They say that the winter holidays are the most wonderful time of the year, but even if you share that sentiment, it’s hard to argue with Valentine’s Day being a close second. Whether you’re a hopeless romantic who believes in love at first sight and all that jazz or you’re simply excited that spring is finally around the corner, we have something guaranteed to put a big smile on your face… or make it even bigger today.
We’re talking about an outstanding new batch of killer mobile tech deals that proves beyond the shadow of a doubt Valentine’s Day is the new Christmas, making a lot of popular handsets, tablets, smartwatches, and headphones pretty much as affordable as on Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2023.
These are our top three bargains of the week
Our latest weekly deals roundup starts with a (budget-friendly) bang, as the stock Android-running Pixel 7a mid-ranger has recently dropped back to its record low price. At a huge $125 markdown from an already fairly reasonable list price of $499, the Google Tensor G2-powered 6.1-incher may well be the best affordable phone out there today.
Unless, of course, you’re more of a Samsung person and have no intention to spend a small fortune on an ultra-high-end member of the hot new Galaxy S24 family, in which case the 5G-enabled Galaxy A54 will feel pretty hard to resist at a $100 discount that was previously available right before Christmas.
If you need a top budget smartwatch to pair with… a different phone than the two mentioned above, the second-gen Apple Watch SE is remarkably cheaper than ever before, but most likely not for long. This puppy only supports iPhones, mind you, while not being the subject of any potential sales bans or sensor deactivation like the higher-end Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2.
So… many… great… smartphone… deals
“Great” actually feels like a major understatement when you consider how unbelievably affordable the unlocked Motorola Edge (2022) currently is. That’s barely costlier than the entry-level new Moto G Play (2024), and despite its advanced age, those specifications are anything but entry-level, including among others an insanely smooth 144Hz OLED screen and blazing fast 30W charging.
Last but certainly not least (in this category), the state-of-the-art Pixel Fold is… not affordable by any measure of the word, but it is somehow more deeply discounted than it was for Christmas. Talk about a Valentine’s Day miracle, eh?
These discounted tablets are not too shabby either
Mid-range is the name of the game for this week’s top tablet picks, none of which can go toe-to-toe with Apple’s super-premium iPad Pro (2022) duo in terms of raw power (or anything else, really) but all of which look just right for their newly reduced prices.
Granted, the OnePlus Pad has been more attractive a couple of times before at a discount with a nice freebie also included, but that’s not also what we can say about the recently released Galaxy Tab A9 Plus, for instance, which comes with a generous 8GB RAM count and 128 gigs of internal storage space at a simply unbeatable price.
How about an affordable smartwatch?
Now that’s a label that doesn’t fit the Apple Watch Ultra 2at all, but with a virtually indestructible design, stellar battery life (by the company’s “normal” wearable standards), and a functional blood oxygen sensor (probably not for long), it’s hard to argue with that bad boy’s latest $70 discount either way.
If you’re an Android smartphone user, meanwhile, we urge you to at least consider purchasing the OG Pixel Watch at a solid $150 under its regular price despite there being an improved sequel (and other arguably better smartwatches) on the market today.
Let’s wrap things up with some low-cost earbuds and headphones
That’s actually the only earbuds promotion we can recommend this week, with a slightly richer harvest of over-ear headphones options at greatly reduced prices available on Amazon. If you want the best of the best out there in that category, the Sony WH-1000XM5 are clearly the way to go, while the simply (and confusingly) branded Bose QuietComfort cans are an undeniably excellent alternative on a tighter budget.
