The Pixel 4A is a good deal if you want a solid phone, don’t care (yet) about 5G network compatibility, and aren’t in need of the Pixel 5’s higher-end specs. In short, it’s all the phone you really need, and that’s why WIRED’s smartphone reviewer extraordinaire Julian Chokkattu gave it a coveted 9/10 in his review. Like with the Pixel 5 deal, you have to activate the phone at the time of purchase on Verizon, AT&T, or Sprint, and Sprint will also give you a total of $150 off if you open a new line.
Stadia Premiere Edition—Game Streaming—for $70 ($30 off)
WIRED’s Jess Grey was lukewarm about the Stadia when it launched last year. But despite its drawbacks, she still recommends it as being a way cheaper path into console gaming than buying a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X. Faster-paced games tend to suffer from lag, but she found the gameplay of slower-paced titles was pretty good.
Smart Speaker Deals
Google-enabled smart speakers and displays act as hubs to give smart devices a way to communicate with each other. Whether you choose a command center with a screen or just a speaker, having a hub (or several) to tie the rest of your devices together makes all of them run a lot more smoothly.
Nest Mini for $19 ($30 off)
You don’t need a screen in every room, but Nest Minis add a way for the Nest system (they all link together) to hear and respond to you when you’re away from your main hub. As WIRED’s Scott Gilberston noted in his review, don’t expect stellar sound quality for playing music. It’s a speaker designed to communicate with you, not substitute for a Sonos.
JBL Link Portable Google Speaker for $90 ($90 off)
Home Depot, B&H (backordered 2-4 weeks), JBL Store
The Link Portable is the best Google Assistant-enabled speaker that you can move from room to room, dock, or use as a Bluetooth speaker out of the house. It gets about 8 hours of battery on a charge and can take commands as well as any Google speaker, though it doesn’t have as accurate a microphone array for listening as many of the stationary speakers, so it will occasionally miss a command if you don’t speak up.
Nest Hub for $50 ($40 off)