Amazon’s Echo is back on sale for a record low of $60

If you missed the chance to pick up an Echo smart speaker during Prime Day last week, you have another opportunity to do so today. Amazon’s full-sized Echo is back down to a record-low price of $60, which is 40 percent off its normal rate. The Echo Show 5 is also on sale for $40 right now, which is only $5 more than it was on Prime Day. The Echo Dot, on the other hand, is currently 20 percent off and on sale for $40.

Buy Echo at Amazon – $60Buy Echo Show 5 at Amazon – $40Buy Echo Dot at Amazon – $40

You may just think of Amazon’s Echo as a way to get Alexa into your home, but it’s a pretty capable speaker as well. We gave it a score of 89 when it came out and it remains one of our favorite smart speakers. We like its spherical design and its bottom light ring that changes colors depending on what it’s doing. Inside the Echo are a three-inch woofer and two 0.8-inch tweeters that work together to help the speaker get quite loud and pump out sound with solid bass and powerful mid-range frequencies. It does a better job filling a room with sound than Google’s Nest Audio or Apple’s HomePod mini, which will be important for those who want to use it as their primary living room speaker.

In addition to asking Alexa to play music from various sources like Spotify or Apple Music, the Echo can be used as a Bluetooth speaker if you prefer. It also has a 3.5mm audio jack, which takes both input and output. Plus, if you buy two of the speakers, you can pair them together to play sound in stereo mode as well.

The Echo can also act as your main smart home hub thanks to its built-in Zigbee capabilities. Instead of buying a separate hub or bridge to connect things like smart lights, switches and more, the Echo can act as the central point in your home. And if you primarily get IoT devices that work with Alexa, you’ll be able to use voice commands to control them, too.

Overall, the Echo is one of the best smart speakers you can get at the $100 mark, so it’s an even better buy when you can get it for less. If you prefer a device that has a display to show things like weather forecasts and even security camera feeds, the Echo Show 5 is a solid option. It’s the smallest of Amazon’s smart displays, but that means it works well as a smart alarm clock of sorts. We like its surprisingly solid audio quality and its tap-to-snooze feature, too. As for the Echo Dot, it’s the smart speaker to get if you’re on a tight budget or want something that allows you to use Alexa voice commands without taking up too much space.

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Solo Stove knocks up to 45 percent off fire pits in its summer sale

Despite the summer heat, a fire pit can elevate your backyard’s environment. Solo Stove makes some of our favorite fire pits, and now the company’s brought back some of its best discounts on all three of its devices. You can get up to 45 percent off Solo Stove fire pits right now, which translates to $100 off the Ranger, $180 off the Bonfire and a whopping $350 off the Yukon.

Shop fire pits at Solo Stove

You might be hesitant to get a fire pit for your backyard, but Solo Stove’s machines don’t produce the smokiness that you might associate with normal fire pits. Instead, they channel smoke away from you using a double-walled design that pulls hot air through vent holes and back into the fire. In addition to reducing smoke, this also creates a fine ash and keeps the fire hot.

That’s one of the main reasons we’ve recommended Solo Stove fire pits in the past, and another is their relatively portable designs. The 15-pound Ranger and the 20-pound Bonfire can be moved round your backyard pretty easily, and they can go in your trunk before you head out on a camping trip or family outing. The 38-pound Yukon, on the other hand, should probably be left in a semi-permanent spot on your property. As we’ve mention in guides before, we recommend splurging for a bundle that includes a stand and a weather-proof cover so you’ll have everything you need to use and protect the fire pit of your choosing.

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Apple’s AirTag four-pack is on sale for $89 right now

Now’s a good time to pick up a few AirTags while you can get a four-pack for one of the best prices we’ve seen. Amazon has the multipack of Apple’s Bluetooth trackers for $89, or 10 percent off their usual rate. While the bundle briefly dropped to $85 on Prime Day last week, this $89 sale price is still a good deal, especially for those that have more than one item they’d want to keep track of with the gadgets. If a single AirTag is enough for you, you can pick one up for $27.50 right now.

Buy AirTag (4 pack) at Amazon – $89Buy AirTag (1 pack) at Amazon – $27.50

While Apple has competition from Tile, Chipolo and even Samsung to a degree in this space, those steeped in the Apple ecosystem will find a lot of advantages to AirTags. They pair quickly and seamlessly when placed next to iPhones, and then you can label them and track their locations using Apple’s Find My network. You can force your AirTag to emit a chime, which should help guide you to your missing things, and those who have newer iPhones can use the ultra-wideband feature to be guided to their things using on-screen directions.

A slight downside to AirTags is their lack of keyring hole, which makes them a bit less versatile than competing trackers on their own. You’ll have to buy a holder of some sort if you want to hook the AirTag to your keys, but the coin-sized devices can easily slip into a bag or wallet without taking up too much space.

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The best affordable Windows laptops you can buy

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Samsung’s 1TB 980 Pro SSD with heatsink is cheaper than ever right now

Many PS5 owners were thrilled when Sony finally unlocked the console to accept expandable SSD storage last year. However, as we explained in our guide, adding extra space to the PS5 isn’t as easy as buying the highest-capacity drive possible and installing it. You’ll need a certain style of drive, plus a heatsink among other things. We’ve got a whole list of compatible SSDs that we like for the console, and one of our favorites that comes with a heatsink is down to its lowest price ever. The 1TB model of Samsung’s 980 Pro SSD with heatsink is on sale for $140 right now, or 39 percent off its usual price. You’ll find a similar discount on the 2TB version, which is 38 percent off and down to $250.

Buy Samsung 980 Pro (1TB, with heatsink) at Amazon – $140Buy Samsung 980 Pro (2TB, with heatsink) at Amazon – $250

The 980 Pro is a good choice for the PS5 because it comes in an M.2 form factor and supports read speeds up to 7,000 MB/s. It also has a nickel coating plus a special thermal control algorithm that both help manage heat levels, and its 8.6mm housing helps it fit nicely into PS5 machines. You can also use Samsung’s Magician software to do things like monitor drive health, optimize performance, receive updates and more. Considering $140 is the best price we’ve seen on the 1TB model with the heatsink, it’s a good option for anyone looking for an all-in-one solution to their console storage needs. But if you’d prefer to DIY it a bit more, you can pick up a PS5-compatible heatsink for as low as $6 and the Samsung 980 Pro drive by itself for $120.

A couple of other PS5-compatible SSDs that we like are also on sale, so you have other options, too. PNY’s XLR8 CS3040 in 1TB is 42 percent off and down to $105, and even at its normal price of $180, we considered it to be one of the best affordable drives out there for the console. There’s actually a great deal on this drive with a heatsink, but it’s not one that’s compatible with the PS5. It’ll work just fine for desktops and other systems, but you’ll have to buy a different heatsink if you want to use this drive with the console. On the flip side, Seagate’s 1TB FireCude 530 with a PS5-compatible heatsink is down to $170, which is only $10 more than its all-time low.

Buy PNY XLR8 CS3040 (1TB) at Amazon – $105Buy Seagate FireCuda 530 (1TB, with heatsink) at Amazon – $170

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Apple’s latest iPad mini with LTE is $99 off at Amazon

If you’ve been holding out for a good deal on the latest iPad mini with cellular connectivity, you’re in luck. Amazon has dropped the prices of all color options for the 64GB iPad mini with LTE, bringing them all down to $550. That’s nearly $100 off their usual rate, not to mention the cheapest we’ve seen these models. It’s hard to get your hands on the iPad mini right now if you’re going through Amazon — most WiFi-only models are sold out, and very few WiFi + Cellular models are in stock. But if this configuration fits your needs, you can save a good sum of money if you pick it up right now.

Buy iPad mini (64GB, WiFi + Cellular) at Amazon – $550

Apple gave the iPad mini a much-needed facelift last year, and it only made the small tablet better than it was before. It now looks like a smaller version of the iPad Air, with a nearly edge-to-edge, 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display, flat edges, a TouchID power button and a USB-C port for charging. It also has Apple’s latest camera array that features Center Stage, making the tablet even better for FaceTime calls.

Overall, the iPad mini is a slick little device that should not be underestimated purely because of its size. Powered by the A15 Bionic chip, the iPad mini handled everything we threw at it well. We also like that it works with the second-generation Apple Pencil, allowing you to treat the tablet almost like a digital notebook. Battery life is solid, too: we were able to get around 12 hours before needing to recharge the device.

The iPad mini now supports 5G, too, so you’ll get faster data speeds if you’re in an area of 5G coverage. Would we recommend using the iPad mini as your daily driver when you’re out and about? Not necessarily, but only because most people prefer larger screens. The iPad Air may be better if you’re looking for a true laptop replacement, but it’s hard to beat the iPad mini if you want something as lightweight as possible to use when you’re on the go.

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