We start today’s deals with a great deal that can get you a gen-3 Amazon Echo Dot for just $4.99. To get this crazy discount, you must first be a new Echo device customer, and you also have to get it with an Amazon Music subscription. You can also choose between the Charcoal and the Sandstone color options, so hurry, because this is a limited-time deal.
You can also grab a new Apple HomePod mini for just $89 over at Verizon. This speaker is listed for $99, but you can get the $10 savings when you add the EARTHDAY code at checkout. And for those who are just looking for a great speaker to take everywhere, you can get the JBL FLIP 5 waterproof portable Bluetooth speaker for $100 after a $20 discount.
We have recently posted several products to improve your smart home, but what’s a hose without a great coffee maker. You can currently get a new Calphalon BVCLECMP1 Temp iQ Espresso Machine for $251.54 with $148 savings. Or get the Mr. Coffee Espresso and Cappuccino Maker for $180 after receiving a $20 discount. And if you’re not expecting much company, you can also get the more affordable Keurig K900 K-Slim Brewer, as it’s currently $30 off, meaning you can grab yours for just $80.
The Yale Assure Lock Touchscreen is also on sale. You can get this Smart Lock, which works with the Yale Access App, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and more, and it will cost you $199 after an $80 discount. And get easy access to your garage with the meross Smart Garage Door Opener Remote that’s now available for $45 when you add the on-page coupon, which gets you a $5 discount. You can also score as a new eufy Smart Scale C1 with Bluetooth for just $18.50 as it’s getting a $14.49 discount when you add the on-page coupon, but you must also add the code eufyscale at checkout.
We start today’s deals with amazing discounts on smart home devices. First, the third-generation Amazon Echo Show 10 is getting a $50 discount, which leaves it available for $200, of five monthly payments of $40. However, you will have to wait sometime before it arrives since it will be in stock until June 9. This smart display comes with a 10.1-inch HD screen, premium directional sound, and it will help you control the rest of your smart devices with the help of Alexa.
Suppose you want a more affordable option. In that case, you can also get the Echo Show 5 as it’s currently $10 off, meaning you can grab yours for $80, and if you’re still trying to spend less and still manage to control your smart home with Alexa, you can get the Echo Dot + Amazon Smart Plug bundle for $60 with $15 savings.
Now, the next item to consider is the Roku Smart Soundbar streaming media player that will come with amazing sound. You can grab one for $150 with $30 savings. To make the package complete and get even better audio quality, you can get the Roku Wireless Subwoofer for $150 with the same $30 discount.
You can also grab the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 THX Certified Computer Speaker System to boost your media experience while on your work or gaming station. It is currently getting a $$50 discount, meaning you can get yours for $90. And you can also get the new Amazon eero 6 dual-band mesh Wi-Fi 6 router, with a built-in Zigbee smart home hub to help you control your devices connected.
Control the temperature in your home with several smart thermostats that are currently on sale. We can start with the Google Nest Thermostat, as it’s currently getting a $35 discount, leaving it up for grabs at $95. The Honeywell Home Smart Color Thermostat with a Touch Screen and Energy Star is a bit more expensive, selling at $122.48, but you also save $76.52 savings. Now, my personal favorite would be the GLAS Smart Thermostat by Johnson Controls, just because it just looks amazing. You can get yours for $140 after receiving a $109 discount.
Finally, we get some big savings on the Saeco PicoBaristo Super Automatic Espresso Machine, currently going for $1,300.21 after a massive $298.79 discount. However, you don’t have to spend that much to get a great cup of coffee. You can also get a new Keurig K900 Brewer for just $80 after getting a $30 discount.
We’re just about to say goodbye to 2020, but that doesn’t mean deals will stop coming. Right now, you can get your hands on a new 10.9-inch iPad Air with 64GB storage and WiFi-only connectivity for $570 after a $29 discount in Sky Blue or Space Gray. However, you can save $10 more if you go for the Green or the Rose Gold color option, which are currently selling for $559.
You can also get a new 10.2-inch iPad, as they’re still getting a $30 discount on its 32GB storage option with WiFi connectivity only, which leaves them at $299 in Space Gray, or get the Silver color option for $1 more.
We now move to gaming territory, as the HyperX Cloud II gaming headset is currently selling for $70 with almost $21 savings. The HyperX Cloud Stinger S is available for $50 after a $10 discount. If you want a headset to use with your Xbox, you can go for the HyperX CloudX, which is an official Xbox licensed gaming headset, and you can get it for just $60, after a $20 discount. Play Station users are also covered, as the HyperX Cloud Stinger Core is up for grabs at just $30 with $10 savings.
The HyperX Alloy Origins Core gaming keyboard is also on sale, and you can get yours for $70 with $20 savings. We also see that the HyperX Pulsefire Raid is getting a $15 discount, which leaves it at just under $45 or get the HyperX Pulsefire Core for $24 with $5 savings.
Now, moving on to gaming controllers, you can get The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild plus a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller for $109 with $21 savings. The controller alone is usually selling for $70, but it is also getting a $10 discount, which leaves it at $60. However, you can get a new PowerA Enhanced wireless controller for the Nintendo Switch for $50, and there are tons of color options to choose from.
Other deals incline the Moto 360 gen-3 for $180 with $120 savings at B&H. The Amazon Echo Dot gen3- is also on sale, and you can get one for $25 with $15 savings. And if you’re looking for extra storage space, you can get the G-Technology 10TB G-DRIVE USB-C desktop external hard drive for just under $300 with a $100 discount.
Amazon launched its latest Echo Dot range in the US this September for $50. Within two months of launch, and on the occasion of Black Friday, the device is now up for grabs for a mastic discount of 42%. You can grab the latest Echo Dot for as low as $29 today. Plus, the 4th gen Echo Dot with clock has received a $21 discount as well, and it is selling for $39, instead of the list price of $60.
The new Echo speakers ship with a smarter Alexa and come equipped with the in-house AZ1 Neural Edge processor that performs on-device neural speech processing to make the virtual assistant more responsive. It comes with a Low Power Mode that helps save energy during periods of non-activity. Further, the new device is made from 100% post-consumer recycled fabric, 100% recycled die-cast aluminum, and post-consumer recycled plastic. Plus, there’s an LED light ring at the base of the sphere.
Both of these retain the same design as the standard Echo smart speaker. They feature a 1.6-inch front-firing speaker. Further, Amazon has added support for the tap-to-snooze feature on the new Echo Dot series speakers. As for the Echo Dot with clock, its display allows users to check time, temperature, timers, and alarms. The device is available in two color options – Glacier White and Twilight Blue.
As mentioned before, the 4th gen Echo Dot has a regular list price of $50. However, it has received a $21 price-cut, and is selling for $29. On the other hand, the latest Echo Dot with clock has a list price of $60, and it is selling at a discount of 35%. You can purchase it for $39.
We start today’s deals with the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, which is getting a $350 discount. This powerful flagship includes 512GB of storage space and a long-lasting battery for $1,100. This is an unlocked version that can be used in the network of your choice; however, if you don’t want that much storage space, you can settle for the 128GB version, which is currently selling for $1 less, meaning $1,099 with $200.99 savings.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite is also getting a discount at Amazon right now. The 128GB variant in Oxford Gray with an S Pen is available for just $350 after an $80 discount. This is the WiFi-only version, which also packs 4GB RAM, a battery that will last up to 13 hours, and you can also increase the tablet’s storage space up to 1TB with a micro SD card.
We also find a couple of smart TVs on sale, as the Sony X750 55-inch 4K Ultra HD LED TV is selling for $229.73, leaving it at $570.26, or spend $698 for the 66-inch variant, which lets you save almost $302. There are also options from Toshiba, as the all-new 43-inch Smart HD 1080p TV, Fire TV Edition, is selling for $180 after a $100 discount.
There are several speakers and smart speakers also on sale, as the Amazon Echo Dot is selling for $39.99 after a $10. However, if you’re a Prime member, you get two smart speakers for $39.98 when you enter the code DOTPRIME2PK at checkout. Marshall Kilburn II and the Marshall Tufton portable Bluetooth speakers are both getting a $100 discount, leaving the Kilburn II at $200 and the Tufton at $300.
Finally, we find an LG 32-inch monitor selling for $260, down from its regular $300 price tag. This monitor features QHD, HDR 10 support, AMD FreeSync, and more. Next up, we find the Sony WF-1000XM3 noise-canceling wireless earbuds for $178, down from its regular $230 price tag, meaning you save around $52. And the Skagen Connected Falster 2 is currently available for $99 after a massive $196 discount in its stainless steel variant with heart rate monitor, GPS, NFC, and more.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to work with both the Google Home and the Amazon Echo Dot. The focus of my evaluation has been the assistant that resides within. Obviously, comparing the Google Home to the Echo Dot is not a fair comparison from a hardware standpoint. The Google Home is designed to be a speaker, while the Echo Dot is not. But from an assistant standpoint I’ve come to believe that both devices are opposites of each other.
Listen to me
Right off the bat, the Echo Dot is downright incredible at voice detection and recognition. This video shows me playing music through a Bluetooth speaker connected to the Echo Dot. At barely a whisper – some might call it a sinister whisper – the Echo Dot recognizes the keyword, “Alexa”, with no problem whatsoever. From across the room or even in a different room, the Echo Dot can listen closely and accurately to whatever command you want to give it.
Plus, those commands can be quite conversational. You don’t feel like you’re controlling a machine so much as talking to a device that will help you. A command like “Alexa, play Lindsey Stirling” with no pause comes naturally and the music follows closely. To be fair, with Google Home, commands can be just as conversational, “Hey Google” feels like an activation command, so it feels like you need to wait for its attention. Also, commanding the Echo Dot is nowhere near the exercise in frustration that Google Home can be on certain days.
Personal assistant
But Alexa’s ability to weave itself into your life is where its ability tends to fall short. Google Home is closer to an assistant than Alexa is. Much of the reason for that is because Google takes advantage of its entire ecosystem. The Echo Dot, much to my disappointment isn’t even able to detect other Amazon devices in the home, such as a Fire Stick. I can tell Google to play the latest Pocketnow video from YouTube, and it will play on my TV. But asking Alexa to play a movie I own yields a disappointing result.
Furthermore, Google Home has an assistant that has been built to work across devices. Google has been accepting voice commands for years from a variety of sources – phones, tablets, web browsers, watches, etc. And that is clear in that you can ask Google for navigation times to various places, and for searching media. It’s very possible that Amazon will pick up these capabilities through skills that it can learn, or through an evolving set of capabilities. But right now, when it comes to sheer ability, the scale is tipped toward Google in this reviewer’s opinion.
Not perfect
And if it isn’t obvious by now, Google Home does have short comings, especially in the voice detection/interpretation arena. In perfect conditions, Google Home can hear and understand your requests. But if there is the slightest amount of background noise, other people talking, or even a dog with a noisy collar walking by, Google Home struggles mightily.
Of course, the great news for these platforms is that both devices’ shortcomings can be fixed. Amazon might be closer to fixing those shortcomings with skills that it can learn – and I’ll be diving more and more into those skills as I go forward with these devices. But Amazon can make its device capabilities better with software updates, and it’s likely Google can address some of its voice recognition issues with software as well. Hopefully, future generations of Google Home will address the rest.
A window into our lives
Overall, it is my hope that someone is listening to the requests that people are making that neither device can accomplish. I hope that someone at Amazon heard me ask for Alexa to turn on a movie, and I hope that someone at Google heard me ask Google Home “who scored goals for the Blackhawks against the Predators this year” and hopefully those requests that yielded only a “Sorry” can evntually yield real results. Google and Amazon have the opportunity of a lifetime to literally hear their customers ask what they want out of their products. Let’s just hope they both decide that what they want is more than groceries and YouTube.
Because personal assistants and smart devices like the Home and the Echo are here to stay. There is a limited window of opportunity here to establish and unshakable foothold on the industry, and Amazon is almost there. Google Home is a great competitor with a wider range of ability, but with basic tech that doesn’t quite match up. But if you take the positive from both devices which remarkably complement each other’s negatives, you have one sweet device. Now it’s up to Google and Amazon to race to the finish.
Listen to me
Not perfect