There are no better earbuds for muting the world than the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, which remain our pick for the best noise-canceling earbuds. While there aren’t enough meaningful changes for QuietComfort Earbuds II owners to upgrade, the $249 price ($50 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Bose makes them easier to recommend for newcomers or those whose QC II buds have failing batteries. Coincidentally, the original QuietComfort Earbuds II are also discounted by $80, bringing them down to $199 at Amazon, Best Buy, and Bose.
It’s been hard for Bose fans to swallow the $299 upgrade pill for the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, which unceremoniously kicked the QuietComfort Earbuds II off their perch to become the company’s marquee earbuds. After all, they look and sound nearly identical (they’re even compatible with the same $50 wireless charging case), except that the Ultra add spatial audio and call performance improvements. Bose curiously neglected to add key features like Bluetooth multipoint with the refresh, but both models retain the same class-leading ANC performance and great audio quality, so you can’t go wrong with either pair.
If you’d informed me a few years ago that I’d eventually be able to buy a DJI drone for under $300, I’d have laughed you right back into the house for a little grounding time. But the joke’s on me — the unbelievably small and light (0.54 pounds) DJI Mini 2 SE is, in fact, going for around $299 ($40 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and DJI right now. That’s the lowest price we’ve seen.
The DJI Mini 2 SE includes everything you need for immediate takeoff: the palm-size drone and the RC-N1 controller, which accommodates your smartphone for monitoring. Compared to the original Mini 2, the SE version downgrades the camera to a 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor with a resolution that drops from 4K to 2.7K. Unfortunately, it’s also missing obstacle avoidance and the built-in follow mode that’s present in some of DJI’s pricier drones (it uses your smartphone’s GPS, which isn’t as accurate and only works up to 500 meters), and the smaller battery needed to achieve the shrinkage means you can only stay in flight for up to 31 minutes. If you can forgive those quibbles, the Mini 2 SE is a great beginner drone.
