Earbuds, chargers, streaming sticks and more

The Anker Soundcore Space A40 is the top pick in our guide to the best budget wireless earbuds, and right now they’re on sale for $49 at Amazon via Anker directly. That’s an all-time low and $10 less than their typical sale price over the last couple of months. The deal applies to the black version; if you’d like a different finish, the blue and white models are also on sale for a dollar more.

The Space A40 provides the kind of feature set we expect from earbuds that cost twice as much: strong active noise cancellation (ANC), multi-device pairing, wireless charging, a transparency mode, custom EQ tools and a solid eight hours of battery life per charge. They aren’t the most detailed-sounding earbuds you’ll ever hear, but they have a warm profile that plays nice with most music out of the box. The main trade-offs are that they lack automatic wear detection, so they won’t auto-pause your music when you remove an earbud, and that the built-in mic isn’t especially clear for phone calls.

Amazon’s Big Spring Sale has brought the most recent Echo Dot down to $35, which is $12 more than the lowest price we’ve tracked but still $15 off the smart speaker’s usual going rate. It also matches the best price we’ve seen for the device in 2024. The Echo Dot is the “under $50” pick in our guide to the best smart speakers. It can still do just about all of the expected Alexa features, and it sounds decently balanced for something this compact. It can also serve as a node to extend an Eero mesh Wi-Fi system, if you own one of those. So long as you’re comfortable having a voice-activated speaker in your home in the first place, this is a good way to see if you’d find an Alexa device useful.

If you can pay a little bit extra, the full-size Amazon Echo is also on sale for $65. Again, that’s not an all-time low, but it’s $35 off Amazon’s list price. This model offers all the same functionality as the Echo Dot but sounds louder and fuller across the board, so it’s better for streaming music.

The Fire TV Stick 4K Max is back on sale for $40, which is a deal we’ve seen for a good chunk of the last few months but still matches the 4K streamer’s all-time low. It’s also a $20 drop from Amazon’s list price.

The 4K Max is the fastest streaming stick in Amazon’s lineup, and it supports Wi-Fi 6E for those with a compatible router. All the major streaming services and HDR formats work as well, as does Dolby Atmos audio. The main hang-up, as usual, is software: Amazon’s Fire OS is fairly aggressive about promoting the company’s own content across the UI, and it’s not shy about displaying ads. For most, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K or Google Chromecast will feel a bit cleaner to navigate. Still, this may not be a huge deal if you regularly use Amazon services like Alexa and Prime Video anyway, and the Max’s hardware is good value if you just want a cheap, fast thing to stream apps on a 4K TV.

Other Fire TV devices are on sale as well. The standard Fire TV Stick 4K, for one, is down to $30. That’s not an all-time low, but it’s $5 less than the device’s typical sale price in 2024. This model has a slightly slower processor than the Max; it tops out at Wi-Fi 6 instead of 6E; and it lacks Amazon’s Ambient Experience mode, which displays artwork and pertinent info when the TV is idle. But its core experience isn’t that different, so it’s a fine buy if you really want to save $10.

The Fire TV Stick Lite, meanwhile, is available for $20. That’s $5 more than the lowest price we’ve ever seen but $10 below its MSRP. This one is slower than either of the 4K models above, and it can only stream up to 1080p. Its remote also lacks built-in TV controls. But if you just want an ultracheap stick for an older TV, it might be enough.

If you want a Bluetooth tracker and use a Samsung Galaxy phone, we recommend Samsung’s Galaxy SmartTag 2 in our buying guide. Amazon’s Spring sale has dropped those down to $21 apiece, which is $2 off the tracker’s all-time low but $9 below its list price. This tracker is a breeze to setup with a Galaxy device, and its water-resistant, fob-shaped design is easy to clip to a keychain, luggage or pet collar. It also has a replaceable battery. It’s not quite as pinpoint accurate as Apple’s AirTag, as Samsung’s SmartThings Find network isn’t as huge as Apple’s Find My setup, but we still found it to work reliably in testing. This is a Samsung-only affair, though, so you should only buy it if you’re a dedicated Galaxy fan.

A two-pack of Tile Bluetooth trackers that includes the Tile Mate and the Tile Slim is also on sale for $42. We saw the bundle go for a few bucks less around the holidays last year, but this deal still takes about $7 off its usual street price and matches its biggest drop thus far in 2024. 

We consider Tile trackers to be worthy alternatives to Apple’s AirTags for non-Galaxy Android users. Again, they’re not as precise as Apple’s pucks, but their crowd-finding network is still fairly large and they offer most of the same features. They also come in a wider range of designs: The Mate has a built-in keyring hole, and the Slim can slip easily into a wallet. We highlight the latter in our buying guide. Tile says each device should last up to three years, though their batteries aren’t replaceable. They also lock separation alerts — which let you know when you’ve traveled too far from a tracked item — behind a subscription fee.

If you do own an iPhone and want something to help keep tabs on sensitive items, single AirTags are currently going for $24. We’ve seen that price for about two months, however, so it’s not much of a deal.

The latest Amazon Echo Buds are back down to $35 for the Big Spring Sale. That matches their all-time low and comes in $15 below their normal going rate. This is another pair we recommend in our budget earbuds buying guide, specifically for those who prefer an open design that lets in outside noise instead of totally sealing off the ear canal. This form factor means they can’t produce much in the way of deep bass, but they’re comfortable, and they can still sound better than most cheap unsealed earbuds with a little bit of EQ tweaking. They support automatic wear detection, multi-device pairing and hands-free Alexa access as well. That said, their five-hour battery life isn’t great, they don’t support wireless charging and they have a weak IPX2 water-resistance rating, so you won’t want to use them in the gym. We gave the Echo Buds a score of 77 in our review.

A few Anker charging accessories are discounted for Amazon’s Spring sale, including the recently released MagGo Power Bank 6.6K for $48. That’s $22 off Anker’s list price and a new low. This is a newer iteration of magnetic power banks we’ve previously recommended. It supports the Qi2 standard, so it can deliver a 15W wireless charge to compatible phones such as the iPhone 15. Many older wireless power banks along these lines can only provide a slower 7.5W charge. This model has a 6,600mAh capacity, so it should get close to fully refilling most handsets, and it supports pass-through charging, so it can refill a phone while being charged from its USB-C port. Its fold-out design lets it double as a charging stand, too, though it’s fairly bulky for something you might want to fit in a pocket.

If you’re willing to trade charging speed for something thinner, the variant of the Anker 622 Magnetic Battery with a PopSockets grip is also on sale for a low of $40. That one is slower to charge and has a lower capacity, but it can still provide a bit of extra juice when your phone is about to die, and the built-in grip makes it a little easier to hold.