The Wirecutter’s best deals: $30 off the Amazon Tap

This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer’s guide to the best technology. Read their continuously updated list of deals at TheWirecutter.com.

You may have already seen Engadget posting reviews from our friends at The Wirecutter. Now, from time to time, we’ll also be publishing their recommended deals on some of their top picks. Read on, and strike while the iron is hot—some of these sales could expire mighty soon.

Athlon Optics Midas ED Binoculars

Street price: $290; MSRP: $290; deal price: $250

The first time we’ve seen a drop on these binoculars since we started tracking them, and it’s a worthwhile one. At $250, they’re a full $40 below the street price.

The Athlon Optics Midas ED are our pick for the best binoculars. Daniel S. Cooper said, “Amazingly affordable with great optics, these binoculars have comparable performance to many models that cost thousands more.”

He went on to say, “The Athlon Midas ED pair’s optics aren’t its only strong suit: These are exceptionally durable binoculars that easily withstood the humid, dusty, and hostile environment of the Mexican rain forest and harsh sun of the Californian desert. And their focus dial adjusts reliably and smoothly across a wide range of depths, making it easy to focus on what you’re trying to see, no matter where it is.”

Anker PowerLine 3-ft Lightning Cable (3-Pack)

Street price: $25; MSRP: $40; deal price: $20

If you like having spare Lightning cables on hand, Anker’s currently offering a deal on a 3-pack of their PowerLine 3-ft Lightning cables. It’s $5 below their street price and only slightly over the usual cost of buying two Lightning cables individually.

The Anker PowerLine Lightning cable is our pick for the best Lightning cable. Nick Guy wrote, “Anker’s PowerLine cables charge iPads, iPhones, iPods—and the plethora of Lightning-based accessories Apple introduced over the past year—at their maximum speed (though the 12.9-inch iPad Pro can charge even faster with a special cable and charger). They also fulfill our readers’ number-one request: sturdiness. Anker builds its PowerLine cables with Kevlar fiber and PVC strain-relief collars that should prevent fraying during normal use. Plus they’re affordable: The 3-foot cable is half the price of Apple’s 1-meter (3.5-foot) Lightning to USB Cable. Add to this Anker’s reputation for stellar hardware, its fantastic customer service, and an awesome 18-month warranty, and it’s clear why this cable is our pick.”

Amazon Tap

Street price: $130; MSRP: $130; deal price: $100

This is the second time we’ve seen the Tap down to $100, matching a previous sale from the start of August. A couple days after that last sale started, Bed Bath and Beyond beat it with an $80 sale for a few days, but since that’s the only time we’ve seen a great BB&B sale on any our picks, we don’t think we’ll see that price again soon.

The Amazon Tap is a more portable pick in our Alexa guide. Grant Clauser wrote, “The Tap’s built-in battery lets you take Alexa voice control to the backyard or other places outside the home, though worse audio performance and the lack of an always-on microphone is limiting.”

For more about the always-on microphone, “The Tap doesn’t sport the always-on microphone for receiving voice commands that the Echo and Dot have. Instead, there’s a microphone button you need to press, similar to pressing the home button on an iPhone to call Siri to attention (if you don’t have “Hey Siri” enabled on your iPhone). This little inconvenience is meant to make the Tap’s battery last longer. It also makes it unsuitable as your main Alexa interface. You can’t shout commands across the yard, because the Tap isn’t listening.”

Refurbished Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 Lens

Street price: $350 (new); MSRP: $400 (new); deal price: $220

We’ve featured a deal on this refurbished lens before, but this comes in at $20 below the previous sale. At this new low, it’s even more affordable and even more of a reason to pick it up if you’re looking for a more capable prime lens. As always, Canon’s refurbished lenses come with a 1-year manufacturer warranty.

The Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 STM is the higher quality version of our prime lens pick in our Canon lenses guide. Tim Barribeau wrote, “If you’re willing to spend a bit more, the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 is higher quality—and capable of gathering even more light—but nearly three times the price. Of the company’s two 50 mm offerings, the f/1.4 version is undoubtedly a better lens, but if you’re just starting out and you aren’t sure what you want out of a lens, the f/1.8 version is supremely affordable and worth getting as you feel your way around.”

Deals change all the time, and some of these may have expired. To see an updated list of current deals, please go to The Wirecutter.com.

Amazon’s grocery deliveries now cover 190 London postcodes

Amazon announced today that its Fresh grocery delivery service is now available in 190 Greater London postcodes. The online retailer is keen to highlight that the number of eligible postcodes has more than doubled since Fresh launched in early June; though, it almost achieved this milestone just a couple of weeks later when the service expanded past the 69 launch postcodes to cover a total of 128. Today’s update comes soon after Amazon brought its £35 Dash scanner to the UK. With the device, you can add products to your virtual basket by simply reciting your shopping list into its microphone, or by using the on-board barcode scanner on your dangerously light bag of frozen chips.

As a quick reminder, Amazon Fresh offers more than 130,000 items, including perishables like meat, seafood, fruit and veg, for scheduled delivery. You can book in a same-day slot if you get your order in before 1PM, but that level of convenience doesn’t come cheap. Not only do you have to be an Amazon Prime member, but also a Fresh subscriber paying £7 extra each month, and delivery is only free on orders of over £40.

The easiest way to check whether Fresh now covers the area of London you call home is to plug your postcode into the site. If the fridge is empty and you’re just after a more immediate feed, though, you can always try Amazon’s Prime Now restaurant delivery service, launched in London only yesterday (and likely to a chorus of sighs from Deliveroo, UberEats and other competitors).

Source: Amazon

Amazon adds restaurant deliveries to Prime Now in London

As if there weren’t enough ways to order takeout in London, Amazon has jumped in with a Deliveroo-style competitor. If you live in the English capital and subscribe to Prime, you’ll soon see a postcode option inside the Prime Now app. Chuck it in and — provided you’re in a supported neighbourhood — you’ll get a list of cafes and restaurants that are available for delivery. Amazon promises to complete each order in under an hour; in the US, the average drop-off takes less than 45 minutes, it claims.

Amazon has over 100 restaurants signed up for its new service, however most are small or independent establishments. Scanning down the list, there’s no Wagamama, Pizza Express or Gourmet Burger Kitchen. A few businesses do stand out, however, such as Strada, Tossed and Velo. As for delivery coverage, well, you’ll need to be in one of the following postcodes: E1, E2, E3, E5, E8, E9, N1, N16, EC1, EC2, EC3, EC4, SW1, SW3, W1, SW3, W1, WC1, WC2, SE1, SE11. Unsurprisingly, Amazon says it has “plans to expand further,” although it’s unclear exactly when and where that will happen.

Amazon already offers a brain-melting number of food-related services. There’s Prime Now for basic one-hour deliveries, Amazon Pantry for “everyday essentials” and Amazon Fresh for, you guessed it, fresh groceries. All of these are designed to compete with traditional supermarkets, however, rather than takeaway couriers such as Just Eat and Hungryhouse. Today’s launch is different, as it provides direct competition for Deliveroo and UberEats. Those two have come under fire recently for their courier pay-outs — Amazon will be hoping to avoid such negative press, earning the support of drivers, cyclists and customers in the process.

Source: Amazon

Amazon Fire TV update gives you much wider voice search

Amazon’s Fire TV devices just became much more useful if you prefer to talk to your media hub. An update rolling out to the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick gives you dramatically improved search: you can now use voice to search over 75 apps and services, including Netflix and (soon) HBO Now. If the show you’re looking for is available on multiple services, you’ll see all your choices. And if you’re content with watching Amazon Video, you’re still getting an upgrade. You now have voice control of playback with Amazon’s service, so you can skip to your favorite Transparent scene without using the fast forward button.

There’s more. Much like on Apple TV, you can get game scores and other sports updates with a voice command — you’ll have to specify your favorites, but you won’t have to disrupt your show to get the scoop. And don’t worry if you’re not a fan of speaking to a set-top box, as there’s one big update for you as well. The Fire TV home screen has added personalized recommendations for both Netflix and HBO to help you find something new to watch. All told, your Fire TV gear should spare you a lot of button clicks.

Source: Amazon

The best portable bluetooth speaker

By Brent Butterworth

This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer’s guide to the best technology. Read the full article here.

After testing 118 Bluetooth speakers over the last two years, we think the UE Roll 2 is the best choice for most listeners. It sounds better and plays louder than most competitors, and its slim, waterproof, rugged design lets it survive almost any journey yet still slip easily into a backpack or laptop bag. Seven months of heavy use across the US and around the world have confirmed the practicality and sheer fun of this speaker.

Who should buy a portable Bluetooth speaker?

Anyone who owns a smartphone or tablet would probably enjoy owning a portable Bluetooth speaker. The best deliver sound quality that’s good enough for casual music listening, podcasts, and Internet radio, and their rechargeable batteries let you easily take them all around the house or on trips to the park or the beach. Though Bluetooth does degrade sound quality slightly, chances are small you’ll hear the effects through relatively low-quality speakers such as the ones discussed in this guide.

How we picked

Some of the portable Bluetooth speakers we tested in 2016.

There are so many Bluetooth speakers available today, it’s impossible for any article about Bluetooth speakers to be comprehensive. So we scoured retail and review sites to find promising models introduced since our last update, with a special focus on new models that readers asked us about. Based on a survey of Wirecutter readers, our criteria prioritized good sound, long battery life, and lots of volume.

We tested both large speakers (anything with any dimension longer than seven inches—which cost more and forsake portability for better sound) and smaller speakers (that value portability and low cost). For this update, we got in 39 new models for testing.

How we tested

Our top picks sit together so you can gauge their relative sizes. Clockwise from top: Riva Turbo X, Bose SoundLink Mini II, AmazonBasics BTV2, UE Roll 2, and Logitech X300 (shown in the aftermarket co2CREA “bondage mask” cover).

We started with a listening session spanning two days, in which we gave new speakers a long listen, connecting them via Bluetooth through a Samsung Galaxy S6 phone and playing the same four test tracks, and compared them with each other and our former picks. We first set the level loud enough to listen to but not so loud it would push the speakers into gross distortion. Then we cranked up the top performers to see how loud they could play, and how good they’d sound doing it.

This let us narrow the group down to the most competitive dozen models for blind testing sessions with our listening panel of four experts. In each session we used a custom-built 16-output switcher, in conjunction with an NTi Minilyzer and Mini SPL, so we could level-match and quickly switch between each speaker.

We also did rundown tests on all of our picks to confirm their approximate playing life. Note that our results may not agree with the manufacturers’, likely because their testing methodology—which they almost never publish—varies from ours.

Our pick

The UE Roll 2’s integral bungee cord makes it easy to hang the speaker from a shower faucet and lots of other places, too.

The original UE Roll was our unanimous pick for best portable speaker when we tested 30 new models last year, and we feel just as strongly about its replacement, the UE Roll 2. Like the original, the UE Roll 2 sounds full, with smooth reproduction of everything from bass notes to cymbals, and it plays loud enough to fill a hotel room or a beach blanket with sound. It’s so watertight it will survive being dunked one meter underwater for 30 minutes. Seven months of worldwide traveling with the original Roll have only confirmed our love of this design. The only real downside is that it lacks a speakerphone function.

Better sound, less portable

The Logitech X300’s styling may look a little dull, but the sound is anything but.

If you want a slight upgrade in audio quality, if our main pick sells out or becomes unavailable, if you want something with speakerphone function, or if you just want to save some money, the Logitech X300 is a terrific choice. With this speaker, the focus is on sound quality; it doesn’t play quite as loud as the UE Roll 2, but we think it sounds a little fuller and more natural. It’s not waterproof, and other than the speakerphone function, it doesn’t have any fancy features. But it sounds smoother than most Bluetooth speakers we’ve heard, even many larger and more-expensive models.

Better sound, for a price

The Bose SoundLink Mini II improves on the original SoundLink Mini with direct charging over USB, longer battery life, and a speakerphone function.

For those who want even better sound quality and louder volume but don’t need their portable Bluetooth speaker to be super-portable, the Bose SoundLink Mini II is worth the cost (roughly twice the price of the Roll 2). It’s shocking to hear how much better the SoundLink Mini II sounds than most of its competitors, with clearer voices and a fuller sound closer to what you’d expect to hear from a decent small stereo system. It also plays loud enough to drown out a small dinner party. At 1½ pounds the SoundLink Mini II is perfect for lugging along on family vacations or from room to room in the house but it’s probably heavier than backpackers and business travelers will want to carry.

Best sound, refined style

The controls on the top of Riva Turbo X illuminate when you pass your hand within an inch or so of the speaker’s top.

If you’re willing to spend significantly more to get the best possible performance, we think the Riva Turbo X is one of the best portable Bluetooth speakers you can buy. Its sound is clearer, livelier, more spacious, and more natural than its competitors’. It gets you closer to the sound of a real stereo speaker system than any other Bluetooth portable we’ve tried, and it’s the only speaker among our picks that delivers enough volume to be heard over loud party conversation.

It’s also more refined and elegant-looking. The Turbo X is one of the most expensive portable Bluetooth speakers you can buy, but we think it’s worth its cost. Note, however, that even though the Turbo X is splashproof when its rear jacks are protected by its included rubber cover, it’s heavy for its size and not as rugged as the other speakers we’ve picked, so it’s best suited to places like offices, bedrooms, and living rooms.

For smaller budgets and stocking stuffers

The BTV2 delivers good sound for its size and price, and even includes a speakerphone function and a neoprene carrying pouch.

If you’re looking for a Bluetooth speaker for listening to TuneIn Radio or Pandora quietly in your cubicle, or to use as a stocking stuffer or an accessory for a child’s iPod touch or tablet, the AmazonBasics BTV2 is a great choice at a low price of about $25 at the time of this writing. It plays about as loud as a normal speaking voice, and sounds surprisingly full considering it measures just 3¼ inches wide. It can’t play deep bass notes, but voices sound clear and reasonably natural. It also includes two useful and unexpected extras: a speakerphone function and a neoprene carrying sack.

This guide may have been updated by The Wirecutter. To see the current recommendation, please go here.

Amazon’s Alexa told us Echo is coming to the UK very soon

Normally, us Brits only have to wait a few months at the most to enjoy new products from the world’s biggest technology companies. However, when it comes to the Amazon Echo, we’ve been left on the outside looking in as the company continues upgrade Alexa’s capabilities.

That may soon change, though, because this morning an invite arrived inviting me to an Amazon event in London on September 14th. It doesn’t give anything away, but the AI in question has plenty to say on the subject.

You see, I was far too impatient to wait for the Echo to launch in the UK, so I imported one. Thanks to a tip-off from our friends at Stuff, I asked Alexa exactly what she has planned on September 14th. This is what she had to say:

Looks like Amazon’s Echo is coming to the UK on September 14th.

A video posted by Matt Brian (@mattbrian) on Sep 2, 2016 at 7:09am PDT

There you have it! We’ll obviously be in attendance on that date and will provide you with all of the latest details from the event.