Cam Bunton, Editor at NewGeekGuide – Cam has been passionate about tech since his dad bought the family’s first Commodore AMIGA back in the late 80’s. He’s been in the tech industry (writing and making videos) since 2010, and joined NewGeekGuide as the resident video producer and product reviewer in 2015. He sometimes writes news and reviews for 9to5Mac too.
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Black Friday may have come and gone, but tech companies and retailers are keen to keep the discounts running through this week with their annual Cyber Monday deals. Whether you’re looking to get yourself a new smartphone or tablet, or buy one for a friend/family member, there are plenty of good discounts to be had this week…
Update #2: The eBay deal is sold out too.
Update: Amazon is sold out but we found an even better deal on ebay. $389 shipped for a new 32GB Galaxy S6
If you’re after a fantastic current flagship smartphone this holiday season, you may just be in luck today. One of Amazon’s Cyber Monday deals is an unlocked Samsung Galaxy S6 for just $399. That’s a full $200 discount on its original full retail price, and $40 cheaper than we’ve seen it elsewhere. Specifically, Amazon is offering the 32GB US Version in Black, the same color shown in the image above.
As a reminder, the Galaxy S6 was the first major flagship Samsung device to feature an all-glass and metal build, departing from the plastic devices of previous years. It has a 5.1-inch Quad HD resolution AMOLED screen coated in Corning Gorilla Glass 4 and is powered by a Samsung Exynos 7420 octa-core processor. The main camera on the back boasts 16 megapixels, 4K video recording and optical image stabilization while the front camera is 5MP. It’s also equipped with a fingerprint scanner, wireless charging and a 2,550mAh battery.
If you’re wanting to grab one, we’d advise doing it soon. Last week when the Nexus 6 dropped in price for Black Friday, inventory put aside for the daily deal sold out within a couple of hours. We expect a phone as desirable as the S6 won’t take long to sell out either.
It won’t be too long before Samsung unveils the next generation Galaxy S. We’re expecting the manufacturer to announce the Galaxy S7 at an event sometime in the first quarter of next year with a retail launch within a few weeks afterwards. It’ll allegedly feature a Snapdragon 820 processor in the US and China models, and its own recently-announced Exynos 8890 processor in other markets.
For up to date news on all of today’s deals, be sure to keep 9to5Toys’ Cyber Monday page bookmarked.
Tech is always on the top of someone’s gift list, and normally, one item wanted by kids and adults alike is a laptop. With Chrome OS, Google shifted the focus away from slow, cheap laptops to efficient, affordable machines by creating a cloud-centric operating system. For those who want web access, and web-based apps, a Chromebook is an ideal gift and it doesn’t have to cost the earth. What’s more, virtually all Chromebooks come with 100GB free Google Drive cloud storage…
Back when OnePlus announced its third smartphone, the OnePlus X, you may remember it also teased a pair of earphones. These earphones, it claimed, would bring quality craftsmanship and great audio for a price way below what you’d expect. The OnePlus Icons are now available to buy for $44.99 (reg. $49.99), and I’ve got my hands on a pair…
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Chinese smartphone manufacturers are known for making great devices at affordable prices. While it may not be as popular as the likes of Xiaomi and Huawei, Oppo is making strides in the smartphone market. Most of its phones are well-received by reviewers, even if the general consumer market is yet to become fully aware of the brand. Its latest phone, the specced-up version of the R7 is almost ready for launch, and is already available to pre-order in some parts of the world…
Update: B&H also has the Nexus 5X at $80 off across the board.
Update: Looks like Amazon is upping the competition. The online retailer has price-matched the Google Store, and you can now pick up the 16GB Nexus 5X for $299 in black or white. Sadly, the 32GB version is back-ordered, but the price is still listed at $349, the same as Google’s discounted price.
While you could pick up last year’s Nexus 6 64GB at a ridiculously low price ($260) on Amazon earlier today, Google’s official online store has some discounts of its own to offer for Black Friday. Perhaps most attractive is the $80 price cut on one of this year’s newest Nexus phones.
You can now buy the 32GB Nexus 5X for just $349 (down from $429), while the 16GB version is $299. At time of writing, all color options are in stock, but the discount only applies while inventory is there. While it’s not the biggest discount we’ve ever seen, it’s still very generous given how new the Nexus 5X is. Google only announced the product last month, and it’s one of the only available phones to support Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box.
While stocks last, you can also snag the Nexus 9 at a discount. The tablet is down to just $199 for the 16GB version and $279 for the 32GB model, cutting the price down by a hefty $200. As things stand (at least until the Pixel C is available), the Nexus 9 is currently one of the only tablets available offering a pure Android experience. Multiple manufacturers have Android tablets on the market, but most come with a boat-load of bloatware. For $199 I’d argue you can’t get a better Android tablet if you value performance and software purity.
If you’re curious to see what other deals are out there today, be sure to bookmark 9to5Toys’ Black Friday page and 9to5Mac’s Black Friday Gameplan.
Along with all of its usual wide-ranging discounts, Amazon has slashed the prices of its own hardware for Black Friday. Despite the fact that its newest Android-based tablets were already crazily good value for money, you can now pick them up even cheaper. Prices now start as low as $35 for a Kindle Fire tablet, while the special Kids Edition and HD 6 have seen generous discounts too…
Update 2: 64GB ‘Deal of the Day’ model is also now sold out in both Midnight Blue and Cloud White.
Update 1: As you’d expect, a deal this good didn’t last long. Amazon has already sold out of its 32GB ‘deal of the day’ inventory, but you can still pick up the 64GB version for $259.
A few months ago when the Nexus 6 dropped below $300 for the first time, we stood aghast at the sheer value of the deal. It’s still one of the best big phones available, especially if you want a pure Android experience. For today only, one of Amazon’s deals of the day is the Nexus 6, and it’s dropped to just $199 for the 32GB model or just $259 for the 64GB version.
For that kind of money, I can’t think of a single phone that comes close to offering the same experience as the Nexus 6. It may be last year’s flagship, but it’s still very much a flagship. It features a 5.9-inch Quad HD resolution AMOLED screen, 3GB RAM, Snapdragon 805 processor, 13MP camera and a 3220mAh battery, all in a solid metal-framed device with a comfortable (albeit really big) rounded back. What’s more, it supports Quick-Charge technology for superfast charging and is one of the few devices that already supports Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
If you’re after the best Android experience possible, but don’t want to pay a lot of money to get it, you won’t regret buying the Nexus 6, unless you really don’t want a big phone. It’s one of my personal favorites of the past year and — until the new Moto X came out — was my daily driver for months.
To stay on top of all Black Friday deals, be sure to keep an eye on 9to5Toys Black Friday page.
Today is officially Black Friday, which means several companies will be selling various products at better-than-full prices. OnePlus’ version of a Black Friday weekend sale has begun and — instead of getting discounted smartphones — the company has made its phones available for open sale from today through until the 30th. That’s four full days of invite-free purchasing.
Both of the latest phones — the OnePlus X and OnePlus 2 — are available to buy all weekend and you won’t need an invite to purchase.
While the phones haven’t been discounted, the company has taken a percentage off the retail price of most of its accessories. Multiple OnePlus One accessories are available for 90% off, while accessories for the newer devices are 10% off. If you’ve been desperate to get your hands on the company’s new smartphones, now is the best opportunity to do so. To take advantage, head on over to OnePlus.net.
As for devices with actual discounts, we compiled a list of phones that we’d personally recommend buying, all of which have seen healthy price-cuts this week. What’s more, we’ve also rounded up some of the best gift ideas for you to consider, while our friends at 9to5Toys have an extensive list of all notable Black Friday deals running.
We can’t escape Black Friday, it’s all over social media and the blogosphere. But what we can do is hopefully make it a little easier for you to find the best deals. This list won’t include any old Android phones that are discounted. There are plenty out there which we wouldn’t touch even if we’re shopping for a bargain. Instead, this list is only populated with devices we’d recommend buying and are now even better value for money than they’ve ever been.
Here are some of the best deals on great Android smartphones that we know of:
V-MODA makes some of the best earphones available. While sports stars and celebrities are normally seen wearing Beats, you’re more likely to find a pair of V-MODA cans wrapped around the necks of DJs. And if I’m going to trust someone’s judgement on an audio product, I’ll choose a music professional over a sports-person any day.
In the past, I’ve owned the Crossfade M100 and now, the award-winning earphones are back with an added feature: Wireless connectivity. I’ve been using the Crossfade Wireless for the past week or so, and they’re rather fantastic…
Feature Request is a new regular NewGeekGuide series where authors offer their opinion on how to improve popular hardware or software products.
It’s almost impossible not to have an opinion on OnePlus. They make fantastic hardware at competitive prices, and none of us can decide whether the marketing choices they make help or hinder them. A prime example being the invite-only system which either creates so much desire that customers have to take the plunge and buy as soon as they get an invite, or it leaves people so frustrated they never want to talk about OnePlus again. Whichever one it is is beside the point, the OnePlus X is quite possibly the best small, affordable phone on the market this year. But its size is precisely what keeps it from being in my pocket everyday…
After weeks of speculation and rumors, Huawei finally announced the Mate 8 in Shanghai this morning. It’s being targeted at the Chinese market, but the company is expected to shed more light on the device’s international launch at CES in January next year. Sadly, a lot of details are being left out of today’s press release. The spec-hungry among you will be upset to read that — despite it being official — Huawei has been vague on a number of features…
Google hosted its very first Android Dev Summit this week and put on a number of seminars and keynotes for developers to see and learn some of the newest and most useful ways to make use of its APIs, features and services. The Dev Summit kicked off at the Computer History Museum just a couple of days ago and now you can catch all 20 sessions hosted on YouTube.
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When Android Wear was initially unveiled as a smartwatch platform, only a couple of manufacturers were ready with hardware right at the outset. LG had the plastic square G Watch, and Samsung had the Android-based version of its pre-existing Galaxy Gear. Of those two, the Gear Live was certainly the more appealing.
As new companies jump onboard and new watches are released, that usually means tasty discounts for the old gadgets. In this case, it’s a very healthy discount. Samsung’s Gear Live is available now from a trusted seller on eBay for just $79.
If you’re an Android user who isn’t certain on the benefits of having a wearable connected device (or a smartwatch), snagging an older generation for little outlay is a fairly safe way of testing the water. Sure, you won’t get the sharpest screen, the fastest processor or the classiest design, but you will get a very basic taster for what Android Wear is like to use every day. It’ll certainly save you from spending $250 or more on something like the Moto 360, Huawei Watch or recently released Fossil Q Founder.
It might even make a decent stocking-stuffer to go alongside some of our other favorite ideas for holiday gifts. Of course, be sure to keep an eye out on 9to5Toys’ Black Friday Deals page for up to date news on all the best deals over the next week.
Without an invite, buying a OnePlus 2 has been pretty much impossible up until now. Today, however, the company has made its ‘2016 flagship killer’ available invite-free on Amazon India to local customers.
The open sale is only live until Friday, when the company will launch its global Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend holiday deals. Those planning to order are limited to just one device each, costing 24,999 Indian Rupees (roughly $377 USD).
OnePlus has been both praised and criticized for its use of an invite-only system for purchasing its smartphones. Whichever side of the fence you sit on, when you actually want to buy one for yourself, having to wait for an invite can be a frustrating experience. Despite that, the experience has arguably been better with the OnePlus 2. It’s already held a couple of open sale days, has sent more invites out, even extending their expiration and introduced a new extended warranty to make it a more pleasant buying experience.
Earlier this month, popular watchmaker Fossil announced a range of connected fashion items. Among them were a Bluetooth connected analog watch and a fitness band built in to a stylish leather bracelet. But what we were really excited about was the company’s announcement that it was going to build its own Android Wear-powered smartwatch. Today, the Fossil Q Founder is finally available to order…
Over the weekend, executives from Yelp and TripAdvisor noticed that Google was pushing restaurant, or POI results from its services down in favor of its own. Neither of the popular location information services was particularly pleased to see it happening, but Google claims it was due to a “bug” and that it will be fixed…just as soon as possible!
CyanogenMod fans will be pleased to know the team’s latest CM13 nightly builds now support the two latest and greatest pure Android smartphones. CM13 test builds for the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X both landed on CyanogenMod’s downloads page just a short while ago…
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The holiday season is well and truly upon us, and whether you’re looking for gift ideas for yourself, your friends or your family, we have you covered here at NewGeekGuide. This list contains some of my favorite smartphones, tablets, Chromebooks and some awesome accessories that I’ve used and loved. Ranging from $25 to $630, these are some of this year’s great gadgets…
The CyanogenMod team announced in a blog post this morning that it has started pushing its Android Marshmallow-based CM13 nightlies to a handful of older Android phones. It does note, however, that if you’re currently using YOG4P orYOG7D builds of CM12.1 and are happy with its stability, you may want to give the CM13 nightly a miss. A nightly — for those who are unaware — is essentially a beta custom ROM build that CyanogenMod pushes out to its users.
When it comes to high-end Android tablets, they don’t come much more unique than the Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 Pro. The full-size tablet is equipped with a Quad HD resolution 10.1-inch screen, Intel Atom quad-core processor, a 10,200vmAh battery and has a built-in projector. Its unusual design certainly makes it stand out. But is it any good?
Just a couple of weeks after the huge tablet was officially launched, the Samsung Galaxy View is already being sold at $100 off its original full retail price. Initially, the 18.4-inch Android tablet was being offered for $599 despite having decidedly mid-range specifications. At $500, the device is much more palatable. Although — being a very niche product — it’s not likely to sell by the millions.
The Samsung Galaxy View runs Android 5.1 Lollipop, features a full HD resolution screen and is powered by a 1.6GHz octa-core processor. There’s 2GB RAM and 32GB storage, which you can expand up to 128GB using a MicroSD card. Samsung boasts that it can be used for 8 hours straight without needing to be charged.
From the outset, it’s been clear this device is primarily designed to be a multimedia hub that you can move around. It’s far too big to be a regular tablet you take everywhere with you. However, to stream video in any room in your house, it’s ideal. Rather than having a TV or screen in every room, you can pick up the Galaxy View and take it with you to the kitchen, bedroom, or wherever else you might want to catch up on Daredevil, or Jessica Jones. To boost the multimedia experience, there’s a pair of 4W speakers on the back.
If you want a huge tablet, or second/portable screen to take around the house, the Galaxy View is available now for $499 on Amazon.
In an exclusive interview with TIME, Google’s chief software engineer Amit Singhal revealed that the company once developed a wearable product which works in a similar manner to the Communicator pin badges worn by the Enterprise crew in Star Trek: The Next Generation. The Bluetooth-connected lapel pin could be activated by a single tap and had a built-in microphone…
