Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds are still sitting at their lowest price to date

Happy Saturday, dear readers! It’s been an extremely quiet week on the deals front, with the most notable discounts we’ve seen landing on Apple’s 15-inch MacBook Air, GOTY contender Baldur’s Gate 3, and Belkin’s 3-in-1 MagSafe charger. Luckily, despite the lack of new deals, there are some solid holiday discounts still hanging around.

For instance, you can still snag the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target starting at $249 ($50 off), which remains the best price we’ve seen on the wireless earbuds since they made their debut earlier in the fall. They’re not all that different from last year’s QC Earbuds II in fit and finish, yet they add a new immersive audio component and improved fins that allow for better stability. Then there’s the noise cancellation, which, despite fierce competition from the likes of Sony, Samsung, and Apple, remains second to none.

Read our review of Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds.

Amazon’s new Echo Hub is on the way, though, at this point in 2023, it’s probably safe to assume that it’s no longer shipping “later this year.” Fortunately,the third-gen Echo Show 8 — which is the first Amazon display to function as a fully-fledged smart home hub — is still on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, and The Home Depot for $104.99 ($45 off), matching the all-time low it first set during Black Friday.

If you already own a second-gen Echo Show 8, then the latest model is likely a tough sell, as some of the display’s more useful additions (ahem, widgets) are also rolling out to the prior model. The new Show 8 is snappier thanks to Amazon’s AZ2 chip, however, and it features a redesigned speaker array with support for spatial audio, which makes it sound significantly better than earlier models. What’s more, it’s now a Zigbee and a Thread border router, as well as a Matter controller. This means that, once set up, you can use the display to control nearly any smart device in your home.

Now, couple the above with the fact the third-gen Echo Show 8 adjusts what’s on the screen based on how close you are, and it’s easy to see why Amazon’s latest Alexa display is now the one to beat.

Read our Echo Show 8 (third-gen) review.

• The Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler Controller is on sale at Woot in refurbished condition with a one-year warranty starting at just $89.99 ($110 off). The straightforward smart timer — which is available in either an 8-, 12-, or 16-zone configuration — is a terrific option for beginners and pro gardeners alike, one that allows you to cut back on your water use and better manage your in-ground irrigation no matter which smart home platform you use.
• If the Ultras are too spendy for you, Jabra’s Elite 10 are down to $199.99 ($50 off) at Amazon and Best Buy — a mere $10 shy of their all-time low. Jabra’s latest flagship earbuds are markedly different than the company’s earlier models, given their focus on comfort, though the platform-agnostic buds also now feature support for head-tracking spatial audio, larger drivers, and better ANC.
• Although Apple recently pulled online sales of the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Apple Watch Series 9 due to a forthcoming ITC ban, the latter is still on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart for $329 ($70 off) — well, at least until the existing supply runs out. Apple’s latest wearable is a pretty minor update overall, with a faster processor and a second-gen ultra wideband chip that allows for Precision Finding with an iPhone 15. Read our review.
• Not to be outdone by Steam’s ongoing winter sale, Nintendo has dropped a few holiday discounts of its own. Nintendo’s “Hits for the Holiday Sale” runs through 11:59PM PT on January 3rd, letting you save on Metroid Dread (now $41.99), Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury (now $39.99), and a bevy of other first-party titles.
• Anker’s 341 USB-C Hub is down to $23.99 ($11 off) via Amazon and Anker’s online storefront, though you’ll need to use coupon code WS7DVR4MQW for the latter. The handy 7-in-1 hub sports 85W pass-through charging and an array of different inputs, including a USB-C port, two USB-A ports, a USB-C PD port, one HDMI port, and both SD and Micro SD card slots.