The XM4 are over four years old, but they still sound great for the money. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
A couple of months ago, we saw the Sony WH-1000XM4 drop to $129.99, which was an absolute steal for the last-gen noise-canceling headphones. That deal predictably sold out in a heartbeat, and there’s no telling whether we’ll see it that low again, but Amazon is selling them in black for $178.20 (about $170 off), which would be an all-time low if not for said outlier. You can also pick them up in other colors for $198 right now, though that price is frequently available these days.
The newer Sony WH-1000XM5 have leapfrogged the heap as the best noise-canceling headphones for most people in our book, but the XM4 remain a great pair of headphones if you’re looking to save some money. They feature phenomenal audio quality and noise cancellation, which keeps them in the big leagues occupied by newer sets. They also have nice quality-of-life features, including a foldable design and multipoint Bluetooth support, the latter of which allows you to connect them to two devices simultaneously. The XM5’s improved microphones make them the better buy if you frequently take calls while using your headphones, but not so much that we would dissuade you from saving more than $100 by going for the older pair.
Read our Sony WH-1000XM4 review.
More Monday deals and discounts
If you want to try something a little different to play games on Xbox and PC, RIG’s Nacon Revolution X controller might be worth checking out. Amazon is selling it in white for an all-time low of $39.99 (50 percent off) when you clip the on-page coupon. You can customize the weightiness of the wired gamepad, change its analog stick shafts and toppers, remap all of its buttons (including its four back buttons), and set thumbstick sensitivity and trigger dead zones using the companion app. It doesn’t have Hall effect sticks and its build quality doesn’t quite match that of the best Xbox controllers; however, those are fair tradeoffs at this price.
The newly released Insta360 Link 2 is pretty expensive, but you can get it for a new low of $179.99 ($20 off) at Amazon, B&H Photo, and Adorama right now. The 4K webcam is overkill for the average work needs, but its rotating head can be fun for content creation, dynamic presentations, or just to ensure you’re always centered in the frame. The Link 2 builds on the original with magnetic mounting, the ability to recognize and reframe multiple people in a scene, improved gestures, and stronger noise cancellation.
The budget-friendly Sony ZV-1F is a modest step above a smartphone for basic vlogging needs, and now the camera is going for a new low of around $348 ($151 off) at Amazon, B&H Photo, and Sony’s online storefront. It has a 20mm-equivalent fixed focal length lens with a 20-megapixel sensor and decent low-light performance, and records up to 4K at 30 frames per second or 1080p at up to 120fps. It also has an articulating display to help frame your shots, plus eye autofocus like some of Sony’s pricier cameras (but with a less effective contrast-detect autofocus system). The ZV-1F is not a great stills camera as you can’t shoot RAW photos, but it’ll do if all you need are quality clips and YouTube thumbnails.