Microsoft just recently got into the headphones game, introducing its Surface Headphones earlier this year. They are a good first try, but our biggest issue with them was their price; at $350 retail, they’re just too expensive. Well, thanks to Prime Day, you can now pick these up for a much better price.
Amazon is currently running a sale which marks the Surfaces down to $248, but with Prime, you'll pay just $190 — a savings of 46% off retail. We feel at this price the Surface Headphones are a good buy, especially considering they include noise-canceling technology.
Our reviewers gave these headphones high marks for their simple yet elegant design and intuitive use. While the app may not be very useful, the headphones make app control a little redundant. The headphones are easy to pair, and you’ll be able to control both volume and noise-canceling levels by turning the dials on each of the earcups. Other controls are handled by taps on either earcup.
We found the noise canceling to be very good even in our noisy office environment and about as good as you’ll get without custom molded in-ears to block out background noise. Sound quality is great and what you would expect from a pair of headphones at this price, and a generous two-year warranty gives you peace of mind should anything go wrong.
Are there better headphones out there? Sure — we’d recommend either the Bose QC35 II or the Sony WH-1000xM3’s as alternatives. But you’ll pay for it, and neither are as substantially discounted for Prime Day as the Surfaces are. But we would argue that the Surfaces are better for a wider variety of genres of music than the QC35 II’s, so keep that in mind.
Don’t need noise cancellation? We recommend you take a look at the Prime Day deal on the Beats Solo 3's , marked down to $140. And while the noise-canceling isn’t as good, this deal on the Sony Wireless Noise Canceling Headphones WH-CH700N for only $90 is one of the best we’ve seen, along with 50% of these Sennheiser HD 599 headphones.
Looking for more Prime Day deals? Be sure to stop by our curated deals page for the latest.
The OnePlus Buds Clip are a new pair of open-ear earbuds built around a simple convenience. They join Sony’s LinkBuds Clip in the growing ear-cuff category, but either OnePlus bud can go on either ear.
Sensors recognize how the earbuds are being worn and route the audio channels accordingly. There’s no label to check before putting them on, and the feature also works when only one bud is used.
We buy fitness bands and activity trackers to keep tabs on our exercise, but it is easy to forget to start tracking or switch modes when moving between different activities. For Fitbit and Pixel Watch users, that could soon become a lot less annoying, as Google is rolling out a major upgrade to automatic activity tracking that can recognize more than 100 types of exercise, up from just 10 before.
Google first showed off the improved tracking earlier this month alongside the Fitbit Edge. It is now coming to Fitbit Air and the Pixel Watch 3, 4, and 5, and Google claims the added context behind the system makes workout detection nearly twice as accurate while cutting missed activities by more than half. Fitbit Edge will support it too.