IT General

Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections?

The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for March 25 Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Classic color combo

• Green: Rearranged

• Blue: Another name for POTUS

• Purple: The first two words are the same

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Black-and-white things

• Green: Anagrams

• Blue: U.S. presidential nicknames

• Purple: Clear as ___

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections #648 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Black-and-white things: CROSSWORD, OREO, PANDA, TUXEDO

• ANAGRAMS: ABEL, ABLE, BALE, BELA

• U.S. presidential nicknames: ABE, CAL, DICK, TEDDY

• Clear as __: A BELL, CRYSTAL, DAY, MUD

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for March 25

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Connections.

If you're reading this, you're looking for a little help playing Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game.

Strands requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.

If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for March 25 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for March 25 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: For Starters

The words are food-related.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words are menu items.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Appetizer.

Featured Video For You Strands 101: How to win NYT’s latest word game NYT Strands word list for March 25

• Wings

• Nachos

• Appetizer

• Fondue

• Poppers

• Sliders

• Calamari

Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!

Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Strands.

SAVE $80: As of March 25, the Apple Watch SE (2nd Gen, GPS, 40mm) is on sale at Amazon for $169. That's 32% off its list price of $249.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple Watch SE (2nd Gen) $169 at Amazon
$249 Save $80 Get Deal

Amazon's Big Spring Sale has officially started and there are already so many exciting deals to look through. If you've been hoping to score some Apple products on sale, you're in luck as quite a few have received very nice discounts, including some of their smartwatches. The Apple Watch SE 2, in particular, has had an $80 price drop at the retailer.

This has brought the price of the Apple Watch SE (2nd Gen, GPS, 40mm) down from its list price of $249 to $169, marking a 32% discount. Amazon also notes that this is the lowest price the watch has been at the retailer in 30 days, so there's truly no better time than now to pick it up for less.

SEE ALSO: 200+ of the best Amazon deals live ahead of its Big Spring Sale, hand-picked by Mashable's team of experts

The Apple Watch SE 2 is a great pick for those who want a smartwatch that covers the basics and can smoothly fit in with an Apple ecosystem. It offers a variety of health and fitness features, including a heart rate monitor, sleep tracker, Fall Detection, Crash Detection, and Emergency SOS, alongside the ability to track your daily activities to meet your fitness goals. Not to mention the ability to send texts and answer calls right from your wrist.

If you're an Apple user who's been looking to jump into the world of smartwatches, now's a great time to do it with this deal on an Apple Watch SE (2nd Gen, GPS, 40mm) at Amazon.

This isn't the only Apple deal that's worth a look right now, either. To see more Apple Watch discounts, check out our roundup of Apple Watch deals available in Amazon's Spring Sale. It's also worth looking at our roundup of the best Apple deals available in Amazon's Spring Sale to see what else has been discounted in the sale event.

SAVE $55: As of March 25, the SHOKZ OpenRun Pro headphones are on sale for $124.95 at Amazon. That's a 31% discount on list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: SHOKZ SHOKZ OpenRun Pro $124.95 at Amazon
$179.95 Save $55.00 Get Deal

Deals on headphones aren't in short supply at Amazon during its Big Spring Sale. In fact, with deals currently live on Bose, Beats, and many more top brands, you will be stuck for choice.

If you're a runner looking for the perfect pair to carry through your weekly mileage, we can't help but spotlight the best deal on SHOKZ OpenRun Pro bone-conducting headphones. As of March 25, this pair of headphones has been reduced by 31% to just $124.95. This deal is available across all colorways: black, beige, blue, and pink.

SEE ALSO: Grab a heavy discount on Beats Solo 4 in Amazon's Big Spring Sale

Bone conduction technology transmits sound through vibrations directly to the inner ear via the cheekbones, bypassing the eardrum, and increasing your spatial awareness. So you can run, walk, or do any activity with accompanying music, but you can still hear what is going on around you in the outside world.

The SHOKZ OpenRun Pro headphones are an earbud-free design with a lightweight, wraparound frame and open-ear fit. They use incredible 9th-generation bone conduction technology to deliver high-quality audio while keeping your ears open to your surroundings. They also have an IP55 waterproof rating, so they’re sweatproof and work for runs or walks in the rain. The battery life will keep you listening for up to 10 hours, and a quick five-minute charge will top you up with an hour and a half of extra playtime.

This is a great option in Amazon's Big Spring Sale, so don't miss out.

I always love to capture iPhone videos of my son playing baseball or just enjoying life. While the built-in Action Mode on my iPhone does well, it’s limited. The DJI Osmo Mobile 7P takes my videography to a new level with top-notch, stable video in any situation.

SAVE $70: As of March 25, the Beats Solo 4 are on sale for $129.95 at Amazon. That's a saving of 35% on list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Beats Beats Solo 4 $129.95 at Amazon
$199.95 Save $70 Get Deal

If a new pair of headphones has been on your wishlist for a while, why not check out the Beats Solo 4? Released just last year, these headphones bring some big upgrades to the Solo lineup — and as of March 25, you can find a great discount as part of Amazon's Big Spring Sale.

The Beats Solo 4 are on sale for $129.95 at Amazon. That's a saving of 35% on list price. This deal is available across all colorways at Amazon except black/gold.

SEE ALSO: The 2024 MacBook Air is at its lowest-ever price in Amazon's Big Spring Sale

Other than a great price, the Beats Solo 4 boast a battery life of up to 50 hours and a super-quick 10-minute charge time. The Solo 4 also introduces new, personalized Spatial Audio with head tracking. This is a great technology that creates a 3D surround sound, and a more immersive listening experience by adjusting sound based on your head movements, so music, movies, and calls feel more lifelike.

And as with all Beats devices, the sound quality is stellar for all types of listening. Enjoy a punchy bass and balanced sound, whether you’re listening to music, podcasts, or watching videos.

Don't miss out on this great Spring Sale deal.

SAVE $300: As of March 2025, the 2024 MacBook Air 13-inch is on sale for $999 at Amazon. That's a 23% saving on list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple 2024 MacBook Air 13-inch $999 at Amazon
$1,299 Save $300 Get Deal

If a laptop upgrade is on the horizon, look no further than Amazon's Big Spring Sale. Officially kicking off on March 25, expect a whole week of incredible discounts and deals on everything from tech to beauty products. And we love this huge discount on the 2024 MacBook Air 13-inch, now down to its lowest-ever price. It was even named one of Mashable's best laptops of the year.

As of March 25, this MacBook is reduced by $300 to $999 at Amazon. This price is for the 16GB RAM model with a 512GB capacity. You can choose from the colors midnight, space grey, silver, and starlight.

SEE ALSO: Apple AirPods 4 are on sale for under $100 in Amazon’s Big Spring Sale

The 2024 model of the MacBook Air benefits from the new and improved M3 chip. But what does this mean? Well, according to extensive Mashable testing, the M3 chip proved to be about 20% faster than the previous generation M2 chip. It also boasts an 18-hour battery life, perfect for working or studying away from home when you don't have access to a charging outlet.

This model includes all the essential MacBook Air features, such as a backlit keyboard, Touch ID, WiFi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3 for faster wireless connections. Plus, the stunning 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display supports an impressive 1 billion colors.

Don't miss out on this great deal, head to Amazon now.

SAVE $85: As of March 25, the Kindle Scribe is on sale for $364.99 at Amazon. That's a saving of 19% on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Kindle Scribe (64 GB) $364.99 at Amazon
$449.99 Save $85 Get Deal

The Amazon Big Spring Sale is finally here, and there are plenty of discounts to be had. And if a new e-reader is on your wishlist, look no further. Combining reading and note-taking, the Amazon Kindle Scribe is an e-reader and a digital notebook all in one, and it's currently down to its lowest-ever price.

As of March 25, you can find the 64GB model reduced down to $364.99, saving you 15% on list price. This deal is for both the tungsten and metallic jade colors and without Kindle Unlimited.

SEE ALSO: Apple AirPods 4 with noise cancellation are under $150 in Amazon’s Big Spring Sale

The Kindle Scribe is the newest e-reader in Amazon's lineup. It comes with a stylus so you can jot down notes and convert them to text as easily as writing in a notebook. Besides its note-taking abilities, it has a 10.2-inch 300 ppi Paperwhite display. Its lightweight design also makes it portable and easy to carry around on your travels. And let's not forget the impressive battery life, lasting weeks on just a single charge.

The bright display is perfect for reading in any light, indoors or outdoors, and you can store up to 64GB of content. That means you can stock up on plenty of e-book deals without having to worry about storage space.

Head to Amazon now to grab this great Spring Sale deal.

SAVE $29: As of March 25, Apple AirPods 4 with ANC are on sale for $149.99 in the Amazon Big Spring Sale. That’s a 16% discount from the usual $179.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple AirPods 4 $149.99 at Amazon
$179 Save $29.01 Get Deal

I’ve tested a lot of wireless earbuds over the years, and I rarely expect much when a new version shows up. But I’ll admit, the AirPods 4 with noise cancellation caught me off guard in a good way. They just dropped to $149.99 for Amazon’s Spring Sale, which is $29 off the $179 list price. That makes this the first real deal on Apple’s latest noise-canceling earbuds, and I’m intrigued.

Apple didn’t just slap “new” on the box and call it a day. The AirPods 4 with ANC have been genuinely redesigned with a more ergonomic shape, a shorter stem, and better controls. They feel more secure and actually stay in place when I move around. Shocking, I know.

SEE ALSO: The Apple AirPods Pro 2 are listed for under $170 in the Amazon Spring Sale

The real story, though, is the sound. These use Apple’s H2 chip, which unlocks Adaptive Audio—a feature that smartly blends noise cancellation and transparency mode based on what’s happening around you. It’s one of those “I didn’t know I needed this” things. You can block out the chaos on your commute, then seamlessly hear someone talking to you without yanking an earbud out. Conversation Awareness even lowers the volume automatically when it senses you’re mid-chat. It’s giving thoughtful little assistant energy.

The audio quality is also better than I expected for the non-Pro line. Calls are sharper thanks to voice isolation, and everything from podcasts to playlists sounds crisp and full. You also get Personalized Spatial Audio with head tracking, which places sound around you like you’re sitting center row in a private screening of your own music video. No complaints here.

• Price: $149.99 $179

• Retailer: Amazon

• Sale: Amazon Spring Sale

• Earbuds Type: In-Ear Wireless

• Chip: Apple H2

• Charging Port: USB-C, Wireless, Apple Watch charger

• Noise Control: Active Noise Cancellation, Adaptive Audio

• Water Resistance: IP54 (dust, sweat, and water resistant)

• Audio Features: Personalized Spatial Audio, Dynamic Head Tracking

• Smart Features: Conversation Awareness, Siri Interactions, Find My

• Battery Life: Up to 5 hours (30 with case)

• Fit: Redesigned contour, shorter stem

Battery life holds strong with up to five hours of listening time on a charge and 30 hours total with the wireless charging case. Oh, and the case itself is smaller, charges via USB-C, and works with Apple Watch chargers or Qi-certified pads. Because of course it does.

At $149.99, these are the most complete AirPods Apple’s released outside the Pro line. And now that they’re part of Amazon’s Spring Sale, I think they’re finally priced like they know it.

SAVE $29: As of March 25, Apple AirPods 4 are on sale for $99.99 at Amazon as part of its Big Spring Sale. That’s a 22% discount from the usual $129.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple AirPods 4 $99.99 at Amazon
$129 Save $29.01 Get Deal

Amazon’s Spring Sale is delivering some pretty solid Apple deals, and the newly launched AirPods 4 just got their first price drop. You can grab them for $99.99 right now, which is $29 off the $129 list price. This is the kind of deal I didn’t realize I wanted until it showed up in my face. Now I’m thinking about grabbing a backup pair for my backup pair.

These aren’t a minor refresh. Apple actually did something here. The AirPods 4 got a full design overhaul with a more contoured shape and a shorter stem, so they sit more comfortably and stay put. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had old AirPods slowly wriggle their way out of my ears mid-walk. These fix that. They’re also lighter and don’t make my ears feel like they’re hosting a tiny hardware store.

SEE ALSO: The Apple AirPods Pro 2 are listed for under $170 in the Amazon Spring Sale

The sound quality? Honestly better than I expected for the “non-Pro” tier. The AirPods 4 have Apple’s H2 chip, which is the same one in the Pro model, and that brings serious upgrades to clarity and performance. Calls are clearer thanks to voice isolation, and music sounds richer without having to mess with EQ settings. And even without active noise cancellation, the sound isolation is decent enough to drown out most background nonsense.

I’m into Personalized Spatial Audio too. It makes everything sound more immersive like you’re in the center of your little surround-sound dome. Apple also added those weird but fun Siri head gestures, so now you can nod to accept a call and shake your head to reject it like a tech-savvy bouncer. Is it necessary? No. Do I still want to use it at every opportunity? Absolutely.

• Price: $99.99 $129

• Retailer: Amazon

• Sale: Amazon Spring Sale

• Earbuds Type: In-Ear Wireless

• Chip: Apple H2

• Charging Port: USB-C

• Noise Control: Sound Isolation (No ANC)

• Water Resistance: IP54 (dust, sweat, and water resistant)

• Audio Features: Personalized Spatial Audio, Dynamic Head Tracking

• Smart Features: Siri Interactions, Find My, Skin Detection Sensor

• Battery Life: Up to 5 hours (30 with case)

• Fit: Redesigned contour, shorter stem

Battery life is solid: five hours on a charge or up to 30 hours with the included case. Speaking of, the new USB-C case is about 10% smaller than the last one and IP54 rated, so it’ll handle sweat and the occasional panic jog through the rain.

At $99.99, these are easily one of the better bang-for-your-buck Apple buys in Amazon’s Spring Sale. They’re perfect if you’re tired of your old AirPods falling out, sounding weak, or just... not connecting. I want these, and if I’m being honest, I’m probably going to convince myself I need two.

A laptop doesn't make a great impulse buy, like pack of gum in the checkout line or a weird thingamajig you saw in a TikTok livestream.

Of course, if the computer you depend on for work, school, or entertainment randomly decides to kick the bucket, the best time to replace it is immediately (after recycling or repurposing it). But most people can — and should — strategize before investing in a new machine they hope to use for years to come.

First, decide what's most important to you: a laptop with minty-fresh specs, or a laptop that costs less than usual? From there, we can point you toward several key times to buy based on our historical knowledge of past laptop launches and deals.

If you want the latest specs

For future-proofers and shoppers with cash to spare, splurging on the laptop of the moment can be more appealing than buying an older model at a discount.

Best time to buy: At launch

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES), a tech industry trade show that happens every year in January, is basically ground zero for next-generation laptops. Major manufacturers like Asus, Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, MSI, and Razer treat their booths as runways for new computers with the latest processors, graphics cards, and/or cutting-edge features. (Think rollable displays, weird lid attachments, and touchpads with built-in media controls.) And while some of these showcase laptops are just prototypes, many are fully fleshed-out devices, and a batch of them are available for preorder or purchase shortly after the event wraps. The rest typically hit the market by March or April.

Billed as "the world's first rollable display AI PC," Lenovo's ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 made a splash at CES 2025. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

There are two lone alpha wolves who don't make appearances at CES, one being Apple, which is known to take a couple different approaches to new laptop launches. Apple usually hosts formal keynote events to mark an upgrade, which the public can watch via livestream. Sometimes, it just drops an unceremonious press release. That said, the company is pretty consistent about updating its MacBook Pro and Air lines annually or biannually. While its exact launch schedule is pretty arbitrary, you can usually count on seeing new models in the spring (March or April), at its yearly Worldwide Developers Conference in June, or in late fall (October or November).

Microsoft also opts out of CES in favor of holding its own Surface laptop launch events, which almost always happen every September. They're livestreamed as well.

If you want a good deal

Any opportunity to save money is ultimately a win, but certain times of the year feature more (and steeper) laptop discounts that can justify a postponed purchase for those in search of a stellar value.

Best time to buy: On or around Black Friday

The fourth Friday in November isn't treated with the same sort of reverence it once was: Ever since Amazon started hosting Prime savings events in the fall, prompting other retailers to jumpstart their own year-end sales, "Black Friday" has become an informal season that lasts from early October into late November. Still, it remains the best time of year to grab a laptop on sale at a steal — and it's not just because stores like to take advantage of the holiday shopping surge.

Laptops get extra cheap around Black Friday (to the tune of 20 to 50% off) because it syncs up with when retailers and manufacturers are trying to offload their inventories ahead of next-gen refreshes at CES. For laptops that debuted at the beginning of the year, which are about to age out of their "current-gen" moniker, this often translates to year-round lows that knock hundreds of dollars off their normal sticker prices. Older laptops that are at least one generation removed, meanwhile, can plummet to the lowest prices of their entire lifespan as they're priced to move. (We've encountered some ancient Chromebooks on sale for less than $100 on Black Fridays past.)

The Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3 was $200 off a month after launch as part of Amazon's 2023 Black Friday sale. Credit: Microsoft

While Apple and Microsoft don't operate on the same product cycles as everyone else, they both still have a strong presence on Black Friday at third-party retailers. Amazon and Best Buy are really good about putting older MacBooks and Surface laptops on sale at rock-bottom prices while also offering some initial deals on newer models that have only just launched. On Black Friday 2023, for example, they took $200 off the Surface Laptop Go 3 and $150 off the M3 MacBook Pro, respectively; both laptops had debuted a month prior.

Apple and Microsoft technically host their own Black Friday sales, too, but they usually aren't much to write home about. The famously stingy Apple Store only doles out free gift cards with the purchase of older MacBooks, and the Microsoft Store's prices are often trounced by its third-party peers.

SEE ALSO: The best time of year to buy a Mac, whether you want a MacBook or iMac

The real debate concerning Black Friday laptop deals revolves around whether consumers should shop early or hold off on buying until Black Friday proper, in case prices get even cheaper, and the answer boils down to whether you're eyeing specific models or specs. Retailers still reserve some deals for the actual holiday (always the Friday after Thanksgiving) even if their sales are weeks or months long, so it can be worth waiting to see which laptops get featured in that primetime slot. The trouble is that we rarely know what those featured laptops are ahead of time — and by the time they're live, the model you really wanted may be backordered or back to full price.

If you're married to a certain spec sheet and don't just want a good deal, period, we generally recommend buying a laptop as soon as it gets added to a Black Friday sale's roster. In the off-chance its deal improves, you can always tap the retailer's holiday price-match guarantee and/or extended return policy as fallback plans.

Second best time to buy: During back-to-school season

Whether it's a multitasking MacBook for a college freshman or a basic Chromebook for a fifth-grader, a laptop is a given on most school supply shopping lists. As such, laptop prices dependably tank in the summer to tempt students, their parents, and teachers preparing for the upcoming semester — typically from mid-June to early September.

The back-to-school season is so major for laptop purchases that it's the only time outside of Black Friday when the Apple Store runs one of its "sales," throwing in free gift cards with MacBook purchases from early June through early October. That's in addition to its usual education pricing, which saves students, parents, and faculty $100 on select MacBooks year-round.

Apple runs one of its rare gift card promos during the back-to-school season; the other happens during Black Friday. Credit: Apple

It's worth mentioning that Amazon's flagship Prime Day sale falls smack-dab in the middle of back-to-school season in mid-July, and it's one of the only times when shoppers can source a slew of legitimately good laptop deals there besides Black Friday. (More on that later.) For instance, Prime Day 2023 featured a special invite-only deal that dropped the price of an Acer Swift X by over 40%.

Crucially, Prime Day can also be lucrative for laptop shoppers because it goads other retailers into running competing sales, which often match or beat Amazon's. (Best Buy's Prime Day counter-programming tends to be Amazon's toughest rival when their inventories overlap.) Prices aren't quite as low as they are on Black Friday, but it's still enough to make Prime Day worth marking on your calendar.

Third best time to buy: Over holiday weekends

Retailers are partial to offering deals on big-ticket tech purchases like laptops over federal holiday weekends, the big ones being Presidents' Day weekend (in mid-February), Memorial Day weekend (in late May), the Fourth of July, and Labor Day (in early September, coinciding with the end of back-to-school season). You won't find extreme discounts like you do in the thick of back-to-school season or Black Friday, but they're above average for the "off season."

Honorable mention: Buy right after new models are announced

Pay attention to new laptop launches even if you don't want the latest tech, as they often trigger quiet sales or price drops on the older models they're replacing. For most laptop brands, this usually means deals start trickling out after the CES dust settles in late January and into February.

Apple's 13-inch M2 Apple MacBook Air got two permanent price drops during its lifespan. Credit: Molly Flores / Mashable

Apple and Microsoft refreshes are, again, a little less predictable timing-wise, but they're just as reliable when it comes to previous-gen discounts. You might recall the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air getting a permanent $100 price cut when its 15-inch counterpart debuted, then another $100 chop once the latest M3 version materialized. And the original Surface Laptop Studio went on sale for $500 off the week after its successor was announced.

Not all retailers are created equal

Shopping for a new laptop is as much a game of "when" as it is "where."

Between major online retailers, we typically find the most laptop configurations (and the best laptop deals) at Best Buy. That includes current- and previous-gen MacBooks, plus a broad range of Windows laptops, Chromebooks, and gaming laptops across all major brands; it's the exclusive retail partner for a slew of current-gen Copilot+ PCs.

Amazon comes next. It consistently stocks and discounts recent MacBooks as well as a more random selection of Copilot+ PCs, Chromebooks, and entry-level to mid-range gaming laptops. Walmart has the most limited inventory out of the three and mainly dabbles in older Windows laptops, gaming laptops, and low-end Chromebooks.

With that in mind, we want to flag some quirks about these retailers that can complicate shoppers' buying experience in some way or another. One is that Amazon and Best Buy intermittently inflate laptops' original sticker prices, which can make discounts look better than they actually are. This also sometimes happens in the reverse, where a deflated MSRP is concealing better-than-advertised savings. But getting duped into a lousy deal is a less happy surprise.

Amazon listed this Acer gaming laptop on sale for $769.99, down from $844.99. Credit: Screenshot: Amazon The exact same model had an original price of $779.99 on Acer's website. You're actually saving $10, not $65. Credit: Screenshot: Acer.com Best Buy listed this Acer gaming laptop on sale for $1,099.99, down from $1,499.99. Credit: Screenshot: Best Buy The exact same model had an original price of $1,449.99 on Acer's website. You're actually saving $350, not $400. Credit: Screenshot: Acer.com

Furthermore, Amazon and Walmart are teeming with laptop listings from third-party merchants that shoppers should approach with caution. (Best Buy doesn't host them yet, but that's set to change in mid-2025.) Amazon's third-party sellers may use different customer service policies than their hosts, while Walmart's MarketPlace Sellers may have different return policies or warranty terms. And let's not forget that counterfeit products are an ongoing issue for both retailers.

This isn't to say that all third-party sellers are evil scammers. (You can usually tell based on their reviews.) It's also important to note that Amazon and Walmart both have guarantees in place to offer recourse if shoppers have problems with third-party sellers, provided they're eligible. Still, we don't think it's worth the risk or the hassle when it comes to a big-ticket purchase like a laptop. Reddit is filled with enough horror stories to reinforce this caginess.

In March 2025, you could buy a configuration of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 from a third-party Amazon seller for $1,349.99 (and get a free stylus)... Credit: Screenshot: Amazon ...Or you could buy the same laptop directly from Amazon for $40 more. Go with Amazon for peace of mind. Credit: Screenshot: Amazon A third-party Walmart seller was selling this Asus Vivobook S 16 Flip for a hair less than Walmart itself in March 2025. Credit: Screenshot: Walmart Just get it from Walmart. You're not technically getting the lowest price, but you know exactly who you're buying from. (The difference is negligible, anyway). Credit: Screenshot: Walmart

We'll give the big A and W some credit, though: They usually clean up their acts for Prime Day and Black Friday; we see lots more retailer-direct laptop listings on both sites during those major sales. Look for "Ships from/Sold by Amazon.com" and "Sold and shipped by Walmart.com" labels below the "Add to cart" buttons on their product pages. You can also filter your Walmart searches by seller.

It's important to remember that you can avoid these issues entirely by buying from laptop manufacturers themselves, which maintain their own online storefronts offer their own discounts year-round. At the very least, these are extremely useful for price checks against Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart listings to make sure their discounts are worthwhile.

How to tell if you're getting a good laptop deal

Being wary of third-party sellers and cross-checking listings between laptop retailers and manufacturers are two of the best ways to ensure you're making a smart purchase. We also recommend appraising discounts using price-tracking tools like CamelCamelCamel and Google's Shopping Insights feature. They can tell you whether a laptop you're considering has ever gone on sale for cheaper, if at all.

Finally, consider bookmarking Mashable's shopping experts' deals coverage. In recommending laptop deals, we personally vet every single discount and stick with trusted sellers. Whether the computer you wind up buying is brand new or just new to you, we strive to make sure you can confidently say that your money was well spent.

Get ready for a week of sales everywhere. It's like Black Friday, but make it spring, with flowers, pastels, and great deals for the upcoming summer season.

On the heels of Amazon announcing the Big Spring Sale, which officially starts on March 25, Walmart is coming in hot with the deals too. And we also can't forget that Target is getting on the savings with Target Circle Week that also overlaps the majority of the sale dates.

Boiled down, we're all in for some great sale prices next week. If you're a Walmart fan or are shopping for great discounts this spring, here's everything to know about the Walmart Super Savings Week.

When is Walmart Super Savings Week?

Officially, the Walmart Super Savings Week spans Monday, March 24 though Tuesday, April 1. Sale prices are exclusively available online at walmart.com and in the Walmart app, which means you can leisurely scan the Walmart sale aisles from the comfort of home.

Best deals to look out for during Walmart Super Savings Week 2025

Catering to the spring and summer season, the Walmart sale promises discounts on spring cleaning items, patio furniture, barbecues, and much more. Expect to see discounts that take up to 55% off normal prices. Here's a sneak peek of some deals to expect at the Walmart Super Savings Week 2025.

• Up to 30% off TVs

• Up to 30% off patio and garden items

• Up to 50% off jewelry

• Up to 55% off Crocs (the ultimate summer footwear)

Last year's Super Savings Week brought impressive discounts on Apple products like AirPods, AirTags, and Apple Watches, and we wouldn't be surprised if this year follows suit.

We also spotted great spring cleaning deals last year, including Dyson and Bissell vacuums. Compared to last year's Amazon Big Spring Sale, Walmart's offerings served the same or even better discounts on Apple Watches, Fitbit trackers, and video games, so we'll be keeping an eye out for those this year.

Already-live deals to shop during the Walmart Super Savings Week 2025

Just like Amazon, which already has over 200 deals worth shopping ahead of the Big Spring Sale, Walmart is already dropping prices. We expect to see hundreds of deals drop at Walmart on March 24, but you don't have to wait until next week to get some nice discounts. Here are a few deals that are already live at Walmart.

• Charbroil Patio Bistro Tru-Infrared Gas Grill — $169 $199.99 (save $30.99)

• Tappio 3-Piece Patio Conversation Bistro Set — $169.99 $299.99 (save $130)

• Apple Watch Series 10 (GPS, 42mm) — $329 $399 (save $70)

• Vizio 75-inch Class Quantum 4K QLED HDR Smart TV — $564 $779.50 (save $215.50)

The best Target Circle Week deals at a glance: BEST DEAL OVERALL Peacock Premium free for 3 months (save $23.97) Get Deal BEST GIFT CARD DEAL Spend $50 on household essentials get a $15 Target gift card Get Deal BEST TECH DEAL Beats Solo Buds (Target-exclusive Arctic Purple) $49.99 (save $30) Get Deal BEST TOY DEAL Select Lego sets save up to 30% Get Deal BEST HOME DEAL Bissell Little Green Max portable carpet cleaner $89.99 (save $50) Get Deal BEST BOOK DEAL Select books, movies, music Buy 2 get 1 free Get Deal

It's almost been a year since Target launched its Target Circle 360 membership. What better way to celebrate than with a sale?

Unsurprisingly, this one-year anniversary celebration happens to fall alongside Amazon's Big Spring Sale. Coincidence? Never. We knew the mega-retailer wouldn't pass up the chance to compete with Mr. Bezos. Enter: Target Circle Week.

"We are thrilled to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Target Circle 360 with our best Target Circle Week yet," said Cara Sylvester, Target's executive vice president and chief guest experience officer, in a press release. "Target Circle members will receive the biggest deals on thousands of items from the latest in spring style to everyday favorites that are always on the checklist."

Target Circle Week is an exclusive savings event for Target Circle members, held multiple times a year. Non-coincidentally, it tends to occur at the same times as major shopping events at Amazon, like Prime Day and Black Friday. Here's everything you need to know about the competing spring sale at Target.

When is Target Circle Week?

As a shock to nobody, Target Circle Week will overlap with the Amazon Big Spring Sale (which runs March 25 to 31). Circle Week officially kicked off on March 23 at 3:00 a.m. ET and runs through March 29, delivering seven days of exclusive deals. The discounts will be available to Target Circle members on the Target app and website, as well as in stores.

How to sign up for Target Circle

Target Circle Week requires a membership to shop, but unlike Prime or Walmart Plus, Target Circle is free to join. Here's how:

1. Head to Target.com/circle and choose "Create account."

2. Enter your full name, email address, and phone number.

3. Choose whether to use a password or passkey (fingerprint, face ID, or pin) to sign in.

4. Select "Create account." You are now a Target Circle member and are free to shop the savings event when it goes live.

Early access for Target Circle 360 members

For the first time, Target Circle 360 members will get early access to select deals 24 hours before they open to all Target Circle members.

Target Circle 360 members can shop the following deals before anyone else: 

• 40% off Deal of the Day for Performance for the family

• 30% off Deal of the Day for all Heyday electronic and tech accessories

• 30% off tees, tanks, dresses and shorts for the family 

• Gourmia Digital Air Fryer (6-quart) — $39.99 $69.99 (save $30)

• Beats Solo Buds (Target-exclusive Arctic Purple) — $49.99 $79.99 (save $30)

• Up to 30% off select Lego 

Target Circle 360 is a paid membership that offers unlimited same-day delivery from Target, access to a curated marketplace of other retailers and grocers via Shipt.com, free two-day shipping on eligible items, and other exclusive benefits and experiences. Typically $99 for the year, memberships are on sale for just $49 from March 16 through 29. That's 50% in savings.

Opens in a new window Credit: Target Target Circle 360 one-year membership $49
$99 Save $50 Get Deal Best Target Circle Week deals

Target Circle Week will feature deals on "must-have spring items," which coincidentally encompasses just about everything from home essentials and beauty products to books and toys. Mashable's shopping experts will be following the Target Circle Week sale closely and updating this list with any new noteworthy deals that drop through March 29. Here's a look at some of the best featured deals.

Peacock Premium deal

Another first for Target Circle Week: three free months of Peacock Premium. Thanks to a special, limited-time partner perk, new and returning Peacock subscribers can sign up for the ad-supported tier at no cost from March 9 through March 29. Conveniently, Wicked started streaming on March 21 on Peacock — just saying.

Of course, once the three-month promotional period expires, you'll be charged full price (currently $7.99 per month), and your subscription will auto-renew monthly. You can cancel anytime to avoid further charges.

Opens in a new window Credit: Peacock Peacock Premium Get 3 free months free with Target Circle Get Deal Target's Deal of the Day

As stated in the press release, Target Circle Week will bring back the customer-favorite "Deal of the Day." Limited-time unique deals will pop up (and then disappear) for members to shop. Similar to Amazon's Lightning deals, they'll only stick around for 24 hours. Keep an eye out for these exclusive discounts each day of the sale. So far, we've seen the Instant Pot 7-in-1 Rio Wide down to $79.99 from $129.99 and 25% off Hearth & Hand with Magnolia home products.

Here's a sneak peek at some of the upcoming deals:

• Dyson V8 Origin cordless stick vacuum (March 25)

• 30% off women's denim (March 25)

• BOGO 50% off pet toys and accessories (March 26)

• 40% off rugs (March 26)

• 40% off select jewelry and accessories (March 27)

• 50% off Brightroom Y-Weave storage items (March 27)

• 40% off sandals & shoes for all (March 28)

• 30% off Gigglescape toys (March 28)

• 30% off swimsuits for all (March 29)

• 30% off All In Motion fitness items & water bottles (March 29)

Gift card reward deals

• Spend $50 on household essentials and get a $15 Target gift card

• Spend $40 on select beauty and self-care items and get a $10 Target gift card 

• Spend $30 on select Ulta Beauty at Target products and get a $5 Target gift card

Best Target Circle Week tech deals

• Logitech M317 mouse — $12.99 $17.99 (save $5)

• Roku Express HD — $17.99 $29.99 (save $12)

• Blink Mini 2 — $19.99 $39.99 (save $20)

• Beats Flex — $39.99 $69.99 (save $30)

• Beats Solo Buds (Target-exclusive Arctic Purple) — $49.99 $79.99 (save $30)

• HP DeskJet 2855e wireless printer — $49.99 $84.99 (save $35)

• Yoto Mini audio player — $55.99 $69.99 (save $14)

• Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids — $84.99 $139.99 (save $55)

• Beats Solo 4 — $99.99 $199.99 (save $100)

• Apple AirPods 4 — $99.99 $129.99 (save $30)

• Fitbit Charge 6 — $119.95 $159.95 (save $40)

• Soundcore Sleep A20 earbuds — $119.99 $149.99 (save $30)

• Fitbit Versa 4 — $159.95 $199.95 (save $40)

• Beats Studio Pro — $179.99 $349.99 (save $170)

• Samsung 3.0ch Soundbar — $179.99 $249.99 (save $70)

• Vizio 43-inch 4K LED Smart TV — $199.99 $239.99 (save $40)

• Garmin vivoactive 5 — $219.99 $299.99 (save $80)

• Hisense 55-inch 4K Google TV — $259.99 $299.99 (save $40)

• Kindle Scribe — $264.99 $339.99 (save $75)

• GoPro Hero13 Black — $329.99 $399.99 (save $70) + get $25 Target gift card

• Bose Smart Soundbar — $399.99 $499.99 (save $100)

• Insta360 x4 action camera — $424.99 $499.99 (save $75)

Best Target Circle Week toy deals

• Save $10 when you spend $50 on select toys

• Save $5 when you spend $30 on select toys

• Save up to 30% on select Lego sets

• Save up to 40% on select toys and entertainment

Best Target Circle Week home deals

• Oster 4-slice stainless steel toaster — $34.99 $49.99 (save $15)

• Oster 2-in-1 one-touch blender — $38.99 $54.99 (save $16)

• Shark Professional steam pocket mop — $59.99 $109.99 (save $50)

• Keurig K-Mini Go coffee maker — $69.99 $99.99 (save $30)

• Instant Pot Vortex Plus air fryer (6-quart) — $79.99 $118.99 (save $39)

• Bissell Little Green Max portable carpet cleaner — $89.99 $139.99 (save $50)

• Nutribullet Ultra 1200w personal blender — $89.99 $129.99 (save $40)

• Shark Rocket HV301 corded stick vacuum — $119.99 $199.99 (save $80)

• Bissell Little Green Pet Pro portable carpet cleaner — $119.99 $159.99 (save $40)

• Bissell CleanView Swivel Rewind Pet Reach vacuum — $135.99 $175.99 (save $40)

• Shark UltraLight Pet Pro corded stick vacuum — $149.99 $229.99 (save $80)

• Shark IX141H Pet cordless stick vacuum — $199.99 $259.99 (save $60)

• Shark Air Purifier MAX — $199.99 $279.99 (save $80)

• Dyson Ball Animal 3 Total Clean upright vacuum — $279.99 $449.99 (save $170)

• Shark Stratos AZ3002 upright vacuum — $299.99 $479.99 (save $180)

• Shark Detect Pro cordless stick vacuum + auto-empty dock — $299.99 $449.99 (save $150)

• GE Profile Opal nugget countertop ice maker — $349.99 $499.99 (save $150)

Even more deals

• Buy 2 get 1 free select books, movies, music

• Get up to $100 Target Gift Card with select Therabody purchases

• Save 30% on select garden products

It's a tale of two retail behemoths vying for your dollars.

In one corner is Amazon, the scrappy bookseller-turned-global ecommerce empire that's the reason why we're all a tad impatient. In the other is Walmart, the veteran department store with one-stop, starburst-studded supercenters in every neighborhood.

From speedy shipping to members-only perks, both retailers pull out stops to entice shoppers to buy from them. But in the battle of Walmart vs. Amazon, whose deals are actually better?

Mashable's shopping experts have spent years tracking online discounts on popular tech across both retailers, including TVs, laptops, headphones, robot vacuums, and video games/gaming consoles. In covering their daily deals and their massive sitewide sales, we constantly cross-check prices between the two of them to recommend the most worth-it discounts. Here's how we see things.

Where Amazon wins: More competitive pricing and useful deal-finding tools

There's a ton of overlap between the two retailers, but Amazon is where we normally find the most competitive prices on any given day. Anecdotally, if a product isn't on sale there, it's probably not on sale anywhere.

Our experience is backed up by ongoing research from the ecommerce analytics firm Profitero, which conducts an annual Price Wars study comparing everyday online prices across major U.S. retailers. In examining more than 13,000 items across 15 product categories over a 12-week period from July to September, the 2024 edition of the study found that Amazon's prices were five percent lower than Walmart's on average. (It's worth noting that the time frame included Amazon's flagship Prime Day sale and Walmart's counter-programming.) In the electronics category specifically, Amazon's prices were six percent lower on average.

SEE ALSO: Prime members can get a free e-book every month with Amazon First Reads

Amazon also put items on sale more frequently, undercutting Walmart about a third of the time on like-for-like items, according to Profitero's "low price reliability" metric. They otherwise tended to price-match one another; Amazon offered higher prices than Walmart just four percent of the time. (Neither Amazon nor Walmart have formal price-matching policies allowing customers to request price adjustments if an item is cheaper elsewhere, FYI.)

To Walmart's credit, it was Amazon's closest price competitor in most of the Profitero study's categories, "most aggressively" when it came to appliances. Walmart has gained a little ground on price competitiveness in the electronics category in the past year, but lost some of its edge with video game prices.

The other big pro to shopping on Amazon is that consumers have more deal-finding tools at their disposal (beyond your usual shopping browser extensions or Google Shopping features). If something you're interested in buying isn't on sale, you can keep tabs on price drops by adding it to a Wish List, your Shopping Cart, or your cart's "Saved for later" section. Amazon flags deals on wish-listed items underneath their product names and in the occasional notification pop-up if you have the Amazon Shopping mobile app. In your cart, you'll see a "Messages about items in your cart" notification at the very top of the page if a product's price changes.

This fancy colored pencil set has gotten slightly cheaper since I first wish-listed it. Credit: Screenshot: Amazon Amazon let me know about its discount via mobile notification, too. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable Visit your cart and click the "See all updates" line in the "Messages about items in your cart" notification. A pop-up window will tell you which products you've been eyeing have gotten less (or more) expensive since you added them. Credit: Screenshot: Amazon

If you're a member of Amazon's Prime subscription service and you own an Echo smart speaker, you can also enable an "Advanced deal alerts" feature that will notify you if a wish-listed item is about to go on sale — up to 24 hours ahead of time.

Crucially, Amazon shoppers also have the ability to verify how good its deals actually are using a website called CamelCamelCamel: Enter the URL of an item's Amazon product page in its search bar to pull up its complete pricing history. (There's a supplementary browser extension, too.) CamelCamelCamel occasionally misses coupons and skips over limited-time deals during Amazon's sitewide sales, including Prime Day and Prime Big Deal Days, its fall counterpart. But it's generally great for determining whether a discount is even worth considering. Mashable's shopping experts rely heavily on it to appraise Amazon deals year-round.

Here's the Amazon price history of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones as of late June 2024, per CamelCamelCamel. Credit: Screenshot via CamelCamelCamel

There's no CamelCamelCamel equivalent for Walmart, though there is a "Droplist" tool in the free browser extension Honey that can offer some Walmart price history insights for products. However, it only uses data from the past 120 days, and it doesn't appear to take third-party sellers into account — which can sometimes pose a problem. (More on those later.)

Where Walmart wins: Hidden gems

Don't rule Walmart out entirely. As mentioned, its prices are more competitive than any other retailer when stacked up against Amazon's, and the two price-match each other more often than not — especially during major savings events like Prime Day and Black Friday. We also think it's important to note that Walmart's deals are occasionally better than they appear.

Every so often, Walmart does this thing to on-sale items where it advertises deflated sticker prices. In other words, the "original price" you see on a listing is lower than the actual MSRPs you'd see on the brand or manufacturer's website — so, in actuality, you're saving more than Walmart lets on. (We've run into this on Amazon, too, but it seems to happen far more often at Walmart.)

We're not exactly sure why Walmart chooses to do this, since it kind of works against its bottom line. (Wouldn't the real, bigger discount entice more shoppers to buy…? We asked a Walmart representative and never heard back.) But it can result in pleasant surprises for meticulous shoppers who cross-check prices before adding items to their carts. You might even snag a deal that may have sold out sooner had it been advertised accurately.

Take this 65-inch Samsung QLED TV: Walmart had it marked down from $997.99 to $798 during its Deals Holiday Kickoff Event in October 2023, advertising a discount of $199.99. But when the Mashable Shopping team searched for the TV's model number on the Samsung website, we discovered that it had an MSRP of $2,699.99 there — meaning Walmart's deal was actually saving shoppers just over $1,900.

Along similar lines, Walmart periodically releases extra-cheap products as "Special Buys" during sales. It doesn't attach any original MSRPs to these products, so there's no way of determining how much you're actually saving, but the prices tend to be low enough that it almost doesn't matter. (See: this 65-inch onn. 4K TV, which went on sale at Walmart for $278 a few weeks before Black Friday 2023. We didn't know how much it was truly worth, but compared to other TVs of that size, it was absurdly cheap.)

Where both win: Memberships are useful for scoring deals

In addition to other benefits, Amazon and Walmart's membership services both unlock varying degrees of access to certain deals during tentpole sales throughout the year.

An Amazon Prime membership ($14.99 per month or $139 per year) is non-negotiable if you want to shop the best deals of Prime Day in July and Prime Big Deal Days in October. In the past few years, this has further included some invite-only deals that shoppers can request to claim before the sales formally begin. No Prime, no access — though making use of Amazon's free 30-day Prime trial still counts you in.

These members-only restrictions don't usually apply to Amazon's Cyber Weekend sales. It introduced some invite-only Black Friday deals for Team Prime in 2023, but scrapped them for 2024.

SEE ALSO: The 10 best Amazon Echo devices for a smarter home

Meanwhile, a Walmart+ membership ($12.95 per month or $98 per year) unlocks early access to Walmart's biggest sitewide sales throughout the year — usually three to five hours before they're open to the general public, but sometimes up to 12. Those sales would be its main summer savings event, which competes with Prime Day; an October deals event that goes up against Prime Big Deal Days; and lastly, its staggered Black Friday Deals events. Featured doorbusters can sometimes sell out during these early-access phases or get slightly more expensive once the paywalls lift, so it's worth taking advantage of this membership perk.

There's one catch, which is that early deals access for Walmart+ members is restricted to paid members; you don't count if you're using its free 30-day trial. On the plus side, we usually see subscriptions go on sale for half price immediately before Walmart's summer and Black Friday sales.

Where both lose: Sketchy third-party sellers

Be sure you know exactly whose deals you're shopping — because it may not be Amazon or Walmart itself. Amazon is better known for hosting myriad third-party sellers, but Walmart's listings are also rife with so-called "MarketPlace Sellers." 

Some of these merchants are simply storefronts for verified brands, like Roborock or Dyson, which are unremarkable. But many others across both retailers are no-name independent sellers that shoppers should treat with caution. Third-party sellers on Amazon may not use its customer service, and Walmart's Marketplace Sellers may have different return policies or warranty terms.

Counterfeit products are also a huge issue for both online retailers. Amazon has been particularly aggressive in fighting fakes: The company has a dedicated Counterfeit Crimes Unit and invested over $1.2 billion into the cause in 2023. Walmart says it "regularly monitors Marketplace seller performance" and identifies those who provide the best service with "Pro Seller" badges. It also maintains pages where consumers can report intellectual property infringements and suspicious marketplace activity.

Walmart appears to have once been a member of the Buy Safe America Coalition, an industry lobby group that aims to protect consumers from counterfeit and stolen goods on online marketplaces (like Amazon), according to a 2020 Business Insider story about its formation. However, the big-box store's name wasn't listed on the coalition's website at the time of writing. Walmart's rep didn't respond to a request for comment.

Third-party sellers are typically easily identifiable by their titles, like Mall of Americ (sic), Emma's Market, busylittlebee, Delight Tech Electronics, and QuickNDeals. However, we've encountered one instance where an unauthorized seller was using the same name and branding as the real one on Amazon.

A third-party Amazon seller named "Issaquah Highlands Tech" was selling a Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 for $1,349.99 (with a free stylus) in March 2025. Skip it. Credit: Screenshot: Amazon The same Surface Laptop 7 configuration was $40 pricier when purchased directly from Amazon. We think it's worth it: It's still a great deal, and more importantly, you're not taking chances on such a big purchase. Credit: Screenshot: Amazon

This isn't to say that all third-party sellers are inherently malicious or scammy — looking at their reviews can be enlightening, usually. And for their parts, both retailers offer recourse if shoppers have issues with them. Amazon's A-to-z Guarantee and Walmart's Marketplace Promise both cover problems with delivery, item condition, returns, and refunds for items sold and fulfilled/shipped by third-party sellers. Both require an eligibility and claims process.

That said, we recommend avoiding third-party sellers entirely, even if you see one offering a lower price on an item that Amazon and/or Walmart also sells directly. Avoiding unnecessary hassle or risk is an excellent rule of thumb when your money's on the line.

A third-party Walmart seller named "Value Tech" was selling PlayStation 5 copies of "Madden NFL 25" for $31.96 in March 2025. That's a less risky buy than a $1,350 laptop, but we'd still skip it. Credit: Screenshot: Walmart The same game was $3.01 pricier when purchased directly from Walmart. We think it's worth it: It's still a great deal, and $3 is a small price to pay for total peace of mind. Credit: Screenshot: Walmart

Put it this way: Would you feel better about buying an $800 Roomba directly from Amazon or someone who does business under the name "wacky jacky"? That's all we can really tell you about them: Their seller bio is also, succinctly, just "wacky jacky."

Stick with products that have "Ships from/Sold by Amazon.com" or "Sold and shipped by Walmart.com" labels underneath the "Add to cart" buttons on their listings. Walmart makes this easy by letting shoppers filter out third-party sellers from searches.

When the competition heats up: More insights about Prime Day and Black Friday deals

Amazon and Walmart both reliably drop their prices to new or year-round record lows during Prime sales and Cyber Weekend. (Again, Walmart typically hosts its own festivities alongside Prime events.) These events also seem to prompt them to get their acts together in categories that are normally dominated by third-party sellers, like laptops, and offer great deals of their own.

From our experience, these sales are also when both retailers do their most aggressive price-matching. If one retailer offers a huge discount on an item during a major savings event, it's normal for the same deal to pop up at its competitor in a matter of days — sometimes even hours. We see this a lot with Apple products, particularly AirPods, Apple Watches, and iPads.

Below, we share more granular insights on the way Amazon and Walmart approach deals during these sales that shoppers can use to strategize.

Prime events

Amazon religiously sticks to a 48-hour formula for its Prime Day and Prime Big Deal Days sales, whereas Walmart's competing events normally last twice as long. 

That said, Amazon does offer a couple weeks of official "Early Prime (Big Deal) Day Deals" ahead of time, giving shoppers a chance to nab certain promotions before the chaos of the event. It also teases some of its top day-of deals in a press release ahead of time, though they come in the form of a discount range, not exact pricing. ("Save up to 50% on select floorcare from Bissell and iRobot," for example.) Shoppers can find deals across all departments during these sales, and new batches of them drop constantly, but there's an especially big focus on Amazon's own devices and services.

On the flip side, Walmart's anti-Prime event deals don't go live until its sales actually start. However, it usually previews some of its top offers in a press release well before then, and uses specific numbers — "Nintendo Switch Joy Con with Game for $69.00 (was $99.00)," for instance. You know exactly what you'll be paying ahead of time.

Black Friday

In recent years, Amazon and Walmart have both moved to kick off their Black Friday sales in early to mid-November. They both still save some of their deepest markdowns for the day of — that being the fourth Friday of the month — but shoppers are wise to comb those early deals in case they wind up selling out (or getting pricier) down the road. As with Prime events, both retailers preview these Black Friday deals in their own ways: Amazon teases its discounts as vague "up-to's," while Walmart names them as specific "before-and-afters."

Walmart takes a more structured approach to its Black Friday festivities, staggering its deals across several mini week-long events leading up to Black Friday proper, so shoppers also have a better idea of how long certain offers last. (They can stick around beyond that timeframe, but it's not guaranteed.) Some of its doorbusters pop up in Walmart stores a few days after launching online.

SEE ALSO: Amazon Music Unlimited vs. Spotify Premium: A comparison

Alternatively, Amazon simply starts its Black Friday season sale on a certain day and adds or removes deals whenever it feels like doing so. Sometimes they'll run the course of the whole event, sometimes they'll be gone in a day. It's more of a revolving-door approach.

On the off-chance that something you buy from Amazon or Walmart during their Black Friday sales gets cheaper there later, you won't be able to get a price adjustment — but you can take advantage of their extended return policies. In the past, eligible year-end purchases from either retailer have been returnable through January of the following year.

The bottom line: Where should you shop for the best deals?

To recap: We think Amazon is the place to shop if you want the most options, if you need help finding deals, and if you care about the quality and rarity of a discount. Walmart can also fit the bill for bargain hunters who are willing to do a little digging. Both retailers host huge savings events in the summer and before the holidays, which is when they bring their best deals to the table.

If you're already an Amazon Prime or Walmart+ member, you might be inclined to peruse the respective retailer's wares first. It might give you exclusive or early access to certain deals.

Ultimately, though, you're not doing yourself any favors by being loyal to a single retailer. One of the best ways to make sure you're getting the very best deal is by cross-checking prices across the web, comparing offers at Amazon, Walmart, and elsewhere… especially elsewhere. For what it's worth, we have a lot of luck at Best Buy when it comes to deals on big-ticket items like TVs and laptops — and it's not swarming with questionable third-party sellers. (Not yet, anyway.) Smart shoppers know all of their options.

For extra help finding the best, most up-to-date discounts on popular tech, consider bookmarking Mashable shopping experts' dedicated deals coverage. We only highlight the best deals we've personally vetted at Amazon, Walmart, and beyond.

Senior Shopping Reporter Leah Stodart, Lead Shopping Reporter Bethany Allard, and Shopping Reporter Samantha Mangino contributed to this story.

Whether you work from home, spend a lot of time on airplanes, or simply want to turn down the volume of the outside world, noise-cancelling headphones are exactly the tool you need.

Even the best value headphones will feel lacking if they don't come equipped with halfway decent noise cancellation. Besides, there are simply too many headphones on the market (our testing pool gets bigger month by month) for you to pay hundreds only to get subpar ANC.

SEE ALSO: The 7 best earbuds to buy in 2025 from Bose, Apple, and more

To help you wade through the top options from brands like Apple, Beats, Bose, Sony, and Sonos, Mashable editors and reviewers tested dozens of headphones and earbuds. From flagship models to budget buds, we picked out the best noise-cancelling headphones of 2025.

How do noise-cancelling headphones actually work?

Even cheap headphones can block some noise from the outside world. And you can always blast your music loud enough to drown out nearby conversations and street noise via passive noise cancellation. However, if you really want to turn the volume of the world down to the limit, then you need headphones with active noise cancellation.

Active noise-cancelling headphones electronically cover up the sounds coming from your surroundings. They use internal microphones to listen to the world around you, then invert the noise and send it to the speakers. The idea is that both the output and the input will cancel out, leaving you with near-silence. The best over-ear headphones also create a tight seal around your ears, providing an extra layer of passive sound blocking.

Testing the Apple AirPods Max headphones, which didn't make the final cut for this guide. Credit: Zlata Ivleva / Mashable Getting up close and personal with Sony WH-1000XM5 noise-cancelling headphones. Credit: Molly Flores / Mashable

If you've tried a pair of noise-cancelling headphones before and haven't been impressed, don't be discouraged, as not all ANC performs equally. For instance, cheaper ANC headphones may have a more noticeable hissing sound that you'll hear when the noise cancellation is turned on, which can be distracting for some folks.

Other headphones may be great at blocking at low tones, but more prone to letting in high-pitched tones. Typically, premium headphones will yield better results all-around, but we have budget picks below that still do a solid job.

In the past, not many wireless earbuds featured active noise cancellation that was comparable to over-ear headphones, but newer iterations like the AirPods Pro and Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds hold their own in the ANC space. However, even these earbuds can't quite get the same seal (or fit as many mics) that headphones can, so if you're looking for maximum silence, stick with over-ear headphones.

What are the best noise-cancelling headphones?

Bose is often a top name (and in our top picks) when it comes to noise-cancelling audio, often leading the industry for the best ANC available.

With that said, it's not the only brand worth checking out. If you want top-notch ANC with great sound quality, Sony makes excellent options. On the other hand, folks looking for a more affordable option might be drawn to EarFun, which brings great value to the noise-cancelling space. Essentially, what makes the best noise-cancelling headphones depends on what other features and price range you're looking for in a pair of headphones — our guide below lays out where each of our picks shines.

When it comes to shopping for the best cheap laptops, you can do a lot for less than $1,000. (Heck, even $500 cuts some mustard nowadays.) But you'll probably have to make some compromises along the way to stay below that price point.

That doesn't mean you have to settle for a total clunker that doesn't tick any of the boxes on your must-have specs list. It just means you have to shop a little smarter than someone with unlimited funds.

That's where we come in. The Mashable team is constantly reviewing new laptops with different operating systems and use cases, and we recommend several affordable machines that meet most, if not all of our performance, battery life, and build quality standards.

Our top picks

As of March 2025, we think the Lenovo Yoga 7i 14 (Gen 9) is the best cheap Windows laptop we've tested. It has a peppy processor and a good battery life, it doubles as a tablet, and it starts at $899.99.

If you're really into Microsoft machines, look into the Surface Laptop Go 3. The company's current cheapest offering is a super portable notebook with a chic look and a clicky keyboard — though I'd encourage shoppers to find it on sale, given its older CPU. It otherwise starts at $799.99.

SEE ALSO: The best laptops for 2025, tested by our experts

The best cheap Chromebook is the $499 HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch, with its big, vibrant display and competent everyday performance. It also supports some useful AI features and multimedia editing apps.

Cheap gaming laptops don't get much better than the Acer Nitro V 15, which combines a cool design with cool Triple-A performance for $999 as tested. (The base model is only $749.) We also recommend the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE as an even cheaper "cheap gaming laptop" pick: It streams high-end titles well, comes with a really nice 120Hz display, and retails for only $649.

What about MacBooks?

Apple threw shoppers a curveball in launching its new M4 MacBook Air. With a starting price of $999 for the 13-inch size, it costs the same as the M2 model from mid-2022, our current "best cheap MacBook" pick. We haven't finished testing the M4 version yet, so you won't find it on any of our laptop buying guides, but it could very well be our new favorite sub-$1,000 MacBook in the near future. Our initial impressions were very positive.

SEE ALSO: Hands on with the M4 MacBook Air: The sky blue color is SO subtle

With that in mind, the M2 MacBook Air remains our top pick in this category for now: It's speedy enough for most people, it lasts all day, it has an excellent keyboard, and it's easy to find on sale for extra-cheap following the M4 launch. (The Apple Store no longer sells it, but some retailers still have inventory available — which they're now trying to move.) At the time of writing, it was only $699.99 on Amazon.

Retailers are also slapping discounts on last year's M3 MacBook Air, which features a slightly faster processor, WiFi 6E support, and closed-lid support for two external displays. The last time we checked, it was $854 on Amazon and $849 at Best Buy. Those are very good deals — it originally retailed for $1,099 — but at the same time, there's now just $150-ish separating you from the newer M4 model. Unless that $150 is a dealbreaker, or if you're in a tough spot needing a new laptop ASAP, we recommend waiting to see how the M4 MacBook Air pans out in testing before going the M3 route.

Other cheap laptops on our radar

We currently have the latest Intel-powered Framework Laptop 13 on deck for testing. While it comes in just over our "budget" threshold of $1,000 when purchased prebuilt (the DIY Edition starts at $899), the fact that it's upgradable and repairable makes it seem like a solid long-term value. We were big fans of an older version.

We'll also soon review two sub-$1,000 Asus laptops. One is the all-new Asus ZenBook A14, the "world's lightest Copilot+ PC," which features an OLED display, a neutral-toned chassis made out of a durable material called "Ceraluminum," and an advertised battery life of up to 32 hours. (We briefly tried it in Asus' private showroom at CES 2025, and it left us extremely impressed.) The other is the Asus ZenBook S 15, a second-gen Copilot+ PC with a Snapdragon X Plus processor, a 3K OLED display, and an RGB keyboard. Both models start at $899.99.

Read on for Mashable's in-depth guide to the best cheap laptops of 2025. FYI: We've listed the pricing and specs of our testing units, which may not apply to each laptop's base model.

Connections is a game from the New York Times that challenges you to find the association between words. It sounds easy, but it isn't—Connections categories can be almost anything, and they're usually quite specific. If you need a hand getting the answers, we've got you covered.

On the back end of a telescope, looks can be deceiving. 

Two decades ago, astronomers spied something strange with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope that they dubbed the "cosmic tornado" because of its corkscrew shape. Even more baffling was the fuzzy object at its tip. 

The tornado is a so-called "Herbig-Haro object," formed when a newborn star tosses jets of material into interstellar space and creates a grand illumination. Scientists considered the fuzzy thing could be a nearby star. 

But the James Webb Space Telescope, an observatory that can produce images with far higher resolution than the now-retired Spitzer, has revealed the unexpected truth about the fuzzy object — an answer that may just remind some folks of a certain bobble dangling from a cat collar in the original Men in Black film. 

It's not a star. It's an entire freaking galaxy. 

SEE ALSO: Astronomers have detected oxygen in the most ancient known galaxy This is a side-by-side comparison of how the Spitzer Space Telescope viewed Herbig-Haro 49/50 in 2006, left, with Webb's composite image of the same target. Credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / NASA-JPL / SSC

The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which operates the Webb and Hubble telescopes for NASA, said it turns out the objects aren't related at all but happen to be in the same line of sight. 

"When peering out into space, we get a 2D view of a 3D universe," the institute said in a news release. "Sometimes, images will capture objects that appear close to each other in the sky, but are actually at wildly different distances and are unassociated with each other."

Back in the day, astronomers had considered that the two objects were unrelated and that their closeness was an illusion. But they also pondered whether the faint glow could be the result of fast-moving gas and dust from the tornado, officially named Herbig-Haro 49/50, crashing into material surrounding a star. Herbig-Haro outflows can span many light-years.

Webb's penetrating infrared gaze has now revealed the true identity of the glow as a face-on, distant spiral galaxy. It has a protruding central bulge, shown in blue, where older stars reside. 

The bulge also seems to have side lobes, suggesting that this could be a barred spiral galaxy like the Milky Way. 

The above video provides a fly-through visualization of the James Webb Space Telescope's view of Herbig-Haro 49/50.

Bars — ribbons of stars and gas that cut across the core of a galaxy — form in spiral galaxies when the orbits of stars near the galaxy's center become erratic and stretched out. As the stars' orbits get larger, they start to fall in line, so to speak. Bars grow as gravity collects more nearby stars. Eventually, a large percentage of the stars within such a galaxy's nucleus get caught up in the bar. 

Reddish clumps inside the galaxy's spiral arms show where it harbors warm dust and clusters of forming stars. The galaxy even displays empty bubbles in these dusty regions, which exploded stars may have carved out, similar to nearby galaxies observed by Webb in the so-called PHANGS program.

As for the Harbig-Haro object, scientists believe its edge will eventually move outward and seem to cover up the galaxy, though that will take thousands of years to occur. The object is about 625 light-years from Earth in the constellation Chamaeleon.

Webb's new composite infrared image of the jet revealed glowing hydrogen and carbon monoxide molecules in orange and red. Scientists thought the arc patterns, sort of like a boat wake, would lead back to a young forming star, Cederblad 110 IRS4. But not all of the arcs point in that direction after all. Another jet could be intersecting with Herbig-Haro 49/50 or the main jet might be breaking apart. 

Astronomers hope the Webb observations will help them better understand how jets associated with young developing stars can affect their surroundings.

TL;DR: Get hands-on hacking lessons from the All-in-One Super-Sized Ethical Hacking Bundle on sale for $35 through April 27. 

Some tech skills you can learn on your own. Others, like ethical hacking, are a little harder to practice without a controlled environment. That's why it's nice when you find something like the All-in-One Super-Sized Ethical Hacking Bundle. This set of 18 courses takes you from beginner to expert in everything from basic hacking to penetration testing, Burp Suite, and BitNinja, and it's on sale for $34.97 (for now). 

Ethical hacking classes

A big part of what makes this bundle valuable is the range of practical hacking lessons. You won’t just read about ethical hacking concepts. You’ll get to actually practice them. The courses guide you through setting up your own hacking environment with tools like Virtual Box and Kali Linux, learning to identify vulnerabilities, and even building your own tools for penetration testing. This practical, project-based approach helps make sure you’re not just memorizing theories but actively learning by doing.

You’ll also get a solid understanding of how to approach real-life scenarios, whether it’s using Python to build penetration testing tools, working with Burp Suite for advanced web testing, or diving into Metasploit to exploit vulnerabilities and practice post-exploitation techniques.

The bug bounty training also gives you the chance to learn how ethical hackers make money by legally identifying and reporting flaws to major companies like Facebook and Google. If you're looking for a solid side hustle, that's the way to go. 

Through April 27 at 11:59 p.m. PT, you can get the All-in-One Super-Sized Ethical Hacking Bundle on sale for $34.97. 

StackSocial prices subject to change. 

Opens in a new window Credit: Aleksa Tamburkovski The All-in-One Super-Sized Ethical Hacking Bundle $34.97
$1,098 Save $1,063.03 Get Deal

TL;DR: Create AI images without monthly fees when you get an Imagiyo lifetime subscription for $29.

AI image generators started out pretty basic. Remember when Dall-E couldn't even render a face? The technology has improved rapidly, and some of the old staples like Midjourney are already becoming outdated. Imagiyo is a new type of image generator that you can use personally or commercially, and a lifetime subscription just went on sale for $29 (reg. $345). 

A lifetime of art at your fingertips

Whether you’re an artist visualizing different ideas, a marketer creating eye-catching images for ads, or someone who wants stunning artwork for social media, Imagiyo can handle it. Powered by advanced AI algorithms like StableDiffusion, Imagiyo translates text prompts into detailed, vibrant images that suit your needs. Want a fantasy landscape? Just describe it. Need a realistic product mockup or abstract digital art? Imagiyo’s AI can generate it in seconds.

One of the things that makes Imagiyo different from other AI art tools is that it supports multiple image sizes, so whether you’re crafting a desktop wallpaper or a precise social media graphic, Imagiyo has you covered.

You can even generate NSFW content using ModelsLab’s Stable Diffusion AI model, as long as you mark it as “PRIVATE.” Every image you create is saved and available for download, so you can build your collection without worrying about losing your work.

Imagiyo’s user-friendly interface makes the creative process smooth and intuitive, even if you’re not tech-savvy. There are no watermarks to deal with, and the images you create are yours to use however you want. Plus, with 250 images per month, you can experiment and produce content without feeling restricted.

It's only $29 to get an Imagiyo subscription that lasts for life. 

StackSocial prices subject to change. 

Opens in a new window Credit: FileJump Imagiyo AI Image Generator: Lifetime Subscription $29
$345 Save $316 Get Deal