Our Favorite Early Prime Big Deal Days Sales

The Amazon Fire TV Cube is a mashup of an Amazon Echo and a 4K Fire TV streamer. Its universal remote control capabilities let you control a host of other compatible A/V gear, including TVs, soundbars, receivers, and even some cable and satellite boxes. New features include HDMI 2.1 connections—one input and one output—for controlling other devices using your voice. (One cool trick is that the Cube will also upscale any content from a source connected to its HDMI input.) Other features include support for WiFi 6E, support for both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ HDR, and an Off button that disconnects the microphones if you don’t want the device in an always-listening mode.

This 55-inch 4K TV is from Amazon’s step-up Omni series for 2024. It does well for overall picture quality, but not as good for high dynamic range. It does have a wider-than-average viewing angle for an LCD set. It’s a QLED model with a Mini LED backlight, which can help boost contrast and improve black levels. It supports Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10+ HDR and a 144Hz variable refresh rate for gaming.

The Guohaoi Cooling Blanket was the second most cooling blanket we tested. When wearing it for an hour, the evaluator reported it felt very cool and didn’t retain heat. The front of this blanket is constructed with nylon and polyester and feels like smooth, cool, swimsuit material. The back is made from Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certified cotton. The stitching isn’t the neatest and feels a little inexpensive, and the two layers aren’t attached, but you can often expect some shortcomings for lower-priced items, and the important thing is that this blanket has a cooling effect as advertised.

Despite its small size and low price, the sphere-shaped Dot offers the same smart speaker functionality as its far more expensive brethren. It can also serve as an inexpensive way to introduce smart speaker functionality throughout your home in an Alexa-based multiroom system. You can even pair an Echo to a Bluetooth speaker you already own to lend that one smart speaker functionality. The Dot provides an inexpensive way to test the smart speaker waters, and the price makes it a reasonable gift even if you’re on a budget. We’ve seen it sell for under $25 during Black Friday last year, so it might be worth holding out if you’re thinking of giving it as a gift.

The Arlo Essential 2K (VMC3050-100NAS) is one of Arlo’s more budget-friendly security cameras, and we’ve never seen the price dip so low for this three-camera bundle. It performs well in our tests and features a built-in spotlight, a siren, and voice/app control via Amazon Alexa and Google Home. Additional features, such as activity zones, person detection, and cloud video storage, require an Arlo Secure subscription.

Anyone looking to save some space—or cut down on items to plug into their TV—may want to consider the Roku Streambar SE. It doesn’t go on sale all that often, and almost never less than this. This soundbar that includes a built-in Roku streaming player. Given its small footprint, it probably works best for smaller TVs, not that jumbo-sized set you’ve been eyeing.

This 55-inch 4K Amazon Fire TV, part of the company’s step-up Omni series, does well for overall picture quality, though it’s less-than-impressive for HDR. (It supports both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ HDR formats.) Like the other Amazon Omni set above, its main drawbacks are a limited peak brightness, and the lack of any local dimming feature to improve blacks and contrast.

The Labigo Electric Spin Scrubber comes with four different cleaning heads (large flat, small flat, pointed corner, and large round). It has a single speed and weighs 26 ounces with its extension handle. The unit’s battery is located in the handle, and its head is fixed at 45 degrees, so this unit may not fit into tighter spaces.

The Phomemo M110 is the bigger, bulkier version of the Phomemo D30, which we also evaluated and liked. The M110 offers a bit more flexibility with the size of the label you’re creating. It uses the same app, and has a wide variety of fonts, styles, and images, with quick creation and easy label cutting. Its size, compared with the smaller Phomemo, makes it a bit less portable, and its alignment isn’t as precise when it comes to cutting the label exactly on the cut line compared with other label printers. But it’s still a solid option.

If you’re looking for a tablet to do simple tasks, the Amazon Fire Max 11 is a solid pick. The device has an 11-inch display and is powerful enough to stream Netflix or Disney+, play simple games like Minecraft, and scroll through social media. It weighs just over 1 pound and has a battery that lasts an impressive 13.3 hours in our web-browsing test. You also get 64GB of built-in storage.

If you want a smaller, lighter, and even less expensive Amazon Fire tablet than the Fire Max 11, the Amazon Fire HD 8 (gen 12) is a good alternative. In our tests, its performance and camera both receive sub-par scores, and the display quality is only middling. But if you plan to use a tablet for just the basics, the Amazon Fire HD 8 could do the trick, while saving you money.