Today’s best deals: Anker noise-canceling headphones, USB-C chargers, and more

Ars Technica

It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for another Dealmaster. Our latest roundup of the best tech deals from around the web includes a strong discount on Anker’s Soundcore Life Q30, with the wireless noise-canceling headphones currently down to $60 as part of a one-day Amazon sale. That’s $20 off their normal rate, and it matches the price we saw during Amazon’s Prime Day sales event earlier this year. It’s also within $5 of their all-time low.

We continue to recommend the Soundcore Life Q30 as a great value for those who can’t spend more than $100 on wireless noise-canceling headphones. To be clear, they can’t match the best options from Apple, Sony, and Bose regarding raw noise-canceling strength, and their default sound profile is far more bass-boosted by comparison. But no wireless headphone under $100 is without compromises. For $60, the Q30s’ active noise cancellation is still good enough to be useful on a flight or in the office. The headphones get a tremendous 40-ish hours of battery life, too, and their lightweight, cushy design means they’re not a strain to wear for hours at a time. Plus, you can tweak that bass-heavy sound to something more neutral through an EQ tool in Anker’s companion app. The app also lets you swap between three different levels of ANC strength depending on your surroundings.

Anker released a few refreshes to this pair since it launched, and while those are also good, they’re either only a marginal upgrade (as with the Soundcore Life Q35) or too expensive (as with the new $150 Soundcore Space Q45) to really compete with the Q30 in terms of pure value. You should still spring for something like Sony’s WH-1000XM4 or XM5, Apple’s AirPods Max, or Bose’s QuietComfort 45 if you can afford them, but if you want to stay on a budget, the Q30s get enough right for the money to be worthwhile.

If you don’t need a new set of headphones, though, we also have lower-than-usual prices on a handful of USB-C wall chargers we like, LG’s C2 OLED TV, HBO Max and Disney+ subscriptions, a handful of MacBooks, and more. You can check out our full curated list of deals below.

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Featured deals of the day

Anker's Soundcore Life Q30 noise-canceling headphones.
Enlarge / Anker’s Soundcore Life Q30 noise-canceling headphones.

Jeff Dunn

Electronics deals

redesigned MacBook Air with Apple’s new M2 chip.”>The <a href=redesigned MacBook Air with Apple’s new M2 chip.” src=”https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/2022-MacBook-Air-front-open-640×502.jpeg” width=”640″ height=”502″ >
Enlarge / The redesigned MacBook Air with Apple’s new M2 chip.

Samuel Axon

Laptop and desktop PC deals

is a fine choice based on our past testing.”>It won't be quite as nice as building your own rig, but if you want the simplicity of a pre-built gaming PC, HP's Omen 30L (right) <a href=is a fine choice based on our past testing.” src=”https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/PXL_20210302_181408627-640×461.jpg” width=”640″ height=”461″ >
Enlarge / It won’t be quite as nice as building your own rig, but if you want the simplicity of a pre-built gaming PC, HP’s Omen 30L (right) is a fine choice based on our past testing.

Jim Salter

doesn’t support co-op as of yet).”>Some classic multiplayer mayhem in <em>Halo: The Master Chief Collection</em>. Just note that this compilation doesn’t include <em>Halo Infinite</em>, the latest <em>Halo </em>game (which <a href=doesn’t support co-op as of yet).” src=”https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ss_3e46be583b26233f133c705bc6c920d204cbd1a1.1920×1080-640×360.jpg” width=”640″ height=”360″ >
Enlarge / Some classic multiplayer mayhem in Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Just note that this compilation doesn’t include Halo Infinite, the latest Halo game (which doesn’t support co-op as of yet).

343 Industries

Video game deals

must-play arcade throwback.””>We called the co-op-friendly beat-em-up <em>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge </em>a “<a href=must-play arcade throwback.”” src=”https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/tmnt-duo-640×360.png” width=”640″ height=”360″ >
Enlarge / We called the co-op-friendly beat-em-up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge a “must-play arcade throwback.”

Dotemu / Tribute Games

puts three classics (The Legend of ZeldaZelda II: The Adventure of Link, and Link’s Awakening) in a miniature, retro-style handheld that can also double as a Zelda-themed clock.”>Nintendo's <em>Legend of Zelda</em> Game and Watch handheld <a href=puts three classics (The Legend of ZeldaZelda II: The Adventure of Link, and Link’s Awakening) in a miniature, retro-style handheld that can also double as a Zelda-themed clock.” src=”https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Nintendo-Game-and-Watch-Zelda-640×427.jpg” width=”640″ height=”427″ >
Enlarge / Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda Game and Watch handheld puts three classics (The Legend of ZeldaZelda II: The Adventure of Link, and Link’s Awakening) in a miniature, retro-style handheld that can also double as a Zelda-themed clock.

Jeff Dunn

Gaming deals

former is for the base iPad and various older models, while the latter is compatible with newer iPad Pros and iPad Airs, as well as the latest iPad Mini.’ src=”https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Apple-Pencil-1-and-2-640×420.jpeg” width=”640″ height=”420″ >
Enlarge / The first-gen (left) and second-gen (right) Apple Pencil styluses. The former is for the base iPad and various older models, while the latter is compatible with newer iPad Pros and iPad Airs, as well as the latest iPad Mini.

Samuel Axon

Accessories and miscellaneous deals