Ars Technica
If you’re still looking to snag some good values for your holiday shopping, the Dealmaster is here to help. Leading today’s roundup of the best tech deals we can find is a new low price for the Apple Watch Series 7—it’s currently down to $349 at several retailers, which is $30 less than the previous low and a $50 drop from Apple’s MSRP. Not every color is discounted, but listings at Amazon, Target, and Best Buy all say the device will ship in time for Christmas as of this writing.
The Series 7 is currently the top pick in our guide to the best smartwatches. That’s probably not a shock—the Apple Watch has been recommended by many reviewers for a long time—but all the things that have made it stand above other wearables still apply here. Apple’s watchOS remains head and shoulders above competing platforms in terms of app support and variety. The waterproof design is handsome, durable, and relatively easy to operate. It tracks the requisite health metrics—heart rate, sleep, various exercises, etc.—and runs apps quickly. You can buy a wide variety of alternative watch bands down the road if you want. It largely leaves Android users in the dark, but if you use an iPhone, it’s not outrageous to say that the Series 7 can serve as an effective substitute to your phone, at least in smaller doses.
There’s no major need to upgrade if you own a Series 6, but compared to that model, the Series 7’s big addition is a larger display. It’s only slightly bigger physically, but Apple has also shrunk down the black bezels surrounding the screen. All told, there’s about 20 percent more available screen space for viewing apps and messages; there’s now support for a QWERTY keyboard as well. And while the watch’s battery life is still only OK, lasting roughly a day per charge, it does recharge faster than before. You’ll need a capable power brick, but if you do, you can refill the Series 7 from zero to 100 percent battery in a little over an hour. With prior models, this took about two and half hours.
It’s worth noting that the Apple Watch SE is also on sale today for a more approachable $229, which is only $10 more than the best price we’ve tracked. Compared to the Series 7, the SE most notably lacks an always-on display, which means you’ll have to raise your arm to actually see the time, notifications, and the like. There’s also no support for more advanced health tracking tools like blood oxygen monitoring and electrocardiogram (ECG) functionality. And as noted above, the screen is slightly smaller, while charging speeds are a bit slower. Still, the SE is a good bit cheaper, and at its core it does the vast majority of things that make any Apple Watch appealing. It’s likely the best value in the current Apple Watch lineup; the Series 7 is just the better product overall.
If you aren’t looking to buy a new smartwatch, though, our deals roundup has plenty more offers of note, including a “buy one, get one 15 percent off” deal on various gaming gift cards at Target, a couple of deals on recommended board games in Coup and Mysterium, solid price drops on Apple’s AirPods Pro and other noise-canceling headphones we like, a new low on the Lord of the Rings trilogy 4K Blu-ray set, and much more. You can find our whole curated list below.
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Corey Gaskin
Featured deals of the day
- Apple Watch Series 7 (41mm) smartwatch for $349 (
$390) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy (45mm for $379) - Apple Watch SE (40mm) smartwatch for $229 (
$270) at Amazon, Target, Walmart - Apple AirPods Pro wireless ANC earphones for $179 (
$196) at Amazon, Target, Walmart - $100 Apple Gift Card + $10 Target Gift Card for $100 (
$110) at Target - Buy one, get one 15% off sale on Nintendo eShop, PlayStation, and Xbox gift cards at Target
- Coup board game for $6 (
$10) at Amazon (clip $1.40 coupon) - Mysterium board game for $22 (
$35) at Amazon - Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch) for $40 (
$50) at Target, Best Buy - The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (4K Ultra HD + Digital) for $53 (
$75) at Amazon - Philips Hue White (2-pack) A19 smart LED bulb for $15 (
$30) at Best Buy
Jeff Dunn
Electronic deals
Jeff Dunn
Valentina Palladino
Corey Gaskin
Samuel Axon
Laptop and desktop PC deals
- Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 laptop for $700 (
$850) at Best Buy—Core i5-1135G7, 14-inch 1080p, 12GB RAM, 512GB SSD - Lenovo Yoga 6 2-in-1 laptop for $550 (
$725) at Best Buy—Ryzen 5 5500U, 13.3-inch 1080p, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD - Razer Blade 14 gaming laptop for $2,001 (
$2,200) at Microsoft—Ryzen 9 5900HX, 14-inch 1440p 165 Hz, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD - Apple Mac Mini (2020) desktop PC for $570 (
$650) at Amazon, Costco—Apple M1, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD - WD Black SN850 (1TB NVMe) PCIe Gen 4 internal SSD for $145 (
$175) at Newegg (code: SSAZA525) - Samsung SSD 980 (1TB NVMe) PCIe Gen 3 internal SSD for $100 (
$120) at B&H (discount in cart) - Samsung 980 Pro (1TB NVMe) PCIe Gen 4 internal SSD for $160 (
$185) at B&H (discount in cart)
Sam Machkovech
TV, media streamer, and home entertainment deals
- The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (4K Ultra HD + Digital) for $53 (
$75) at Amazon - Google Chromecast with Google TV 4K media streamer for $40 (
$50) at Target, Best Buy, Walmart - Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max media streamer for $35 (
$50) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy - Roku Ultra 4K media streamer for $69 (
$80) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy - Nvidia Shield TV Pro 4K media streamer for $180 (
$200) at Amazon, Best Buy - Hisense U6G (2021) 55-inch 4K TV for $450 (
$520) at Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart - Hisense U7G (2021) 55-inch 4K TV for $600 (
$725) at Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart
Corey Gaskin
Video game deals
Nintendo
- It Takes Two (PS4, Xbox) for $20 (
$30) at Target, Best Buy, Walmart (also on Game Pass) - Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (PS5, PS4, Xbox) for $15 (
$30) at GameStop - Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age (PS4, Xbox) for $15 (
$20) at Best Buy, GameStop - Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (PS5) for $50 (
$65) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy - The Last of Us Part II (PS4) for $20 (
$30) at Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart - Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS5) for $30 (
$45) at Amazon, Best Buy - Life is Strange: True Colors (PS5, PS4, Xbox) for $30 (
$55) at Amazon, GameStop
Ubisoft
Gaming deals
Valentina Palladino
Accessories and miscellaneous deals
- $100 Apple Gift Card + $10 Target Gift Card for $100 (
$110) at Target - Tile Mate (2022) Bluetooth tracker for $18 (
$22) at Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart - Tile Mate (2022) + Tile Slim (2022) Bluetooth trackers for $40 (
$54) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy - Philips Hue White (2-pack) A19 smart LED bulb for $15 (
$30) at Best Buy - Apple Pencil (1st gen) iPad stylus for $80 (
$90) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy - Apple Pencil (2nd gen) iPad stylus for $99 (
$110) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy - RavPower RP-PC145 65W 2-port USB-C PD charger for $19 (
$40) at RavPower (code: DNS145) - Samsung Evo Select (256GB, A2, V30) microSDXC card for $27 (
$37) at Amazon
