We've trawled the depths of Amazon to find the best deals on gear we've tested. Amazon Prime Day is just around the corner. This year the deals officially kick off June 23 and ru through midnight Friday, June 26, but there are already some good early deals going on. Whether you need a new laptop, an Alexa speaker, or some noise-canceling earbuds, you can shop today. Microsoft just announced an update to the Surface line, and yes, it'll be slightly faster, but it's also significantly more expensive, especially with this deal happening now.

The Pro Max model offers a touchscreen smart case with an AI note taker. Following the initial tease of its Thus AI chip, Anker announced the first earbuds with the component during its Anker Day event. The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Pro Max both utilize the chip for what the company calls Whisper Clear voice performance. Of course, the usual earbud features are here -- active noise cancellation (ANC), voice controls and personalized sound -- but there are some unique tools available on these models as well. Those include an AI Note-Taker on the Liberty 5 Pro Max and touchscreen charging cases for both.

Your cell phone can handle basic language translation, but bespoke tools can offer a much more immersive experience. Hans Christian Andersen once said, "To travel is to live," and while that's a romantic notion, he probably wasn't careening through Gyeongju, South Korea, at midnight in the back of a taxi with a driver who didn't speak a lick of English. Today's world traveler has it awfully easy when it comes to understanding the local lingo, as even a basic modern cell phone app can offer a pretty good translation of common phrases delivered in everything from Abkhaz to Zulu. Type or speak a sentence or two into the app, tap a button, and out it returns in the language of your choice. Tap another button, and your phone can even speak those sentences aloud.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra 2 have the best active noise cancellation on the market, and they very rarely get cheaper. Bose's QuietComfort Ultra 2 earbuds are the best noise-canceling earbuds you can buy. Right now, they're $50 off, which matches the best price we tend to see outside of special events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. If you want to wait until November, they might hit $200 again, but otherwise $250 is a very fair deal--especially since they pop back up to $300 regularly. The discounted price applies to all five color options, including Black, Deep Plum, Desert Gold, Midnight Violet, and White Smoke (another rarity, as usually only the vivid colors go on sale).

They don't cope well in certain situations and the'transparent' mode lets in unwanted noise

Widely available earbuds equipped with sensors (also known as earables) can be combined with a sleep event detection algorithm to offer a convenient alternative to laborious clinical tests for individuals suffering from sleep disorders. Although various solutions utilizing such devices have been proposed to detect sleep events, they ignore the fact that individuals often share sleeping spaces with roommates or couples. To address this issue, we introduce DreamCatcher, the first publicly available dataset for wearer-aware sleep event algorithm development on earables.

From jogging and cycling to multi-tasking or puttering around the house, open earbuds are an excellent way to jam out in the real world. If you've done any wireless earbuds shopping lately, you've likely noticed a new design category cropping up everywhere. They're called open earbuds (or open-ear buds, depending on the brand), and just about every audio brand has a pair (or three). They come in a slew of styles, but most either loop around your ears like older Beats buds, or clip on like funky-futuristic earrings. Whatever the style, they're designed to deliver satisfying sound while keeping your ear canals open to the sounds of the world around you.

Apple could unveil Gemini-powered Siri in Feb. These open-fit earbuds actually make a difference with background noise. Rarely does a set of open-fit earbuds actually impress me. I tend to find them underwhelming because overall sound quality is subpar compared to the more "traditional" in-ear models. The first time I used the Shokz OpenFit Pro ($249.95)

We're in Las Vegas with two ears and a heart, on the search for the best in immersive open earbuds, portable Bluetooth speakers, powered stereo setups, and more. We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. When it comes to audio systems at CES, held January 6-9 in Las Vegas, we always hope to find new ways companies have found to make music feel bigger without making your life harder. Sometimes that means earbuds you pull out of your pocket to pull previously unheard details out of tracks. Sometimes that means a wireless headset that considers limited bandwidth a personal insult.

At CES 2026, Everything Is AI. Integrated chatbots and built-in machine intelligence are no longer standout features in consumer tech. If companies want to win in the AI era, they've got to hone the user experience. The New Year's Eve champagne isn't even warm yet, and CES week is already upon us. The giant annual celebration of consumer tech kicks off the first full week of January as companies across the world convene in Las Vegas to hawk their latest innovations.