The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, the best noise-canceling pair we’ve tested, are at their lowest price

There are no better earbuds for muting the world than the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, which remain our pick for the best noise-canceling earbuds. While there aren’t enough meaningful changes for QuietComfort Earbuds II owners to upgrade, the $249 price ($50 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Bose makes them easier to recommend for newcomers or those whose QC II buds have failing batteries. Coincidentally, the original QuietComfort Earbuds II are also discounted by $80, bringing them down to $199 at Amazon, Best Buy, and Bose.

It’s been hard for Bose fans to swallow the $299 upgrade pill for the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, which unceremoniously kicked the QuietComfort Earbuds II off their perch to become the company’s marquee earbuds. After all, they look and sound nearly identical (they’re even compatible with the same $50 wireless charging case), except that the Ultra add spatial audio and call performance improvements. Bose curiously neglected to add key features like Bluetooth multipoint with the refresh, but both models retain the same class-leading ANC performance and great audio quality, so you can’t go wrong with either pair.

Read our Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds review.

If you’d informed me a few years ago that I’d eventually be able to buy a DJI drone for under $300, I’d have laughed you right back into the house for a little grounding time. But the joke’s on me — the unbelievably small and light (0.54 pounds) DJI Mini 2 SE is, in fact, going for around $299 ($40 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and DJI right now. That’s the lowest price we’ve seen.

The DJI Mini 2 SE includes everything you need for immediate takeoff: the palm-size drone and the RC-N1 controller, which accommodates your smartphone for monitoring. Compared to the original Mini 2, the SE version downgrades the camera to a 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor with a resolution that drops from 4K to 2.7K. Unfortunately, it’s also missing obstacle avoidance and the built-in follow mode that’s present in some of DJI’s pricier drones (it uses your smartphone’s GPS, which isn’t as accurate and only works up to 500 meters), and the smaller battery needed to achieve the shrinkage means you can only stay in flight for up to 31 minutes. If you can forgive those quibbles, the Mini 2 SE is a great beginner drone.

Other deals you shouldn’t miss

• Amazon has a buy one, get one for 50 percent off sale right now on qualifying films, books, or games. You can find blockbuster Blu-rays and DVDs like Dune and Oppenheimer, bestselling novels such as The Housemaid, and some quirky card and board games that you may have never heard of, making this a great opportunity to find some new indoor fun to close out the winter months.
• The Blink Mini home security camera is $19.99 ($10 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and The Home Depot. The 110-degree FOV camera records 1080p video with night vision, has two-way audio and automatic zone detection, and you can mount it on a wall. It works with Alexa, too, allowing you to view feeds on Echo Show devices and arm or disarm the camera using your voice. Read our review.
• The white version of 8BitDo’s Ultimate wireless controller is $37.99 ($12 off) at Amazon, the lowest price we’ve seen. Compatible with PC, Android, iOS and tvOS, and Raspberry Pi, it comes with a matching charging dock to keep its 15-hour battery juiced up. The controller layout is reminiscent of Xbox’s, but you get two additional rear buttons, the ability to switch between D-input and X-input modes for greater compatibility, and you can switch between three custom button profiles on the fly. Similar 8BitDo controllers for other platforms cost as much as $70, making this a great value.
• Now through February 12th, Woot is bundling two Logitech Blue Snowball Ice microphones for $49.99 ($50 off). You can also buy one of them for $29.99 ($20 off). Like seemingly all Blue microphones I’ve tried, the Snowball Ice is a little on the sensitive side, so much so that I’m convinced it could pick up a nagging fly from across the room. You can tame it with gain adjustments and noise suppression software. It’s a great improvement compared to your webcam’s built-in microphone, anyway, and it works well enough for common needs like podcasting and streaming.