The PS5 Slim Spider-Man 2 bundle drops to $450, plus the rest of the week’s best tech deals

Best Buy is selling a PlayStation 5 bundle that pairs the “slim” version of the console with a digital copy of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 for $450. That’s only a $50 discount, but steeper price drops are still rare four years into the PS5’s life. We called Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 a “perfectly balanced” action game in our review last year. More generally, the PS5 has built up a decent library of exclusives since arriving in 2020, with hits like God of War Ragnarök, Horizon Forbidden West, Gran Turismo 7, Returnal, Helldivers 2 and the just-released Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. It still works with almost every PS4 game as well. The model on sale here takes up 30 percent less volume than the original PS5, according to Sony, plus it comes with two USB-C ports instead of one. It also has a disc drive, so you won’t be locked into digital purchases and can watch Blu-ray movies.

The Anker PowerConf C200 webcam is on sale for $48 at Amazon and Anker’s online store, which is $12 off its usual going rate and the second-best price we’ve seen. At Anker, use the code WS7DKJVFEN at checkout. The PowerConf is the runner up in our webcam buying guide thanks to its easy setup, crisp video quality (even in poor lighting) and decent mics. It can record up to a 2K resolution, plus it has a sliding privacy cover built in. Just note that its USB cable is on the shorter side, and the whole thing is a bit clunky to adjust once it’s set up, with no way to swivel side to side.

The Anker Soundcore Space A40 is on sale for $53 at Amazon and Anker’s online store; again, at the latter, use the on-page coupon code to see the deal at checkout. This is only $3 more than the lowest price we’ve tracked and $26 below the wireless earphones’ typical street price. The Space A40 is the top pick in our guide to the best budget wireless earbuds. For well under $100, it gets you impressive active noise cancellation (ANC), multi-device pairing, wireless charging and a solid eight hours of battery life per charge. The design is light and comfortable, while an IPX4 water-resistance rating means it can survive casual workouts. And while it’s not the most detailed-sounding pair, its warm, slightly bass-boosted profile is more than pleasant for the money. The main downsides are a lack of automatic ear detection and mediocre mic quality for phone calls.

The USB-C version of Apple’s AirPods Pro is back down to $189 at Amazon, which matches its all-time low. Apple normally sells these noise-canceling earphones for $249, though they regularly go for less at third-party retailers. Either way, the AirPods Pro are the “best for iOS” pick in our guide to the best wireless earbuds. They still offer a host of conveniences when paired with other Apple devices, including hands-free access to Siri, Find My tracking, faster pairing and device switching, spatial audio and an adaptive EQ, among other perks. Their sound quality gives little to complain about, and their ANC is still stronger than most pairs we’ve tested. The built-in mics could be better, as could the six-hour battery life, but they remain a top choice for committed Apple fans.

Amazon has the Keychron C3 Pro keyboard down to $30 with either red (linear) or brown (tactile) switches. That’s $2 more than its all-time low but still $7 below its usual going rate. This is a budget mechanical keyboard we plan on recommending in a future buying guide. It delivers a superb typing experience for the money: Presses feel full and soft, while its gasket-mounted design and internal foam layer keep it from sounding too loud. There are still trade-offs — it uses lower-cost ABS keycaps, it only has red backlighting and its switches aren’t hot-swappable — but very few keyboards in this ultra-budget price range are as satisfying for typing.

The Anker 622 Magnetic Battery is on sale for $35, which is $15 off its typical street price and the second-best discount we’ve seen. This is a thin and light wireless battery pack we’ve recommended in the past. It’s compatible with Apple’s MagSafe standard, so it can snap magnetically onto the back of any recent iPhone. It can only supply up to 7.5W of power and has a relatively meager 5,000mAh capacity, so don’t expect it to charge especially fast or fully refill your handset from zero. It can also get toasty in action. But as a travel-friendly way to squeeze more juice out of a phone that’s about to die, it can be handy. It supports pass-through charging and comes with a built-in kickstand beyond that, so it can serve as a charging stand when you’re at your desk. Anker has faster wireless models that support Qi2 charging, but those cost a fair bit extra as of this writing.

Rounding out the Anker deals, the Anker 525 Charging Station is available for $40 at Amazon and Anker.com (use the code WS7DO5OBH8 at the latter). This is a reasonably compact desktop charger we’ve tested that includes two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports and three AC outlets. It can split up to 67W of power between the USB ports, which isn’t the most you can get from a device like this but is still enough to refill many smartphones, tablets and thinner laptops at close to full speed. This $26 discount marks the lowest price we’ve seen.

The ASUS ROG Ally is $100 off and back down to $600 at Best Buy. That matches the lowest price we’ve seen for this top-end configuration with AMD’s Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor. The ROG Ally is the top Windows pick in our guide to the best handheld gaming systems, and we gave it a score of 82 in our review last July. The Steam Deck OLED is still a better choice for most people in search of a portable gaming PC, but the ROG Ally is physically smaller and can perform better with graphically demanding titles. Its 7-inch display also has a variable refresh rate up to 120Hz, so it makes games consistently look smooth in motion. And because it runs on Windows, it works with any PC gaming client out of the box.

That said, this is a device for enthusiasts first and foremost. Navigating Windows on a handheld is frequently clunky, and you’ll often need to tinker with settings to get your games running optimally. The ROG Ally’s battery life is poor as well, typically lasting around two hours, if not less. That said, if you want a handheld to play big-budget games from stores beyond Steam, the Ally does more good than bad.

ThermoWorks still has its Thermapen One instant-read meat thermometer down to $79 in an Engadget-exclusive deal, which isn’t an all-time low but takes $30 off its list price. We highlight the Thermapen in our guide to the best grilling gear: It reads temperatures quickly and accurately, its backlit display is easy to read and it’s dust- and water-resistant with an IP67 rating. It also sleeps and wakes automatically. There are cheaper meat thermometers, but the One’s faster readings might be worth the extra cost if you consider yourself a grilling connoisseur.

The latest iteration of Amazon’s Echo Show 8 is back down to $90 at Best Buy, which ties the lowest price to date for the 8-inch smart display. This is $60 below Amazon’s list price, though the device has been discounted numerous times since arriving last September. 

The Echo Show 8 remains the best blend of size, price and functionality in Amazon’s smart display lineup: It has a faster chip, more spacious screen, stronger speakers and better camera than the Echo Show 5, but it’s much cheaper than the Echo Show 10. It can work with other smart home devices using the Matter, Zigbee and Thread standards, plus it comes with a camera cover and mic mute toggle — though no device like this will be totally comfortable for those who are protective of their data. Still, if you accept the premise of an Alexa speaker and want one that can display photos, make video calls, show recipes and so on, this is a decent deal.

The newest version of Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K Max streaming stick is back down to an all-time low of $40, while the standard Fire TV Stick 4K is within $5 of its best-ever price at $30. Both discounts are about $10 less than the average street prices we’ve seen in recent months. Between the two, the Max has a slightly faster processor, double the internal storage (16GB) and Wi-Fi 6E support for those with a compatible router. If those perks don’t mean much to you, however, the base model supports all the major streaming services and HDR formats as well as Dolby Atmos audio.

That said, any Fire TV device will work best if you regularly use services like Alexa and Prime Video, as Amazon’s Fire OS isn’t shy about nudging you toward its own platforms. It’s also saddled with ads. If you want something less Amazon-heavy, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K and Google Chromecast are great alternatives for around the same price. But if you just want a fast and cheap way to get streaming apps on a slower TV, one of these Fire TV Sticks should do the job.