Today’s best deals: Amazon Fire HD tablets, Google Pixel 6 phones and more

It’s Wednesday and that means it’s time for a new Dealmaster. Our latest roundup of the web’s best tech deals includes another round of discounts on Amazon’s Fire HD tablets, with both the 10.1-inch Fire HD 10 and 8-inch Fire HD 8 on sale for $100 and $400 respectively. 50. While neither match a always low — these two slates were available for $75 and $45 during Amazon’s last Prime Day sale, for example — they’re still a good deal lower than the usual street prices we’ve seen.

Overall, the number remains the same with Amazon’s tablet offerings: they can’t touch any iPad when it comes to build quality, app support, or future-proof performance, and they’re all pretty aggressive in directing their users to Amazon content and services. . But if you can live with that and just need a cheap tablet, they still have their uses.

The Fire HD 10, in particular, is good value at this deal price, with a usable 1080p display and enough in the performance and battery life departments not to make casual video watching, reading ebooks and surfing the web. at frustrating. The Fire HD 8 is a drop-off across the board, but at $50, it’s cheap enough to justify if price is all that matters. Both models here come with lock screen ads and 32GB of storage, although you can remove the former for an additional $15 and upgrade the latter with a microSD card if needed.

In addition to tablets, our roundup also includes the lowest prices we’ve tracked on Google’s Pixel 6 phones: the base model is currently down to $499, while the larger Pixel 6 Pro is down to $649, beating the deal we got. spotlighted last week. As we noted at the time, these discounts are likely to hit so Google can pave the way for the upcoming Pixel 7, but if you need an Android phone right now, the current-gen’s powerful cameras, reliable performance, and guaranteed software updates should help. until fall 2026 they should remain viable for years to come. At $499, the base Pixel 6 should be a better buy than the $449 Pixel 6a, which we generally recommend as the best value of the bunch when each phone has its standard MSRP. Be absolutely sure that you can’t wait a few more months if you decide to pull the trigger.

Elsewhere we have lower than usual prices on wingspan, a bird-themed board game we like; Apple’s New and Improved M2 MacBook Air; a selection of game controllers from accessory maker 8BitDo, including the Pro 2 pad we previously recommended to Nintendo Switch and PC players; Microsoft’s Xbox Series S game console; the ever-popular (and recently updated) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for the Switch and much more. You can find our full curated list of deals below.

Ars Technica may earn compensation through affiliate programs for sales of links on this post.

Featured offers of the day

• Amazon Fire HD 10 (32GB) 10.1-inch tablet for $100 ($140) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy
• Amazon Fire HD 8 (32GB) 8-inch tablet for $50 ($80) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy
• Google Pixel 6 (128 GB) smartphone for $499 ($580) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy (256GB for $599)
• Google Pixel 6 Pro (128GB) smartphone for $649 ($855) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy (256GB for $749)
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch) for $40 ($50) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy
• wingspan board game for $40 ($47) at Amazon, Walmart
• 8BitDo Pro 2 Wireless Gamepad for PC, Switch for $40 ($50) at Amazon, Best Buy
• Anker PowerLine II (6ft) USB-C to Lightning Cable for $11 ($15) at Amazon
• Apple Magic Keyboard wireless keyboard for $75 ($99) at Amazon
• Microsoft Xbox Series S – Fortnite + Rocket League Bundle for $250 ($290) at Adorama (discount in shopping cart, too $250 without bundle)
• Apple MacBook Air (2022, Starlight) 13.6-inch laptop (M2, 2560×1664, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) for $1,099 ($1,199) at Amazon, B&H

Electronics Deals

• Google Pixel 6 (128 GB) smartphone for $499 ($580) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy (256GB for $599)
• Google Pixel 6 Pro (128GB) smartphone for $649 ($855) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy (256GB for $749)
• Google Nest Hub 7-inch smart display for $55 ($85) at Target, Best Buy
• Google Nest Hub Max 10-inch smart display for $174 ($220) at Target, Best Buy
• iRobot Roomba i3 Evo robotic vacuum cleaner for $249 ($285) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy
• Apple iPad Mini (64 GB) 8.3-inch tablet for $400 ($425) at Target
• Wacom One (small) drawing tablet for $40 ($50) at Amazon, Best Buy
• Beats Studio Buds true wireless ANC earphones for $100 ($140) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy
• Blue Yeti Front USB Microphone $90 ($106) at Amazon

enlarge / The Echo Show 15 is the jumbo-sized item in Amazon’s smart display lineup.

Sharon Harding

enlarge / Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite is our top pick among e-readers.

Andrew Cunningham

Laptop and Desktop PC Deals

• Apple MacBook Air (2020) 13.3-inch laptop (M1, 2560×1600, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) for $850 ($925) at Best Buy
• Apple MacBook Air (2022, Starlight) 13.6-inch laptop (M2, 2560×1664, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) for $1,099 ($1,199) at Amazon, B&H
• Lenovo Yoga 7i (Gen 7) 14-inch 2-in-1 laptop (Core i5-1235U, 2240×1400, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) for $860 ($1,050) at Lenovo (use codes: YOGA BTS + BTS2022)
• Microsoft Surface Pro 8 13-inch Tablet PC (Core i5-1135G7, 2880×1920, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) + Surface Pro keyboard for $1,000 ($1,250) at Best Buy
• Dell S2721DGF 27″ Monitor (2560×1440, IPS, 165 Hz, VRR) for $300 ($350) at Best Buy
• Dell S3422DWG 34″ Monitor (3440×1440, 144Hz, VA, VRR) for $390 ($460) at Amazon
• Gigabyte M28U 28-inch monitor (4K, 144 Hz, IPS, VRR) for $500 ($575) at Amazon, Best Buy
• Seagate FireCuda 530 (1TB) PCIe 4.0 SSD for $139 ($170) at Amazon, Walmart, B&H
• Crucial MX500 (500GB) 2.5″ SATA SSD for $47 ($56) at Amazon, B&H (1TB for $76)

enlarge / Apple’s redesigned MacBook Air is the new best Mac laptop for most people.

Samuel Axon

TV and home entertainment deals

enlarge / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a few years old at the moment, but it remains a reliable standby for any couch co-op session, and it continues to be updated with new songs via DLC.

Nintendo

Video Game Deals

• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch) for $40 ($50) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy
• Mario Golf: Super Rush (Switch) for $40 ($50) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy
• earthquake (Switch, Xbox, PS4, PC) for $4 ($8) on Nintendo, Xbox, PSN, Steam (also on Game Pass)
• Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (Switch, Xbox, PS4, PC) for $8 ($20) on Nintendo, Xbox, PSN, Steam (also on Game Pass)
• Downfall (2016) (Xbox, PS4, PC) for $5 ($10) on Xbox, PSN, Steam (also on Game Pass, $10 at Nintendo)
• Doom Slayers Collection (Xbox, PS4) for $7 ($20) on Xbox, PSN (also on Game Pass, $12 at Nintendo)
• Eternal doom (Switch) for $15 ($35) at Nintendo (also on Game Pass)
• Gears Tactics (PC) for $10 ($25) on Steam (also on Game Pass)
• Hypnospace Outlaw (PS4) for $8 ($15) at PSN ($9 with steam)

Gaming Deals

Accessories and various offers