Best Back-to-School Sales on Dorm Essentials, Tech Devices, and More

The Cuisinart Premium Single-Serve Brewer SS-10 is easy to use, refill, and clean, based on evaluations in our labs. Plus, from cup to cup, you can expect the volume and temperature to be consistent, which isn’t always the case with this type of machine. This Cuisinart model also packs a ton of features, including an auto-shutoff function, a removable water reservoir, a built-in water filter, a height-adjustable drip tray, and programmability. It did dip below $100 for Prime Day and Memorial Day, so you may be able to save more closer to Labor Day.

It may come as a surprise, but the Mr. Coffee Compact Espresso Maker beat out all the other budget espresso machines in a recent evaluation. Our team found it easy to use, and it produced smooth espresso shots and good-quality foamed milk using its built-in steam wand. It was so simple and intuitive, according to our panel, that even an espresso-making novice had no trouble producing a shot. We even found that this model made better-tasting shots than more expensive models.

With its built-in milk frother, the Nespresso CitiZ EN267BAE takes single-serve coffee to the next level. It’s great for hosting events, considering it aced CR’s tests for speed and size consistency. The brand’s single-serve coffee makers also get top marks for owner satisfaction and near-top-level marks for reliability in our member surveys. This machine requires a bit more maintenance due to the milk frother, but if you love your morning latte, it’s a quick and easy way to get your fix.

The Weekender Gel Memory Foam pillow, now $3 more than it was for Prime Day, marries the cooling properties of a gel pad with polyurethane foam. It offers only average support for back sleepers, but it’s very good at supporting those who sleep on their side. Our testers find the resiliency and breathability of the pillow to be top-notch, as is its breathability.

According to our sensory test, the Lands’ End Premium Supima Cotton Sheet Set is one of the softest in our ratings. You can use the code SUMMERNIGHTS to get nearly 50 percent off. Though you will experience some wrinkling, it still performs better than most natural cotton sheets in our wrinkling assessment. With an excellent fit for mattresses 14 inches thick and under, little to no shrinkage, and a very strong weave, it is a solid pick.

If you don’t need dorm-length sheets, every size is on sale.

Utopia premium bath towels are 100 percent cotton but shrank the least in our tests, even after 10 wash and dry cycles. We found that they got a bit less soft after washing, however, and experienced some hourglassing. Certified OEKO-TEX, they’re available in plum, sage green, ivory, and lavender, among other shades. They’re usually $35 for a pack of four, so this is a nice discount.

The Shark SpeedStyle Pro Flex competes with the highly sought-after Dyson models, but at more than half the price. Like the Dyson models, our testers liked how easily the attachments snapped onto the hair dryer, and how you can rotate them without removing them. Its airflow is so strong that when turned on, it has a kickback. 

It has another high-end feature: its IQ Speed Styling & Drying Suite automatically adjusts heat and speed depending on the attachment. The attachments are unique and feature-rich, including the Frizzfighter, which is helpful in making sleek bangs (and flyaways). The diffuser features different prong lengths depending on hair type, and its brush attachment includes boar bristles. Its highest temperature reading in our tests was 115° F.

The Revlon One-Step Volumizer is beloved for a reason: It just works. One tester shared this pro tip to achieve the best results: Keep tension on the hair and work in smaller sections. Otherwise, you may end up with a head full of frizz. 

In our at-home evaluations, this straightening comb worked best for testers with curly hair. It has five temperature settings, an auto shutoff feature, and is extremely lightweight. One tester especially liked that it could straighten the hair right at the root better than the Drybar Straightening Brush it was tested against.

This is a budget-friendly micellar to begin with; on sale, it’s a real steal. One evaluator found it effective and gentle; another said she had “no major qualms besides having to use a little bit more to get the tubing mascara off my face.” 

This aesthetically pleasing pill organizer has a larger capacity than most other options we tested. It is a little bulky, making it less ideal for travel, and the caps are relatively easy to open, even with one hand. Each container has two compartments for morning and night, and these caps are numbered with 1 and 2, but testers reported the numbers are a bit hard to see.

We found the Onlyone Water Flosser quite easy to use and charge. Despite its smaller countertop footprint, it holds quite a lot of water, which means longer flossing sessions without needing a refill. The removable tank has a large opening, which facilitates easy filling.

The Waterpik Ion Professional Cordless has a somewhat unusual design; it’s a countertop water flosser with a rather large footprint (about 6x6 inches). It’s rechargeable, so instead of a wall outlet plug, you use a magnetic USB-A cable. Waterpik claims that the flosser can last up to 4 weeks between charges. The large opening on this product’s removable reservoir makes it quite easy to fill, and it earned top marks for ease of use. There’s one downside, though: It’s one of the noisier models in our ratings, which may bother some users. The Ion has a timer that alerts you at 30 seconds and 1 minute to let you know when to switch to another part of your mouth.

This Fitbit fitness tracker is at the best price we’ve ever seen (in most colors). If what you want is a slim, reliable fitness tracker that keeps tabs on the basics—like your sleep, step count, and heart rate—the Fitbit Inspire 3 is a good buy. It also has a convenient 10-day claimed battery life.

The Versa 4 is a great fit for Fitbit fans who want a sleeker-looking smartwatch. You get a good-sized display and all the basics from GPS-enabled workout tracking to heart rate monitoring, plus a generous six days of claimed battery life. 

If you want a sleek, do-everything smartwatch that pairs seamlessly with your iPhone, the Apple Watch Series 11 is a great pick. It can do all the basics well, like tracking your sleep, workouts, steps, heart rate, and more. It also offers a few health features that the budget SE 3 doesn’t, such as hypertension monitoring, electrocardiogram readings to detect an irregular heart rhythm, and a blood-oxygen sensor.

Dash may not have the same name recognition as Ninja or Cuisinart, but the 2.6-quart Dash Tasti-Crisp Ceramic DCAF26CM air fryer earns solid scores in CR’s tests and comes at a sale price that’s better than we’ve seen so far for this model. With food contact surfaces made of nonstick ceramic, it earns top marks for ease of cleaning even though it’s not dishwasher safe. We found it runs more quietly than many other air fryer models to boot. The DCAF26CM has a small footprint, making it a smart choice for a dorm room or for those with limited counter space.

The Cuisinart AIR-200 air fryer features a digital display, a viewing window, and a shake reminder to ensure your food is evenly crispy. It can roast, bake, broil, and keep your food warm, plus it’s dishwasher safe.

The Soundlink Max is a modestly sized portable that delivers. The sound quality is satisfying with deep, impactful bass, though our testers found that the sound can become harsh at high volumes.

The high-performing Edifier S1000MKII has always been a bargain, even at its full list price, and this discount (the best I’ve seen all year) makes the deal that much sweeter for those who love music. While the MKII lacks the multiroom capability of the newer S1000W, that’s not a dealbreaker. And that’s because the two speakers sound almost the same and that sound is truly admirable. 

Have a teen who loves to run outside? The Bose Ultra Opens are a unique option that let them stay aware of your surroundings. They hook on your ear, just above the lobe, kind of like a cuff-style earring. They sound surprisingly good, too, once you get the placement just right. And it’s totally easy to hear things around you with a clarity that the "transparency" mode of most earbuds can’t match.

Beats headphones are sleek, and they sound good too. The over-ear Beats Studio Pro get top marks for noise reduction, making them perfect for anyone who wants to lock in at the gym, get some serious work done, or just tune out the world for a little while. And the sound quality rated 4 out of 5 in our tests too, so you’ll be able to immerse yourself in your favorite songs.

The Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 was $80 more at the start of July. This is a premium 2-in-1 with a 360-degree hinge that lets you rotate the screen for use as a traditional laptop or a tablet, knocking out a report at your desk or sketching notes on the couch. The bundled stylus is handy for handwriting and drawing. Thin, light, and built to last a full workday away from an outlet, this is the sort of machine that earns its keep if you’re frequently on the move or travel for work. It sits at the higher end of our laptop ratings, so you’re paying for the flexibility and the display quality.

The Lenovo Yoga 7i is sorta like the Swiss Army Knife of laptops. It has a 360-degree hinge that lets you flip the screen around to use the device as a tablet or prop it up like a tent for watching movies (great for cramped airplane trays). The model we tested has premium specs: an Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of memory, and a 1-terabyte solid-state drive. This one’s a bit more mainstream: an Intel Core i5 processor, 16GB of memory, and a 512-gigabyte solid-state drive. But, unlike many sub-$1,000 laptops that cut corners with dim screens or plastic bodies, it has a premium all-metal finish and a bright, colorful display. It’s perfect for students or professionals who need a machine that looks and feels expensive but costs less than a standard MacBook.

The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 has a 14-inch screen that you can fold back to use as a tablet. Its display is brighter than most, which makes it ideal for reading outside on a sunny day. That said, its battery life is longer than that of many other Chromebooks, lasting 15.75 hours in web browsing tests and 12 hours in video playback. Performance speeds are among the top in our rated Chromebooks, making this a great pick for a variety of uses.

Looking for a lightweight tablet to read on the beach or accompany you on summer travels? The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE has a crisp 11-inch display, plus a decent camera and reasonable battery life, too. It doesn’t offer quite the same power as the newer Galaxy Tab S11 (also on sale this week), but for everyday tasks, the Tab S10 FE will do just fine.

The Apple Pencil USB-C is generally accurate and smooth, making it a good choice for sketching and note-taking. But it’s slightly less sensitive than the Apple Pencil Pro and less responsive than the Gen 2, which makes it somewhat harder to control. It offers palm rejection (so your hand won’t interfere while drawing) and tilt support, which allows for realistic shading and pencil-like strokes.  This model doesn’t support pressure sensitivity, meaning the thickness of your lines won’t vary based on how hard you press down. That can be a drawback for digital artists, but many creative apps allow you to manually adjust brush size or weight, so pro-level work is still possible, albeit with more manual input. The other trade-off is that the stylus charges and pairs via the USB-C port rather than the wireless charging and pairing of the Pro or 2nd Gen model. It can attach to the side of your iPad for easy storage, though.

To go with the iPad, this Digiroot stylus is a reasonably low-cost option if you just want to take notes or doodle. But it’s a bit challenging to control if you’re looking to create detailed art, our reviewer says. It’s prone to leaving erroneous marks, which she had to clean up. It offers palm rejection and tilt support, but no pressure sensitivity. The model charges via USB-C and doesn’t require pairing. Just turn it on and write away. And, unlike some other third-party options, this one can magnetically attach to the side of an iPad.