Happy Saturday, friends! This week, Best Buy kicked off its so-called “winter sale,” introducing a whole slew of price drops ranging from not so good to legitimately great, at least for this time of year. We’ll post plenty of highlights in a dedicated news article tomorrow, although as usual, not all of this week’s best deals revolve around Best Buy. Apple’s M4 Mac Mini, for example, is $100 off at Amazon and B&H Photo, while LG’s 65-inch C5 OLED TV is on sale on eBay for just over a thousand dollars. There are also big savings to be had on 45W power banks, the Beats Fit Pro and more, so let’s dive in.
If you want a Mac and your budget is under $500, your only real option — aside from going the refurbished route or buying a model that’s several generations old — is Apple’s latest Mac Mini. Fortunately, the desktop machine makes a great daily driver, currently on sale at Amazon and B&H Photo with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage starting at $499 ($100), just $20 off its Black Friday low and about $30 off its best price yet.
For most people, the Mac Mini 2024 is a much better (and more economical) choice than the latest Mac Studio. The little M4-powered machine offers excellent value even at full price, with three Thunderbolt 4 (USB 4) ports, a Gigabit Ethernet jack, a 3.5mm audio input, and an HDMI port. Its 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU deliver fast, consistent performance for a wide range of tasks; however, keep in mind that you will need to bring your own monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
Read our full Mac Mini (2024) review.
Last year we saw a wave of power bank recalls, including those from Anker and ESR. I replaced one of my aging Anker models during this time with The excellent Carry P51L-E2 from Iniuwhich is on sale at Amazon for the low price of $18.86 (about $21 off) at checkout.
The 20,000 mAh power bank isn’t particularly fancy, although it produces up to 45W of power and has a built-in braided USB-C cable that doubles as a lanyard. You also get an additional USB-C and USB-A port, allowing you to connect your phone, tablet, a pair of wireless headphones, and other small electronic devices simultaneously. Now, if only Iniu could have squeezed the extra battery capacity into a charger as compact and colorful as the like-minded Pocket Rocket P50. That’s life.
Arguably the best TV deal you can find this weekend would be for the 65-inch Bravia 8 II, which is still hovering around $2,398 (over $1,000 off) at several retailers, including Amazon. But not everyone has that much money to spend on buying an OLED panel, making the current discount on The LG C5 more attractive. Through January 20, you can buy LG’s 65-inch OLED TV on eBay for $1,197.59 ($1,502 off) when you use the code. FAVEFINDS20 at the checkout.
Like previous C Series models, the C5 is all about value. The 4K set delivers the deep black levels and contrast that OLEDs are known for, and it features LG’s AI Picture Pro, which analyzes what you’re watching and adjusts brightness, resolution, and other settings to improve clarity. It also has a host of gaming-friendly features, including a 120Hz refresh rate, support for AMD FreeSync Premium and Nvidia G-Sync, and four HDMI 2.1 ports, letting you play current-gen titles in 4K at up to 120fps. It is complemented by HDR10 and Dolby Vision support, further improving color and contrast.
Having now used both the Beats Fit Pro and the new Powerbeats Fit as part of my weekly workout regime, I can tell you with absolute certainty that there is little difference between the two – well, other than the fact that the Powerbeats Fit is $199.95 and the latest generation. Beats Fit Pro are on sale at Woot in select colors for $89.99 ($110 off) through January 31. Beats’ latest workout headphones also have a smaller charging case and more flexible wing tips, I suppose, but with the Fit Pro you still get solid noise cancellation, good sound, and all the Apple ecosystem tricks you’d expect for less than half the price.
Read our full Beats Fit Pro review.
More ways to save this weekend
- Elgato Stream Deck Plus matches its all-time low at Amazon, Best Buy, and B&H Photo, where you can grab it for $159.99 ($40 off) for a limited time. Like the standard Stream Deck, the Plus model comes with a host of large programmable LCD keys – eight, in this case – that you can use to automate various tasks on your computer or control various smart home devices. The Plus does, however, come with some nice add-ons, including four buttons for making finer adjustments and a narrow touchscreen at the bottom for viewing information at a glance. Read our review.
- If you’re a modern gamer with a soft spot for the Sega Genesis, 8BitDo M30 Bluetooth Controller has dropped to an all-time low of $20.98 ($4 off) at Amazon in an ongoing lightning deal. The inexpensive, retro-style gamepad features a similar layout to Sega’s iconic controller, except that it comes with Bluetooth, 20 hours of battery life, and built-in buttons for quick home screen access and screenshots. It also works with a handful of platforms, including Nintendo Switch, Windows, Mac, and Android.
- Speaking of gaming, The week-long Detective Fest on Steam is scheduled to end at 1 p.m. ET on Monday, January 19. That means this weekend is one of your last chances to grab a copy of The case of the golden idol ($8.99), Disco Elysée ($9.99), The Blake Mansion Session ($14.99), Strange horticulture ($6.39), or candidate for GOTY 2025, Blue Prince ($19.79), with a significant discount.
Source | domain www.theverge.com
