Apple’s entry-level AirPods have already returned to their Prime Day low
Apple’s second-gen earbuds are down to $69.99, which is a price we’ve seen only a handful of times. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Amazon Prime Day brought discounts on a whole swath of Apple products, from iPads and AirTags to the latest 15-inch MacBook Air. We also saw deals across Apple’s entire earbuds lineup — including a terrific deal on the second-gen AirPods, which quickly sold out at Amazon. Luckily, if you missed it the first time around, Apple’s entry-level earbuds are once again on sale at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy for $69.99 ($60 off), effectively matching their lowest price to date.
Admittedly, Apple’s second-gen earbuds can’t rival the latest AirPods Pro with USB-C or even the third-gen AirPods, for that matter. However, the vanilla buds do offer excellent wireless performance and reliable battery life, allowing you to eke out five hours of music playback or 24 hours with the included Lightning charging case. They also boast hands-free Siri access, audio sharing, and the ability to quickly switch between Apple devices, making them a great budget pick if you’re tapped into Apple’s ecosystem and want a no-fuss pair of wireless earbuds. What you don’t get are more modern perks like active noise cancellation and multipoint pairing, but it’s hard to complain given their current price tag and great ease of use.
Read our AirPods (second-gen) review.
A few more deals and discounts
If you’re not turned off by black geometric wall art, Best Buy is selling Nanoleaf’s Shapes Ultra Black Triangles Smarter Kit for an all-time low of $175.99 ($44 off). The limited edition, nine-panel set functions as an all-black version of its Shapes Triangle panels, meaning the modular LED light bars can still display 16 million colors and work with Apple Home, Alexa, and Google Home. They can also play a host of clever lighting animations in case you prefer the look of a simulated waterfall over a simple color pattern.
Nothing’s newest pair of noise-canceling earbuds, the Nothing Ear, are down to $129 ($30 off) at Amazon when you clip the on-page coupon. They aren’t going to provide the kind of ecosystem tricks you’d get with a pair of Apple or Samsung earbuds, but they can certainly match them in terms of sound. What’s more, the earbuds offer wireless charging, IP54 dust and water resistance, multipoint connectivity, and ChatGPT integration (if you’re using a Nothing phone), which is a lot for the price. Read our initial impressions.
The PlayStation 5 “slim” is on sale at Amazon for $449 ($50 off) while its digital-only counterpart is down to $399 ($50 off) at Walmart, which is an all-time low in both instances. Sony’s midcycle refresh is slightly smaller than the original model released in 2020, yet despite the sleeker build, it can tackle all the same games at the same 4K graphical fidelity. Plus, both the standard configuration and the Digitial Edition come with 1TB of built-in storage (up from 825GB on the OG model). Read our hands-on impressions.
Apple’s second-gen earbuds are down to $69.99, which is a price we’ve seen only a handful of times. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Amazon Prime Day brought discounts on a whole swath of Apple products, from iPads and AirTags to the latest 15-inch MacBook Air. We also saw deals across Apple’s entire earbuds lineup — including a terrific deal on the second-gen AirPods, which quickly sold out at Amazon. Luckily, if you missed it the first time around, Apple’s entry-level earbuds are once again on sale at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy for $69.99 ($60 off), effectively matching their lowest price to date.
Admittedly, Apple’s second-gen earbuds can’t rival the latest AirPods Pro with USB-C or even the third-gen AirPods, for that matter. However, the vanilla buds do offer excellent wireless performance and reliable battery life, allowing you to eke out five hours of music playback or 24 hours with the included Lightning charging case. They also boast hands-free Siri access, audio sharing, and the ability to quickly switch between Apple devices, making them a great budget pick if you’re tapped into Apple’s ecosystem and want a no-fuss pair of wireless earbuds. What you don’t get are more modern perks like active noise cancellation and multipoint pairing, but it’s hard to complain given their current price tag and great ease of use.
Read our AirPods (second-gen) review.
A few more deals and discounts
If you’re not turned off by black geometric wall art, Best Buy is selling Nanoleaf’s Shapes Ultra Black Triangles Smarter Kit for an all-time low of $175.99 ($44 off). The limited edition, nine-panel set functions as an all-black version of its Shapes Triangle panels, meaning the modular LED light bars can still display 16 million colors and work with Apple Home, Alexa, and Google Home. They can also play a host of clever lighting animations in case you prefer the look of a simulated waterfall over a simple color pattern.
Nothing’s newest pair of noise-canceling earbuds, the Nothing Ear, are down to $129 ($30 off) at Amazon when you clip the on-page coupon. They aren’t going to provide the kind of ecosystem tricks you’d get with a pair of Apple or Samsung earbuds, but they can certainly match them in terms of sound. What’s more, the earbuds offer wireless charging, IP54 dust and water resistance, multipoint connectivity, and ChatGPT integration (if you’re using a Nothing phone), which is a lot for the price. Read our initial impressions.
The PlayStation 5 “slim” is on sale at Amazon for $449 ($50 off) while its digital-only counterpart is down to $399 ($50 off) at Walmart, which is an all-time low in both instances. Sony’s midcycle refresh is slightly smaller than the original model released in 2020, yet despite the sleeker build, it can tackle all the same games at the same 4K graphical fidelity. Plus, both the standard configuration and the Digitial Edition come with 1TB of built-in storage (up from 825GB on the OG model). Read our hands-on impressions.