Mobile Phone Reviews

Black Friday is almost over, but it’s not too late – you still have time to pick up some great deals. Note that we have smartphone deals in a separate post, here we will focus on the best tablet, laptop, smartwatch and other offers for the US market.

Here are some shortcuts to jump straight to the section you care about:

Tablets
Smartwatches
Smart rings
Laptops
Amazon tablets
Amazon e-readers

Tablets

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra uses the same chip, but it’s paired with a larger 14.6” 120Hz OLED display and an 11,600mAh battery. Also note that we’ve linked the Wi-Fi versions below – if you want 5G connectivity on your tablet add $150 to the price. Finally, the 1TB variant of the Tab S11 Ultra is the only option for more than 12GB of RAM (it gets 16GB).

Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra

Get up to $800 enhanced trade-in credit or $200 with no trade-in
12GB/256GB – $999 at Samsung US 12GB/512GB – $1,119 at Samsung US 16GB/1TB – $1,419 at Samsung US

The large Ultra rarely gets discounted, but the small (well, the 11”) Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 gets price cuts a lot more often. It’s an IP68 rated tablet with full DeX support. It comes bundled with a stylus and you can get the optional keyboard, depending on the work you want to do with it. It’s powered by the Dimensity 9400+ chipset and storage is expandable via microSD.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S11

Wi-Fi
$150 off
12/128GB – $650 at Amazon US 12/256GB – $710 at Amazon US 12/512GB – $830 at Amazon US

There’s no Plus model this generation, but the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ is still a viable option with its Dimensity 9300+ chipset. It has a larger 12.4” display but is otherwise more of the same.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+

$220 off
12/256GB – $780 at Amazon US 12/512GB – $870 at Amazon US

The OnePlus Pad 3 is an interesting alternative – this one uses the Snapdragon 8 Elite instead of a MediaTek chip and has a large 13.2” 144Hz display. Note that it is an IPS LCD and not an OLED. And it’s basically the same price as the Tab S10 FE models below, not the premium Tab S slates above.

OnePlus Pad 3

$120 off
Read our review 12/256GB – $580 at Amazon US

Speaking of, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE and Tab S10 FE+ also use IPS LCDs – 10.9” and 13.1”, respectively (both 90Hz). The Exynos 1580 is a mid-range chip, however, not on the level of the Snapdragon 8 or Dimensity 9000 silicon.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE

Wi-Fi
$140 off
128GB – $340 at Amazon US 256GB – $430 at Amazon US

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE+

Wi-Fi
$180 off
128GB – $470 at Amazon US 256GB – $570 at Amazon US

The Galaxy Tab S10 Lite is the new affordable tablet from Samsung. It has a 10.9” LCD (90Hz, stylus included) and is powered by the older Exynos 1380.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Lite

Wi-Fi
$100 off
6/128GB – $250 at Amazon US 8/256GB – $320 at Amazon US

We have nowhere else to put it, so here it goes – the Meta Quest 3S is down to $250 and that includes a free game. It’s not as capable as the Quest 3 (it’s a mix of Quest 2 and 3 hardware), but it’s a cheap entry into the world of VR. The Samsung Galaxy XR is available but not on sale, so it costs $1,800 – that’s a whole different segment. Steam’s own XR headset is still “coming soon”.

Meta Quest 3S

$50/$70 off
free game included
128GB – $250 at Amazon US 256GB – $330 at Amazon US

Smartwatches

The Google Pixel Watch 4 is one of the first smartwatches with satellite connectivity, but note that this option is available only on the LTE model. Still, if you want a backup option to call for help in case you have an emergency somewhere out in the wild, this one is an interesting pick. The only other smartwatch with satellite connectivity that we can think of is from Garmin – the fenix 8 Pro starts at $1,200.

Google Pixel Watch 4

$100 off
Wi-Fi, 41mm – $300 at Amazon US LTE, 41mm – $350 at Amazon US Wi-Fi, 45mm – $350 at Amazon US LTE, 45mm – $400 at Amazon US

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra only has LTE connectivity for now. It’s more outdoorsy than the Pixel with 100m/10ATM water resistance rating and a bigger 590mAh battery (vs. 455mAh).

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra (2025)

Get up to $300 enhanced trade-in credit or $100 with no trade-in
Read our review LTE, 47mm – $550 at Samsung US

The Ultra has that rugged look – the Galaxy Watch8 Classic is more stylish. It has a rotating bezel, however, the 1.34” display inside it is on the small side for a 46mm watch.

Samsung Galaxy Watch8 Classic

Get up to $300 enhanced trade-in credit or $200 with no trade-in
Read our review BT, 46mm – $400 at Samsung US LTE, 46mm – $450 at Samsung US

The vanilla Galaxy Watch8 is Samsung’s thinnest yet at 8.6mm. It is available in 40mm and 44mm variants with 1.34” and 1.47” displays, respectively (see what we mean about the Classic display?). The Watch8 models are rated for 50m/5ATM water resistance and have ECG and blood pressure sensors.

Samsung Galaxy Watch8

Bluetooth
$100 off
Read our review 40mm – $250 at Amazon US 44mm – $280 at Amazon US

You can save some cash and go for the older Galaxy Watch7. It’s thicker at 9.7mm while having a slightly smaller battery (by 10mAh). It uses the same Exynos W1000 chipset, though, and it has similarly-sized screens too. And it’s a circle, not a squircle!

Samsung Galaxy Watch7

Bluetooth
$120 off
40mm – $130 at Amazon US 44mm – $160 at Amazon US

Smart rings

You can pair – or even replace to some extent – a smartwatch with a smart ring. The Samsung Galaxy Ring works with the Samsung Health app and does not require a subscription. The functionality of the Oura Ring 4 is pretty limited without a subscription, though.

Samsung Galaxy Ring

Get up to $150 enhanced trade-in credit or $120 with no trade-in
Read our review $280 at Samsung US

Oura Ring 4

$150 with no trade-in
$350 at Amazon US

Laptops

Apple released new MacBook Air laptops with the M4 chip earlier this year. Since then it has introduced the M5 (available only on MacBook Pros for now), but the Airs were never performance-oriented models, anyway. The good news is that now 16GB is the base RAM capacity, so you only need to worry about storage.

Apple MacBook Air 13.6″

M4
$250 off
16/256GB – $750 at Amazon US 16/512GB – $950 at Amazon US

Apple MacBook Air 15.3″

M4
$250 off
16/256GB – $950 at Amazon US 16/512GB – $1,150 at Amazon US

Alternatively, you can grab a Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360. It has a 16” OLED touchscreen, a 2,880 x 1,800px 120Hz panel that can be rotated into tablet mode. This is a Windows laptop, of course, that uses several Intel Core Ultra processors with NPUs that power Microsoft Copilot AI.

Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360

16″ 3K OLED, Intel Core 7 Ultra, 1TB
$400/$450 off
Core 7 256V, 16GB – $1,200 at Samsung US Core 7 258V, 32GB – $1,300 at Samsung US

The Microsoft Surface Pro is a tablet-style device that can optionally be paired with a keyboard if you plan on typing more than using the stylus. It comes in two variants – an LCD one with the Snapdragon X Plus (10-core CPU) and an OLED one with the Snapdragon X Elite (12-core CPU).

Microsoft Surface Pro (2024)

13″
$500 off
SD X Plus, LCD, 16/512GB – $700 at Amazon US SD X Elite, OLED, 16/512GB – $1,000 at Amazon US

Another Windows AI laptop is the Acer Aspire 16 – this one is powered by the Snapdragon X instead of an x86 chip. The Qualcomm-based laptops started at the high-end, but this is a fairly affordable model with a 16” 1,920 x 1,200px 120Hz LCD touchscreen.

Acer Aspire 16

16″ 16:10 120Hz LCD touchscreen, Snapdragon X
$150 off
16/512GB – $450 at Amazon US

Amazon Fire tablets

Here are Amazon’s already cheap not-quite-Android tablets and bargain bin prices. These have good quality screens and come in several sizes to match your needs – they are best for watching videos, scrolling through the web and maybe some light work or gaming. They are not particularly powerful, but the price reflects that. Just remember that there is no access to the Google Play Store out of the box (which can be fixed easily enough).

Amazon Fire HD 10

$70/$100 off
with lockscreen ads
3/32GB – $70 at Amazon US 3/64GB – $80 at Amazon US

Amazon Fire HD 8

$45 off
with lockscreen ads
3/32GB – $55 at Amazon US 4/64GB – $85 at Amazon US

Amazon Fire Max 11

$90 off
with lockscreen ads (except 128GB version)
4/64GB – $140 at Amazon US 4/128GB – $190 at Amazon US

Additionally, there are Kids versions of some of these tablets. They disable ads and are built for young users – by that we mean that they ship with a sturdy case and have a 2-year worry-free warranty. They also come with a 1-year subscription to Amazon Kids+ – an all-you-can-eat service with free, curated content for kids (including Marvel TV shows).

You can install the Parent Dashboard app on your phone and set time limits and educational goals. You can enable or disable certain apps like YouTube and Spotify. A quick note about the Pro models: these come with a different set of permission defaults. For example, a Pro tablet can access the whole internet (with content filters in place), while the regular models can only open select sites. Of course, this is all subject to change via the parental control app.

Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids

$85 off
no ads
case + 2yr warranty
1yr Kids+
3/32GB – $105 at Amazon US Pro, 3/32GB – $105 at Amazon US

Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids

$50 off
no ads
case + 2yr warranty
1yr Kids+
3/32GB – $75 at Amazon US Pro, 3/32GB – $75 at Amazon US

Amazon Fire 7 Kids

$55 off
no ads
case + 2yr warranty
1yr Kids+
2/16GB – $55 at Amazon US

Amazon Kindle e-readers

While you can read books on an LCD tablet, your eyes will thank you for going with an e-reader instead. Amazon has a wide variety, ranging from small and cheap to larger, more premium models.

Amazon Kindle

6″, B&W
$30 off
16GB – $80 at Amazon US

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite

7″, B&W, Signature: wireless charging
$35/$50 off
16GB – $125 at Amazon US 32GB Signature – $150 at Amazon US

The Amazon Kindle Colorsoft has an e-ink display capable of displaying colors. This is great for graphic novels or for viewing more complicated documents. It can be used in Black & White mode too (which increases the screen’s PPI).

Amazon Kindle Colorsoft

7″, Color
$80 off
16GB – $170 at Amazon US 32GB Signature – $230 at Amazon US

The Amazon Kindle Scribe is large enough to read PDFs comfortably and comes with an included stylus. These are intended for work and creativity more so than reading books (though you can do that too). Note that there is a Colorsoft variant coming soon, but it didn’t launch in time for Black Friday.