With more features and a lower price tag, Fitbit’s latest fitness band represents a small — albeit welcome — return to form. | Image: Google / Fitbit
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: the line between modern smartwatches and fitness trackers is getting increasingly difficult to make out. Thankfully, Google appears to be correcting course somewhat with the launch of the Fitbit Charge 6, further differentiating the Fitbit lineup from newer smartwatches like the Google Pixel Watch 2. And now, less than a month after its release, Amazon, Best Buy, and Target are all offering the Fitbit Charge 6 for $99.95 ($60 off).
At its core, the Charge 6 is a lot like the last-gen Charge 5, save for a new haptic button on the side and a handful of software updates. The feature-rich fitness tracker still touts long battery life, a bright always-on display, and a full suite of sensors for tracking things like stress, your blood oxygen levels, and a host of fitness activities. This time around, though, it also supports Google Wallet and turn-by-turn navigations via Google Maps, along with more accurate heart rate sensing and the ability to pair with certain gym equipment over Bluetooth. Existing Fitbit users will have to migrate their Fitbit data over to a Google account to use the device, sure, but that mandate is coming for all Fitbit users sooner or later.
I’m an absolute sucker for colorful accent lighting, which is probably one of the reasons I’ve kept a keen eye on Nanoleaf since it arrived on the scene just over a decade ago. In recent years, the company has bet its reputation on a series of color-changing lightbulbs and modular lighting systems like the Nanoleaf Lines — which is on sale in a nine-piece starter kit from Amazon, Best Buy, and Nanoleaf for $149.99 ($50 off), an all-time low.
Like many of Nanoleaf’s other LED lighting solutions, the Nanoleaf Lines are designed to add a futuristic vibe to your living room, bedroom, or at-home entertainment setup. The nine, wall-mountable light bars support a variety of platforms (including Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, and Google Home) and can be set up in an array of different patterns, giving you ample control over how they look. The color-changing lights also offer screen mirror capabilities, support music syncing, and feature a built-in Thread radio, meaning they should integrate smoothly with the new Matter protocol… whenever Nanoleaf gets around to issuing that promised OTA update, that is.
Read our Nanoleaf Lines review.
A few other ways to save today
The OnePlus Nord N30 5G, our favorite smartphone for under $300, is on sale at Amazon and Best Buy for $229.99 ($70 off). The 6.7-inch Android phone offers a snappy Snapdragon chipset, a healthy 8GB of RAM, and a 120Hz LCD display, along with great battery life and fast wired charging. Just don’t expect the phone’s low-light photos to dazzle you. Read our review.
You can currently grab a pair of Kasa’s Smart Wi-Fi Plug Minis on Amazon for a mere $11.89 (about $8 off). The compact plugs are great if you want to be able to control an outlet with your phone and add Google Assistant or Alexa-based smarts to traditional gadgets, even if they’re not quite as capable as Kasa’s Matter-ready option.
Meta Quest 3 is here, but if you’re looking for a cheaper way to get into virtual reality, the last-gen Meta Quest 2 has fallen to a new low of $249 ($50 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart in the 128GB configuration. The standalone VR headset isn’t as comfy or impressive spec-wise as the newer model, but it’s just as easy to use and can tap into all the same games. Read our review.
The Chom Chom pet hair remover is back down to $19.99 (about $12 off) on Amazon. I’m most certainly stretching the definition of “tech” here, but I’ve found the dead-simple roller to be surprisingly effective at removing fur from my couch and other upholstery — which is exactly why we featured it in our guide to our favorite pet tech.
Logitech’s Litra Beam is matching its all-time low at Amazon, Best Buy, and Logitech’s online storefront, where you can pick it up for $84.99 ($15 off). The LED key light’s low-profile form factor and adjustable color temperature make it a solid option for streamers or anyone making video calls, yet you can also point it down at your desk if you want to use it more akin to a regular desk lamp.
