Right? Two lawsuits in California have pre-emptively challenged a new law that would punish doctors for misleading patients about Covid-19.
OnePlus says select 2023 phones will get four major Android updates
The recently released OnePlus 10T, which will only get three major OS upgrades. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge
OnePlus is committing to a longer support period for some upcoming phones, with an announcement that “select devices launched in 2023 and beyond” will receive four major Android updates and five years of security updates. But a company spokesperson declined to give an on-the-record answer about which of its phones will benefit from this extended support period, meaning it’s unclear whether it’ll just apply to OnePlus’ flagship phones or also the midrange Nord lineup.
The length of support OnePlus has given to its phones has historically varied between devices but, in general, has started to lag behind what’s offered by other Android manufacturers. Both the OnePlus 10T and OnePlus 10 Pro are due to get three major OS version upgrades and four years of security updates, while the midrange OnePlus Nord 2T will get just two major Android updates and three years of security patches. Worst of all, the company has committed to just one OS upgrade for the affordable Nord N300 and two years of security updates.
In comparison, Samsung announced in February that its latest flagship phones would get four generations of Android OS upgrades, and its midrange Galaxy A53 launched with similarly lengthy support promises. Meanwhile, Google promises five years of security updates and three major Android OS updates for its flagship Pixel phones, while its midrange Pixel 6A also gets five years of security updates.
Regardless of what its competitors are offering, offering four years of OS upgrades and five years of security patches is a good thing for OnePlus buyers, especially given people are using their phones for longer and longer before replacing them. Keeping phones usable for longer should mean fewer devices need to be recycled or head to landfills prematurely, which is a win for the environment no matter how you slice it.
Elon Musk is delaying Twitter’s paid verification to avoid Apple’s 30 percent cut
You might have to buy Blue somewhere else. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Twitter’s revamped Blue subscription might not be available as an in-app purchase on iOS when it eventually relaunches so that it can dodge Apple’s 30 percent cut of App Store purchases, according to Platformer. When the new Blue was briefly available earlier this month, you could only purchase it through Twitter’s iOS app. But while Elon Musk is publicly tweeting his displeasure with Apple, it appears he wants to avoid having to pay Apple’s fees.
Musk had said that the new Blue, which allows people to purchase a blue verification check mark, was set to relaunch on Tuesday after signups were paused following a wave of impersonators. But that launch has been delayed, Platformer says, and The Verge has also heard of the delay from a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Twitter employees have been told that there will be other changes to Blue, including a one-cent price increase from $7.99 to $8 and requiring phone number verification, Platformer reports.
Over the course of this month, Musk has ramped up his tweets targeting Apple. On November 18th, he criticized the App Store’s cut by calling it a “hidden 30% tax on the Internet.” And on Monday, he claimed that Apple, reportedly one of Twitter’s biggest advertisers, has “mostly” stopped advertising on the social network and that it has “threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why.”
Apple hasn’t publicly acknowledged Musk’s tweets, but outsiders have speculated that actions like his mass layoffs that slashed teams responsible for content moderation, or as the decisions to bring back suspended accounts and former President Donald Trump could put Twitter at odds with App Store policies.
Good luck getting a new iPhone 14 Pro before the holidays
iPhone 14 Pros are a scarce sight these days. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge
Apple is on track to ship 20 percent fewer iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max units than expected this quarter due to recent covid lockdown restrictions and labor protests at an iPhone production plant owned by Foxconn. The latest report from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo estimates a shortfall of 15 to 20 million units, far worse than the 6 million units predicted earlier this week. The 14 Pro and Pro Max were already hard to find, and Kuo predicts that mass shipments won’t resume until late December at the earliest.
Workers at the massive Foxconn facility have reportedly been forced to live on-site in an attempt to contain a covid outbreak. Protests ensued, with workers citing withheld pay and poor conditions, spurring Foxconn to offer some newly recruited employees $1,400 to leave the facility.
When the strict lockdown measures went into effect earlier this month, Apple warned that customers should expect long waits for the 14 Pro models. A quick search of Apple stores around Seattle and Portland turned up zero 14 Pro and Pro Max models in stock in any storage or color configuration. Apple’s website currently estimates a December 29th delivery date for a 14 Pro ordered today.
The total iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max shipments in 4Q22 will be 15–20 million units less than expected. Significant downside risks to Apple & iPhone supply chain due to Zhengzhou iPhone plant labor protestshttps://t.co/tUkKE9TGVG
Kuo says this shortfall has “major downside risks” for Apple, predicting 20–30 percent lower iPhone revenue for the fourth quarter of 2022. It’s also likely to push Apple to look for other suppliers for its Pro models. Kuo says the company has already moved 10 percent of production to other Chinese manufacturers and points out that Foxconn will likely have a hard time remaining the sole assembler for the 15 Pro series.
You may be out of luck if you were planning on gifting someone a $1,000 phone for Christmas. But you know what, maybe that’s for the better. In fact, Kuo thinks that prospective 14 Pro buyers won’t just wait until the device is available in January and buy one then. Instead, most of the demand will disappear.
That makes sense. With a recession looming, more people may be willing to make do with an older phone for a little while longer rather than upgrade. And the standard iPhone 14 isn’t particularly compelling. Compared to the Pro, it’s a very modest year-over-year upgrade. The best option might just be the one that’s free and available today: upgrading to the more exciting iOS 16 if you haven’t yet, rather than getting a new device.
Amazon built the most realistic version of SimCity we’ve ever seen
Image: AWS and uCrowds
Amazon has a new AWS service, AWS SimSpace Weaver, that lets users build massive simulations that look like real-world SimCity maps. The idea of this new service is that users can take advantage of Amazon’s massive AWS resources to run simulations that scale across multiple servers without running into computing or memory limitations, which could be useful for things like modeling the foot traffic surrounding a new sports stadium.
You can see AWS SimSpace Weaver in action in this impressive video demo from uCrowds, which simulates 1 million people walking around Las Vegas. By layering in geospatial data with the hordes of simulated people, it can give you an idea of how people might move around the computerized streets of the city if they were all let loose at once. With 1 million people, there are “simply not enough walkways” to fit them, according to the video, and even reducing that number to 50,000 shows where people start to bunch together.
“Previously, if a customer wanted to scale up their spatial simulation, they had to balance the accuracy of the simulation with the capacity of their hardware, which limited the usefulness of what they could learn,” Bill Vass, vice president of technology at AWS, said in a press release. “AWS SimSpace Weaver removes the burden of managing simulation infrastructure, simplifying how customers run large-scale simulations and freeing them to focus on creating differentiated content and expanding access to simulation development.”
AWS SimSpace Weaver also integrates with the popular development engines Unreal Engine 5 (which had its own city showpiece in The Matrix Awakens) and Unity, meaning it could be that much more enticing for developers to actually use.
‘Rude drivers will swerve in my lane’: are Tesla owners paying the price for Musk hate?
US owners say they’ve been on the receiving end of road rage, but it may be more about EVs than the CEO himself
Tesla lost at least one customer this weekend, after Alyssa Milano tweeted that she had returned her model for a Volkswagen electric vehicle, prompting jokes from Elon Musk and conservative commentators about the German manufacturer’s Nazi origin story. Milano said she had ditched Tesla due to Musk’s ownership of Twitter.
While Tesla owners do not seem to be following the actor’s move en masse, some note that they have been on the receiving end of road rage directed toward their vehicle choice.
You probably know that Lego isn’t just for kids anymore — it’s a pricey hobby for adults, too! And it didn’t help when The Lego Group raised its prices this year by up to 25 percent. But today is Cyber Monday, and some of today’s deals more than make up for those price hikes.
But do you see the incredibly detailed Lego Ideas Tree House above, the one whose price Lego hiked from $200 to $250? It’s on sale for $175 today at Amazon and Walmart — and that’s the kind of deal I aspire to bring you here.
The Lego Star Wars Razor Crest, from The Mandalorian, is $97.99 on Amazon (save $42). It may not be the Ultimate Collectors version, but I have this one and it’s absolutely packed with great play features; carbonite-frozen bounties, loading ramps, hidden weapon and sleeping compartments, and an escape pod.
The Lego Volkswagen T2 Camper is $140.99 at Target (save $39) on one of the most iconic and fully featured cars Lego has built outside of its Technic lineup. Just look at that camper interior with its transforming bed and fridge and table and pop-up shell and chairs! I’m really tempted, particularly given it’s becoming harder to find.
If the shoe fits... then you must be a fan of Adidas. The Lego Adidas Originals Superstar shoe, made entirely out of Lego with a matching shoebox, is $63.99 at Walmart.
Lego’s transforming Lego Optimus Prime is $144.99 at Amazon or Walmart, or $152.99 at Lego.com, which is notably below even its original $170 MSRP. It’s an amazing build, even if it’s a little bit fragile during the transformation. You can watch me build it here:
Lego’s Bonsai Tree is $39.99 at Amazon or Walmart ($10 off) a lovely little display set you can switch between green leaves or cherry blossoms depending on your mood. No need to water or prune.
Lego’s Orchid is also $39.99 at Amazon, Target, or Walmart ($10 off), with six blooms, four big leaves and a number of roots and stems you can arrange in a variety of ways.
Lego’s Succulents, too, are $39.99 at Amazon and Target ($10 off). Each of the main plants sits in an series of interlocking boxes. My wife enjoyed spacing them out, building one or two per sitting.
The Lego Marvel Super Heroes Daily Bugle is $300 at Amazon or Walmart, back to its pre-price-hike price. (It should be $350 afterwards.) It gives you not only the towering headquarters of J. Jonah Jameson’s newspaper of record, but an collection of supervillain minifigures for Spider-Man to battle.
The Lego Architecture Statue of Liberty is $95.99 at Amazon or Walmart, down from its typical $120. I skip most of the Architecture sets, but something about this one’s ornate build really grabs me.
The Lego Star Wars Dagobah Jedi Training Diorama is $71.99 at Amazon, Target or Walmart, down from a $90 MSRP.
This Lego Star Wars Imperial Probe Droid is $41.99 at Amazon or Target, down from $60. I like display pieces that double as playable toys, and this definitely looks the part.
Lego’s Disney Pixar Lightyear XL-15 spaceship may be an unfortunate tie-in, but it’s an excellent Lego spacecraft design with the rare translucent yellow cockpit. Yours for $39.99 at Walmart (down from $50).
I bought my wife Lego’s The Child, who I will continue to call Baby Yoda, last year and she was very pleased. Now, it’s $71.99 at Amazon, Target, or Walmart, down from its typical $80.
Remember when The Mandalorian souped up an original Naboo Starfighter from the Princess Amidala era? Lego’s The Mandalorian N-1 Starfighter is $47.99 at Amazon, Target, and Walmart, down from $60.
Lego’s Queer Eye — The Fab 5 Loft is $59.99 (down from $99.99) at Amazon or Lego.com. I think the Friends and The Office sets are superior when it comes to details, but it’s hard to ignore 40 percent savings.
A crypto exchange agrees to pay $360,000 for possibly violating Iran sanctions
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has agreed to pay $362,158.70 to settle with the Department of the Treasury over claims that the firm violated US sanctions against Iran. Kraken, which lets users buy, sell, hold, and trade cryptocurrency, is also required to invest an extra $100,000 in certain sanctions compliance controls.
As noted in the details of the settlement, Kraken allegedly processed 826 transactions totaling over $1.68 million on behalf of customers who may have been located in Iran. The Department of the Treasury says the apparent violations took place between October 14th, 2015, and June 29th, 2019, and were “non-egregious and voluntarily self-disclosed.”
Kraken already had an existing sanctions compliance program that prevented users from signing up in sanctioned locations, but the settlement alleges Kraken “did not implement IP address blocking” on activity across its platform during this time. According to IP address data obtained by the Treasury Department, this means that some users were able to sign up for the platform in areas not subject to US sanctions, and then proceed to conduct transactions from sanctioned locations, such as Iran.
Marco Santori, Kraken’s chief legal officer, said in an emailed statement to The Verge that the firm has since implemented a number of changes, including adding geolocation blocking to prevent users from accessing the site in sanctioned locations, as well as hiring a dedicated head of sanctions. The company has also invested in sanctions compliance training for staff and implemented “blockchain analysis tools to assist with sanctions monitoring.”
The fine comes as numerous cryptocurrency firms look to regain users’ trust following the collapse of FTX, which was once the third-largest crypto exchange by volume. Since then, crypto finance firm BlockFi has filed for bankruptcy, and major crypto lender Genesis has suspended withdrawals. Several crypto companies, including Coinbase and Crypto.com, have since committed to publishing their proof of reserves in a bid to become more transparent with users.
Google paid millions to radio hosts to endorse the Pixel 4 — even though they hadn’t used it
Google shared scripts for the hosts to read. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Google and iHeartMedia are settling with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and seven state attorneys general for allegedly paying radio hosts to read endorsements of the Pixel 4 when the hosts hadn’t actually used the phone. Google allegedly paid more than $2.6 million to iHeartRadio and almost $2 million “in connection with eleven smaller radio networks” for the deceptive ads endorsing the Pixel 4.
For the ads, Google provided scripts for hosts to read on air, which typically began like this, per the complaint:
The only thing I love more than taking the perfect photo? Taking the perfect photo at night.
With Google Pixel 4 both are a cinch.
It’s my favorite phone camera out there, especially in low light, thanks to Night Sight Mode.
I’ve been taking studio-like photos of everything . . . my son’s football game . . . a meteor shower . . . a rare spotted owl that landed in my backyard. Pics or it didn’t happen, am I right?
Pixel 4 is more than just great pics. It’s also great at helping me get stuff done, thanks to the new voice-activated Google Assistant that can handle multiple tasks at once.
I can read up on the latest health fads, ask for directions to the nearest goat yoga class (yes, that’s a thing), and text the location to mom hands-free. . . .
You can hear examples of the recordings on the FTC’s website. They stick pretty close to the script.
But for the “majority” of Pixel 4 ads, hosts were not given Pixel 4s before they recorded the ad spots, according to the FTC’s press release — despite iHeartMedia asking for phones ahead of recording in October 2019, as noted in the complaint. iHeartMedia later asked again for phones after Google requested additional ads in January 2020, and Google eventually sent just five, or one for each market where the ads would be recorded. Nearly 29,000 of the deceptive ads aired in 2019 and 2020, the FTC says.
As part of the settlement, both Google and iHeartMedia will be barred from misrepresenting endorsers’ experiences. Google can’t misrepresent experiences with “covered” products (including its consumer products), while iHeartMedia can’t misrepresent experiences with “any consumer product or service.” Google and iHeartRadio will also pay $9.4 million to the states they’re settling with.
“We are pleased to resolve this issue,” Google spokesperson José Castañeda said in a statement to The Verge. “We take compliance with advertising laws seriously and have processes in place designed to help ensure we follow relevant regulations and industry standards.” iHeartMedia declined to comment.
The recent Optus and Medibank data breaches in which thousands of Australians had their personal information stolen have heightened public consciousness of the threat of identity fraud.
Information including names, dates of birth, addresses, phone numbers, passport and Medicare numbers, and even healthcare claims have been posted online in the past few months as a result of the high profile breaches.
Gran Turismo chief says devs are ‘looking into’ a PC port
Image: Sony
Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi isn’t ruling out a PC port for the long-running racing sim franchise. In an interview with GTPlanet (via Eurogamer) during the Gran Turismo World Finals on Sunday, Yamauchi told the outlet that the Polyphony Digital development team is “looking into” bringing the series from PlayStation to PC.
“Gran Turismo is a very finely tuned title,” Yamauchi told GTPlanet, while also expressing some concern about getting the game to consistently run in 4K at 60 frames per second across all platforms. “It’s not a very easy subject, but of course, we are looking into it and considering it.”
Gran Turismo 7 was released exclusively for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 back in March, and its potential jump to PC would mark a significant milestone for the series. The game’s previous installments, which span the past 25 years, have never been on any platform other than PlayStation.
A bunch of Sonos speakers are 20 percent off for Cyber Monday
The Arc is 20 percent off. Still expensive though. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
Here’s a good deal: a big swath of Sonos’s speakers and soundbars are 20 percent off through Cyber Monday. The sale is now live at Sonos’s website as well as Best Buy, Target, and other retailers. Pretty much everything is at its lowest price ever, and while there are some notable exclusions — including the Sonos Roam, Five, and Sub Mini — it’s still a great time to fill out your Sonos system.
Deals on Sonos soundbars and subwoofers
The Sonos Arc is their flagship soundbar with Dolby Atmos, perfect for pairing with that big-ass new TV. It’s $720 at Best Buy, Sonos, and Target, which is better than $900. (read our review)
You can pair either soundbar with other Sonos speakers or subwoofers to create a surround sound system. The Sub (third-gen) is on sale for $599 at Best Buy and Sonos and pairs better with the Arc; the Sub Mini is (alas) not on sale.
Sonos One and One SL deals: get these
The Sonos One is the best starting point for a Sonos system and is on sale for $176 at both Best Buy and Sonos instead of $220. You can use one to fill a medium-sized room with sound. You can use two for stereo. You can pair them with Sonos’s speaker bars for surround sound. They’re endlessly flexible, and they’re on sale. If you don’t know what to get, get this one. The Sonos One SL (on sale for $160 at Best Buy and Sonos, which is a $30 discount) is slightly cheaper and doesn’t have any microphones, so you have to talk to other machines in order to tell it what to do. That’s a perk, for some folks.
[U]nless you’re adamantly opposed to having mics in your gadgets, I’d steer clear of the Roam SL. It only saves you $20 but loses fairly substantial features like automatic Trueplay sound quality tuning, the Sound Swap feature mentioned above, and (obviously) all voice interactions. For $99 or $129, I could absolutely see it. But $159 is just too much to ask for the Roam SL.
Just under the wire. Guess that makes it a deal.
Sonos has a variety of bundles on sale as well, but most don’t offer any savings over buying each piece separately.
Frontier Airlines shut down its customer service phone line
Frontier described its one-on-one voice calls as “unscalable, inefficient, and expensive” during an investor presentation. | Kathryn Scott Osler/The Denver Post via Getty Images
Frontier, the budget-friendly airline that charges for everything from in-flight snacks to carry-ons, is looking to cut costs even more by doing away with its customer service phone line (via CNBC). Customers with questions about their reservations can now only contact Frontier’s agents through the live chat on its website, via WhatsApp, or on social media.
In an emailed statement to The Verge, company spokesperson Jennifer De La Cruz confirmed that Frontier’s customer service has “transitioned to fully digital communications,” which is supposed to help “ensure customers get the information they need as expeditiously and efficiently as possible.” When customers try to call the phone number that Frontier removed from its website (but still surfaces on Google), they’re greeted with this message before getting the option to chat online instead:
At Frontier, we offer the lowest fares in the industry by operating our airlines as efficiently as possible. We want our customers to be able to operate efficiently as well, which is why we make it easy to find what you need at FlyFrontier.com or on our mobile app. We also have a chat service available 24/7.
If you agree to chat online, Frontier will text you a link to the company’s live chat on its website, where you’re required to deal with a chatbot before you can get in touch with an actual human. According to De La Cruz, the transition was rolled out gradually and came into force last weekend. “We have found that most customers prefer communicating via digital channels,” De La Cruz adds.
This follows the company’s November 15th investor presentation, which states that one-to-one voice calls are “unscalable, inefficient, and expensive” and suggests implementing a three-to-one live chat that would have one agent servicing three customers at a time. “Think about the most sort of obscure question a customer might ask that would take a call center agent many, many minutes to research and find an answer to,” Jack Filene, Frontier’s senior vice president of customers said during the presentation, CNBC reports. “The chatbot can answer that very quickly.”
Frontier is one of the largest airlines to cut customers off from its phone lines. Even the budget airline Spirit, which attempted to acquire Frontier over the summer, still lets customers talk to agents over the phone. While dealing with long hold times when calling customer service is a pain, a phone line still seems necessary to have as an option, especially for folks who aren’t so technologically savvy.
Gangs of cybercriminals are expanding across Africa, investigators say
Online scams such as banking and credit card fraud are the most prevalent cyberthreat, say Interpol
Police and investigators fear organised gangs of fraudsters are expanding across sub-Saharan Africa, exploiting new opportunities as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the global economic crisis to make huge sums with little risk of being caught.
The growth will have a direct impact on the rest of the world, where many victims of “hugely lucrative” fraud live, senior police officials have said.
The Genki Covert Dock Mini lets me put an entire gaming system in my purse
That’s it. That’s the dock. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge
Friday afternoons growing up meant a trip to the video store. It was an utter thrill, like a little weekly Christmas, where my mom would turn my sister and me loose among the laminated, empty VHS boxes to pick out something to rent for the weekend. And as a rare treat, she would sometimes relent to our whining and let us take home the Holy Grail of rentals: a Sega console. A teenage Video Update employee would retrieve it for us and make sure that the controllers and cords were all accounted for in a massive, nuclear-code-style suitcase.
That’s what carrying an entire game console looked like in 1993. Things are a little different now. A few weeks ago, I packed our game console to take it along on a family vacation. This time, it all fit into a couple of clutch-sized cases that I could easily put in my purse, thanks to one of my favorite little gadgets of the year: the Genki Covert Dock Mini. I packed it up with our Switch, a Pro controller, and a few cords. And just like that, we had a whole-ass TV gaming console ready for our trip to the Washington coast.
Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge
The Genki Covert Dock Mini, left, and a 5W Apple AC adapter on the right. Yeah, it’s pretty small.
Technically, the Switch itself is a console. I know this. But have you tried to play Breath of the Wild in handheld mode after experiencing it on the big screen? It sucks. Plus, our Switch’s Joy-Con drift is so bad it’s barely playable. Oh, and the proprietary, Nintendo-made dock you’re supposed to use with the Switch? Ours is cursed.
Some interaction between our TV and the dock caused our Switch to slowly fail in the winter of 2019. I spent hours troubleshooting the problem, with different display settings on both the Switch and the TV, different cables, and a different TV. I went deep into Nintendo support pages that even the customer support person I talked to hadn’t seen. Nintendo eventually “fixed” our Switch out of warranty (sent us a replacement console), but the emotional damage was done, and I lost all trust in our dock.
For a while, this meant I only used the Switch to play Animal Crossing, which is tolerable with wayward controls and isn’t that much better on the big screen. But that got boring, and I was itching to play BotW again. With a trip coming up that would certainly involve a downtime indoors in our rented condo, I now had two reasons to invest in the Genki dock that I’d been eyeing.
The Switch in its carrying case, and everything else in a little pencil pouch. What a time to be alive.
The Genki “dock” is laughably small — small enough that the padded envelope it arrived in was delivered to our mailbox rather than the front door. It’s truly only a little bigger than the 5W AC adapter that came with my last iPhone. It effectively replaces the function of the much bigger Switch dock, providing power to the console and a display connection to a TV. The Mini edition comes with a lower 20W power supply than the bigger 30W Genki dock, so it’s less useful if you want it to multitask as a hub for other, power hungrier devices, but I don’t care about that. It’s also $50 rather than $75.
Remembering our Sega-in-a-suitcase days, I wiped a joyful tear from my eye as I packed it into a zippered pouch along with a controller. The Switch, dock, and accoutrement all made the journey to our destination in my luggage, taking up less space than my toiletries. At our beachside condo, we plugged it all in, and in a matter of minutes, we were running through Hyrule looting Bokoblin camps while it rained sideways outside in the real world.
Back at home, it’s taken over as our full-time dock. With any luck, it will remain uncursed, and we can spend the rest of the dark, cold months ahead basking in the glow of our Switch games on the TV once again. And that’s almost as thrilling as a Friday afternoon at the video store.
The best early Cyber Monday deals you can get now
The Noc Design / The Verge
You know how most streets in US towns look exactly the same, barring a few differences? That’s kind of how Cyber Monday is to Black Friday. Many of its deals should be familiar if you’ve been paying attention throughout the Thanksgiving weekend, even though it’s taking on another name. If you haven’t been tuned in, well, you’re in for a treat. There are so many best-ever deals on tech like noise-canceling headphones and earbuds, iPads, video games, budget-friendly gadgets, and a lot more (pour one out for the $569 48-inch LG A2 OLED TV at Best Buy, which is no longer available).
We’re serving you the best-of-the-best deals right up top, just below a handy table of contents that’ll help you zip around to your preferred product category.
The best early Cyber Monday deals
Here are the all-stars
You can buy Apple’s newsecond-gen AirPods Pro at Amazon, Target, and Best Buy for $199.99 instead of $249, which is about their all-time low. Apple’s newest premium earbuds boast better noise cancellation capabilities than their predecessor, as well as swipeable controls and four swappable earbuds. Read our review.
Google’s Chromecast with Google TV (4K) is our favorite streaming device, partially because it curates recommendations from your favorite streaming services. It also features support for 4K content and Dolby Vision HDR and is bundled with a remote compatible with Google Assistant. You can currently buy it for around $40 ($10 off) from Amazon, Target, and Best Buy, which matches its all-time low price. Read our review.
The SooPiiUSB-C cable with a built-in power meter can carry up to 100W of output to a phone or laptop and display a live wattage measurement on its small LCD so you know how fast your devices are charging. It’s currently $8.11 for a four-foot cable or $10.07 for a 6.6-foot at Amazon when you click the on-page coupon for 10 percent off. We can chuckle to ourselves at the brand name all we want, but these things are handy and make a nice little stocking stuffer for fellow nerds. Check out our hands-on with a similar cable.
New and returning subscribers can sign up for the ad-supported version of Hulu for just $1.99 a month for 12 months so long as they do so before November 28th at 11:59PM PT (or November 29th at 2:59AM ET). Existing Disney Plus and ESPN Plus standalone subscribers can also take advantage of this deal. The ad-supported plan grants members access to all of Hulu’s movies and TV shows, including originals like The Handmaid’s Tale and Prey.
On the cheaper Pixel front, it’s very hard to beat the Google Pixel 6Afor just $299, marked down from an already reasonable $449. This deal is all over, including Target, Amazon, and Best Buy. Just promise you’ll get the sage color option. Read our review.
Sony’s DualSense Wireless Controller is on sale for around $49 ($21 off) at Amazon, Target, and Best Buy. The Dualsense offers support for haptic feedback and USB-C while boasting a maximum of 12 hours of battery life.
Our pick for the best auto-emptying robot vacuum, iRobot’s Roomba i3 Plus EVO, is on sale for around $349 ($201 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target. The i3 Plus EVO makes cleaning easier and faster thanks to advanced mapping features, so you can tell it to clean certain rooms either through the app or a via a voice assistant like Amazon Alexa.
Anker’s ultra-handy Powerline II 3-in-1 Charging Cable is down to just $9.99 ($12 off) at Amazon, which is a great price on a durable cable that can connect to Lightning, Micro USB, and USB-C devices in a pinch.
The Google Pixel Watch is about $299 ($50 off) at Amazon and Target for the Wi-Fi-only version. This watch has a gorgeous circular display, as well as native Fitbit integration. It also comes with three months of YouTube Music and six months of Fitbit Premium. The Pixel Watch is a first-gen device, however, so keep in mind that Google is still working out some kinks. Read our review.
You can buy a single AirTag for $24.98 (regularly $29) at Amazon and Walmart right now. The ultra wideband-capable Bluetooth trackers offer IP67 water and dust resistance as well as user-replaceable batteries. Read our review.
The Ultimate Ears’ waterproof Wonderboom 3 is on sale direct from UE for $69 ($31 off), which is easily one of the compact Bluetooth speaker’s lowest prices to date. The newer model isn’t radically different from its predecessor, but it does offer improved Blueooth range.
The incredibly handy and super-affordable Elephant Card is on sale for $7.99 at Amazon, dropping the price by $2. This little plastic card fits in your wallet and unfolds to be a Continuity Camera mount atop your MacBook, allowing a compatible iPhone to become your webcam for much better quality Zoom calls and video streaming. Read our review.
If you’re looking to smarten up an outlet in your home, Amazon’s apt-titled Smart Plug is currently on sale at Amazon for $12.99 instead of $24.99, matching its best price to date. The inexpensive gadget is a great way to schedule lights and add voice control to appliances that lack smart functionality.
Anker’s 622 Magnetic Battery, aka its MagGo charger, is on sale at Amazon for $44.99 ($15 off), matching its best price to date. The magnetic, wireless power bank isn’t the most robust in terms of battery size, but it can prop up and provide juice to newer MagSafe-equipped iPhone models, beginning with the iPhone 12.
Walmart, Target, and Best Buy are currently discounting a Nintendo Switch bundle that includes the standard Switch, a download code for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and a three-month individual subscription to Nintendo Switch Online.
You can buy Apple’s newsecond-gen AirPods Pro for $199.99 at Amazon and Best Buy instead of $249, which is about their all-time low. Apple’s newest premium earbuds boast better noise cancellation capabilities than their predecessor, as well as swipeable controls and four swappable earbuds. Read our review.
You can buy Sony’s WF-1000XM4, our favorite noise-canceling earbuds, for around $178 ($102 off) at Amazon, Target, and Best Buy. The wireless earbuds sound fantastic and boast some of the best noise cancellation you can get in a pair of earbuds, not to mention more recent perks like multipoint functionality. Read our review.
Samsung’s latest premium noise-canceling earbuds, the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, are on sale for $179.99 ($50 off) at Amazon in black or purple. If you use Samsung phones, these are one of your best options since they’re very lightweight and comfortable, with excellent sound quality that supports higher 24-bit audio (though only with Samsung phones). Read our review.
Apple’s first-gen AirPods Pro with a MagSafe charging case are on sale at Walmart for $159 ($90 off). Even though the second-gen offers better noise cancellation, these buds still tune out noise very well, offer customizable, swappable buds too (albeit only three) and sound terrific. Read our review.
Sony’s WH-1000XM5 are on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target for around $348 ($51.99 off). These comfortable headphones offer some of the best noise cancellation you can get in a pair of headphones, along with a sleeker build and improved sound over their predecessor. Read our review.
If you prefer a cheaper pair of earbuds, you can currently pick up the Beats Studio Buds at a fresh all-time low of $89.95 ($60 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target. That’s an additional $10 off from deal prices we were already seeing. While they don’t offer particularly great noise cancellation, they still feature good sound quality and USB-C support. Read our review.
Normally $199.99, the Beats Fit Pro are currently discounted to $159.95 at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart. The comfortable noise-canceling earbuds offer excellent battery life, and while their lack of wireless charging is a bummer, they remain a great choice for Apple users thanks to features like dynamic head tracking for spatial audio and their ability to automatically switch between Apple devices. Read our review.
Google’s Chromecast with Google TV (4K) is our favorite streaming device, partially because it curates recommendations from your favorite streaming services. It also features support for 4K content and Dolby Vision HDR and is bundled with a remote compatible with Google Assistant. You can currently buy it for around $40 ($10 off) from Amazon, Target, and Best Buy, which matches its all-time low price. Read our review.
You can also currently purchase Google’s new, entry-levelChromecast with Google TV (HD) for $19.99 at Best Buy. While it lacks 4K streaming capabilities and is limited to 1080p resolution, it can play HDR videos and comes with a Google Assistant-compatible remote. Read our review.
New and returning subscribers can sign up for the ad-supported version of Hulu for just $1.99 a month for 12 months so long as they do so before November 28th at 11:59PM PT (or November 29th at 2:59AM ET). Existing Disney Plus and ESPN Plus standalone subscribers can also take advantage of this deal. The ad-supported plan grants members access to all of Hulu’s movies and TV shows, including originals like The Handmaid’s Tale and Prey.
You can buy the Roku Streaming Stick 4K for around $24.99 at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target, which is a 50 percent discount. This is a good option if you’re looking for a streaming device that’s simple to use but that also supports Dolby Vision and works with Siri, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant. Read our review.
New and returning subscribers can get 50 percent off of their first year of Paramount Plus if they subscribe before November 28th. With the discount, you’ll be able to subscribe to the ad-supported Essential plan for $24.99 instead of $49.99 or the ad-free Premium plan for $49.99 instead of $99.99. No matter which of the plans you opt for, you’ll be able to stream a wide range of movies and shows, including Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Yellowstone spinoff 1883.
Until November 28th, you can sign up to stream Peacock Premium for $0.99 a month for a year when you use the promo code “SAVEBIG.” The ad-supported service usually costs $4.99 a month, so this will save you $48 over the course of 12 months. New and existing users who subscribe to Peacock’s freemium tier are eligible for the deal; however, current Peacock Premium and Premium Plus subscribers aren’t.
You can buy LG’s C2 OLED discounted in various configurations. The 55-inch configuration, for example, is available for around $1,297 (about $300 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target. The 4K TV boasts a 120Hz refresh rate like its predecessor but comes with a brighter “Evo” panel and the ability to log into different user profiles.
Samsung’s new Frame TV is on sale in the 55-inch configuration for around $998 ($500 off) at Amazon and Best Buy. The 4K TV displays artwork when not in use and features a new anti-glare, low-reflection coating. When turned on, however, the excellent QLED offers a fast 120Hz refresh rate and support for a number of streaming apps.
Amazon’s new Fire TV Omni QLED Omni lineup is also on sale. You can buy, for instance, the 65-inch model for $549.99 from Best Buy instead of $799.99. The new TV is capable of displaying similar artwork when not in use and supports Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10 Plus Adaptive alongside two-way video calling.
You can buyLG’s 48-inch A2 OLED TVfor $569.99 ($730 off) atBest Buy. The 4K TV works with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa; however, it only offers a 60Hz refresh rate, so it may not be the best choice for gamers.
The best early Cyber Monday deals on tablets and e-readers
You can buy the latest version of Apple’s Wi-Fi-enabled iPad Mini with 64GB of storage for $399.99 ($100 off) at Target. The redesigned Apple iPad Mini offers USB-C support, and though it isn’t powered by Apple’s M2 or M1 chips, it offers an A15 Bionic processor that’s still powerful. Read our review.
Apple’s latest iPad Air is down to $549 from Amazon when you add it to your cart for an additional $49.01 off. That makes it an overall discount of about $100 for a great mid-range tablet with a 10.9-inch display. If you need more than the base 64GB of storage,the 256GB is also on sale for $649.99($100 off) when added to your cart.Read our review.
Amazon is also currently discounting its lineup of Fire HD tablets. Right now, for instance, you can buy the ad-free, 32GB Fire HD 10 — which offers a nice, 1080p display and good performance — for $74.99 ($75 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target. You can also purchase it without ads at Amazon with delayed shipping for $89.99 ($75 off). If you’re looking for support for wireless charging and more RAM, the ad-supported, 32GB Fire HD 10 Plus is also on sale for $104.99 ($75 off) at Amazon, as is the ad-free version for $119.99 ($75 off). Read our review.
At Best Buy, you can buy a Microsoft Surface Pro 8 with 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and an 11th-Gen Intel Core i5 processor — as well as a Type Cover — for just $899.99 ($450 off). While the Pro 8 can’t exactly compete with the newer Surface Pro 9, it’s still a good-looking laptop with a fast 120Hz refresh rate screen and quick performance. Read our review.
The best early Cyber Monday deals on smart and portable speakers
Google’s lozenge-shapedNest Mini is a pint-sized speaker that supports Google Assistant and is on sale for around $18 ($31 off) at Walmart and Target. It’s a good way to add smarts to any room despite its age, however, keep in mind that it sounds best when it’s mounted to your wall. Read our review.
You can buy Ultimate Ears’ waterproof Boom 3 for around $100 instead of $149.99 at Amazon, Target, and Best Buy. The Boom 3 is one of our favorite Bluetooth speakers, with good sound quality and terrific battery life that should provide up to 15 hours of playback.
The best early Cyber Monday deals on smart displays
The smaller, 5.5-inch Echo Show 5 from last year is also on sale for $34.99 ($50 off) at Amazon, Target, and Best Buy. The tiny display makes for a great bedside companion, especially since you can snooze it with just a tap. Read our review.
Amazon is discounting some of its more unique smart displays as well. That includes the wall-mounted Echo Show 15, which features a 15.6-inch touch display that can easily double as a shared bulletin board or even a kitchen TV. Right now, it’s on sale for $169.99 instead of $249.99. Read our review.
Best Buy is selling the new Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro in the 45mm, Bluetooth-enabled configuration for $399.99 ($50 off), as is Amazon. The Watch 5 Pro, like the Watch 5, is one of the best Android smartwatches you can buy, with a large screen and good battery life. Read our review.
If you prefer the physical bezel controls on Samsung smartwatches, you can get the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic for just $149 ($200 off) at Walmart. This may not be as new as the Galaxy Watch 5, but it’s still current in the lineup and not all that different from its other Wear OS 3 counterparts — except for that awesome bezel, of course. Read our review.
The new Apple Watch Ultra is $739 ($60 off) at Amazon and Best Buy. The 49mm watch has everything the Series 8 does, along with a titanium case, cellular, multiband GPS, an emergency siren, the Action Button, and the ability to double as a dive computer. It’s also the first Apple Watch with multi-day battery life. This is the one to get for athletes and anyone who likes the best of the best — so long as they don’t mind the big 49mm case.
Fitbit’s new Versa 4 sports physical buttons — unlike its predecessor — but shares many of the same features, including built-in GPS, voice assistance, and heart rate monitoring. You can buy it for $149.95 ($80 off) at Amazon, Target, and Best Buy.
The Fitbit Charge 5 is $99.95 (33 percent off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart. If you want a fitness band with more oomph than the Inspire 3, the Charge 5 is a great choice. It’s got built-in GPS, EKG compatibility, a bright OLED screen, NFC payments, and long battery life.
If you don’t mind buying an older fitness tracker, the Fitbit Versa 2 is on sale for around $99 instead of $149.99 at Target, Walmart, and Best Buy. The wearable tracks all the metrics you’d expect, including your distance and sleeping habits, while offering support for Fitbit Pay and Amazon Alexa.
The Amazfit GTS 4 Mini is a mere $89.99 ($30 off) on Amazon and Best Buy. Amazfit may not be a household name, but they pack a ton of features you normally find at a much higher price point. That includes stress tracking, SpO2 monitoring, Amazon Alexa compatibility, and an additional offline digital assistant. It also uses the more holistic PAI method for gauging your health. We reviewed the Amazfit GTR 4, which is the circular version and shares many of the same features.
You can currently buy Microsoft’s Xbox Wireless Controller for $39.99 ($20 off) at Best Buy, and Target. The controller comes with Bluetooth support so you can use it with PCs and mobile devices in addition to your Xbox console.
Sony’s DualSense Wireless Controller is on sale for around $49 ($20.99 off) at Amazon, Target, and Best Buy. The Dualsense offers support for haptic feedback and USB-C while boasting a maximum of 12 hours of battery life.
You can buy Logitech’s G Pro Wireless gaming mouse for $87.99 instead of $129.99 at Amazon. The mouse comes with removable left and right-side buttons and a high 25K DPI sensor.
The newer version of that mouse, the Logitech G Pro X Superlight is on sale in black at Amazon for $99.99 ($60 off) at checkout. It no longer has the buttons on the right, but it like the prior model, but it weighs even less (63 grams compared to 80). Its only big downside is that for a newer mouse it sadly has Micro USB instead of USB-C.
If that’s out of your price range and you don’t mind a wired mouse, Logitech’s G502 Hero is on sale for $34.99 at Amazon instead of $49.99. The G502 offers more buttons than Logitech’s G Pro Wireless gaming mouse, as well as 11 programmable inputs.
The Backbone One PlayStation Edition is $63.69 (regularly $99.99) at Amazon. This mobile controller for iPhones is one of the best options you can buy for mobile game streaming, whether it’s from the cloud or in-home remote play from your own console.
You can buy a 27-inch HP Omen gaming monitor for $249.99 instead of $399.99 at Best Buy right now. The monitor boasts a 1440p IPS display with a speedy 165Hz refresh rate as well as support for both AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync technologies.
Woot has some solid game console deals, including theXbox Series Sfor $219.99($80 off). Keep in mind, however, that Microsoft’s compact console only comes with a 90-day warranty via Woot.Read our review.
The going rate for a 128GB Meta Quest 2 these days is $399.99, but you can currently get the VR headset packaged with two of its best games (Beat Saber and Resident Evil 4) for $349.99 at Best Buy and Amazon.
You can buy the iRobot Roomba j7 Plus alongside a docking bin that automatically empties itself for $599 ($200 off) at Amazon and Target. The robot vacuum is capable of learning the layout of your home and works with both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Read our review.
Roborock’s S7 is our top pick for a robot vacuum that can also mop, and it’s 37 percent off, down to $409.99 at Amazon. That’s a very good price for this reliable robot. It doesn’t have obstacle avoidance, but it does an excellent job of mopping and vacuuming your floors. Read our review.
Our pick for the best auto-emptying robot vacuum, iRobot’s Roomba i3 Plus EVO, is on sale for around $349 ($201 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target. The i3 Plus EVO makes cleaning easier and faster thanks to advanced mapping features, so you can tell it to clean certain rooms either through the app or a via a voice assistant like Amazon Alexa.
The S7’s AI-powered sibling, the S7 MaxV, is selling for $639.99 at Amazon and is worth considering if you really don’t like having to pick up clutter before you run your robot, as it’s smart enough to avoid socks, cables, and shoes. Both models can also be bought with an auto-empty dock on sale, too.
Also, the Ecovacs Deebot X1 OMNI and its massive cleaning station are $550 off at Amazon. It’s still expensive at $999.99, but much more acceptable if you want a bot that can handle most things on its own.
Google’s new Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro smartphones are also available at record-low prices. You can buy the Pixel 7 Pro for $749 ($150 off) at Amazon, Target, and Best Buy in the unlocked, 128GB configuration. We consider it to be one of the best phones on the market thanks to its triple-camera setup and Google’s speedy Tensor G2 chip, not to mention its 6.7-inch 120Hz OLED display. Read our review.
Alternatively, you can buy the 6.3-inch Pixel 7 for $499 ($100 off) at Best Buy, Target, Amazon, and Google. Although it does feature the same Google-designed Tensor G2 chip, it only offers a 90Hz refresh rate and two cameras as opposed to three. Read our review.
On the cheaper Pixel front, it’s very hard to beat the Google Pixel 6Afor just $299, marked down from an already reasonable $449. This deal is all over, including Target, Amazon, and Best Buy. Just promise you’ll get the sage color option. Read our review.
If you can forgo 5G connectivity (and many of us probably can since 5G is still pretty lackluster), the LTE-only Motorola G Stylus (2022) is a heck of a deal at $179.99, down from $299, available from Target and Amazon. Read our review.
An exceptional high-end laptop option, the 16-inch MacBook Pro, is currently discounted to $1,999 at Amazon and Best Buy, from its usual $2,499. Not only is this M1 Pro device incredibly powerful, but it has the longest battery life we’ve ever seen from a laptop. A fewMacBook Pro 14models are on sale at Best Buy too, includingthis onethat’s currently $1,599 (down from $1,999). The MacBook Pro 14 is one of the most powerful laptops on the market, now with absurdly long battery life as well.Read our review.
The 13-inch MacBook Air is also discounted to $799.99 in its 8GB / 256GB configuration at Best Buy and Amazon. While this is now an older pick, we think the M1 processor should still serve many users’ needs just fine. In fact, we think it makes a better-value buy than the newer M2 model for many people due to its excellent performance and more affordable price. Read our review.
The Razer Blade 14 is one of the lightest and most compact gaming laptops you can buy, outfitted with Razer’s signature style and classy RGB. Normally $2,799.99, it’s currently discounted to $1,999.99 at Newegg and Razer. This model comes with a QHD 165Hz screen to make your games look terrific. Read our review.
Speaking of lightweight laptops, if you’re looking for the lightest 17-inch laptop in town, the 2.98-pound LG Gram 17 is on sale for $1,699.99 ($400 off) at Best Buy,LG, and Adorama. Every year, we’re blown away by just how light this device is, especially for a 17-inch laptop. It also sports great battery life and a nice high-resolution screen. Read our review.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook, usually $429.99, is on sale for $320 $329.99 on Amazon. This Chromebook delivers some of the best build quality you’ll find in laptops under $300, with a sturdy hinge and a comfortable keyboard.
Other great deals happening now
Fujifilm’s Instax Mini 11 instant camera is our favorite mostly because it’s fun, easy to use, and takes great photos for the price. It makes for a good present for all ages and is on sale for $59.99 at Target and Best Buy.
If you’ve got a beefy laptop like that MacBook Pro and want a quality charger, the Anker 736 Nano II 100W USB-C charger is selling for $54.99 ($25 off) at Amazon when you click the on-page coupon for $5 off. That’s the lowest price yet on this GaN charger that can juice up a power-hungry laptop or a smaller laptop and two other devices simultaneously.
The Zendure 26,800mAh Super Tank Pro portable battery pack is normally $229.99, but it’s on sale at Wellbots for $135.69. It can charge gadgets (or be charged) at up to 100W with one of its four USB-C charging ports. Read our review.
A self-heating Ember Mug 2 smart coffee mug makes a great gift for any coffee or tea lover in your life. You can get the 10-ounce version for around $100 ($30 off) at Best Buy, Target, or Amazon in black or white, or you can step up to the 14-ounce version for around $120 (also $30 off) at Best Buy, Target, or Amazon in those same monochromatic colors. Though the best deal may be for those of you with Costco memberships, where you can get the14-ounce Ember in gray for $99.99.
You can buy a single AirTag for $24.98 (regularly $29) at Amazon and Walmart right now. The ultra wideband-capable Bluetooth trackers offer IP67 water and dust resistance as well as user-replaceable batteries. Read our review.
The giant 49-inch Samsung Odyssey G9 ultrawide PC monitor is $899.99 ($600 off) at Amazon and Samsung. It may not have HDMI 2.1 and VRR like the top-of-the-line Neo G9 version, but if you want some excellent bang for your buck in a massive monitor to surround your face with beautiful pixels, it’s hard to look away from this deal. Read our review.
Best Buy and Target are selling the GoPro Hero 8 for $229.99 ($70 off). While an older model and not as rugged as some, the 2019 action cam still offers some nice features, including good image stabilization, a number of handy time-lapse modes, and the ability to capture 4K content at up to 60 frames per second. Read our review.
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Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge
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