The Buying Game (Issue 7)
This week's picks and deals include headphones, chargers, and a discounted Pixel phone.
TL;DR: The Buying Game consists of me selecting three products worth buying at different price points. Each product is given a Value Score—based on price and function—and then one is crowned the winner at the end.
How I’d spend $500: Nothing Headphone (1)
The Nothing Headphone (1) stand out for a few reasons. They're really comfortable, they have great physical controls, they sound good, and, oh yeah, they're square. The shape has little bearing on anything else, but I think they look cool. My full review on them just published on Business Insider.
Price: $299 (link)
Value Score: Fair
These are a good value compared to other premium headphones because they perform nearly as well, but aren't $400+. In general, however, you can find a good pair of headphones for under $300, making them only "fair" on the Value Score scale.
How I’d spend $150: Anker Nano Charging Station
Whether it's at a desk or just a table you use as a workstation, having a good power hub is essential. I like Anker's beefier 250W Prime Charger, but it can be overkill. The company's new Nano Charging Station (7-in-1) provides three AC outlets and multiple USB ports for 100W of power. The best part is that two of the USB-C plugs are retractable to keep your desk less cluttered.
Price: $89 (link)
Value Score: Fair
If you need raw power, you can find USB hubs with more (or the same) power for half the price. The extras you're paying for here, like a screen to see how much power each port is using, and the retractable cables, don't make it a better value, but they just make it a much nicer experience.
How I’d spend $50: Baseus 60W Mini Retractable Cable
Speaking of retractable cables, this Baseus 60W Mini cable is a fantastic travel accessory. It has a total length of 3.3 feet with four length settings in between. It can handle 60W of power and 480Mbps data speeds.
Price: $10.99 (link)
Value Score: Good
There's a 100W version of this cable, but it's a little bit bigger and a couple of dollars more. I think this Mini version hits a sweet spot for on-the-go convenience and practical use.
The winning pick: Nothing Headphone (1)
The best value product this week is the Baseus 60W Mini USB-C cable, but it's a tad boring in comparison. So, the winner is the new pair of headphones from Nothing.
It's hard to overstate how great the sum of all the parts is for this product. If you were about to pull the trigger on new over-the-ear headphones, I would seriously consider these.
Are you looking for even more picks this week? Here are a few things worth considering.
An expensive pick: Google Pixel 8 Pro
The Google Pixel 8 Pro (128GB) is on sale for $599, down from $999. The phone has an impressive camera system, including a 5x optical lens. It's powerful enough to run Gemini and has some nice touches like 12GB of RAM and an onboard temperature sensor. In Apple speak, it's like the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Even better than the phone being discounted $400 is that it comes with a free Pixel Watch 2 (LTE) and a free phone case.
Media pick: The Pitt
The Emmy nominations are out. Besides Severance dominating most of the categories, The Pitt did pretty well with its 13. I'm not a fan of medical dramas generally, but this show will make you feel something for the people in hospitals taking care of us during the most vulnerable times.
This week's other interesting deals and product news
- New Qi2.2 wireless chargers are coming with a higher 25W charging capability—Qi2 is 15W.
- IKEA has a new $50 Bluetooth speaker called the NATTBAD. I'm testing it now.
- Talking about IKEA, the store has a cool phone stand on a key ring for $0.99.
- iPhone season is coming and the rumor is that there will be an "orange" Pro model. It seems like it will turn out to be more copper than orange, but we won't know until sometime in September.
- Best Buy has a MacBook Air M2 on sale for $699. As a general-purpose laptop for day-to-day use, this is the one to buy.
- The Form Smart Swim 2 is a new pair of smart goggles with an integrated display and heart rate sensor.
- If you subscribe to Perplexity, the company has a new web browser called Comet that you can try.
Other links
- Review of Kindle Colorsoft (How-To Geek)
- Review of Lofree Flow 2 mechanical keyboard (How-To Geek)
- Review of Ecovacs A3000 robot lawn mower (PCMag)
