Amazon’s prime day is in full swing, and now two days have passed, some of us have gotten rid of decision-making paralysis and have checked our online shopping cart. It’s no surprise that the Engadget team is made up of fans of technical (and non-technical) products, and we love it too. We were also attracted by savings as we sorted out overviews and news stories about the best things to buy this week. Here is a list of purchases by several of our team members, not only to share our lives with you, but also to show you the deals we think are good enough to spend your own money.
(ed. Note: Igor Bonifacic saved up to $2 on this guitar tuner, but it was worth it for him. I let him explain.)
In Canada, the D’Addario tuner I ended up buying is usually expensive, at $20, but I think it’s possible to go on sale on Prime Day. So I set up a Camelcamelcamel alert and on the morning of July 8 I received an email on the website saying it was…$2 off. Not the biggest discount, but hey, every dollar is needed in such a expensive hobby, right?
Last spring, I picked up my guitar for the first time in about 15 years. What happens doesn’t matter. Importantly, now I’m playing every day and I keep asking myself why I stopped first. Starting with less screen time, my eyes feel more creative and now I am better than I was in my teenage years.
When I returned to my hobby, I slowly bought all the gadgets that could make your guitar easier. On the golden day around the corner, I turned my eyes to the nightstand tuner. When I first started learning the instrument, these little gadgets weren’t nearby, but let me tell you they were great.
As the name suggests, you attach one of them to the head of the guitar. It then allows you to adjust the instrument by measuring the vibration generated by the string. While you can easily do the same with an application like Gitatuna, the clip tuner is not affected by ambient noise, making the entire tuning process quick and easy. Most importantly, they are cheap. In the US, you can buy the model I bought on Prime Day for only $15. – Igor Bonifacic, senior journalist
I haven’t even tried it over the past few years and have become a devotee of Apple’s continuous cameras. I think it always makes more sense to use my iPhone as a camera instead of buying some kind of USB-C dock or giving up other ports on the computer using a laptop and monitor setup. Unfortunately, I also found that my phone was within reach when writing. My solution is to take advantage of this year’s Golden Day deal with dedicated webcams.
I bought a non-white Logitech Brio 500, which usually costs $130, but enjoy a $50 discount for Prime Day via Amazon or Logitech. It’s a long tube 1080p webcam, so it’s not the smoothest or best option, but it has the basics I need, such as manual shutters and automatic frames, and it’s very well matched with my Logitech mouse. If, like me, you can’t stand the idea of paying over $100 for your webcam, I think it’s a very attractive option at $80. – Ian Carlos Campbell, writer
I recently discovered that as all my gear transitions to USB-C, I no longer have any compatible thumb drives. I think it’s smart to have a new thumb drive that can handle USB-C and USB-3 instead of buying an adapter dongle that I inevitably lose. The Sandisk Drive I bought wasn’t a big discount, but Prime Day seemed like a good time to save a few dollars on the actual purchase. – Anna Washingtono, contributes to journalist
Even though it wasn’t for sale this week, I pre-ordered the re-release of the Amazon Studios series version of Blaster, as he is one of my favorite transformers of all time. Then I added Soundwave to the shipment because he is the other of my top 10 favorite robots and you can’t actually have another one. Then I found a small deal on Heatwave, so we also picked it up as a way to save for next month’s birthday gift.
It’s a little weird to say that as an adult, I’m still obsessed with plastic toys, but sometimes, despite having a bad movie over the last decade and a half (except for the Transformers year), it sometimes feels like the golden age of Transformers. As bad as Bayern movies, there is still a rich history of performance and toys, and I’m back to it all with my kids. – Sam Rutherford, Senior Reviewer
On Golden Day, I listed three things, three things – Norry Press, a walking mat and Ms. Rachel Tony of the kids of my life. But when I was doing a review of the best deals this week, the discounted entry-level iPad caught my attention.
My dad asked me several times about the iPad to watch videos and movies while he and my mom were traveling and I couldn’t give them an answer when I weighed a lot of concerns. What is the best operating system for them? Something they need to release recently, or can they save some money on older models?
Seeing the iPad sold by previous generations of iPads prompted me to just buy it for them. This simplifies my dad’s use of iPhone and familiarity with iPados, apps like YouTube and Netflix satisfy their desire to download videos for offline viewing. Saving $70, it was a very solid device, which felt great, but more importantly, it earned points for my family. – Cherlynn Low, executive editing
We’re still thinking about it
With Prime Day continuing through this weekend, many on the Engadget team are still weighing their decisions. For example, executive editor John Falcone has not purchased Anker’s UFO 3 device charger, but said he wishes he would do it himself. If he does this, I will update this post as he will save nearly 30% of posts.
Not all of our purchases are made through Amazon. Editor-in-chief Aaron Souppouris is considering buying “a weird camera because it’s not that there’s too much money on Amazon.” It’s a full spectrum conversion camera, and if he does make the purchase, we’ll be ashamed of it here.
Finally, senior editor Billy Steele is arguably the best shopping decision for the whole week or Amazon County. He bought “three happy meals, trying to get cool toys. I got three identical toys. :(“
Updated, July 10, 2025, 5:00 PM ET: This story has been updated to add sections about the purchase of senior critic Sam Rutherford.
