is a commerce reporter for The Verge writing about the best deals and gadgets. He previously wrote for Business Insider, Rolling Stone, Futurism, and Popular Science.
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Amazon announced a bunch of new hardware earlier in the week, but the Echo Show 21 wasn’t updated and remains its biggest smart display. You can get a bundle that includes the Echo Show 21 and its Premium Adjustable Stand for $439.99 ($84.99 off) at Amazon. If you don’t have a stand, the Echo Show 21 must be mounted onto a wall using the included mount, which isn’t always feasible.
The Echo Show 21’s namesake feature is its 21-inch 1080p display, which offers plenty of digital space for widgets, including a calendar, shopping list, and multi-day weather forecast. The big screen comes in handy when you use its built-in Fire TV to watch TV shows and movies. The Echo Show 21 comes with an Alexa voice remote, so you can navigate through video apps more easily.
Amazon equipped the Echo Show 21 with a four-driver audio system that should sound richer than smaller smart speakers. It also has a 13-megapixel camera, which automatically zooms and pans to keep you in frame if you’re video chatting with someone. When you’re done with the call, you can close a physical privacy shade that blocks and disables the camera. You can also mute its microphone if you don’t want to make Alexa requests.
The Echo Show 21 has Thread and Zigbee antennas, so it can be used as a Matter Controller. A lot of smart home accessories — including plugs, lightbulbs, and thermostats — have Alexa or Matter support, which makes the Echo Show 21 a solid smart home hub, especially if you want to see the status of your most-used accessories at a glance. It’s an investment, even on sale, but the Echo Show 21 offers a lot to offer if you use all of it as a smart home hub, compact TV, and centralized digital dashboard for your reminders and calendar.
The smart display is the main appeal of Amazon’s bundle, but we shouldn’t forget about the stand, which offers 360 degrees of swivel and 30 degrees of tilt.
Three more great deals
JBL’s Tour 3 earbuds are $249.95 ($80 off) at Speaking of gadgets with screens,earbuds are $249.95 ($80 off) at Amazon Best Buy , and Target . The earbuds’ case has a touchscreen, which lets you change tracks, adjust EQ, switch listening mode, and check their battery life without touching your smartphone. I’ve tested the earbuds, and liked both the way they sounded and their active noise cancellation performance. The earbuds support lossless audio (if your device supports the LDAC codec), and Spatial 360 sound with Head Tracking.
Amazon’s Smart Plug is marked down to $12.99 ($12 off) for the first time since last December at If you want a smart accessory to use with the Echo Show 21,is marked down to $12.99 ($12 off) for the first time since last December at Amazon and Best Buy . The plug allows you to turn whatever’s plugged into it on and off remotely using an app. You can also set it to activate and deactivate on a timer, which can be helpful if you want to have a lamp automatically turn on when it gets dark.
Anker’s MagGo 3-in-1 Charging Station can keep your smartphone, earbuds, and Apple Watch topped up, and it’s returned to its all-time low price of $76.99 ($33 off) at WS7DV2TZRCZD. The charger supports Qi2 wireless charging speeds of up to 15W, and has a foldable design that makes it a great choice for travelers. Anker includes a 40W power adapter, so you can use it right out of the box. can keep your smartphone, earbuds, and Apple Watch topped up, and it’s returned to its all-time low price of $76.99 ($33 off) at Amazon and from Anker with promo code. The charger supports Qi2 wireless charging speeds of up to 15W, and has a foldable design that makes it a great choice for travelers. Anker includes a 40W power adapter, so you can use it right out of the box.
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