Presidents’ Day sales are usually more focused on appliances, mattresses and home goods than consumer tech, and that’s the case again in 2024. That said, if you’re looking for a new gadget, we’ve managed to pick out a few tech deals that are actually worth considering. Apple’s AirPods Max are $100 off, for instance, while Anker’s Soundcore Space A40, our favorite set of budget earbuds, is down to $59. The highly-rated Samsung S90C OLED TV is about $200 cheaper than usual, and Microsoft’s Xbox Series S console is on sale for $220. We’re also seeing good discounts on ASUS’ ROG Ally gaming handheld, Samsung’s Evo Select microSD card and Apple gift cards. Here are the best Presidents’ Day 2024 sales on tech we could find.
Best Presidents’ Day sales on headphones
The Soundcore Space A40 is back down to $59 at Amazon, which is $5 more than these earphones’ all-time low but $20 off their typical street price. The Space A40 is the top pick in our guide to the best budget wireless earbuds, as it offers strong active noise cancellation (ANC), a lightweight design, multi-device pairing and wireless charging at a bargain price. While it’s not as detailed as the absolute best true wireless earbuds we’ve tested, its mildly bass-boosted profile should sound pleasant to most. Reliable touch controls and a solid eight hours of battery life also help, though there’s no wear detection and the built-in mic isn’t great.
The Apple AirPods Max are on sale for $450 at Amazon and Best Buy. That’s not an all-time low, but it takes about $50 off the wireless headphones’ usual street price. It’s also $100 less than buying from Apple directly. The AirPods Max isn’t an official pick in our wireless headphone buying guide, as even with this discount it’s too expensive to recommend widely. That said, it’s one of the cleaner sounding wireless headphones we’ve tested, its aluminum frame looks and feels premium and its ANC is still among the strongest available. It has all the usual AirPods conveniences, too: fast pairing with other Apple devices, Find My tracking, hands-free Siri and so on. It’s heavier than most over-ear pairs, however, and its included case is barely protective. Nevertheless, if you’re an Apple diehard who is willing to pay a premium, they may be worthwhile. We gave the AirPods Max a review score of 84 back in late 2020.
If you want a slightly more affordable set of noise-canceling over-ears, the Bose QuietComfort Headphones are back down to $249 at Amazon, Walmart and other retailers. That equals their all-time low and comes in $100 below Bose’s list price. While we haven’t formally reviewed this pair, it’s a very close follow-up to the older Bose QuietComfort 45, which we generally liked. That means it should feel light and cushy to wear and provide effective ANC for most use cases. Unlike many pairs, you can adjust the intensity of that ANC, and the design uses physical control buttons instead of touch inputs. It can also pair with two devices at once. Some reviews suggest that it has a more bass-heavy sound than the older model, however. Sony’s WH-1000XM5 will still be a better choice for most, but that pair is currently available for $328, which isn’t significantly cheaper than the usual prices we’ve seen over the last few months.
Best Presidents’ Day sales on TVs
The 55-inch Samsung S90C OLED TV is down to $1,298 at Amazon, tying the price we saw for much of the holiday season last year. Best Buy has it for $2 more. Either way, this is $200 to $300 less than the set’s typical street price since December. It’s still pricey, but the S90C has earned widespread praise from reviewers for offering a premium image. Its QD-OLED panel provides the high contrast and wide viewing angles you’d expect from an upper-end OLED TV but includes a layer of quantum dots improve brightness and color performance. This means it should hold up better than most traditional OLEDs in a room with the lights on. It has four HDMI 2.1 ports that can reach a 144Hz refresh rate, so its picture should be responsive for gaming as well. The big downside is that there’s no Dolby Vision, which is generally regarded as the best-looking HDR format, though content using HDR10, HDR10+ or HLG should still come off well.
Best Presidents’ Day sales on gaming gear
The 8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard is down to $85.49 at Amazon, which is a new low and nearly $15 off its typical price. We previously highlighted this tenkeyless keyboard in our retro gaming gift guide. This deal applies to the “Fami” edition of the board, which looks like it could slot in right next to Nintendo’s old Famicom console. Another version that’s more in line with the North American NES is also on sale for $90.
That vintage styling is the main appeal here, but the keyboard itself is perfectly solid. Though it’s made from plastic, it neither looks nor feels cheap, and its PBT keycaps are crisp. It can connect over Bluetooth, a 2.4GHz wireless dongle or a detachable USB-C cable, plus it comes with a fun pair of macro-programmable “Super Buttons” that resemble a jumbo NES pad. The main negative is that it’s only available with one switch type (the clicky Kailh Box White V2), which is generally comfortable but makes a higher-pitched sound that won’t be pleasant to everyone. (Those switches are hot-swappable, however.) 8BitDo’s app doesn’t work on macOS, either, and there are more featured options for gaming. As a whole, though, this is a nice value for those seeking a blast of nostalgia.
Both Target and Microsoft have the Xbox Series S “Starter Bundle” on sale for $220. We’ve seen a handful of deals on Microsoft’s entry-level game console over the past year, but this is still an $80 discount and one of the better prices we’ve seen. The bundle pairs the 512GB version of the device with a three-month subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which normally goes for $17 per month on its own.
As a reminder, the Series S is the weaker of the two current Xbox consoles, so it’s meant for gaming on 1440p or 1080p displays rather than large 4K TVs. It also lacks a disc drive, and you can’t fully expand its storage without a pricey expansion card. It can play all the same games as the brawnier Xbox Series X (if not all the same modes), however, and the device itself is much smaller. As a cheap secondary console for playing Forza Horizon 5, Halo Infinite and other Xbox games, it’s still a decent value. It’s worth noting that Xbox this week confirmed plans to bring four of its exclusive games to other consoles, though the company reiterated that it has no plans to make all of its first-party titles multiplatform anytime soon.
The ASUS ROG Ally is down to $600 at Best Buy, a $100 discount that matches the all-time low for this configuration with AMD’s Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor. This is the top Windows pick in our guide to the best gaming handhelds. If offers higher performance modes than the Steam Deck, so it’s a bit more capable with graphically demanding games, and it provides easier access to non-Steam storefronts like the Xbox app and Epic Games Store. And while it doesn’t have an OLED display, its LCD panel has a variable refresh rate up to 120Hz, which keeps games looking smooth.
We still think the Deck is better for most, as Valve’s software experience is much better-suited to a handheld design than Windows 11. The Ally has worse battery life, too — expect it to tap out after a couple of hours, if not fewer. But if you can put up with some UI quirks and want to play PC games from stores besides Steam on the go, there’s fun to be had here.
The Corsair Virtuoso Pro is on sale for $141 at Amazon and Best Buy, which is a $59 discount and a new low. This is an honorable mention in our guide to the best gaming headsets. It stands out for having an open-back design, which gives it a more open and spacious sound than most gaming-specific pairs we’ve tested. It has a better boom mic than our top pick, the also-open-back Astro A40, so it’ll make your voice sound clearer in party chat. The A40 still has a slight edge in terms of sound quality, and like all open-back pairs the Virtuoso Pro does a poor job of blocking outside noise, so it’s not ideal in a noisy room. If you don’t need a built-in mic, a good set of traditional wired headphones will sound better as well. But if you want an all-in-one option for gaming, this is one of the better headsets we’ve tried, and it’s a much easier sell when it’s discounted to this extent.
Best Presidents’ Day sales on smartphones and tablets
The 64GB version of Amazon’s Fire HD 10 tablet is on sale for $105, which is $75 off Amazon’s list price. We’ve seen this deal for the much of the last few weeks, but it still represents an all-time low. If you just want a competent tablet for as little cash as possible, this slate might suffice. Its 10.1-inch 1080p display is decently sharp and bright, it gets around 10 hours of battery life and it runs quickly enough for basic streaming and web browsing. You don’t want to push it for much beyond the basics, however, and its plastic chassis is a far cry from an iPad. Plus, Amazon’s Fire OS still saddles you with a limited app selection, lock screen ads and frequent nudges to use Amazon services like Prime Video. If you often use apps like Prime Video or Kindle anyway, though, that may not matter.
It’s worth noting that the 32GB version of the Fire HD 10 is currently available for $10 less, but that’s $15 more than that model’s lowest price. You can expand either device’s storage with a microSD card, but if you don’t want to deal with that, this should be a decent value.
The Google Pixel Fold is still down to $1,399 at Amazon and Best Buy, which ties the largest discount we’ve seen for the unlocked 256GB model. While not cheap, that’s $400 off the foldable phone’s list price. The 512GB model is also $400 off and down to $1,519 at Google’s online store.
We gave the Pixel Fold a score of 85 in our review last June, and it’s now the runner up in our foldable phone buying guide. It has a thinner frame than Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 5, its chief rival, and its 5.8-inch cover display has a shorter and wider aspect ratio, which makes it easier to use like a normal phone when folded. It takes better photos than the Galaxy and OnePlus Open, plus it offers a relatively streamlined version of Android. Both the Galaxy and Open are faster, though, and the former has more vibrant displays. Samsung’s UI is better for multitasking as well, and all foldable phones carry a higher durability risk than traditional handsets. Still, if you’re a Pixel fan who has been thinking about taking the foldable plunge, this deal makes diving in a little more manageable.
Best Presidents’ Day sales on other tech
Amazon has the 512GB version of Samsung’s Evo Select microSD card on sale for $25, matching the lowest price we’ve tracked. Typically, the card retails between $30 and $35. The Evo Select is the “best value” pick in our microSD card buying guide. It’s not as fast as the top cards we’ve tested, particularly in terms of write speeds, but it should be quick enough for most people who just want to add a big chunk of space to a Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck or Android tablet on the cheap.
The Anker 735 Charger is down to $32 at Amazon and Anker’s online store. While not an all-time low, that’s $8 off the wall charger’s usual going rate. This is an older variant of a pick in our guide to the best fast chargers. It comes with two USB-C ports that can each output up to 65W, which is enough power to charge many smartphones and tablets at full speed. It’s also enough to refill some smaller laptops. That power dips when you plug in two devices at once, but you can still get up to 45W on one port and up to 20W on the other in that scenario. There’s a USB-A port for lower-power devices as well, which Anker says can supply up to 22.5W. The device itself is much more compact than most laptop chargers, but be aware that its elongated frame could be a bit too heavy for looser outlets.
The latest Theragun Mini is available for $169 at Best Buy, Target and Theragun’s online store. That’s a $30 discount. The Mini is a compact massage gun we’ve recommended in past gift guides. It’s just over five inches tall and only weighs a pound but packs enough of a wallop to soothe aches and soreness you may feel after working out (or simply existing). Its triangular shape is easy to grip with one hand, and it comes with three speed settings. Battery life is rated at about two hours. There are bigger and more powerful options out there, and no massage gun is a magical cure-all for chronic soreness or poor health habits. They can provide a dash of temporary relief, however, and this particular model should be a compelling option for first-time buyers and frequent travelers.
Target has brought back a promotion that gives you a $10 Target gift card for no extra cost when you buy a digital Apple gift card worth $100 or more. We’ve seen this offer many times before, but if you often shop at Target and plan on buying something Apple-related anyway, it’s effectively free money. For the unaware, you can use an Apple gift card at physical Apple retailers, the App Store and Apple’s online shop, or for subscription services like Apple Music or Apple TV+. Target says this deal will run through February 17 and that the credit should arrive within four hours.
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