Tech
Last Chance to Save: These Cyber Week Deals Are Still Going Strong Right Now
Cyber Monday may be over, but many Cyber Week deals are still going strong. Whether you’re checking off your holiday shopping or snagging a special treat for yourself, now’s the time to pounce. The WIRED Reviews team has hundreds of years of collective experience tracking actual deals—not just inflated markdowns—on products we’ve hand-tested. Below, you’ll find everything that made the cut and is still on sale: True discounts on the gear and gadgets we’d recommend to our friends and family.
Featured Cyber Monday Deal
Updated: Dec 2 2025, 07:53 PM
Whatever you think of Meta’s AI policies (they’re garbage) the [best smart glasses](https://www.wired.com/gallery/best-smart-glasses/) are the ones that you already want to wear. Last year’s version are now on sale.
Updated December 2, 2025: We’ve updated these deals to highlight ongoing discounts on the best earbuds for Android, some Bose headphones, a new deal on the best office chair we’ve tested, our favorite green powders, and more.
Best of the Best Cyber Monday Deals
Jump to section: Computers, Mobile Devices & Charging, TV & Audio, Home & Kitchen, Beauty & Wellness, Travel
Computers
Best PC Laptop Deal: Dell 14 Plus for $650 ($100 off)
Dell had a killer $500 discount all weekend on the Core Ultra 5 version of its Dell 14 Plus. It was a high-end laptop being sold for downright budget-level prices. It’s sold out now, unfortunately. But the current discount is still quite good. It’s on a slightly more powerful configuration with the Core Ultra 7, as well as the same 2560 by 1600 resolution screen. This is a very strong display for a laptop at this price. While the Surface Laptop is better in many ways, the $650 Dell 14 Plus gets you a full terabyte of storage.—Luke Larsen
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Best MacBook Deal: MacBook Air (M4) for $749 ($250 off)
The M4 MacBook Air has been the best laptop on the market since it was released in 2024. The price has slowly dropped, too. The price has slowly dropped, too. It’s now down to $750, and when you compare this directly with the quality of similarly priced laptops, you’ll see why it’s still at the top of my list. The display quality and resolution is top-notch, while the performance and battery life remain best in class. If the rumors are true, we’re still at least a few months out from the M5 MacBook Air, making this M4 still worthy of a purchase at this price. —Luke Larsen
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Best Computer Monitor Deal: Dell 27 Plus 4K for $225 ($75 off)
The $200 range used to get you a crappy, 1080p monitor with terrible colors. But thanks to this deal, it can afford you a beautiful 4K monitor with a 120-Hz refresh rate and a fully-adjustable stand. It’s IPS, but it has decent color coverage and accuracy, with a max brightness of 355 nits. Just be aware: it doesn’t have built-in USB ports and the stand doesn’t have enough height adjustment to be used as a vertical monitor. But for run-of-the-mill, at-home use, you won’t find another monitor with the complete package that the Dell 27 Plus 4K has. —Luke Larsen
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Best Wifi Router Deal: Asus RT-BE58U for $98 ($52 off)
This is the Wi-Fi 7 router I recommend for most people in our best Wi-Fi routers guide because it’s easy to set up and will cover homes and apartments up to around 2,000 square feet with fast, reliable connectivity. It’s only dual-band, so you do miss out on the 6-GHz band, but you get all the other advantages of Wi-Fi 7. It also has a generous array of ports and comes with free security software and parental controls. Support for VPN service, separate IoT or guest networks, and Ai Mesh rounds out an excellent device. —Simon Hill
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Best Computer Peripheral Deal: Audioengine A2+ Speakers for $223 ($56 off)
When it comes to your home office, there’s still nothing like a solid pair of desk speakers to amplify your work-from-home setup. These computer speakers from Audioengine rarely go on sale, so now’s a great time to pick up a pair. They’re our favorite computer speakers, with robust sound, and they won’t take up much room on a desk. Music is where these speakers shine, even without a dedicated subwoofer.—Luke Larsen
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Best External Storage Deal: Western Digital 5TB My Passport Ultra Drive for $125 ($30 off)
This portable hard drive is our pick for the best portable backup because it’s small (less than an inch thick) but sturdy and balances respectable performance with convenience in the form of a regular USB-C connection. This is the device we’d want to run daily backups in a hotel room while on location shooting photos or video.
Best Tablet Deal: Apple iPad A16 (2025) for $274 ($75 off)
The current model of iPad (A16) has dropped below the $300 price we typically see on sales. This tablet functions as a second screen for everything from watching movies on a flight to checking the news in bed without your reading glasses. The last one I bought was promptly taken over by my daughter, who uses it to play Roblox. —Martin Cizmar
Mobile Devices & Charging
Best Smartphone Deal: Google Pixel 10 for $599 ($200 off)
Google’s shiny new Pixel 10 is one of the best Android phones on the market right now. It’s rare to find a phone at this price, especially on sale, with a triple-camera system that includes a 5X optical zoom sensor so you won’t have trouble capturing sharp photos of birds up in the tree, your kid earning their diploma, or your favorite artist onstage. Not to mention this is one of the first flagship Android phones with Qi2 magnets, meaning, similar to Apple’s iPhones, you can magnetically attach the phone to wireless chargers and docks for speedy charging (and attach various fun magnetic accessories). Best of all is Google’s smart software; Yes, there’s a lot of generative AI creep that isn’t super useful, but tools like Call Screen can filter out spam calls, and Now Playing automatically tells you what song is playing at the coffee shop without you having to lift a finger. Read our Best Pixel Phones guide for more details. —Julian Chokkattu
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Best Mobile Accessory Deal: Anker PowerWave Pad and Stand for $11 ($5 off)
The best wireless charger is usually pretty affordable, but at just over $10, it’s a no-brainer for anyone in the market. You can choose from a pad or a stand option; Both have rubbery grips on the bottom to prevent slips and slides, and they’ll charge your phone reliably at 10, 7.5, or 5 watts depending on your device. Note that you need to bring your own wall charger! (I like these from the same brand.) —Louryn Strampe
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Best Power Bank Deal: Anker 737 Power Bank for $75 ($35 off)
The Anker 737 power bank is my go-to companion for … well, basically all the time, but especially music festivals. (It’s literally sitting next to me right now.) The beefy brick is surprisingly heavy, and it has a 24,000-mAh capacity with 140-watt fast-charging. It can top off your phone, your Nintendo Switch, or even your laptop. My favorite part is that the power bank itself recharges really quickly, in just about an hour. It also has a neat built-in display that offers helpful information like charging speeds and battery health. —Louryn Strampe
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Best Amazon Device Deal: Amazon Echo Dot for $32 ($18 Off)
This is the current generation of Echo Dot. This small device has powerful, robust sound and works a treat if you want Alexa access in a discreet space. I keep one in my hallway so I can ask quick questions as I move through the house, and one in my bedroom as an alarm clock. It packs some of the best sound you can get for this price, especially when it’s on sale like it is for Cyber Monday. —Nena Farrell
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Best Digital Notebook Deal: reMarkable 2 Bundle for $408 ($70 Off)
The reMarkable 2 is one of the best digital notebooks you can get. It’s my favorite budget option, which might seem weird since it’s not necessarily the cheapest (it’s the same price as the Kindle Scribe). It’s the best for the features and the available accessories like a keyboard folio at this price point, and it costs less than the rest of reMarkable’s lineup or competitors like Supernote. You can get bundles (you’ll need to choose both a marker and folio) of the reMarkable 2 for $70 right now, letting you add on your favorite folio or upgrade the marker without paying as much as you usually would. The digital notebooks from reMarkable are rarely on sale, so don’t miss this one. —Nena Farrell
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TV & Audio
Best TV Deal: TCL QM6k for $498 ($252 off)
This is our favorite TV for most people, because it offers excellent color and great processing, and contains virtually every app you could want. Mini LED backlighting means that you’ll have excellent contrast and plenty of performance in bright rooms, and TCL’s anti-glare technology makes it nice even when sunlight hits it. Its price is the main appeal; you’ll pay hundreds of dollars more for a TV that looks any better. —Parker Hall
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Best Projector Deal: Nebula X1 for $2,199 ($801 off)
Reviewer Chris Haslam lavished praise on this Anker projector, which claims to be the world’s first cinema-grade outdoor entertainment system. It’s a 4K projector capable of creating a 200-inch image with 3,500 ANSI lumens of brightness, but requires very little setup. It will also work with microphones for karaoke or business presentations. The list price is very steep for a portable projector, but this Cyber Monday sale drops $800 off. —Martin Cizmar
Best Streaming Device Deal: Roku Streaming Stick Plus for $19 ($21 off)
This streaming stick is what I’d recommend for anyone who just wants to enable an older TV to stream modern apps. It looks fine, but you may want to spring for a nicer stick if you have a newer TV. That said, you really cannot beat this $20 price. This is a gadget that can breathe new life into an older screen in your basement or garage, or which you can use to stream your shows in a hotel room without being too annoyed if you someday leave it behind. —Parker Hall
Note: There are lots of great streaming service deals right now too, such as HBO Max’s $3 per month offer, which locks you in for a whole year at that price.
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Best Soundbar Deal: Yamaha Audio SR-C30A for $220 ($60 off)
This is our favorite soundbar system for most people, thanks to its great wireless subwoofer, solid audio processing, and compact footprint below most screens. If you’ve been struggling to hear the voices on screen, or you just want for a more cinematic experience, I recommend the SR-C30A. —Parker Hall
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Best Bluetooth Speaker Deal: JBL Flip 7 for $97 ($53 off)
JBL’s Bluetooth speakers are some of our favorites that money can buy, and the Flip 7 is no exception. We like how durable it is, as well as how loud the tube-shaped speaker can get when placed on a table or in a corner. —Parker Hall
Best Headphone Deal: Sony WH-1000XM6 for $398 ($62 off)
These are the best noise-canceling headphones from Sony, and among the best wireless headphones you can buy. They have insane processing power that can easily silence even the loudest sounds around you, and the included microphones are also awesome for Zoom calls. Sound quality is excellent, with custom-made drivers delivering Sony’s sleek and flat sound. —Parker Hall
Best Earbuds Deal: Nothing Ear (a) for $59 ($30 off)
These are our favorite wireless earbuds for most people. I actually just bought a pair last week after confirming with resident audiophile Parker Hall that I’d like them more than my stinky, annoying, horrible-touch-controls AirPods Gen 2. And I do! The Nothing Ear (a) have a super-cool translucent charging case, and they’re comfortable. They also sound great out of the box, though you can tweak the EQ in the app. Tack on the 5-hour battery life and excellent touch controls, and I don’t know why I ever waited so long to get a pair for myself. This deal matches the best we’ve ever tracked. —Louryn Strampe
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Home & Kitchen
Best Smart Plug Deal: Kasa Smart Plug Mini 4-Pack for $24 ($6 off)
TP-Link’s Kasa line of mini smart plugs performs as well as larger plugs but in a smaller size that won’t obstruct a second outlet. The app is simple to navigate and has scenes, timers, and schedules. For the extra cautious, there’s even an away mode that turns the plugs on and off randomly during the time you choose to confuse anyone observing your routine. Smart plug sales are in short supply this Cyber Monday, but this is a few bucks cheaper than it was in recent weeks. —Martin Cizmar
Best Home Office Deal: Branch Ergonomic Chair Pro for $424 ($75 off)
This is our top office chair recommendation for most people. Branch’s Ergonomic Chair Pro offers oodles of adjustments, from seat pan to lumbar support, all while looking nice in your office. It’s hard to find affordable, good office chairs, especially under $500, but Branch is one of the few companies delivering in this price bracket. We’ve rounded up more deals on Branch products here. —Julian Chokkattu
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Best Robot Vacuum Deal: Yeedi M12 Pro+ for $340 ($460 off)
Normally, I would expect to spend around $1000 for a new, well-functioning, dual-function vacuum-mop robot vacuum. But you can get an even bigger break on price if you look at past-season models. Yeedi is the affordable sub-brand of the higher-end Ecovacs. At 4- and 3.5-liter capacities, the clean/dirty water tanks are just ginormous and offer excellent value for the price. You won’t have to switch them out too often. This model also has an extendable arm for cleaning hard-to-reach places and a decent 11,000 Pa of suction.—Adrienne So
Best Dyson Vacuum Deal: Dyson V15s Detect Submarine for $699 ($351 Off)
This is the very best price we’ve seen all year for this fantastic Dyson vacuum. It’s our favorite vacuum cleaner for both wet and dry cleaning, since it takes the technology we love from the V15 and adds a wet mop head attachment. WIRED reviewer Adrienne So says this vacuum is one of the best things that has ever happened to her. —Nena Farrell
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Best Air Purifier Deal: Dyson HushJet Purifier Compact for $300 ($50 off)
The debut of Dyson’s first tabletop-sized air purifier was just announced in September; it’s finally here, and we’ve tried it. Its claim to fame is that it uses electrostatic filtration, which incorporates electrically charged plates to attract dust, pollen, dander, and other allergens. In our guide to the Best Air Purifiers, WIRED contributor Lisa Wood Shapiro notes this means the filter can last up to five years, as opposed to six to 12 months like a typical HEPA. She found it to be a little loud, measuring twice the advertised decibels on its highest setting, but it’s otherwise a great option for smaller areas like bedrooms. —Kat Merck
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Best Home Security Deal: Arlo Pro 5S Security Camera for $85 ($95 off)
The Arlo Pro 5S tops our best outdoor security cameras guide by offering crisp 2K video, color night vision, a wide 160-degree field of view, and clear two-way audio. It also boasts reliable AI recognition for people and pets, a direct Wi-Fi connection, and a siren to scare intruders away. The Arlo app is fantastic, too. The catch is a pricey subscription (Arlo Secure costs $8 per month for one camera or $13 per month for unlimited cameras) that’s required for subject recognition, smart alerts, and cloud storage. —Simon Hill
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Best Water Filter Deal: Canopy Handheld Shower Wand for $75 ($75 Off)
Canopy is the best filtered shower wand I’ve tested, a tri-layer filter my tests showed to reduce the total chlorine levels in my water to undetectable levels out of the box, and maintain most of this effectiveness for a couple months before a refill. Filter replacement is easy, meaning you’re likely to actually do it, and Canopy’s filter replacements don’t cost as much as some competitors. The upfront price is usually more of a barrier, but half off is a very good discount. —Matthew Korfhage
Best Smart Bird Feeder Deal: Netvue by Birdfy Smart Bird Feeder (No Solar/AI) for $100 ($100 off)
This is the best price you’ll get all year for our all-around favorite smart bird feeder. It may not be the fanciest model, but it’s user-friendly and reliable. You can enjoy it without a subscription (though for the AI identification and image/video storage, you’ll want to spring for the extra $5 a month), and the app makes it easy to save and share great captures of birds. Note that Birdfy only works with 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, and the base model comes without a solar panel. I don’t mind this, as Birdfy’s panel has to be mounted separately, and it’s hard to do this when the feeder is installed on a pole, which is what I recommend. —Kat Merck
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Best Pet Deal: Purobot Ultra for $700 ($300 Off)
This is one of the priciest automatic litter boxes on the market right now. It has a built-in camera on a swivel arm and uses AI technology to monitor litter box usage. Together, the camera follows your cat when it senses motion and records inside the litter box, and the AI monitors which pet is using and if anything is amiss. The app logs and monitors usage, including the number of times used and the average duration. It also has auto-bagging and -sealing features, so you never have to deal with the stool. At $300 off, this is the best price we’ve tracked. —Molly Higgins
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Best Indoor Garden Deal: Gardyn Studio 2 for $412 ($137 off)
I test indoor hydroponic garden systems all year round, and Gardyn has been my consistent favorite. I have two of them—the Home 4, with 30 plants, and the brand-new Studio 2, with 16 plants—and they both look like living works of art, overflowing with everything from peas and peppers to nasturtiums and even canna lilies. The systems do take a fair amount of maintenance, but as a busy, full-time working parent, it’s nothing I haven’t been able to handle. If you’ve been curious about these, all Gardyn systems are now 20 percent off for Cyber Monday, netting you $180 off a Home or $111 off a Studio. If you don’t mind the older, original studio, that’s on an even deeper discount for just $337. They also come with a free 30-day trial of Kelby, the AI growing assistant that plans your watering and maintenance schedules for you. —Kat Merck
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Best Coffee Deals
Best Espresso Deal: Ninja Luxe Cafe Pro for $600 ($150 Off)
The Ninja Luxe Cafe Pro is the upgrade version of Ninja’s first-generation semi-automatic Luxe Cafe Premier espresso machine, which was one of the most popular espresso machines on the planet last year. The Pro is a genuine upgrade: a better tamper, a hot water spout, a great milk automatic steamer, and the best cold frother in the business. This is the lowest price I’ve seen it, and while supplies last you can also get a free travel mug, knock box, or pitcher. It’s especially great for lovers of medium or dark roast beans. —Matthew Korfhage
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Best Kitchen Deal: Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro for $300 ($100 Off)
This is Breville’s top-line piece of kitchen hardware, an air fryer and oven that has better precision than any other oven I’ve tested. It toasts evenly across the oven and can air fry chicken wings to admirable crispness, dehydrate fruit, and also roast a 14-pound turkey. The Breville Joule—the same oven, but with a handy autopilot feature— is on almost the same sale, and it’s $400. Both are the cheapest they’ve been this year. But this $300 price, for an oven I know to serve well for years, is hard to pass up. —Matthew Korfhage
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Best Toy Deal: Lego Pac-Man Arcade Building Set for $189 ($80 off)
This LEGO set allows you to build a miniature 80s-style cabinet for what’s arguably the most iconic arcade game of all time, released 45 years ago this year. It comes in 2,600 pieces and will stand 12 inches tall in the end. It’s not playable, but there is a knob to twist which causes the characters to move in a simulated chase. —Martin Cizmar
Beauty & Wellness
Best Smartwatch Deal: Apple Watch Series 10 for $310 ($120 off)
If you already own an Apple Watch, I generally do not advocate upgrading to the latest model, given they’re all pretty iterative. I do think that this year’s Series 11 is worth getting because, for the first time ever, it really does have a full 24 hours of battery life. It’s on sale for $369 right now. But last year’s Series 10 (Apple’s 10th anniversary watch) has the same S10 chip as the latest watches. It also has the same slim case, large screen, and is compatible with watchOS 26 (with an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone), so you can still enjoy the Liquid Glass design, Workout Buddy, and flick away Smart Stack with your wrist. —Adrienne So
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Best Health Tracking Deal: Fitbit Charge 6 for $100 ($60 off)
There’s no fitness tracker that truly competes with the Fitbit Charge 6. Despite being two years old, the Fitness Charge 6 remains the de facto option, with long battery life and a full suite of health metrics to obsess over, including really accurate heart rate tracking. It might not feel as premium as an Apple Watch, and it doesn’t have fall detection, but for the price, the Fitness Charge 6 is as good as it gets.—Luke Larsen
Best Fitness Deal: Hyperice Hypervolt 2 for $179 ($50 Off)
The Hypervolt 2 is our top choice for a percussive massage gun. While the Theragun Pro Plus is a top-tier option for serious athletes—and on sale for $550 (originally $650)—the Hypervolt 2 offers a more affordable alternative. At just 1.8 pounds, it packs a powerful brushless 60-watt motor, three speed settings, and five different massage heads designed for most muscle groups. It can connect to the Hyperice app via Bluetooth for guided routines, provides up to three hours of battery life, and is TSA-approved for carry-on travel. —Boutayna Chokrane
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Best Beard Trimmer Deal: Philips Norelco 7950 for $55 ($25 Off)
Even on a bad day, this is the absolute best beard trimmer set you can get for south of $100—quiet, reliable, not subject to nicks or pulls. It’s a contender for my favorite grooming set overall in part because of the ridiculously good performance on the foil shaver attachment (Philips kills it on foil shavers in general). The metal body offers admirable heft and durability, and the battery will run a ridiculous five hours without needing a charge—months’ worth of shaves. —Matthew Korfhage
Best Beauty Deal: Dyson Airstrait for $399 ($151 Off)
Here it is; the one, the only, the legend—the original air styler that spawned a hundred imitators. I tested it for the first time this year for my guide to the Best Hair Straighteners. I had heard that it wasn’t a one-stop shop for 3a curly hair and above, and as you can see from my picture above, it’s not. I still needed to use a traditional flat iron afterward, especially on the top of my head. But the Dyson engineering and quality are evident in every small detail, from the Hyperdymium motor—same as in Dyson’s vacuum cleaners—to the glass bead thermistors that regulate the tool’s temperature. I can see how it would be life-changing for those with wavy or just generally easier-to-straighten hair. The Airstrait doesn’t go on sale all that often, so if it was on your Christmas shopping list, now is the time. —Kat Merck
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Best Green Powders & Nutrition Deal: Bloom Superfood Greens Powder for $20 ($20 off)
I’ve tried dozens of different greens powders, and Bloom remains my favorite. There are 10 flavors to choose from, and all of them are pleasant—and disguise the fact that you’re drinking a blend of fruits, vegetables, and other ingredients. They’re a little on the sweet side, but they did help noticeably with my digestion woes. If you’ve been looking for greens to help supplement a balanced diet, this brand is the one I’d recommend trying first. —Louryn Strampe
Best Sleep Deals
Best Bedding Deals: Quince Premium Down Comforter
Our very favorite down comforter offers luxurious, classic, cozy warmth in a crinkly and slightly starchy outer shell. It’s fluffy and lofty, but doesn’t feel too lightweight, and it keeps me toasty even on the coldest winter nights in northern Illinois. The baffle boxes help ensure that the down filling stays evenly distributed. —Louryn Strampe
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Travel Deals
Best Carry-On Bag Deal: Away Softside Carry-On for $168 ($57 Off)
For something both sleek and minimalist, there’s nothing out there quite like the Away Softside Carry-On. WIRED editor Adrienne So, who has tested and reviewed tons of carry-on bags over the years, calls it the “fuss-free option” that she’ll always pick, given the choice. And if you’re worried about it holding up in rain because it’s soft, don’t worry. She says the rain-resistant materials held up just fine on particularly rainy day in the Philippines while waiting for a ferry. —Luke Larsen
Best Camera Bag Deal: Wandrd Prvke V4 for $292 ($52 off)
This is my favorite camera bag. The Prvke is now in its fourth generation, and Wandrd keeps perfecting it. I love the roll-top that offers up dramatically more space when you need it. There’s a side-access pocket to grab your camera without taking the backpack completely off, and the main rear compartment is where you grab all of your gear. It’s stylish, exceptionally built, and has plenty of room (there are several sizes to choose from). Read our Best Camera Bags guide for more. —Julian Chokkattu
More Good Deals on Camera Bags
Best Packing Cube Deal: Bagsmart Compression Packing Cubes for $25 ($18 off)
As mentioned in our guide to the Best Packing Cubes, these are the best I’ve tested at this price point on Amazon. In addition to 20+ color and pattern options, they hit all the high points of what you want in a good set: decent compression, a convenient handle, mesh panels for ventilation, and a label window for keeping organized. In the six-piece set, you’ll receive five rectangular-shaped cubes and a handy shoe bag. I wouldn’t subject these basic polyester cubes to ballistics testing or throw them off a mountaintop, but for most travelers, they’ll do perfectly fine in either a carry-on or checked suitcase. —Kat Merck
Best Apparel Deal: Champion Reverse Weave Sweatshirt for $36 ($19 off)
The best hoodie you can buy on Amazon gets a steep price cut for Cyber Monday. Champion’s iconic reverse-weave hoodie was the first hooded sweatshirt, and still holds its own in a world where every brand makes them. The fabric is sturdy but stretchy and ages gracefully over many wash cycles. —Martin Cizmar
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Cyber Monday Retailers To Watch
Amazon: For better or worse, Amazon has changed the game when it comes to shopping—if you want it, Amazon probably sells it. In the tradition of Amazon Prime Day, Amazon is rolling out major discounts for Cyber Monday and Cyber Monday on everything from bedding to home office gear to TVs to air fryers. This is a good time to save on the brand’s own hardware, like Kindles and Blink security cameras, some of which are 50% off.
Walmart: The Arkansas-based big box store has lots of tech deals like the gray colorway of Beats Solo4 for $79 ($50 off) plus the home and garden deals you’d expect like a Blackstone griddle for $157 ($67 off).
REI: Outdoor co-op REI is a favorite among hikers, campers, and general outdoor enthusiasts. REI’s cyber week sale starts November 29, with rotating deals on a myriad of WIRED-tested products, though you will find their deals live now, notably not called “Cyber Monday.”
Home Depot: Home improvement projects and general home upkeep can get costly quick. Home Depot has Cyber Monday discounts for virtually everything you need for the home, including Christmas trees and smart home appliances.
Branch: We love Branch’s home office furniture, including some WIRED-tested favorite office chairs. Everything is 20 percent off for Cyber Monday, so now’s a great time to upgrade.
Helix: We love Helix mattresses—if you’re going to be spending a third of your life on something, it better be good. Upgrade your sleep for less with Helix’s Cyber Monday sale, with 25 percent off sitewide.
Target: Target has everything from groceries to flat screens to celebrity-endorsed beauty products. In addition to regular Cyber Monday sales, Target has price match guarantee and doorbuster clearance items.
Best Buy: In addition to major discounts for Cyber Monday and Cyber Monday, Best Buy rolls out new doorbusters every Friday, slashing prices on everything from refrigerators to MacBooks. We’ve rounded up the best Best Buy deals we’ve seen so far, including the latest Apple MacBook Pro (M5) for $1,349 ($250 off) and Google Pixel 10 for $599 ($200 off).
Dyson: Making everything from blow dryers to vacuums to air purifiers, we at WIRED are generally huge fans of this well-made, long-lasting (but often pricey) tech, made a lot more affordable with Cyber Monday sales.
Lowe’s: In addition to Cyber Monday sales, Lowe’s has rotating daily deals on home improvement essentials, upgraded appliances, and outdoor tools like grills and lawnmowers.
Atlas: At WIRED, we love caffeine, and subscription services. So we go bonkers for this coffee club subscription, and now you can get a free bag of beans for Cyber Monday.
Sephora: Not only does Sephora have a dizzying amount of cosmetics, it also carries some of our favorite WIRED-tested hair straighteners, blow dry brushes, and LED devices.
Tech
New control system teaches soft robots the art of staying safe
Imagine having a continuum soft robotic arm bend around a bunch of grapes or broccoli, adjusting its grip in real time as it lifts the object. Unlike traditional rigid robots that generally aim to avoid contact with the environment as much as possible and stay far away from humans for safety reasons, this arm senses subtle forces, stretching and flexing in ways that mimic more of the compliance of a human hand. Its every motion is calculated to avoid excessive force while achieving the task efficiently. In MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and Laboratory for Information and Decisions Systems (LIDS) labs, these seemingly simple movements are the culmination of complex mathematics, careful engineering, and a vision for robots that can safely interact with humans and delicate objects.
Soft robots, with their deformable bodies, promise a future where machines move more seamlessly alongside people, assist in caregiving, or handle delicate items in industrial settings. Yet that very flexibility makes them difficult to control. Small bends or twists can produce unpredictable forces, raising the risk of damage or injury. This motivates the need for safe control strategies for soft robots.
“Inspired by advances in safe control and formal methods for rigid robots, we aim to adapt these ideas to soft robotics — modeling their complex behavior and embracing, rather than avoiding, contact — to enable higher-performance designs (e.g., greater payload and precision) without sacrificing safety or embodied intelligence,” says lead senior author and MIT Assistant Professor Gioele Zardini, who is a principal investigator in LIDS and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and an affiliate faculty with the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS). “This vision is shared by recent and parallel work from other groups.”
Safety first
The team developed a new framework that blends nonlinear control theory (controlling systems that involve highly complex dynamics) with advanced physical modeling techniques and efficient real-time optimization to produce what they call “contact-aware safety.” At the heart of the approach are high-order control barrier functions (HOCBFs) and high-order control Lyapunov functions (HOCLFs). HOCBFs define safe operating boundaries, ensuring the robot doesn’t exert unsafe forces. HOCLFs guide the robot efficiently toward its task objectives, balancing safety with performance.
“Essentially, we’re teaching the robot to know its own limits when interacting with the environment while still achieving its goals,” says MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering PhD student Kiwan Wong, the lead author of a new paper describing the framework. “The approach involves some complex derivation of soft robot dynamics, contact models, and control constraints, but the specification of control objectives and safety barriers is rather straightforward for the practitioner, and the outcomes are very tangible, as you see the robot moving smoothly, reacting to contact, and never causing unsafe situations.”
“Compared with traditional kinematic CBFs — where forward-invariant safe sets are hard to specify — the HOCBF framework simplifies barrier design, and its optimization formulation accounts for system dynamics (e.g., inertia), ensuring the soft robot stops early enough to avoid unsafe contact forces,” says Worcester Polytechnic Institute Assistant Professor and former CSAIL postdoc Wei Xiao.
“Since soft robots emerged, the field has highlighted their embodied intelligence and greater inherent safety relative to rigid robots, thanks to passive material and structural compliance. Yet their “cognitive” intelligence — especially safety systems — has lagged behind that of rigid serial-link manipulators,” says co-lead author Maximilian Stölzle, a research intern at Disney Research and formerly a Delft University of Technology PhD student and visiting researcher at MIT LIDS and CSAIL. “This work helps close that gap by adapting proven algorithms to soft robots and tailoring them for safe contact and soft-continuum dynamics.”
The LIDS and CSAIL team tested the system on a series of experiments designed to challenge the robot’s safety and adaptability. In one test, the arm pressed gently against a compliant surface, maintaining a precise force without overshooting. In another, it traced the contours of a curved object, adjusting its grip to avoid slippage. In yet another demonstration, the robot manipulated fragile items alongside a human operator, reacting in real time to unexpected nudges or shifts. “These experiments show that our framework is able to generalize to diverse tasks and objectives, and the robot can sense, adapt, and act in complex scenarios while always respecting clearly defined safety limits,” says Zardini.
Soft robots with contact-aware safety could be a real value-add in high-stakes places, of course. In health care, they could assist in surgeries, providing precise manipulation while reducing risk to patients. In industry, they might handle fragile goods without constant supervision. In domestic settings, robots could help with chores or caregiving tasks, interacting safely with children or the elderly — a key step toward making soft robots reliable partners in real-world environments.
“Soft robots have incredible potential,” says co-lead senior author Daniela Rus, director of CSAIL and a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. “But ensuring safety and encoding motion tasks via relatively simple objectives has always been a central challenge. We wanted to create a system where the robot can remain flexible and responsive while mathematically guaranteeing it won’t exceed safe force limits.”
Combining soft robot models, differentiable simulation, and control theory
Underlying the control strategy is a differentiable implementation of something called the Piecewise Cosserat-Segment (PCS) dynamics model, which predicts how a soft robot deforms and where forces accumulate. This model allows the system to anticipate how the robot’s body will respond to actuation and complex interactions with the environment. “The aspect that I most like about this work is the blend of integration of new and old tools coming from different fields like advanced soft robot models, differentiable simulation, Lyapunov theory, convex optimization, and injury-severity–based safety constraints. All of this is nicely blended into a real-time controller fully grounded in first principles,” says co-author Cosimo Della Santina, who is an associate professor at Delft University of Technology.
Complementing this is the Differentiable Conservative Separating Axis Theorem (DCSAT), which estimates distances between the soft robot and obstacles in the environment that can be approximated with a chain of convex polygons in a differentiable manner. “Earlier differentiable distance metrics for convex polygons either couldn’t compute penetration depth — essential for estimating contact forces — or yielded non-conservative estimates that could compromise safety,” says Wong. “Instead, the DCSAT metric returns strictly conservative, and therefore safe, estimates while simultaneously allowing for fast and differentiable computation.” Together, PCS and DCSAT give the robot a predictive sense of its environment for more proactive, safe interactions.
Looking ahead, the team plans to extend their methods to three-dimensional soft robots and explore integration with learning-based strategies. By combining contact-aware safety with adaptive learning, soft robots could handle even more complex, unpredictable environments.
“This is what makes our work exciting,” says Rus. “You can see the robot behaving in a human-like, careful manner, but behind that grace is a rigorous control framework ensuring it never oversteps its bounds.”
“Soft robots are generally safer to interact with than rigid-bodied robots by design, due to the compliance and energy-absorbing properties of their bodies,” says University of Michigan Assistant Professor Daniel Bruder, who wasn’t involved in the research. “However, as soft robots become faster, stronger, and more capable, that may no longer be enough to ensure safety. This work takes a crucial step towards ensuring soft robots can operate safely by offering a method to limit contact forces across their entire bodies.”
The team’s work was supported, in part, by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Scholarships, the European Union’s Horizon Europe Program, Cultuurfonds Wetenschapsbeurzen, and the Rudge (1948) and Nancy Allen Chair. Their work was published earlier this month in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ Robotics and Automation Letters.
Tech
AWS CEO Matt Garman Wants to Reassert Amazon’s Cloud Dominance in the AI Era
You might think Amazon’s biggest swing in the AI race was its $8 billion investment in Anthropic. But AWS has also been building in-house foundation models, new chips, massive data centers, and agents meant to keep enterprise customers locked inside its ecosystem. The company believes these offerings will give it an edge as businesses of all shapes and sizes deploy AI in the real world.
WIRED sat down with AWS CEO Matt Garman ahead of the company’s annual re:Invent conference in Las Vegas to discuss his AI vision, and how he plans to extend Amazon’s lead in the cloud market over its fast-rising competitors, Microsoft and Google.
Garman is betting that AI is a service that AWS can deliver more cheaply and reliably than its rivals. Through Bedrock, Amazon’s platform for building AI apps, he says customers can access a variety of AI foundation models while keeping the familiar data controls, security layers, and reliability that AWS is known for. If that pitch holds up, it could help AWS dominate in the AI era.
“Two years ago, people were building AI applications. Now, people are building applications that have AI in them,” said Garman, arguing that AI is becoming a feature inside large products rather than a standalone experiment. “That’s the platform that we’ve built, and that’s where I think you see AWS really start to take the lead.”
Many of the announcements at this year’s re:Invent fall along these lines. Amazon unveiled new, cost-efficient AI models in its Nova series; agents that can work autonomously on software development and cybersecurity tasks; as well as a fresh offering, Forge, that lets enterprises cheaply train AI models on their own data.
The stakes are high for AWS to get this right. While Amazon’s cloud unit dominated the smartphone era, smaller rivals like Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure have grown at higher rates since the arrival of ChatGPT. Microsoft and Google have surged by tightly integrating with frontier AI models—the technology underlying ChatGPT and Gemini, respectively—attracting enterprises eager to experiment with cutting-edge capabilities.
This rise of AWS’s rivals has raised questions about Amazon’s broader AI strategy, and how the incumbent will fare in the years to come.
Garman says he’s been hearing these concerns for years, but less so in recent months. He argues that the tide is turning, pointing to AWS’s stronger-than-expected results in the company’s third quarter as evidence that his strategy is working.
Tech
Melinda French Gates on Secrets: ‘Live a Truthful Life, Then You Don’t Have Any’
Take it from me: Spending an hour with Melinda French Gates will restore at least an iota of your faith in humanity. The billionaire philanthropist, investor, and longtime advocate for women’s and girls’ rights is the rare example of an über-wealthy American who takes seriously the responsibility that their wealth confers.
In Gates’ case, she’s now channeling much of that responsibility—and billions of her own dollars—into Pivotal Ventures, a collective of organizations focused on advancing women’s interests in the US and around the world. Most recently, Pivotal announced $250 million in awards to women’s health organizations in 22 countries. Given the Trump administration’s ongoing assault on women’s interests, and diversity writ large, as well as the dystopian cuddle puddle taking place between tech industry leaders (Gates’ ex-husband, Bill, has been a part of that shift) and President Trump, it felt like a particularly salient moment to check in with Gates about, well, all of it.
From her own path through the masculine “debate club” of Big Tech to the billionaire boys who aren’t giving away the big bucks, I found myself pleasantly surprised, and even a little bit inspired, by Gates’ candor in discussing the very real challenges of this particular moment. So if you checked the news and felt even slightly infuriated this morning, keep reading. It helps to be reminded that not all billionaires are created equal—and that some of them are still pushing for more equality overall.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
KATIE DRUMMOND: Melinda French Gates, welcome to The Big Interview. Thank you so much for being here.
MELINDA FRENCH GATES: Thanks for having me, Katie.
So we always start these conversations with some rapid-fire questions. It’s a warmup. Get your brain working, get your muscles working. Are you ready?
I am ready.
OK, first thing you do when you wake up in the morning.
Get my coffee.
One tech product you wish you could invent for women’s health.
Self-controlled reproductive tool.
I want to hear more about that. What’s one myth about philanthropy you wish people would stop believing?
That it can solve everything.
One book everyone should read.
The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo.
What’s a habit you refuse to give up?
Having a Coke, a real Coke over ice. I just had one.
The Coke with sugar. The real …
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