The Surface Pro 9 is more than $500 off, matching its all-time low

Once upon a time, I bought a Surface Pro only to return it less than a month later. At the time, I felt it was a niche device lacking the foundational integrity of an iPad or a MacBook. I’ve grown a newfound respect for the Surface Pro line with the maturing of Windows, however, and now find the 2-in-1 nicely occupies the middle ground between a tablet and laptop. If I needed one today, Best Buy’s deal on the Surface Pro 9 with a 12th-gen Intel Core i5 chipset, 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and a Surface Pro Keyboard might win me over. It’s going for $999.99 ($540 off), after all, which matches its all-time low.

My favorite thing about the Surface Pro 9 compared to traditional 2-in-1s is that you can use it as a tablet without the heft of a keyboard. The 13-inch display can seem unwieldy on paper, but it’s surprisingly thin with a balanced, lightweight build. Creatives can use styluses such as the optional Surface Slim Pen 2 ($129.99) and the keyboard easily attaches via magnets when it’s time to crunch through serious work tasks. In addition to a lack of ports, one major downside of the Pro 9 compared to flippable 2-in-1s is that it’s not ideal for lap use, as it only has a built-in kickstand for propping up the screen.

Read our Microsoft Surface Pro 9 review.

Clearly, the translucent Beats Studio Buds Plus are for those of us who appreciate all the intricate soldering and wiring work that goes into the ultraportable tech we enjoy. And now until February 8th, Woot has them in refurbished, like-new condition for $89.99, which is $80 off the price of a new pair. Woot is selling them with a 90-day limited warranty, but Amazon and Best Buy are also discounting the wireless earbuds in new condition to $129.99 ($40 off), which is just $10 more than their all-time low.

The Beats Studio Buds Plus sound as good as they look. Although we feel they come up just short of Apple’s AirPods Pro in ANC performance and hallmark features like spatial audio, they’re a solid improvement over the original Studio Buds. They have better audio quality overall, and the call performance benefits from new microphones that do a better (albeit, still imperfect) job of cutting out ambient noise.

Read our Beats Studio Buds Plus review.

• Samsung’s 2022 Frame TV is heavily discounted at Woot through Super Bowl Sunday, February 11th. You can start at 43 inches for $727.99 ($270 off) or stretch up to 85 inches for $2,697.99 ($1,600 off). While many of us at The Verge prefer OLED TVs, Samsung’s 4K QLED offers a sharp, vibrant picture and comes with a stylish exterior that pulls double duty as a massive photo frame — one that can cycle through hundreds of art pieces when idle.
• Amazon is discounting its Fire TV Stick 4K Max to $39.99, which is $20 off and matches its record low during Black Friday. The Max builds on the original with faster performance, better connectivity with Wi-Fi 6, and a redesigned remote with shortcut buttons for popular streaming apps. The latter also features a microphone for calling on Alexa, which we found is much better at recognizing complex voice commands than other streaming devices. Read our review.
• If you’re looking to outfit a big room with smart lighting, Amazon is selling a two-pack of Govee’s 32.8-feet RGBIC strip lights for an economically sound $54.99 ($25 off). You can control them with Google Assistant and Alexa, or via Govee’s smartphone app. This particular variety doesn’t allow you to cut them to size, so you’ll want to assess your project’s needs before heading to checkout.
• Sonic Superstars is a solid return to the 2D, side-scrolling gameplay many of us grew up on. The platformer was a hard sell for some at $60, but you can race to buy it for just $19.99 ($40 off) at Best Buy for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X / S. Sonic veterans may appreciate how well it sticks to the series’ roots while upgrading the visuals and introducing new abilities to complete stages.
• The Meta Quest 2 is on sale at Woot in the 128GB configuration for $229 through February (or while supplies last), which is $20 cheaper than the new standard. The Quest 2 doesn’t have the camera hardware needed for mixed reality like its successor, but it’s an affordable virtual reality headset that’s still capable of running all the best games and apps the Meta Quest Store has to offer. Read our review.