Fatherβs Day is nearly here. Hopefully, you already got a gift for dads you care about, but if not, hereβs a quick, easy recommendation for anyone who enjoys a good comic strip. The Complete Calvin and Hobbes contains every one of Bill Wattersonβs beloved strips made during the comicβs ten-year run from 1985 through 1995, packed in three deluxe hardcover books, for $89.48 at Amazon when you check the on-page coupon. The set originally sold for $225, but itβs often available for around $130. This is the best price Iβve seen it sell for.
The lighthearted, kid-friendly comics couldnβt be more different from Wattersonβs darker, adult-themed The Mysteries, which brought him out of retirement with its 2023 launch.
If youβre thinking of getting dad a book, but arenβt sure Calvin and Hobbes is the right pick, there are some good deals happening on gorgeous hardcover versions of The Lord of the Rings and other tales in the franchise. The deluxe slipcase hardcover version of The Lord of the Rings that includes illustrations by the author J.R.R. Tolkien himself is $105.14 at Amazon, its lowest price in about a year.
He can go further back in the lore with Silmarillion, the prequel to The Hobbit and to The Lord of the Rings. It, too, is illustrated, comes in a bold hardcover, and is down to its lowest price in a while. The book costs $30.50 at Amazon, while the slipcase hardcover version of The Hobbit that contains illustrations is $81.41.
The yellow pair are on sale too. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
If youβre looking for a cheap Fatherβs Day gift that delivers more than youβd expect for the price, Nothingβs Ear (a) are a good option. The wireless earbuds are currently on sale as part of a larger early Prime Day sales event, making them an even better value than usual. Right now, you can buy them at Amazon in black complete with Nothingβs slick translucent charging case for $53.20 ($47 off), which marks a new all-time low. You can also buy them in yellow (Amazon, Nothing) and white (Amazon, Nothing) for just $3 more.
The Nothing Ear (a) are one of our favorite affordable pairs of wireless earbuds, and for good reason. They offer a surprising number of features for their price, including a low-latency gaming mode that helps reduce lag while playing games. Nothing phone owners can also access ChatGPT with a quick pinch gesture, while support for multipoint Bluetooth pairing lets you stay connected to two devices at once. The earbuds also work with Android Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair, making setup quick and painless.
More importantly, they nail the essentials. The earbuds deliver expressive, enjoyable sound, while offering noise cancellation to cut down on distractions. Nothing has also improved voice call performance with AI-powered voice isolation, which helps your voice come through more clearly in noisy environments. Three sizes of silicone ear tips are included to help you find a secure fit, while their IP54 rating provides protection against sweat and light rain. Battery life is solid, too, lasting up to eight hours before you need to recharge.
The CMF Buds 2A deliver decent sound and noise cancellation. They also offer useful extras like customizable EQ settings, multipoint connectivity, and IP54 water and dust resistance.
Nothingβs second over-ear headphones may not offer everything found on the pricier Nothing Headphone 1, but you do get physical controls, good sound, and more than five days of battery life per charge. Their design is also a bit more discreet, for better or worse. Read our review.
Built-in television speakers are almost always underwhelming, so getting a soundbar is the best way to elevate any and all content. If you want to get the most for your money, Amazonβs Fire TV Soundbar Plus with a subwoofer and satellite speakers provide a bigger sound than a standalone soundbar like a Sonos Beam. Ahead of Prime Day, the system dropped to $380 (previously $490). Thatβs the lowest price weβve seen on the 5.1-channel kit.
Amazon Fire TV Plus Soundbar
Amazonβs Fire TV Soundbar Plus is a surprisingly robust audio system for its price. The soundbar comes with a wireless subwoofer and rear speakers, and can decode both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X surround sound audio streams. It also has Bluetooth built in, so you can use it as a wireless speaker regardless of what type of device you have.
The soundbar supports Dolby Atmos and DTS:X for spatial audio (though, it lacks upward-firing speakers that make spatial audio more noticeable), and features three full-range speakers, three tweeters, two subwoofers, and a center channel designed for clear dialogue. It features optical audio, plus an HDMI eARC port that communicates with compatible televisions for simple, unified controls.
The subwoofer and satellite speakers wirelessly connect to the soundbar, unlike some similarly-priced systems that have wired satellites. The Fire TV Soundbar Plus offers four equalizer profiles to suit different content needs: movie, music, sports, and night mode, the last of which minimizes bass and makes dialogue sharper. Beyond using the soundbar with your TV, you can also play music from your mobile devices with its Bluetooth support.
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The PopSockets Low-Pro Grip is 2.6mm thick when collapsed.
If you had asked me a week ago to recommend a thinner alternative to PopSocketsβ magnetic phone grips, I would have told you to buy the OhSnap Snap Grip 5. Ask me now and Iβll redirect you right back to the company that accidentally invented the phone grip in 2012 when trying to come up with a better way to wrangle Apple EarPods. PopSocketsβ new Low-Pro is its slimmest phone grip yet, and itβs not only thinner than OhSnapβs latest, itβs also more functional and more comfortable to hold.
Available starting today exclusively through Apple in four colors (it will be available from PopSocketsβ online store and other retailers starting on July 29th), the $39.99 Low-Pro Grip is launching at the same price as the Snap Grip 5. Iβve been a devoted fan of OhSnapβs grips for the past few years and recently upgraded to the Grip 5, but after testing the PopSockets Low-Pro for just a week, Iβm ready to jump ship.
The last PopSockets grip I used was the Kick-Out Grip and Stand that debuted last year and did a better job than the OhSnap Grip 4 as a phone stand that worked well in both portrait and landscape mode. But at 7mm thick when collapsed, I found the Kick-Out Grip would occasionally get snagged when slipping my phone into my pocket. Iβve never had that problem with either the 2.5mm-thick Snap Grip 4 or the 3mm-thick Grip 5.
The new PopSockets Low-Pro falls somewhere between OhSnapβs last two offerings at 2.6mm, which the company compares to the thickness of a pair of dimes or a toothpick. Itβs definitely thin, but you have to look incredibly close to see the height difference when comparing the Low-Pro and Snap Grip 5 side by side. If you were going by touch alone the difference in thickness is imperceivable.
Far more noticeable is how the two grips feel between your fingers when youβre holding your phone. The Snap Grip 5 carries forward a design that uses a set of interlocking flexible arms that attach the base of the grip to an extending disc. Itβs a unique approach that OhSnap has improved and strengthened since The Vergeβs Victoria Song had a Snap 3 Pro break nearly three years ago. But while the durability is better, the Snap Grip 5βs flexible arms still arenβt the most comfortable. Theyβre not painful by any means, but using the Snap Grip 5 has always felt to me like Iβm sacrificing the comfort of a PopSockets grip for something more svelte.
With the Low-Pro, you get the best of both worlds. Instead of plastic arms or the traditional PopSockets design that features a collapsing squishy cone, the Low-Pro uses what the company describes as a βone-piece polymerβ expansion layer connecting a pop-out disc to the gripβs base. It looks like a tube thatβs been sliced full of diamond-shaped holes to help it collapse compactly, but itβs made out of a squishy material that makes the Low-Pro feel softer and more comfortable to hold at any angle. My fingers occasionally get sore during prolonged one-handed doomscrolling sessions using the Snap Grip 5, but that hasnβt been an issue with the Low-Pro.
Both grips double as a phone stand, but the Low-Pro does it better. With the Snap Grip 5 you can tuck one edge of its extending disc into a notch on the base and use it to prop your phone up. But itβs limited to just one angle, and it works better with your phone laying sideways than standing up vertically. Surrounding the base of the Low-Pro is a hinged metal ring that folds out at any angle, so it works as a stand in either orientation. The base of the Low-Pro is a little wider than the Snap Grip 5 as a result, but the size difference is negligible.
There is a reason to still consider OhSnapβs Snap Grip 5 over PopSocketsβ Low-Pro. Both accessories allow your phone to stick to metal surfaces, magnetic mounts, and wireless chargers with the grips attached, but the magnets on the Snap Grip 5 are stronger than those in the Low-Pro. The Snap Grip 5 always remained securely attached to the back of my iPhone 16 Pro when removing it from a magnetic wireless charging stand, but the Low-Pro consistently remained behind stuck to the stand.
If you regularly mount your phone to magnetic accessories like this, such as relying on a car mount to use your phone as a GPS device, thereβs a very good chance the Low-Pro could get frequently left behind and forgotten. If you donβt, then PopSocketsβ new Low-Pro Grip is a worthy alternative. Itβs not the thinnest grip ever created, but PopSockets has improved on OhSnapβs design in a few important areas that make a grip a tempting accessory, even if youβre trying to keep your phone as thin as possible.
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Amazonβs Smart Thermostat looks surprisingly nice for such a cheap gadget. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
If your electricity bill climbs every summer, a smart thermostat could help keep cooling costs in check. The Amazon Smart Thermostat is an excellent option for its price, especially today. Itβs down to just $57.99 at Amazon as a part of Amazonβs early Prime Day sale, which is the best price weβve seen since Black Friday.
For a smart thermostat that costs under $100, the Amazon thermostat offers a lot of helpful features. One of its most useful is its ability toΒ learn and adapt to your routines, reducing the need to constantly tweak the temperature yourself. Itβs also compatible with most 24-volt HVAC systems, and adjusts itself accordingly depending upon whether or not youβre asleep or at home. The app lets you create schedules and monitor energy usage as well, giving you a sense of how much AC youβre using so you can make adjustments before your next utility bill arrives.
Plus, itβs a particularly good buy if youβre embedded in Amazonβs ecosystem. Itβs compatible with Amazonβs Alexa, allowing you to adjust the temperature using voice commands or the mobile app. You can also create Alexa Routines so it can work alongside other compatible smart home devices like Amazonβs $44.99 ($25 off) Smart Air Quality Monitor, setting up automations that adjust your homeβs temperature when certain indoor air quality conditions are detected. So long as youβre fine going without native temperature sensors, this smart thermostat is an excellent value for the price.
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