2025-11-29 07:33:53
Now that the Thanksgiving dishes are put away and the last slice of pie is hidden in the back of the fridge, it’s time to turn your attention to the next major holiday: Black Friday. The biggest shopping day of the year has started, and as expected, there are tens of thousands of deals staring you in the face. The Verge found the ones that are actually worth considering.
Our team has spent an enormous amount of time looking through spreadsheets and e-mails to find gadgets that don’t go on sale very often, are down to their all-time low price, or both. In many cases, our reviews team has tested these gadgets — either for work or in their spare time — and can authoritatively vouch for their quality. Below you can find deals on everything from the AirPods Pro 3 and current-generation Kindle Paperwhite to some of our favorite non-tech essentials.
There are also great discounts on streaming service subscriptions, including HBO Max, Paramount Plus, and a bundle comprising Hulu and Disney Plus. We update our roundup as we find even more deals, so we encourage you to check back later for more recommendations.
Update, November 28th: Added several new deals, including those for Fellow’s Stagg EKG Pro Electric Kettle and the Insta360 Link 2 webcam.
2025-11-29 06:45:00
It may not surprise anyone who is tech-aware that publications such as The Verge track the affiliate links that their readers click — in fact, every article that links to a vendor has this statement on top: “If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission.”
So we will be totally honest with you: we do have some idea of which products our readers are purchasing during the Black Friday sales. (But no, we have no idea what you personally purchased.) And it can be interesting to see which products are more popular — because they are definitely not all tech. If you also find it as interesting as we do, here are some of the top products that you, our readers, have purchased through our site.
2025-11-29 06:00:00
Traveling can be chaotic, especially during the holidays. If you’re planning to hit the road before the end of the year, Apple’s AirTag makes for an excellent travel companion. Right now, you can pick up a four-pack of AirTags for an all-time low of $62.99 (about $36 off) at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy. You can also snag an individual AirTag for $17.97 ($11.03 off) at Amazon and Walmart, which matches the all-time low we saw earlier this month.
AirTags can be a lifesaver for iPhone users, as they provide accurate location tracking for your luggage, purse, and any other items you want to keep an eye on. The sleek Bluetooth trackers can tap into Apple’s vast Find My network, making it easy to see each tracker’s real-time or last-known location. If one of your items goes missing, you can flag the AirTag as lost and receive an update on its location whenever it’s near an iPhone or iPad.
You can also share the location of an AirTag with up to five other people or select airlines, seriously raising the chances of you finding a misplaced bag, whether it’s somewhere in the airport or at a different destination. Additionally, each AirTag carries an IP67 rating, meaning it should be able to withstand some inclement weather. And if you have an iPhone 15 or newer model, you can take advantage of Apple’s “precision finding” feature, which lets you see the exact distance and direction to your AirTag.
2025-11-29 05:09:11
My favorite deals are often on gadgets that pull double duty — like the Twelve South PowerBug, which is currently on sale for the first time for Black Friday. The handy charging accessory, which can turn any wall outlet into a miniature MagSafe charging station, is available for just $39.99 ($10 off) from Amazon and Twelve South.
Thanks to a built-in magnetic charging pad located on the front of the device, the PowerBug can deliver up to 15W of power to MagSafe-compatible iPhones and Qi2-compatible devices — including Google’s latest Pixel phones — once plugged into an outlet (no cable necessary). There’s also a built-in 35W USB-C Power Delivery port located on the underside, so you can charge a second device at the same time, whether that’s a pair of headphones, a tablet, or another phone.
Once placed in an elevated position, the PoweBug props your phone upright like a floating phone stand, making it great for following recipes in the kitchen or hopping on a FaceTime call. It also supports Apple’s StandBy mode when positioned horizontally, turning your iPhone into a mini smart display that can show the time, calendar events, photos, or other widgets at a glance. All in all, it’s a versatile little gadget that’s useful in a variety of scenarios, whether you’re traveling this winter or looking for a practical stocking stuffer.
2025-11-29 04:56:45
December 23rd, 2025. That’s the day DJI will automatically be banned from the United States — unless Trump steps in.
You’ll still be able to fly your existing DJI drones and film with existing Osmo cameras. But DJI will be barred from importing any new products into the US, and the FCC can retroactively ban imports of old DJI products too, after a waiting period. Not just drones, by the way — anything with a wireless radio.
Why a ban? Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle claim to be worried the Chinese company is spying on us, even though the US government has never publicly provided evidence of that. Some worry China could compel the company to turn over drone data. (DJI has denied it shares any data with China, claims it stores all such data in the US and announced it would delete all US flight logs in September 2024.)
Some also suggest DJI wouldn’t need to be compelled because DJI is allegedly “owned by the Chinese Communist Party,” though a US judge decided there wasn’t enough evidence to back that up in September 2025.
Either way, lawmakers and Trump would clearly prefer that American drones “dominate” the skies rather than Chinese ones, and it’s true that DJI’s drones dominate today. No other company has been able to produce similarly a volume of high-quality, low-cost drones, to the point that some Republican lawmakers finally began to push back against a ban just weeks before the December 2025 deadline.
They argue that DJI drones are important for farmers, energy companies, and rescue workers since no viable alternatives exist. Most of of DJI’s old competitors, like Skydio, have pivoted to enterprise and military — the new Insta360/Antigravity A1 is an unusual exception.
Even without a ban, DJI was already on the rails. US customs has been blocking many of its drone imports for over a year, seemingly claiming that DJI was using forced labor to produce its drones. (DJI denies this.) Between import scrutiny, increased tariffs and the broader political situation, most of its products had disappeared from store shelves; it didn’t even bother to launch its flagship Mavic 4 Pro, Mini 5 Pro, and Neo 2 in the US.
Instead, it appears DJI has been looking to sneak its products into the US under other brand names, like Xtra for cameras, or Skyrover for consumer drones, though the FCC will likely be able to crack down on those as well.
At this point, the ban looks inevitable. To avoid it, “an appropriate national security agency” would need to audit DJI and decide it’s not a threat, but DJI says no agency has taken up the task just weeks before the deadline.
But never say never. Remember the TikTok ban? Trump pressed pause on that one, despite it being signed into law, and those lawmakers seem to have no idea what might happen next. Trump has recently enjoyed shaking down tech companies including Intel, Nvidia, and Apple in exchange for political and financial wins, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him cut a deal with DJI as well.
2025-11-29 04:15:00
Aside from TVs, Black Friday is the best opportunity to save on one of the biggest tech purchases we’re all likely to make: a new laptop. A new generation of laptops is always around the corner at CES in January, but they’re still months away from release. In the here and now, you can get big discounts on excellent current-gen Windows laptops, MacBooks, and Chromebooks.
There are hundreds of dollars to be saved on laptops from Apple, Microsoft, HP, Lenovo, Asus, and more. And there’s a mix of options, whether you prefer a thin-and-light for work and easy travel, a workstation for content creation, or a gaming laptop for graphical performance above all else. There are even some Chromebook deals if you’re shopping for a student or someone who wants a minimal-fuss solution for mostly browsing the web.
We’re also compiling some worthwhile deals on laptop peripherals and accessories, like cases, cables, and hubs we like. Here are our top picks among laptop and laptop-related deals for this Black Friday.
