MicroSD Express cards and Anker’s travel adapter rule the deal roost this week
Welcome to the weekend, friends! We’re still in a bit of a deals lull before the Presidents Day and V-Day sales begin, the bulk of which we anticipate kicking off the first week of February. However, for now, we’re still seeing some solid discounts on a few newer gadgets and some old, Verge-approved favorites. Anker’s Nano Travel Adapter has returned to its best price to date, for instance, as has Samsung’s last-gen Frame TV. You’ll also find discounts on microSD Express cards, budget-friendly robot vacuums, and more, so let’s get into it. If you have plans to spend some time outside of the US this year, Anker’s versatile Nano Travel Adapter is on sale at Amazon in black and white — and directly from Anker with code WS7DV21AXQQZ — for $19.99 ($6 off), matching its lowest price to date. Anker’s thin, foldable charger measures a mere 0.98 inches thick and sports a pair of USB-C ports, two...
Welcome to the weekend, friends! We’re still in a bit of a deals lull before the Presidents Day and V-Day sales begin, the bulk of which we anticipate kicking off the first week of February. However, for now, we’re still seeing some solid discounts on a few newer gadgets and some old, Verge-approved favorites. Anker’s Nano Travel Adapter has returned to its best price to date, for instance, as has Samsung’s last-gen Frame TV. You’ll also find discounts on microSD Express cards, budget-friendly robot vacuums, and more, so let’s get into it.If you have plans to spend some time outside of the US this year, Anker’s versatile Nano Travel Adapter is on sale at Amazon in black and white — and directly from Anker with code WS7DV21AXQQZ — for $19.99 ($6 off), matching its lowest price to date.Anker’s thin, foldable charger measures a mere 0.98 inches thick and sports a pair of USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, and a US-style Type A outlet on the front, in addition to four plug types (Type A, C, G, and I). The main drawback, aside from the lack of a voltage converter, is that the maximum power output is 20W (or 15W when sharing power across all four USB ports), meaning you’ll need to bring another adapter if you want to charge a laptop or any other power-hungry device.
Anker Nano Travel Adapter (5-in-1, 20W)
Where to Buy:
$25.99 $19.99 at Amazon (black)
$25.99 $19.99 at Amazon (white)
$25.99 $19.99 at Anker
It’s been nearly eight months since the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 — meaning, if you haven’t already purchased a microSD Express card to level up your storage capacity of your console, you’ll likely need to do so soon. Fortunately, Samsung’s P9 microSD Express card is currently on sale at Amazon and B&H Photo with 256GB of storage starting at $39.99 ($15 off), matching its second-best price to date.As you might expect, P9 is built to handle the Switch 2’s faster storage speeds, with sequential read speeds of up to 800 MB/s, resulting in quicker load and launch times. The Switch 2 features 256GB of internal storage, meaning you’re doubling your storage capacity with a 256GB card, or tripling it in the case of Samsung’s 512GB variant. Most first-party Nintendo games aren’t massive, mind you, but third-party t**les like Split Fiction (69GB) and Madden NFL 26 (59GB) can quickly devour dozens of gigabytes. That makes picking up a discounted microSD Express card a no-brainer, especially since they’re also compatible with cameras, drones, and any gadget with a microSD USH-I slot.
Samsung P9 microSD Express Card
Where to Buy:
$54.99 $39.99 at Amazon (256GB)
$54.99 $39.99 at B&H Photo (256GB)
$99.99 $79.99 at Amazon (512GB)
I hate to break it to you, but so-called “art TVs” are not exceptional TVs, at least not in a traditional sense. Still, Samsung’s 2025 Frame TV — which is on sale at Woot in its 43-inch configuration starting at $597.99 ($302 off) through January 31st — is likely to look far better in your living room when idle than your typical LCD or OLED TV.Samsung’s last-gen 4K TV is vastly different than the company’s 2026 panels, either. The slim QLED display can cycle through a small selection of free art pieces when idle, all of which take on a more textured, canvas-like appearance thanks to an anti-glare matte coating that helps curb unwanted reflections. The Frame is plenty good enough for bingeing Slow Horses and Stranger Things, even if the refresh rate is capped at 60Hz, and you still get support for both HDR10 Plus and Dolby Atmos, along with access to all your favorite streaming apps.
Samsung The Frame (2025)
Where to Buy:
$899.99 $597.99 at Woot (43-inch)
$1099.99 $697.99 at Woot (50-inch)
DJI’s drones might have been banned in the United States, but you can still pick up some of the company’s other gear stateside (at least for now). Take DJI’s Mic Mini, for instance, which is currently on sale at Amazon with a single mic and two transmitters for $59.99 ($20 off), matching the record-low first set during this time last year.If you want to capture audio that sounds more professional than your smartphone can deliver on the go, the Mic Mini is a commendable option. The compact, 10-gram wireless microphone plugs directly into your phone via USB-C, Lightning, or a standard 3.5mm audio cable, and it can be clipped to clothing or worn using a magnetic mount or lanyard. The receiver lasts up to 10.5 hours and includes an onboard dial, which lets you fine-tune gain settings and adjust your volume levels. The pair of included transmitters, meanwhile, can run for up to 11.5 hours on a single charge and capture audio from up to about 400 meters away, provided they’re connected simultaneously.Just don’t expect built-in backup recording or the option to connect a smaller lav mic, neither of which is available on the Mic Mini.
DJI Mic Mini (with one mic and two transmitters)
Where to Buy:
$79 $59 at Amazon
More ways to save this weekend
Of all the games coming out this year, Resident Evil Requiem might be at the top of my list. If you’re in the same camp, you can preorder the Steam version (via a digital key) for PC through Fanatical for $57.39 (about $13 off), which is likely the best price we’re going to see in the next mainline RE before it launches on February 27th. I, for one, can’t wait for my return to Racoon City, especially since the ninth installment of the survival horror game will let you toggle between first- and third-person perspectives on the fly.
If you find the price of most robot vacuums intimidating, Tapo’s RV30 Max Plus is down to an all-time low of $179.99 ($150 off) at Amazon. The RV30 remains our favorite budget vacuum / mop, namely because it offers a bevy of features found in robovacs that cost twice the price, including an auto-empty dock, smart lidar-based navigation, multiple suction and water levels, and room-specific cleaning with the ability to add virtual walls and no-go zones via the app. You also get a large 300ml tank and 5,200Pa of suction power, which is terrific for a bot in this price range.
The JLab Go Air Pop ANC are on sale at Amazon, JLab, and Best Buy for $19.99 ($10 off), which is about $2 shy of their best price to date. They come up a little short in terms of audio quality, but you’d be hard-pressed to find another pair of wireless earbuds that offer a customizable EQ, ANC, multipoint connectivity, and seven hours of playback for under $20. Then there’s the translucent design, which is an even bigger selling point in my book.
Your Wi-Fi router is leaking airtime to legacy devices, and here is the 10-second fix
Even though you have a modern Wi-Fi 6, 6E, or 7 router and high-spec endpoints capable of gigabit wireless throughput, your network might still suffer from random latency spikes, package jitter, and sluggish page loads. This is down to airtime starvation. Wi-Fi is a shared half-duplex medium. It doesn't matter...
Even though you have a modern Wi-Fi 6, 6E, or 7 router and high-spec endpoints capable of gigabit wireless throughput, your network might still suffer from random latency spikes, package jitter, and sluggish page loads. This is down to airtime starvation. Wi-Fi is a shared half-duplex medium. It doesn't matter how fast your gaming rig or laptop is if the wireless radio spectrum is tied up waiting for slow legacy transmissions.
Susanna Stordal Norway
Published by: aplhsindia.in
I ditched my mesh router after discovering the one setting that actually matters
You might think the best option when you hit a Wi-Fi dead zone at home is to invest in an expensive multi-node mesh system to ensure full coverage. However, there are downsides to adding consumer mesh nodes around the house, including wireless backward congestion, doubled latency hops, roaming packet drops,...
You might think the best option when you hit a Wi-Fi dead zone at home is to invest in an expensive multi-node mesh system to ensure full coverage. However, there are downsides to adding consumer mesh nodes around the house, including wireless backward congestion, doubled latency hops, roaming packet drops, and overlapping co-channel interference.
Emily Brown Houston
Published by: aplhsindia.in
Grand Theft Auto VI exists in its own universe
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on GTA VI and the state of the video game industry, follow Andrew Webster. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it...
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on GTA VI and the state of the video game industry, follow Andrew Webster. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here.How it startedFour years ago, fans got a long-awaited look at Grand Theft Auto VI with a huge cache of videos that showed off Rockstar's latest open-world epic. There were 90 videos in total, providing a glimpse at the next-generation take on Vice City, introducing the game's new dual protagonists, and generally showing off the crime-fueled mayhem the series is known for. …Read the full story at The Verge.
Tomás Almonte Mexico
Published by: aplhsindia.in
Your GPU’s upscaler has a secret second job, and nobody’s talking about it
I used to think of upscaling as a fairly simple trade-off. You give up some of the internal resolution of the image, and in return, DLSS or FSR would give you enough performance to push higher settings or a higher output resolution. That is still its biggest selling point, but...
I used to think of upscaling as a fairly simple trade-off. You give up some of the internal resolution of the image, and in return, DLSS or FSR would give you enough performance to push higher settings or a higher output resolution. That is still its biggest selling point, but after using DLSS upscaling ever since it arrived back in 2020, I've realized that there's another benefit hiding in plain sight.
Michael Johnson Chicago
Published by: aplhsindia.in
I cut my phone’s animation speed in half, and now it feels twice as fast
I've been using my Galaxy Z Flip 5 for about three years now, so it's easy to blame its age whenever it feels a little slower than it used to. But there's a difference between a phone actually taking longer to do something and Android simply taking its sweet time...
I've been using my Galaxy Z Flip 5 for about three years now, so it's easy to blame its age whenever it feels a little slower than it used to. But there's a difference between a phone actually taking longer to do something and Android simply taking its sweet time showing you that it did it. I was recently reminded of that when I started messing around with the animation scale settings in Developer options.
Emily Brown Houston
Published by: aplhsindia.in
I switched from Notion to a plain Markdown folder and Syncthing, and I’m faster than I ever was before
I have been a long-time Notion user. I have used it to take notes, prepare documents, write my articles, and even present things to people. I stuck around primarily because it has a dark mode, which Google Docs doesn’t have on desktop, and I found features like rich embeds helpful.
I have been a long-time Notion user. I have used it to take notes, prepare documents, write my articles, and even present things to people. I stuck around primarily because it has a dark mode, which Google Docs doesn’t have on desktop, and I found features like rich embeds helpful.
Daniel Martinez Dallas
Published by: aplhsindia.in
Unsloth’s new desktop app does the one thing LM Studio and Ollama never let me do
I’ve tried several tools for running AI models locally, but I keep returning to Ollama and LM Studio. Both make it easy to download a model and start chatting without building a complicated environment first. I can change the system prompt or connect the model to another app through an...
I’ve tried several tools for running AI models locally, but I keep returning to Ollama and LM Studio. Both make it easy to download a model and start chatting without building a complicated environment first. I can change the system prompt or connect the model to another app through an API. The model itself, however, remains exactly as I downloaded it.
Karl-Ernst Vogler Germany
Published by: aplhsindia.in
My Jellyfin server has four layers of protection, and RAID isn’t the most important one
I’ve invested enough time in my Jellyfin library that losing it would be more than a storage problem. The media files matter, obviously, but so do everything I’ve done around them: folder organization, metadata, artwork, watched status, collections, and all the little choices that make the server behave the way...
I’ve invested enough time in my Jellyfin library that losing it would be more than a storage problem. The media files matter, obviously, but so do everything I’ve done around them: folder organization, metadata, artwork, watched status, collections, and all the little choices that make the server behave the way I expect. None of those things sound especially painful to rebuild on their own. Put them all together after a drive or server failure, though, and I’d be looking at hours of tedious work I’ve already done once.
William Garcia Boston
Published by: aplhsindia.in
The C64 Mini showed me how fearless and wild ’80s game development really was
When one of our D&D group members couldn't make it to the session, we decided to make a night of it anyway. We headed over to a local pub, only to be told that they were about to start a pub quiz and that we were welcome to join. We...
When one of our D&D group members couldn't make it to the session, we decided to make a night of it anyway. We headed over to a local pub, only to be told that they were about to start a pub quiz and that we were welcome to join. We had never done a pub quiz before, but we thought we'd give it a go.
Louis Singh New Zealand
Published by: aplhsindia.in
I switched to this underrated Launcher, and my Pixel finally feels fun again
I've used plenty of Android launchers over the years, but most eventually start to feel the same. You install one, spend an hour changing icons and wallpapers, and then go back to using your phone like before. I wasn't looking for another launcher with endless customization options. I wanted something...
I've used plenty of Android launchers over the years, but most eventually start to feel the same. You install one, spend an hour changing icons and wallpapers, and then go back to using your phone like before. I wasn't looking for another launcher with endless customization options. I wanted something that would actually make using my phone feel a little more interesting.
Jeet Bangera India
Published by: aplhsindia.in
Netflix looks worse on my PC than on a $30 streaming stick, and it isn’t the hardware
There is a major hardware contrast between my $2,500 custom gaming PC that features an RTX 40-series GPU, a high-end 4K HDR display, and a Gigabit fiber connection, and a $30 Amazon Fire TV Stick plugged into the same monitor. Yet somehow my PC delivers a blurry, artifact-ridden 720p or...
There is a major hardware contrast between my $2,500 custom gaming PC that features an RTX 40-series GPU, a high-end 4K HDR display, and a Gigabit fiber connection, and a $30 Amazon Fire TV Stick plugged into the same monitor. Yet somehow my PC delivers a blurry, artifact-ridden 720p or low-bitrate 1080p Netflix stream, and the streaming stick offers crisp, instantaneous 4K Dolby Vision with zero user configuration.
Michael Johnson Chicago
Published by: aplhsindia.in
Google’s new Android sideloading rules could undermine the OS’ biggest strength
My very first smartphone was a Google Nexus One, which my dad bought me when I was 16. Back then, I would install APKs from outside the Play Store all the time, mainly because some of them weren't available in my region. Even though Android has come a long way...
My very first smartphone was a Google Nexus One, which my dad bought me when I was 16. Back then, I would install APKs from outside the Play Store all the time, mainly because some of them weren't available in my region. Even though Android has come a long way since the early 2010s, this part of the experience has largely stayed the same. Yes, the OS will warn you about the risks when you try to install an app from an unknown source, but overriding that warning and going ahead has always been easy.
