Ars Technica
It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for another Dealmaster. Our latest roundup of the best tech deals from around the web includes another round of discounts on Amazon’s Fire HD tablets, with both the 10.1-inch Fire HD 10 and the 8-inch Fire HD 8 on sale for $100 and $50, respectively. While neither deal marks an all-time low—these two slates were available for $75 and $45 during Amazon’s latest Prime Day sale, for instance—they’re still a good ways below the usual street prices we’ve seen.
In general, the song remains the same with Amazon’s tablet offerings: they can’t touch any iPad when it comes to build quality, app support, or future-proofed performance, and they’re all pretty aggressive about steering their users toward Amazon content and services. But if you can live with that and just need a tablet on the cheap, they still have their uses.
The Fire HD 10 in particular offers good value at this deal price, with a serviceable 1080p display and enough in the performance and battery life departments to make casual video watching, ebook reading, and web browsing not too frustrating. The Fire HD 8 is a drop-off across the board, but at $50, it’s inexpensive enough to be justifiable if price is all that matters. Both models here come with lock-screen ads and 32GB of storage, though you can remove the former for an extra $15 and upgrade the latter with a microSD card if needed.
Besides tablets, our roundup also includes the lowest prices we’ve tracked on Google’s Pixel 6 phones: the base model is currently down to $499, while the larger Pixel 6 Pro is down to $649, beating the deal we spotlighted last week. As we noted then, these discounts are likely hitting so Google can clear the way for the forthcoming Pixel 7, but if you need an Android phone right now, the current generation’s powerful cameras, reliable performance, and guaranteed software updates through fall 2026 should keep them viable for the next few years. At $499, the base Pixel 6 should be a better buy than the $449 Pixel 6a, which we generally recommend as the best value of the bunch when each phone is at their standard MSRP. Just be absolutely sure you can’t wait a couple more months if you decide to pull the trigger.
Elsewhere, we have lower-than-usual prices on Wingspan, a bird-themed board game we like; Apple’s new and improved M2 MacBook Air; a selection of game controllers from accessory-maker 8BitDo, including the Pro 2 pad we’ve previously recommended to Nintendo Switch and PC players; Microsoft’s Xbox Series S game console; the ever-popular (and recently updated) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for the Switch, and much more. You can find our full curated list of deals below.
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Featured deals of the day
- Amazon Fire HD 10 (32GB) 10.1-inch tablet for $100 (
$140) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy - Amazon Fire HD 8 (32GB) 8-inch tablet for $50 (
$80) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy - Google Pixel 6 (128GB) smartphone for $499 (
$580) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy (256GB for $599) - Google Pixel 6 Pro (128GB) smartphone for $649 (
$855) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy (256GB for $749) - Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch) for $40 (
$50) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy - Wingspan board game for $40 (
$47) at Amazon, Walmart - 8BitDo Pro 2 wireless gamepad for PC, Switch for $40 (
$50) at Amazon, Best Buy - Anker PowerLine II (6ft) USB-C to Lightning cable for $11 (
$15) at Amazon - Apple Magic Keyboard wireless keyboard for $75 (
$99) at Amazon - Microsoft Xbox Series S – Fortnite + Rocket League Bundle for $250 (
$290) at Adorama (discount in cart, also $250 w/o bundle) - Apple MacBook Air (2022, Starlight) 13.6-inch laptop (M2, 2560×1664, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) for $1,099 (
$1,199) at Amazon, B&H
Ron Amadeo
Electronics deals
- Google Pixel 6 (128GB) smartphone for $499 (
$580) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy (256GB for $599) - Google Pixel 6 Pro (128GB) smartphone for $649 (
$855) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy (256GB for $749) - Google Nest Hub 7-inch smart display for $55 (
$85) at Target, Best Buy - Google Nest Hub Max 10-inch smart display for $174 (
$220) at Target, Best Buy - iRobot Roomba i3 Evo robot vacuum for $249 (
$285) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy - Apple iPad Mini (64GB) 8.3-inch tablet for $400 (
$425) at Target - Wacom One (small) drawing tablet for $40 (
$50) at Amazon, Best Buy - Beats Studio Buds true wireless ANC earphones for $100 (
$140) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy - Blue Yeti USB microphone for $90 (
$106) at Amazon
Scharon Harding
Andrew Cunningham
Laptop and desktop PC deals
- Apple MacBook Air (2020) 13.3-inch laptop (M1, 2560×1600, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) for $850 (
$925) at Best Buy - Apple MacBook Air (2022, Starlight) 13.6-inch laptop (M2, 2560×1664, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) for $1,099 (
$1,199) at Amazon, B&H - Lenovo Yoga 7i (Gen 7) 14-inch 2-in-1 laptop (Core i5-1235U, 2240×1400, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) for $860 (
$1,050) at Lenovo (use codes: YOGABTS + BTS2022) - Microsoft Surface Pro 8 13-inch tablet PC (Core i5-1135G7, 2880×1920, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) + Surface Pro Keyboard for $1,000 (
$1,250) at Best Buy - Dell S2721DGF 27-inch monitor (2560×1440, IPS, 165 Hz, VRR) for $300 (
$350) at Best Buy - Dell S3422DWG 34-inch monitor (3440×1440, 144 Hz, VA, VRR) for $390 (
$460) at Amazon - Gigabyte M28U 28-inch monitor (4K, 144 Hz, IPS, VRR) for $500 (
$575) at Amazon, Best Buy - Seagate FireCuda 530 (1TB) PCIe 4.0 SSD for $139 (
$170) at Amazon, Walmart, B&H - Crucial MX500 (500GB) 2.5-inch SATA SSD for $47 (
$56) at Amazon, B&H (1TB for $76)
Samuel Axon
TV and home entertainment deals
Nintendo
Video game deals
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch) for $40 (
$50) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy - Mario Golf: Super Rush (Switch) for $40 (
$50) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy - Quake (Switch, Xbox, PS4, PC) for $4 (
$8) at Nintendo, Xbox, PSN, Steam (also on Game Pass) - Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (Switch, Xbox, PS4, PC) for $8 (
$20) at Nintendo, Xbox, PSN, Steam (also on Game Pass) - Doom (2016) (Xbox, PS4, PC) for $5 (
$10) at Xbox, PSN, Steam (also on Game Pass, $10 at Nintendo) - Doom Slayers Collection (Xbox, PS4) for $7 (
$20) at Xbox, PSN (also on Game Pass, $12 at Nintendo) - Doom Eternal (Switch) for $15 (
$35) at Nintendo (also on Game Pass) - Gears Tactics (PC) for $10 (
$25) at Steam (also on Game Pass) - Hypnospace Outlaw (PS4) for $8 (
$15) at PSN ($9 at Steam)
Bethesda
Aaron Zimmerman
Gaming deals
Sam Machkovech
