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Kinja Deals

Thursday's Best Deals: Charging Devices, Bluetooth Speakers, Last-Minute Gifts, and More

By
Erica Offutt

Charging devices, popular Bluetooth speakers, and a bunch of last-minute gift ideas kick off today’s best deals.

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Top Tech Deals

Whether you know someone who just bought an iPhone X or 8, or if you need a gift for someone who’s been an Android user for years, wireless charging pads are one of the hottest gifts of the year.

This RAVPower fast charging pad is actually The Verge’s pick for best one you can buy. Even at today’s all-time low $33, it’s more expensive than others we’ve seen, but that’s largely due to the fact that it includes a Quick Charge 3.0 wall charger, ensuring all Qi-compatible phones will receive the fastest possible charge. Just note that iPhones won’t be able to take full advantage of that speed.

As part of the same Amazon Gold Box deal, you can also snag a massive 26,800mAh battery pack for the same price. It doesn’t have advanced features like Quick Charge or USB-C, but that’s a great price-per-mAh ratio.

With 5% back on all Amazon purchases, you should probably have one of Amazon’s credit cards anyway. Now though, they’re boosting that to 15% on a variety of Samsung TVs, and 10% on some drool-worthy LG OLED TVs. If you don’t already have a card, you can apply at either of those links for instant approval, and use the card immediately, without waiting for it to physically arrive in the mail.

All of the included TVs would definitely be categorized as high end, but all of the models I checked would be down to all-time low prices on Amazon after accounting for the cash back bonus. The Samsungs are all QLED sets, which use Quantum Dots to mimic the black levels of OLED, while the LGs are the real deal, though the cashback bonus is less generous.

Note: Just be sure when you order that you’re getting them shipped and sold by Amazon.com, not a third party seller. Third party sellers aren’t eligible for this promotion.

If your home network has more holes than Swiss cheese, Netgear’s Nighthawk R6700 features beamforming, USB ports, and up to 1750 Mbps maximum throughput, meaning it’s more than enough router for most homes. You can save an additional $10 by clipping the on-page coupon, which brings it down to just $90.

Everyone should keep an inverter in their glove box for powering laptops and other electronics in the car, and you can choose from three discounted options from Aukey today. Just be sure to note the promo codes.

Whether you need a small card for a dash cam, or a ton of space for Nintendo Switch games and 4K GoPro footage, these Samsung microSD cards down to their lowest prices in all four of the capacities listed below.

The 12W Anker SoundCore and SoundCore 2 are the most popular Bluetooth speakers we’ve ever posted, but Anker turned things to 11 with the SoundCore Boost and SoundCore Pro, and both are on sale for about $40 today.

Update: The SoundCore Pro sold out, sorry!

The new SoundCore Pro features two full range drivers and two tweeters with a combined 25W of audio output, all pretty unique features in a portable Bluetooth speaker. Even with all that power, you still get 18 hours of battery life, and IPX4 splash resistance too. Just be sure to clip the $60 (!!) coupon on the product page to get it for $39.

The more portable SoundCore Boost is also on sale for $40 with promo code XMASBD99. This one is closer in size to the original SoundCores, but it boasts 20W of power, IPX5 water resistance, and even a bass boosting button. The battery on it is smaller though, so you’ll only get 12 hours on a charge, which is still pretty great by most Bluetooth speaker standards.

The SoundCore’s headlining feature is its 24 hour battery life, and in my experience, that’s a conservative estimate. It also packs in dual 6W drivers for room-filling sound, and looks pretty great to boot. It’s been mostly selling for $30 lately, but you can get it for a stocking stuffer-friendly $24 today, no code needed.

The Kindle Voyage probably isn’t worth it for most readers at $200—not when you can purchase a very good Kindle Paperwhite for $100—but it’s worth your consideration at $120.

I own a Voyage, and I have to say, the pressure-sensitive page-turning “buttons” on the bezels are a pretty nice luxury that you won’t find on the Paperwhite. The glass front and ambient light sensor are definitely worthwhile improvements too. They’re all little things, but they add up to a reading experience that feels more natural, and a little bit less computerized.

For a limited time, Amazon’s marking refurbs of the Voyage down to $120. That’s $80 less than buying it new, and about $50 less than the usual refurb price as well. Plus, you still get the same 1-year warranty that you’d get with a new Kindle, so there’s hardly any downside to going this route.

Extra hard drive space is a great gift for a family member who’s bad about backing up their files, or someone who just needs more space to store PS4 and Xbox One games, and $99 is a fantastic price for a 4TB portable drive.

You can also double your storage for just $50 more, though this model requires a power cord.

It’s a matter of taste, but some might say that the new, cheaper Nest Thermostat E is even nicer looking than the original, while still packing in almost all of the original model’s features. It’s a bargain at its usual $170, but today you can get it for $130 from Verizon.

Update: The SoundBuds Curve aren’t discounted anymore, but the rest of the headphones sales are still going strong.

Even if you already have a good set of Bluetooth earbuds, it never hurts to have a spare for your gym bag or luggage, especially when you can get them for this cheap. Three different styles of Anker’s popular SoundBuds are on sale today, all for $26 or less. The Slims are great for general use, the Curves are ideal for exercise, and the SoundBuds Life boast a whopping 20 hours of battery life. You can’t go wrong with any of them.

Anker’s reader-favorite PowerLine charging cables have blossomed into an entire line of different products, and it hasn’t always been clear which one was the best:

  • PowerLine - The original. Rubber-wrapped, and kevlar-reinforced.
  • PowerLine+ - The same, but wrapped in Nylon for added durability, less tangling, and a better feel.
  • PowerLine II - A more durable version of the original, and backed by a lifetime warranty, but without the benefits of nylon wrapping.

That confusion can now become a thing of the past, because they’ve combined the best of all of their cables into the new PowerLine+ II, and you can save on the 6' Lightning version today for the first time ever. It’s incredibly durable, it’s wrapped in nylon, and it comes with a lifetime warranty, meaning it’s probably the last Lightning cable you’ll ever have to buy. Get it in black or red today for $12, or about $6 less than usual, no promo code required.

It’s not hard to find good deals on VPN subscriptions, but our readers’ favorite service, Private Internet Access, hardly ever goes on sale. This is the holiday shopping season though, so for a limited time, you can sign up for two years of the service for just $60, down from its usual $70. That’s just $2.50 per month to protect your browsing data, get around video geoblocks, circumvent proxy filters, and more.

Top Home Deals

Nespresso Essenza Mini | $60 | Amazon

You could spend a lot of money to buy a 40 pound behemoth that made slightly better coffee, sure, but if Nespresso is good enough for Boris Diaw, it’s probably good enough for you.

The Nespresso Essenza Mini still achieves 19 bars of pressure, well above the 15 you really need for decent espresso, and it does it while only taking up a small sliver of counter space. This model (designed by Breville) usually sells for over $100, and $60 is easily an all-time low. We briefly saw it for $75 on Black Friday, and we thought that was a great deal.

Update: Now down to $48, which is actually cheaper than it was on Black Friday.

If you don’t own a pressure cooker, today’s a great day to fix that. The newest, pint-sized 3Qt Instant Pot Mini wants a permanent home on your kitchen counter, and it’s $10 off once again, if you missed out on a bevy of Black Friday discounts.

Perfectly sized for any apartment, this is also our readers’ favorite slow cooker, and one of their favorite rice cookers too. To put a fine point on it: It’s one of the most versatile kitchen gadgets you can own. Even if you already have one, I don’t need to tell you that these make great gifts, so this is a great deal for procrastinators.

This Lucid mattress and mattress topper sale is the deal of your dreams, with mattress toppers starting at just $33, going up to a $143 3-inch memory foam topper for queen-sized toppers.

In addition to the toppers, Amazon has double discounted the mattresses included in the Gold Box when you clip the 15% off coupon. Those start at just $66 and 6-inch thick, to a plush 14-inch thick mattress, starting at $238. Just remember, you won’t be able to see the 15% off until checkout.

You can extend the life of your about-to-go-bad herbs by repurposing them into their dried forms or DIY jerky with a food dehydrator.

Using low heat (100 to 160 degrees) to draw out moisture, a dehydrator can really save you money by allowing you to make your own dried herbs, jerky, mushrooms, fruit rolls, soup mixes, potpourri, and more.

This Hamilton Beach dehydrator is normally $60 but you can take it home for just $49 today, so get yourself one before this deal dries up.

Typically selling around $150, you can start cooking in the small-kitchen-friendly model of our readers’ favorite toaster oven, the Breville Mini Smart Oven for $122. It’s at the cheapest price it’s been since October, so if you’ve been thinking about it, today is a good day to pull the trigger.

I bought a similar model on Black Friday and am obsessed with it. But, you don’t have to take my word for it, here’s what our readers love about it:

Simply the best toaster oven you can get without buying a commercial convection oven. Since buying it we only use the big oven for Thanksgiving. Heats up quick, and 100 times more even than that POS you had in college. - SteveG

 

Fifty cents away from its lowest price ever, this AmazonBasics 16-piece dinnerware set is just $22, and probably way nicer than the beat-up set you’ve been using since you moved out of your parents house. It includes enough for plates, bowls, and mugs for 4 people, and is, of course, microwave and dishwasher safe.

Throw out that gross cookware set you’ve been hanging on to for way too long and upgrade to one of these two discounted T-fal sets today. There’s a nonstick 12-piece set for just $59, the lowest price ever we’ve seen since July, and a Tri-ply stainless steel set for just $105, down $45 from its usual price.

The nonstick set is made of hard anodized aluminum which means it’s built to last and won’t warp. The stainless steel set features tri-ply technology, which means it has an even and rapid-heating aluminum core, and a beautiful stainless exterior, all sandwiched together to create the ultimate cookware set. Happy cooking!

If you need a last minute gift for anyone who already owns Philips Hue lights, you could do a lot worse than a spare Hue bulb for $40, or $10 less than usual. These were available for $32 around Black Friday for a few days, but otherwise, $40 is about as cheap as they ever get.

If you aren’t happy with your current vacuum, Bissell’s 9595A has a great 4.1 star review average on over 10,000 reviews, and Amazon will sell you one for just $60, today only. That’d be a good price for a barebones stick vacuum, but it’s a great price for one that includes an accessory hose with its own rotating brush.

Just note that this is a Gold Box deal, meaning this price is only available today, or until sold out.

These memory foam dog beds feature 4" of solid memory foam with a removable cover so it’s easy to clean. They have a two color options of large beds for $83, and one medium bed for $49, a 30% discount from their usual prices. This deal will only last though the end of the day or until the product sells out, so if you’re interested, keep this deal on a tight leash.

Buy this 270-count bottle of Aleve for just $6 (after $3 coupon) now, place in an easy-to-find spot, and you won’t have to painfully scramble around trying to find some to treat your post-holiday, hangover-induced headaches. You can thanks us later.

Note: It’s an add-on item, so it will ship with qualifying $25+ orders and the $3 discount won’t show up until checkout.

Update: Baking cups are now up to $9, but scissors and scraper are still discounted.

You can stuff the stocking of the chef in your life with these AmazonBasics kitchen gadgets, all $8 or less. These highly-rated $5 kitchen shears haven’t been this cheap since March, the $8 scraper is great for cleaning dough off any surface, and we posted a 12-pack of these silicone baking cups a week or so ago, this 24-pack is at an all-time-low price.

You don’t need to pay hundreds of dollars and fine an electrician to install cool lights over your kitchen sink: You just need $15. These OxyLED lights can stick to anything via adhesive or magnetic plates, and the included remote is also magnetized to stick to your fridge.

These self-sustaining EcoSpheres are the coolest and easiest pet you can have. The hand-blown glass containers are closed, balanced, ecosystems, which means it contains everything the shrimp, algae, and microorganisms need to survive thrive, so you don’t have to do a thing. Today’s $44 price tags on the small sphere and pod are the cheapest these have been all year, and the medium sphere normally sells for $140, but is just $125 today. These would make an interesting gift, and an educational tool for the kiddos.

You’ve heard of Automatic’s smart driving assistant, but if nearly $100 is too rich for your blood, this cheap OBD2 dongle connects to any iPhone or Android device over Wi-Fi, and can fulfill many of the same functions using various third party apps.

Update: If you were having trouble with promo code N3PVY69Q yesterday, it should be working now.

The most obvious use case here is understanding and clearing check engine codes, but these things give you access to pretty much all of the sensor data in your vehicle, at a much more granular level than you’d get from all of the symbols in your instrument cluster.

Amazon’s back at it again with the sample boxes, and their newest one includes six or more home goods samples from a variety of brands. And as always, you’ll get the $10 you spend on the box back in the form of an Amazon credit that you can spend on more home goods from this selection, meaning the samples themselves are basically free.

You’re not guaranteed to get any particular item here, but my fingers would be crossed for the seven ounce jar of coconut oil. That stuff’s not cheap, and it’s the secret to making movie theater-style popcorn.

Buying headlight bulbs for your car before you need them will save you an inconvenient (and if it’s at night or raining, potentially illegal) trip to the auto parts store, and with this $5 Amazon coupon, you might as well stock up.

Philips CrystalVision bulbs are the brightest bulbs offered, and come in tons of different sizes to fit most vehicles. Just note that you won’t see the $5 discount until checkout, and don’t forget to do a little Googling to make sure you’re getting the right set.

Sugru is right up there with binder clips and the Raspberry Pi in Lifehacker’s pantheon of must-have gear, and you can stock up today with four black and four white packs from Amazon for just $11, the best price Amazon’s ever listed.

If you have any flights on the horizon, this discounted Southwest gift card can make your ticket just a little bit cheaper. The best part is that even if you book the lowest fares, you can always change them with no penalty, and even cancel for a refund in the form of a 1-year voucher.

Top Lifestyle Deals

The TRX Suspension Trainer kit can give you a full body workout in your house without the space commitment of an actual home gym, and Amazon’s marked it down to an all-time low $100, today only. If you have any fitness-focused new year’s resolutions starting soon, this will give you a fighting chance to actually achieve them.

Funny story: The last time it was this cheap? 12/21/16.

The new Philiips Sonicare AirFloss is a better way to clean between your teeth, and (hopefully) one you’re less likely to forget about. Just fill it with water or mouthwash, position the tip between your teeth, and hit a button, and between 1-3 high pressure bursts will rinse out all of the grime between your teeth, no floss required.

For a limited time, Amazon’s offering it for $35 when you clip the $10 coupon, which is just $2 shy of an all-time low. So go order yours now, and impress your dentist at your next appointment.

There must be something in the air, because J.Crew Factory has had major discounts lately. Use the code FIFTY and take an extra 50% off all clearance items, which is insane seeing as practically everything is already marked down under $100. Spend the extra money you saved from using Kinja Deals to buy gifts for everyone else, and get yourself something nice.

It’s your lucky day, because Nordstrom Rack is discounting a ton of Lucky Brand jeans, tops, and outerwear, including extended sizes. Plus, they’re also marking down shoes and men’s styles as well. Everything is up to 70% off, so you can score jeans for a steal. No four leaf clover required.

Look, I’m not judging you on the fact that you’re buying gifts less than a week before Christmas, but here we are. Amazon has a great watch sale, with brands like Casio, Nixon, Daniel Wellington, Timex, and more for to help you not have an “Oh shit” moment come the night of the 24th. But time’s a-tickin’ on this deal and these prices only last until the end of the day.

$12 is a pretty good price for any typical nose and ear hair trimmer. But this one from Panasonic incorporates a tiny vacuum cleaner to grab your hairs so they don’t go all over the bathroom. It would make a great, if somewhat passive aggressive stocking stuffer.

If reliability is something you crave in a pair of shoes (if it isn’t, you may need to reconsider), I bet you have Cole Haan in your closet. And if you’re looking for a new pair but don’t want to spend the normal asking price, Cole Haan is taking an extra 30% off their sale section with the code SAVE. Finally get a pair of ZERØGRAND’s (or the newer 2.ZERØGRAND’s) or waterproof boots that you’ll probably need in less than a month.

Get your winter apparel in order with down for $60 and under at Uniqlo. Pick up their down vest for just $40, for men and women, or opt for a full outerwear with their classic Ultra Light Down Jacket for $60, both men and women as well.

Top Media Deals

iTunes gift cards make great last minute gifts for the iPhone owners in your life, and you can save $15 when you spend $100 on digital cards today with promo code ITUNES15. This will work for a single $100 gift card, or multiple cards of smaller denominations, just so long as the total adds up to $100. Just don’t forget that promo code!

Update: Now you can also save $5 on any $50 Google Play gift card purchase with promo code GOOGLE as well.

To appease the whims of some high-level executive that just got a nice tax cut, the new Star Trek Discovery show is only available on CBS’s online streaming service, CBS All Access. That’s really annoying, but this deal makes it slightly more tolerable.

For a limited time, when you sign up for a new CBS All Access account and use promo code BINGE, you’ll get your first month for free, rather than the typical 7 day free trial. That gives you enough time to get caught up on the first half of Discovery’s first season before the show returns on January 7.

Humble’s new sci-fi & fantasy ebook bundle has enough reading material to last you for months, if not longer. 26 books are split across four different price tiers, the most expensive of which unlocks at just $18. Titans of sci-fi like Octavia Butler and Robert McCammon are well represented here, as is Timothy Zahn’s incredibly creepy Soulminder, just for starters. As always, you can name your own price, and a portion of the proceeds will go to charity.

You can expand your business knowledge with these discounts on business and money-related Kindle books today, all $5 or under. They have the story of the creators of Barbie for just $2, books to help you get your side hustle off the ground, and tips on how to get a little richer. These sales normally don’t last long, so acquire what you need before this deal is shuttered.

Texture is a service that promises to be the Netflix of magazines, offering you full access to over 200 titles on your phone or tablet. If you’ve been curious to try it out, Prime members can get your first three months for $10 total on Amazon, today only, compared to its usual $10 per month.

It’s the end of the year, which hopefully means that you have some downtime to relax and get some reading done. To celebrate the occasion, Comixology is running four different sales through the new year on hundreds of digital comics, so you can fill up your devices with enough reading material to last you until Infinity War comes out.

If learning to code is on your 2018 new year’s resolution lists, the latest Humble Ebook Bundle is a must-buy. Pay what you want for nearly 20 different DRM-free ebooks, with some available for as little as $1. You’ll unlock all four tiers starting at $18, and a portion of the proceeds will go to charity too.

And in case you missed it last week, you can still get Humble’s Maker Skill Builder ebook bundle, with a ton of titles from Make:.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail is the greatest work in the history of filmmaking that included a killer rabbit, and its 40th anniversary Blu-ray is just $5 today as an Add-On item on Amazon. I’m not sure if they’ll string it between a couple of swallows to get it to you faster, but it should arrive before Christmas if you have Prime, in any event.

Top Gaming Deals

We thought the days of $40 PlayStation Plus sales were behind us, but lo, here it is once again. If your membership is due to expire soon, or hell, even if it isn’t, you’ll want to take advantage of this.

If you have any kids (or large adult Nerf gun lovers) left on your holiday shopping list, Amazon’s pushing out one last big toy sale for the holidays, with discounts on action figures, board games, and more. Just remember that these prices are only available today, or until sold out.

Black Friday’s most popular PlayStation VR bundle is finally back in stock for the same $349 we saw during Deals Week. That gets you the headset, the camera, two Move controllers, and a copy of Skyrim. Just remember that if you take an arrow to the knee, it’s not actually real.

Update: Now down to $60!

The Switch Pro controller isn’t just one of the best ways to control your Nintendo Switch, it might be one of the best gamepads ever made, period. There have been a few slightly better promo code-based discounts on it recently, but $61 is the best deal Amazon’s offered to date, and it’ll arrive before Christmas if you have Prime.

Final Fantaxy XII: The Zodiac Age is a great remake for JRPG fans, whether you played the original or not, and Amazon just marked it down to $25, the best price we’ve ever seen. Be sure to check out Kotaku’s review if you want to know more.

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