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Street Price: $130; Deal Price: $110
With built-in Zigbee hub functionality, the Echo Plus is a great speaker for those seeking smart home control in addition to the typical features of a smart speaker. This refurbished model, available in the black, silver, and white finishes, carries the same one year warranty as a new model. While even better pricing could be on the horizon, this is a solid deal if you’re seeking one now.
The Echo Plus in our smarter Echo pick in our guide to Amazon’s Echo speaker line. Grant Clauser wrote, “If smart-home control dominates your list of reasons for wanting an Echo, the Plus might be your best choice. It’s bigger than the current generation Echo and looks identical to the original (except it’s also available in silver). Its main difference from the standard Echo is the inclusion of Zigbee, a popular wireless system for controlling smart-home devices and that can be found in many smart-home hubs. Building Zigbee into an Echo means you can connect Zigbee accessories, including some smart bulbs, outlet plugs, and door locks without any additional hub.”
Sony STR-DH190 Stereo Receiver
Street Price: $150; Deal Price: $128
Down to $128 from a typical price of $150, this is a nice deal on this recommended stereo receiver. The Sony STR-DH190 isn’t intended for use as an AV surround receiver, but rather as a receiver to incorporate into a stereo setup, potentially with a turntable. As a result, this receiver includes a phono preamp, but also includes more modern features like Bluetooth so you can play your tunes however you see fit. This is the lowest price we’ve seen for it to this point.
The Sony STR-DH190 Stereo Receiver is the top pick in our guide to the best stereo receiver. Brent Butterworth wrote, “Our listening panel found that the Sony STR-DH190 sounds at least as good as any of the stereo receivers we tested, and it has the features we think most people will consider most important: Bluetooth, a phono preamp, and plenty of power. However, it earned some demerits: Its speaker cable connectors are rather flimsy, its proprietary FM antenna connector is annoying because it forces you to use Sony’s cheap supplied antenna, and it doesn’t have an AM tuner. In our testing, our two top picks performed almost identically, so if you don’t care about Bluetooth and prefer slightly better connectors and AM radio, check out our runner-up.”
Logitech G610 Orion Gaming Keyboard
Street Price: $75; Deal Price: $60
If you’re looking for an inexpensive mechanical gaming keyboard, the Logitech G610 Orion is the full-size model we recommend in our gaming keyboard guide. This keyboard, unlike some others out there, doesn’t scream gaming keyboard with gaudy lights or design and can be used in a business setting without raising eyebrows. The MX Red switch version is down to $60 from a street price around $75, matching the low we’ve seen.
The Logitech G610 Orion is our budget full-size pick in our guide to the best gaming keyboard. Thorin Klosowski wrote, “If you want a cheaper mechanical keyboard with a number pad, get the Logitech G610 Orion, which is available with Cherry MX Brown or MX Red switches. It costs about $50 to $60 less than the Corsair K70 LUX RGB, and it lacks multicolor backlighting, an included palm rest, and USB passthrough. But the G610 Orion still includes software to customize its white LEDs and record macros (though only to the function row), and it has a volume-control wheel above the number pad.
Klosowski continues, “The G610 Orion had one of the least gaudy designs of the budget keyboards we considered; it sports a blocky futuristic font and a large illuminated “G” in the corner but doesn’t have any other tacky, visible branding. It comes in a matte-plastic case similar to that of Cooler Master’s MasterKeys keyboards. Typing on the G610 Orion felt solid and satisfying in our tests, but its spacebar and modifier keys rattled with a loud metallic twang, a problem we didn’t see on the K70 LUX RGB, the MasterKeys models, or the BlackWidow TE Chroma V2.”
Belkin Wemo Mini Smart Plug 3-pack
Street Price: $100; Deal Price: $75
If you’re looking for a few smart switches to control multiple outlets in your home, this is a nice opportunity to get a couple at a solid discount. While we saw a four-pack at an unbelievable $70 on sale previously, this price is still a decent one as a single Wemo Mini switch is going for between $28 and $35 presently.
The Belkin Wemo Mini is the top pick in our guide to the best plug-in smart outlet. Rachel Cericola wrote, “After spending over 22 hours plugging in and unplugging lights and other small appliances and turning them on and off using various apps (and by barking orders at Siri and Alexa when we could), we found that the Belkin Wemo Mini is the best smart-switch outlet adapter for people who want to add smart control to their existing outlets. It packs most of the same features as our previous pick, the Wemo Insight, into a smaller form factor, and it’s less expensive. It also plays nicely with both iOS and Android smartphones and tablets and integrates easily with popular smart-home protocols and devices. All you need to do is plug the Belkin Wemo Mini into an existing outlet and install the app to get started with home automation.”
Hydro Flask 24-Ounce Standard Mouth with BPA Free Flex Cap
Street Price: $35; Deal Price: $26 w/ store pickup
The Hydro Flask 24-Ounce Water Bottle is our insulated bottle recommendation in our guide to the best water bottle. Usually $35 in this size, we’d recommend store pickup to maximize savings if you have a local REI or adding this to a larger purchase over $50 to meet the free shipping threshold. Even with the $6 shipping (if you must ship) you’re still saving substantially.
The Hydro Flask 24-Ounce Standard Mouth with BPA Free Flex Cap is the top insulated pick in our guide to the best water bottles. Liz Thomas and Séamus Bellamy wrote, “The Hydro Flask 24-Ounce Standard Mouth with BPA Free Flex Cap is built with an insulating vacuum layer sandwiched between two layers of stainless steel to prevent outside heat from warming up the bottle’s contents. Our testers—arthritic and not—found the rubber on the lid and the handle made it the easiest insulated bottle to hold and open. It has a rubber O-ring inside that helps with loosening the lid. Our testers noted that the Hydro Flask Flex Cap is easier to open than the Klean Kanteen Bamboo lid, itself the easiest of the Klean Kanteen caps to open. The paint on the outside of the Hydro Flask—which is available in many colors—is textured, enhancing the grip compared to the similarly shaped Klean Kanteen and the Fifty/Fifty bottle. The handle on the rubber lid was also softer and easier to carry than the lid on the Klean Kanteen.”
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