With the Super Bowl around the corner and the weather still freezing in most of the northern hermisphere, now is a great time to snag some home entertainment products to help you make it through until the grass starts growing again. This week we’ve found excellent discounts on the best TVs, soundbars, headphones, and some other favorite tech.
Interested in venturing outside? Check out our list of great camera gear on sale right now.
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TV Deals
LG C1 OLED
Photograph: LGWith a 120-Hz refresh rate and super-low input lag, the LG C1 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is the best-looking TV I’ve ever used to play video games. It also has perfect black levels, a very easy-to-use interface, and a remote that you can point and click like the Wiimotes of old. It’s the prettiest screen I’ve seen for the price.
If you don’t need a mammoth screen, this is a solid deal on a very decent Samsung. It has the company’s quantum dot panel for brighter colors and comes with the proprietary image processing to make sports look smoother. It also has Google Assistant and Alexa built in.
You buy a Sony TV for great processing, and that’s what you get with this X85J model. It has a 120-Hz refresh rate for smooth sports and gaming, and Sony’s 4K X-Reality Pro engine upscales standard HD content to look prettier on the 4K panel.
Do you also hate that most TVs come with legs way off on either side, thus making your existing TV stand useless? The Q80A is a great TV that comes with a center pedestal stand, so it’ll fit on legacy furniture.
Sony makes the prettiest TVs that money can buy, and this OLED model is no exception. If you want a TV to use in a small viewing space, or if you want an additional monitor to stream videos and games, this is an excellent choice, even at the still-hefty price for its size. A center pedestal stand makes it easier to place than other models.
Headphone and Speaker Deals
Apple AirPods Max
Photograph: AppleThe AirPods Max are the best sounding wireless headphones I’ve ever heard. Typically, they come with a hefty price to match, but this weekend they very nearly approach what you’d pay for a similar (but worse-sounding) model from Sony or Bose. If you’ve been waiting to snag a pair, now’s a good time.
The new AirPods Pro are the same as the old ones (8/10, WIRED Recommends), but they now come with a MagSafe charging case, which makes them better for those of us who break cables. They’re currently the cheapest I’ve seen them, which makes it a good time to buy nicer AirPods if your older pair is starting to have super short battery life.
In the market for a pair of noise-canceling earbuds? This new model from Sony (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is a bit bulky—I’d avoid if you have smaller ears—but they offer the best noise reduction I’ve ever heard from a pair of earbuds. Pop them in, and the rest of the world will disappear.
I like the Alexa-enabled Polk Audio React (8/10, WIRED Recommends) because it’s a modular soundbar system. You can start with this bar, then add a subwoofer or surround speakers down the line, as room or budget allows. The Alexa functionality is also great for setting timers and for checking the weather before you step outside.
Everyone needs a soundbar, and this one is very cheap. The wireless subwoofer will make all your favorite shows and movies come to life, and it means this thing is not awful for playing dance music or karaoke.
Sennheiser’s hyper-expensive Ambeo soundbar is a single thick speaker array that is capable of filling even large rooms with high-fidelity sound. It’s also one of the spendiest single-unit soundbars that money can buy, which is why a $500 discount like this one is worth noting. If you’re in the midst of a remodel and have the budget, this bar sounds nearly as good as a dedicated surround sound system but in a much sleeker package.
It’s not the steepest discount, but I’ve fallen in love with these little speakers from Sony. They’re about the size of a beer can, and they allow you to bring your favorite songs with you, thanks to an IP67 dust- and water-resistance rating and 16 hours of battery life.
Computing and Home Deals
iRobot Roomba J7+
Photograph: iRobotRoomba makes the best robot vacuums, and its self-emptying models have been the only ones we’ve found that actually work as advertised. It’s still spendy at this price, but if you are tired of vacuuming, a robot vacuum like this one will be a godsend—take it from someone who owns two dogs.
We’re big fans of the M1 Macbook Air (9/10, WIRED Recommends.) Even at $50 off, it’s a worthwhile buy for those who need a very powerful portable computer with excellent battery life. This deal is also available at Micro Center for an even steeper discount, if you can pick it up in person.
Still spending hours on Zoom calls each week? Consider increasing your audio quality with a mic like this Blue Yeti X, which comes in a sleek black color and will seriously up how good you sound to your peers.
Slow internet has been a struggle for many of us throughout the pandemic, and this Orbi mesh router system from Netgear is our favorite solution for larger homes. It’s rated for homes up to 5,000 square feet.
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