A 16-inch Laptop for Work: The Razer Blade 18 ($8/10, WIRED) vs. The 15-inch Budget Laptop
If you prefer a more stealthy PC that can double up as a work laptop, this 16-inch machine is not for you. The m16 R2 IPS (8/10, WIRED Recommends) has an LCD with a 240-Hz screen refresh rate, making fast-paced content appear super smooth. It packs Nvidia’s RTX 4070 graphics card so it can handle nearly any game at medium or high graphical settings, and while the battery life is not great while gaming, it’s surprisingly long-lasting when you’re on the clock.
This is the lowest price we’ve ever seen on our favorite gaming laptop. The Razer Blade 18 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) packs Nvidia’s RTX 4070 graphics card, though you can choose a more powerful card for more cash. A gorgeous build with a huge MiniLED display and a 300-hertz screen refresh rate is enough to give you raw power. It’s the first laptop with a Thunderbolt 5 port, which gives faster data transfer speeds. Want a more compact machine? The Blade 14 is on sale for $1,600 ($300 off). Julian Cheekattu.
Acer’s laptop names get confusing. The A315-24PT-R0UX is a more confusing model, but it can at least be compared to other models. The 15-inch budget laptop is not the same as this one. It has the best value of both the 15-inch and 17-inch laptops that we’ve tested. The display is not the best but it won’t strain your eyes. Interestingly, the title here says 16 GB RAM, as does one of the spec listings, but another says 8 GB of RAM, and it’s Amazon, so who knows what you’re going to get. You should return the 8 gigabytes you had if you end up with that amount.
The WIRED recommends the Chromebook Plus 514 as one of the best new products out of the new, more powerful Chromebooks. It’s everything you need for chatting with friends and browsing the internet. The keyboard and trackpad are excellent, which is unusual for a Chromebook, and the touch display feels great. It’s not going to win any design awards, and there’s no backlit keyboard, but this is a lot of laptop for the price. It’s been on sale at $320 for a few months, but now with Prime Day, it’s down even further, which is the lowest we’ve seen it. If you want a bigger screen, the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 is also on sale for $319 ($80 off).
You can snag these Pro models for even steeper discounts on Amazon if you clip the on-page coupon. The MacBook Pro with M3 Pro and M3 Max is less than a year old, so it’s an excellent choice when it comes to M4-powered MacBooks. Both sizes pack a bright Mini LED screen, a 120-Hz refresh rate, and a 1080p webcam. Most importantly, you’ll also have plenty of ports including three USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4, an HDMI, an SD card slot, a high-impedance headphone jack, and a MagSafe charging port. Since several configurations are on sale, you might not know which to buy. We recommend the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M3 Pro for intermediate content creators who want a laptop that’s easier to travel with. The 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Max (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is a great option if you want a big display and excellent battery life.
apple isn’t known for holding sales, which is why it’s important to take advantage of any discounts through third-party retailers. In this case, it’s Amazon. This year’s Prime Day Apple deals include our top-rated devices—including MacBooks, AirPods, iPads, and more. There’s a lot of our favorite accessories on sale. In addition to the Apple deals, we’ve also got a bell-to-bell Prime Day coverage in our best Prime Day deals list, as well as a handful of smaller stories highlighting deals on our favorite Amazon devices and laptops.
The Best Apple Watches on Our Favorite Gadgets: The First Five Prime Day Apple Deals on our Favorites 2024
The Series 9 is our favorites in our guide to Best Apple Watches. It looks the same as the Series 8, but it does come with a few upgrades, including faster performance, a brighter display, and improved battery life. You can use the Double Tap feature to play music or hang up a call when you tap your thumb and index finger together. This year it will also support WatchOS 11. New features like a glance at health metrics and measuring performance improvements will be available through Vitals. Due to a patent dispute, Apple has disabled the blood oxygen sensor in its products sold through its stores. But this doesn’t apply if you purchase the smartwatch through third-party retailers like Amazon.
Source: The Top 5 Prime Day Apple Deals on Our Favorite Gadgets
The AirPods Max (8/10, WIRED Recommendation): A Great Deal for Pedestrians and Macs
Apple’s AirPods Max (8/10, WIRED Recommends) deliver excellent sound with a massive soundstage, rich bass, and fantastic noise cancellation. They have a great build quality, with a springy mesh headband and soft fabric earcups. We like the volume knob, because it looks similar to the one on an Apple Watch, and allows you to adjust the volume. It’s great that these headphones integrate with both your iPad and Macintosh computer, with the ability to switch between devices without having to go through your settings manually. This deal applies to only the Space Gray colorway (for now), but it’s also the lowest price we’ve seen for these headphones. The other colors are on sale for less than they cost at Amazon. It’s still a good deal, because they dip to this price often. According to rumors, the new version of the AirPods Max is coming later this year. It looks like the only change will be the addition of aUSB-C port. Hold off if it’s important to you.