Bose’s excellent QC Ultra Earbuds are matching their all-time low

If the bar for noise-canceling earbuds seems high right now, that’s because Bose and Sony seem to raise it with every addition to their respective lineups. The QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds are a great example of just how impressive ANC has become in the last few years, particularly in the earbuds space. And now, thanks to a $50 discount, you can pick them up at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart for $249.

If noise cancellation is your top priority when selecting a pair of wireless earbuds, there’s no better choice than the Ultra. Bose’s latest earbuds do a terrific job masking the sounds of traffic, talking, and other noisy facets of everyday life, allowing you to soak in your playlists and podcasts without unwanted distractions. When you do want to hear what’s going on around you, they also have a crystal-clear transparency mode, which will pipe in sound from the outside so you can remain abreast of your surroundings.

Spec-wise, the Ultra are pretty similar to the last-gen QC Earbuds II, aside from a few minor upgrades. Their audio quality is rich and lively, especially when using Bose’s new Immersive Audio feature, which imparts certain tracks with an added sense of depth. They also tout better voice call performance and improved stability fins, the latter of which are now far easier to apply. You still don’t get wireless charging or multipoint support (sigh), but hey, maybe next time.

a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin [&>a]:shadow-underline-blurple-1″>Read our Bose QC Ultra Earbuds review.

a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin [&>a]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-white”>Other ways to save this weekend

• Earlier this week, Lego teased its latest Animal Crossing collab with Nintendo, which puts the fall foliage and K.K. Slider front and center. If you’re a bigger fan of Bowser than Nintendo’s enigmatic crooner, however, Costco is currently selling a brick-ified version of Mario’s mortal enemy with a Piranha Plant set for $269.99 ($60 off). The latter usually retails for $59.99 on its own, meaning you’re essentially getting the 540-piece carnivorous plant free of charge.
• Satechi’s refreshed Stand & Hub for the Mac Mini is on sale at Amazon for $79.99 ($20 off), which matches is lowest price to date. As my colleague Victoria Song pointed out in her recent ode to the Mac Mini, the simple aluminum accessory is an easy way to add a fast M.2 NVMe SSDand a bevy of ports — including a USB-C port, three USB-A ports, a 3.5mm audio jack, and an SD card slot — to the front of Apple’s M1 / M2 desktop machines.
• You can snag JBL’s Authentics 200 at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target for around $279 ($70 off), which is just $5 shy of its all-time low. The retro-inspired Bluetooth speaker might sit at the bottom of the new Authentics range, however, it still manages to produce clear, detailed sound with a fair amount of weight. More importantly, it can field queries from Google Assistant and Alexa at the same time — no switching necessary. Read our JBL Authentics 300 review.
• Android tablets are finally starting to improve, with Samsung’s high-end Galaxy Tab S9 being one of the better options if you’re able to swing the $799.99 price tag. If not, there’s the 10.9-inch Galaxy Tab S9 FE, which is now available at Amazon and Best Buy starting at $349.99 ($100 off). The step-down tablet is similar to the standard model in that it features a robust IP68 rating and comes with an S Pen stylus, however, it opts for a midrange Exynos 1380 chipset and ditches the OLED display for a 90Hz LCD panel.