The smart speaker market is more or less dominated by major tech companies: Apple, Google, Sonos, and Amazon. But WiiM’s powerful 100W Sound smart speaker is an attractive alternative because it’s not locked down to play nicely with select music services. It supports over 20 services, and it sports Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 and ethernet, giving you multiple ways to connect. Additionally, it taps into standards used by other speakers, including Chromecast, Spotify Connect, DLNA, Alexa Cast, and more (AirPlay 2 is off the table, though its Pro Music Streamer supports it). In other words, it can be added to multi-room setups you may already have in the Google Home or Amazon Echo ecosystem.

The black and white versions are rarely discounted, but they’re each 15 percent off at Amazon and directly through WiiM. Normally $299.99, they’re $254.15.

WiiM Sound Smart Speaker

Where to Buy:

• $299 $254.15 at Amazon
• $299 $254.15 at WiiM

WiiM also makes the Sound Lite, which is also discounted by 15 percent. Originally $229, it’s $194.65 at Amazon and WiiM. It has the same dimensions, connectivity and performance output as the Sound (plus, the ability to use AI to adapt its sound quality to your room), but it lacks the 1.8-inch touch display that can show off album art, and there’s no voice remote included — those are around $33. That said, you can wirelessly pair these speakers and other recent WiiM products to each other to build a surround sound setup. Read more in our coverage.

Other great Verge-approved deals

• All colors of Apple’s AirPods Max 2 over-ear, noise-canceling headphones are down to $429 at Best Buy as part of its 60-year anniversary sale. Originally $549, this sale brings them down to their second-best price, only bested by Prime Day’s $399 deal. Amazon has fewer colors available at this price. In our review, John Higgins praised their improved sound quality and noise cancellation effect, but wished certain things about it had changed. At their original price, he would have liked a proper carrying case included with purchase. But, at least with this discount, you can get a nicer case with the cash you’ll save.
• Look, sometimes you just need a cheap TV, not an amazing one. If that’s you, there might be a 58-inch Hisense 4K QLED Roku TV that’ll do. Normally $399.99, the QD5 is down to $189.99 at Best Buy. It doesn’t seem particularly impressive, but it’s a feature-packed TV at a good price. Beyond having built-in Roku guts for streaming movies and TV shows, it supports Dolby Vision, HDR 10 and HLG, and its game mode supports variable refresh rate and auto low latency mode (though, it tops out at 60Hz refresh rate).
• We highlighted a deal on the Godox ES45 key light recently, and the deal is back on at Amazon. The $20 off sale brings the powerful key light setup down to $119, and while it doesn’t match Elgato’s Key Light one-for-one with specs, it’s a great value that costs $60 less. It has adjustable color temperature and brightness, and its settings can be easily tweaked with its controller, which gets recharged by sticking magnetically to the back of the light. A key light is great for adding a strong light source to your room. It can be used to light you directly, or aim it at the wall to be softly illuminated in light that bounces off.

For RPG fans who dig Persona-style turn-based action and who are pursuing games with original stories and fantastic tunes, look no further than Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. This praise might come off sounding weird, but I really like that Sandfall Interactive’s breakout hit isn’t overly long compared to RPGs it was inspired by. It’s worth buying while it’s $33.17 at Amazon (requires you to clip the coupon, originally $49.99).

This is a rare opportunity to save quite a bit on one of 2025’s best games, though it’s on Xbox Game Pass if you subscribe to that. Unfortunately, the deal is only available for the Xbox Series X version and doesn’t extend to PlayStation 5. On PC, you can grab a Steam code from Fanatical for $35.49, which is also a nice deal. Read our review.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Where to Buy:

• $49.99 $33.17 at Amazon (Xbox Series X)

Other great Verge-approved deals

• There are some great preorder incentives for Google’s Pixel 11 phones, especially if you also want its new Pixel Watch 5. The base Pixel 11 with 256GB of storage includes the watch at $130 off the usual combined amount. Normally $1,298, Amazon is offering the bundle for $1,168, which essentially reduces the price of the watch from $399 to $269. Buying the pricier Pixel 11 Pro that’s bundled with the watch will save you even more. Normally $1,499 together, the bundle is $1,248 — $250 off the watch and now just $100 more than the base Pixel 11 bundle. If you want more camera features, you should get the Pro. Read our hands-on previews.
• I like including good deals on gaming laptops when I find them, and I found another one at Walmart. Gigabyte’s 16-inch A16 laptop that packs Nvidia’s capable RTX 5070 (8GB VRAM) graphics chip, among other powerful components, is down to $1,249 ($600 off). It’s a great value based on its gaming performance alone; Considering it has Intel’s Core i7-13620H and 32GB DDR5 RAM to go alongside the GPU, there isn’t much you won’t be able to play at the highest graphical settings. The laptop also has a 1200p IPS screen that has a 165Hz refresh rate, and it has a 1TB SSD installed. Its RAM and storage can be upgraded to 64GB and 4TB, respectively.
• Gruv is hosting weekend deals on a range of 4K Blu-ray sets through Monday. The Matrix Deja Vu set that includes all four films (minus The Animatrix) is $34.99, which matches the best price I’ve seen (it’s currently $50 at Walmart). Chernobyl, the haunting five-part miniseries from HBO, is $14.99. Jurassic World: Ultimate Collection contains all Jurassic movies through Jurassic World Dominion and costs $49.99. Best of all, if you’re a new shopper at Gruv, using the code FIRSTGRUV15 will knock 15 percent off your first purchase of a single item.

Google wasn't first to make a foldable Android phone, but the company's Pixel Fold series is now an established player with unique traits compared to its competitors. For one, it popularized the passport-style design years ago, being more wide than tall - something that Samsung tried for the first time this year with its Z Fold 8, and that Apple is rumored to do with its foldable iPhone that may or may not arrive in 2026. It also delivered the first IP68-rated foldable in the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, soothing concerns that all foldables are super fragile.

Now that the new Pixel 11 Pro Fold (along with the rest of the Pixel 11 lineup) has been unv …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Getting a keyboard with customizable Hall effect sensors is more affordable than it used to be, and you don’t need to compromise on quality to get a good deal. Keychron’s aluminum-clad K2 HE with a 75-percent layout is down to $103.99 (was $130) at Amazon, which matches the lowest price we’ve seen occur a few times throughout the year. The option with wood siding is $111.99 at Amazon, also 20 percent off its original price.

The keyboard can connect via USB-C, or wirelessly via Bluetooth or with a more reliable 2.4GHz connection. Its key bindings, actuation points, and much more can be configured in Keychron’s web-based tool. Or, you can flash your own firmware to the keyboard thanks to its open source QMK support.

Keychron K2 HE keyboard

Where to Buy:

• $129.99 $103.99 at Amazon
• $129.99 $110.99 at Keychron

In case you haven’t owned a Hall effect keyboard before, they’re worth considering if you’ve wanted more granular control over how much (or how little) effort is needed to press a key. What’s more, the sensors support Rapid Trigger, which primes each switch for another input long before it has been fully released, possibly letting you get the jump on opponents. The switches are hot-swappable, and the keyboard natively supports Windows, macOS, and Linux. This is a nice-looking keyboard for the money.

Other solid Verge-approved deals

• I don’t really like to recommend Nvidia RTX 5060-equipped gaming laptops that cost more than $1,000, but there’s a good deal happening at Walmart on a $1,099 model that’s $600 off. Gigabyte’s Aero X16 has a 16-inch 1600p 165Hz IPS screen, AMD’s capable Ryzen AI 7 350 processor, the aforementioned Nvidia GPU, rounded out with 16GB of 5,600MHz DDR5 RAM and a 1TB SSD. I haven’t used this exact laptop, but we’re familiar with Gigabyte’s wares around here, and this is a sleek, almost Razer Blade-esque laptop with specs that mostly warrant its price. If the price of RAM and storage ever goes down, the laptop can be upgraded with up to 64GB and 4TB, respectively, with its additional slots. The configuration that has an RTX 5070 and 32GB of RAM is currently $1,499.99 at Best Buy.
• A couple of Sony’s recent InZone gaming headset releases have hit their lowest prices today. The InZone H9 Mk. 2 is its flagship wireless headset with the same drivers as the WH-1000XM6 headphones, plus a comfy design and great active noise cancellation. Their original $349.99 price felt high considering their near-all-plastic design, but $248 at Amazon and $249.99 at Best Buy is more reasonable. They sound phenomenal. Sony’s wired InZone H6 Air are discounted for the first time, and cost $178 (was $199) at Amazon and $179.99 at Best Buy. They are lightweight and have an open-back design, which to some adds a more realistic sound to games and movies (at the expense of sound isolation — they don’t block any noise whatsoever). Read our coverage of the H9 Mk. 2 and the H6 Air.
• Hoto’s USB-C-chargeable electric screwdriver is almost always discounted for major deal events, but it’s also cheaper on any given Monday, apparently. The screwdriver, which has three torque settings and includes 12 two-inch-long bits, is selling at Amazon for $27.99 when you enter the code WH4J6L4A at checkout (otherwise it’s $50). It’s nice to let technology take over sometimes, especially when what the Hoto screwdriver specializes in can possibly save you some pain from repetitive wrist motions. Also, it’s nice that it has a built-in circular LED light to illuminate dark spaces you’re working in. Walmart has a very similar Hoto screwdriver for $29.99, though it comes with fewer Torx bits.

Samsung’s latest foldable Android phones, the Z Fold 8, Fold 8 Ultra, and Flip 8, release tomorrow, August 7th. Today is the final day when you can place a preorder, and really the only reason we’re suggesting that is because you’ll get some freebies that will go away upon release. We have an entire article that breaks down what you’ll get with each phone, but we’ll put the major details here to make things easy.

Amazon is including a $350 gift card with either the $2,099.99 Z Fold 8 Ultra or the $1,899.99 passport-style Z Fold 8. Best Buy and Samsung top out at $200 in gift cards to their respective storefronts for these foldables. If you purchase through the phone maker’s site, you’ll be offered up to $100 off select Samsung products, and entering the code PAYPAL100 at checkout will knock $100 off the cost of either phone.

As for the Z Flip 8, preorders include a $200 gift card when purchased at Amazon or Best Buy, or up to $150 in credit at Samsung. Just like the Z Fold 8 and Fold 8 Ultra, you’ll be offered up to $100 in discounts on select Samsung products throughout the checkout process when you buy through the manufacturer’s site.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 (256GB storage,12GB RAM)

Where to Buy:

• $1899.99 at Amazon (with $350 Amazon gift card)
• $1899.99 $1799.99 at Samsung (with code PAYPAL100, plus $200 credit)
• $1899.99 at Best Buy (with $200 gift card)

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra (256GB storage, 12GB RAM)

Where to Buy:

• $2099.99 at Amazon (with $350 gift card)
• $2099.99 $1999.99 at Samsung (with code PAYPAL100, plus $200 in credit)
• $2099.99 at Best Buy (with $200 gift card)

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 (256GB storage,12GB RAM)

Where to Buy:

• $1199.99 at Amazon (with $200 gift card)
• $1199.99 at Samsung (with $150 credit)
• $1199.99 at Best Buy (with $200 gift card)

Other deals for people not prepared to drop $2K on a foldable

• Apple AirPods Pro 3 wireless earbuds sank in price to $170 ($80 off) during Prime Day in late June, but they haven’t gone lower than $200 since then. Well, today, they have. They’re available for $189.99 at Amazon and Best Buy. Sure, it’s a small price difference, but it’s worth sharing in the event that you’re going on a trip soon, or heading back to school, and you want a fantastic set of noise-canceling earbuds. They’re full of features not supported by the last-gen model, including built-in heart rate tracking and better sound and noise cancellation. Plus, they include more eartip sizes to ensure a good fit. Read our review.
• My colleague Jennifer Pattison Tuohy’s favorite air fryer, the Typhur Dome 2, is selling at its lowest price we’ve seen for a month at Amazon, costing $339.99 (was $399.99). While about $55 over its lowest-ever price, we wanted to share this deal since it can make mealtime easier for anyone, whether you’ve got kids going back to school or not. In her testing, Jennifer said it made the best chicken wings she’s ever tasted, though it’s a bit of a countertop hog. The Dome 2’s low ceiling means it can quickly cook food, and it has a great self-clean mode.
• An assortment of Blu-ray and 4K Blu-rays from Arrow Video is steeply discounted at Barnes and Noble through August 30th. The distributor has a mix of cult classics, indie films, and box office hits, and its discounted movies often come in slick cases with stunning art. Some of the more popular ones include Troy, An American Werewolf in London, Donnie Darko, and David Lynch’s divisive take on Dune, each of which are $24.99 for their 4K Blu-ray versions.

I enjoy using display-mirroring glasses as a way to play Steam Deck games on a big screen, and I'm always on the hunt for the best pair. There's still not one perfect model I can recommend to everyone, but Viture's new $299.99 Pro 2 have sharper-looking screens than models that cost hundreds more. It's mostly thanks to the simple but effective diopter-adjusting dials that sit above each eye.

The dials move the lenses, helping more people get the clarity they are hoping for out of the box. These have been in some past models that sold for around $400 or more, but now they're in glasses that cost a lot less. Most models have few, or no, built …

Read the full story at The Verge.

There's a chance that you've already taken your big summer trip. If not, August and early autumn are wonderful times to travel. No matter when or where you go, there are some products that can make the boring parts of your trip more fun, and the fun parts of your trip even better.

We picked a couple dozen products at a range of price points to best suit your budget. At the affordable end, we found a wearable reading light that's great for reading on a plane or in a hotel while you're adjusting to a different time zone. We also included affordable belt bags, sunglasses, item trackers, and other practical products (as well as picks that are j …

Read the full story at The Verge.

It’s time for yet another giveaway. We raided The Verge’s closet full of tech in New York City to stuff as much can fit into a Nomatic Messenger Bag. It’s overstuffed, to say the least, and if you’re chosen as the winner of this sweepstakes on August 18th, the bag and its contents (valued at over $800) will be all yours. If you want a hint as to what’s in the bag, sorry, nothing Beats the surprise of seeing what’s inside for yourself (okay, here’s another hint: look at the official rules).

The rules for entry are simple. Fill out the fields below within the Viralsweep embed. Once you enter (and then verify your entry with a code sent to your provided email address), you’ll become a subscriber to our Verge Shopping newsletter, which hits your inbox multiple times a week and contains the latest deals. Beyond savings, we include links to recent buying guides, reviews, and other relevant articles we think you’ll like.

Good luck!