Best Holiday Deals Under $50

Situated right below the Roku Streaming Stick 4K+ model, the Streaming Stick 4K has most of the same features—including improved WiFi, support for HDR10+ and Dolby Vision HDR, and the ability to work with Amazon Alexa, Apple AirPlay, and Google Assistant voice assistant—but not the new rechargeable Voice Remote Pro remote control. It’s now back down to the low price we saw for Black Friday.

The latest orblike Amazon Echo tops its predecessor, the classic cylindrical Echo, in a number of important ways. The sonics are significantly improved, with a strong but slightly boomy bass and enough volume to fill a midsized room. Our testers also found that two Echo speakers sound good when paired in stereo, delivering you-are-there appeal.

The JBL Tune 510BT is already a budget-friendly option, but at $10 off its list price, it dips into stocking stuffer territory. This Bluetooth model delivers sound quality in the ballpark of far more expensive headphones, and it has a 40-hour advertised battery life. It sits on the ears, which some people find more comfortable than being engulfed by bigger, over-the-ear style cans. As an extra perk, you can use the headphones with a cable if you forget to charge them. These aren’t noise-canceling headphones, but for the price, they’re hard to beat.

The Roku Express 4K+ is a small set-top box that offers 4K picture quality, plus support for both HDR10 and HDR10+ high dynamic range formats, though not Dolby Vision, which is found in some pricier models. The included WiFi voice remote control has TV controls that let you turn on the TV, adjust the set’s volume, and use Roku Voice to launch channels, search for content, and control streaming services.

Amazfit’s fitness trackers are among the most affordable options CR has tested, and the Band 7 earns a spot among CR’s recommended models. It has an impressive 18-day claimed battery life and pairs easily with recent versions of both iPhone and Android phones. That said, our testers found it wasn’t quite as accurate at step tracking as other models, but its heart rate accuracy was adequate.

The Beckham Luxury Linens Hotel Collection Pillow has a 100-percent-cotton cover and a 100-percent-polyester gel-fiber filling. The pillow aced our test for breathability, so it should help keep you from feeling hot; it also scored top marks for resiliency, so it should maintain its shape over time.

These pillows have not dipped below $40 all year, so now is the time to buy if you’ve been thinking of replacing your old pillows.

​​Brushed microfiber isn’t as breathable as cotton, but for those who don’t find synthetic fibers to be a hang-up, this Mellanni sheet set is a top-notch pick (and about $5 less than usual). It offers a softer feel than most cotton options and is pretty resistant to wrinkling, and you can expect a great fit even after a year of laundering. You can also expect to have this set in rotation for a while, because it does pretty well in our strength test. The one area where these bedsheets miss the mark a bit is in our fit test. Though the packaging claims “deep pockets,” this set is best suited for mattresses with a depth of 10 inches or less.

This white noise machine is super simple, with only one sound that emerges from a small fan in the (rather bulky) dome-shaped case. Because it’s a physical fan, you might want to place it on a book instead of directly on your desk or bedside table, as it could cause those surfaces to vibrate.

College students, solo dwellers, and anybody who’s a tad tight on counter space—the Cosori Lite CAF-LI211 is for you. This measured 1.7-quart air fryer is packed with appealing features such as a dishwasher-safe basket, preprogrammed settings, and a digital display. But with a footprint of just 9x11 inches, it comes in a small package and at a fairly small price, too. What’s more, this model was a standout in our tests, receiving high marks for being easy to use and clean, and remaining at low volume while cooking. The Cosori Lite comes with a two-year warranty.

This Mr. Coffee machine is designed for people who like a lot of different styles of coffee and prioritize flexibility in their coffee maker. It brews both hot and cold coffee in single servings, and it comes with a reusable tumbler, lid, straw, reusable coffee filter, and dual-sided scoop. It’s worth noting that it didn’t perform particularly well in our tests. Its brew performance passed muster, but our testers found it to be fairly difficult to operate and clean. The machine also required some time to cool off between runs, though if you’re using this only for single cups of coffee at a time, that shouldn’t be an issue.

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.

This set of 10 glass containers with colorful lids aced our tests for seal quality, durability, and keeping food fresh. The set come with five large rectangular containers and five small rectangular ones, and the lids have clamps and a removable silicone gasket. The containers are safe for the oven and microwave, and the containers with their lids can be stored in the freezer and washed in the dishwasher.

This durable set of Bayco glass storage containers includes 12 containers and lids in a range of shapes and sizes. The seals use clamps and a removable silicone gasket. You can use the glass containers in the oven and microwave, and the containers with their lids are safe to use in the freezer and dishwasher (though Bayco notes that it’s better to wash the lids by hand to prevent deterioration).

This is now $3 more than its lowest price, but still a nice deal.

ThermoPro’s SmartBT Meat Thermometer TP920 is one of the lower-priced leave-in two-probe wireless thermometers. This is the typical sale price, which comes and goes frequently. It sends instant temperature readings to your smartphone via Bluetooth, offering excellent response time and accuracy. The easy-to-use app estimates the remaining cook time for nearly all cuts and varieties of meat based on built-in Department of Agriculture guidelines.

What’s nice about the Wildone Baking Sheet with Rack is that you get two pans (and two cooling racks) for the price of one. Not to mention, its performance is in line with the other uncoated sheet pans in this group. It earns an excellent score in our test for cooking evenness and durability — and very good score for speed of heating.

This neck fan, which is a great price right now, may be a great tool to keep in your arsenal for hot days. For the price, you don’t get any bells and whistles like cooling or mist that you can find in pricier models. It simply blows air at three speeds. It’s also not adjustable, so you can’t aim the airflow, but the vents wrap all the way around the fan to cool your face and neck.

The TP-Link Kasa Smart KD110 is a great video doorbell for the money, with strong data security, fast response times, and decent video quality. It comes with a plug-in doorbell chime and features monitoring zones, voice and app control via Amazon Alexa and Google Home/Assistant, person detection, and local video storage using a microSD card (sold separately). Video clips can also be stored in the cloud by subscribing to a Kasa Care plan.

The Aqara Camera E1 is a strong performer, especially for video quality and response time of alerts. It can store footage on a microSD card (up to 512 gigabytes; sold separately) and offers plenty of features, including person detection, motorized pan-and-tilt so you can remotely change the camera’s view, and a privacy mode that will point the camera at a wall or ceiling.

This is back down to its Black Friday price after jumping up $5 following the big holiday weekend.

The TP-Link Kasa Cam Outdoor KC420WS offers impeccable video quality, speedy alerts, and strong data security in our tests. Its many features include two-way audio, voice and app control via Amazon Alexa and Google Home/Assistant, monitoring zones, person alerts, a built-in siren, color night vision, and local video storage when you insert a microSD card (not included).

If you want to monitor a handful of trouble spots in your home, the X-Sense Wi-Fi Water Leak Detector SWS54 provides the best bang for your buck. You get a hub with a siren and three wireless sensors you can place throughout your home. The sensors are unique in that they can detect both water on the ground and water that drips and lands on top of them, making them great for monitoring exposed pipes. The individual sensors have their own sirens, allowing you to easily figure out which sensor is going off without checking the X-Sense app.

The TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug Slim EP25 is very easy to set up and use, based on our expert evaluations, and it offers decent data security. It’s also one of the most versatile smart plugs on the market, offering energy monitoring and compatibility with all four major smart-home systems: Amazon Alexa, Apple Home/Siri, Google Home/Assistant, and Samsung SmartThings.

The TP-Link Kasa Smart Pan & Tilt KC410S 24/7 security camera offers stellar video quality and quickly sends alerts when motion is detected, CR’s tests have found. This low-priced camera also earns a strong rating for data security and a midrange rating for data privacy. It features voice and app control via Amazon Alexa and Google Home/Assistant, two-way audio, monitoring zones, person alerts, and alerts for loud noises.

The Labigo Electric Spin Scrubber comes with four different cleaning heads (large flat, small flat, pointed corner, and large round). It has a single speed and weighs 26 ounces with its extension handle. The unit’s battery is located in the handle, and its head is fixed at 45 degrees, so this unit may not fit into tighter spaces.

While Amazon lists the usual price here as $70, this scrubber is usually $49.99.

The Phomemo M110, which typically retails for $50, is the bigger, bulkier version of the Phomemo D30, which we also evaluated and liked. The M110 offers a bit more flexibility with the size of the label you’re creating. It uses the same app and has a wide variety of fonts, styles, and images, with quick creation and easy label cutting. Its size, compared with the smaller Phomemo, makes it a bit less portable, and its alignment isn’t as precise when it comes to cutting the label exactly on the cut line compared with other label printers. But it’s still a solid option.

The Tractive GPS Dog LTE is the top-scoring model in our testing and is especially easy to set up and use. Light and compact yet sturdy, the slender unit easily attaches to any dog collar and will fit comfortably on most small dogs and even cats. The app is among the best of the bunch, with a clean and intuitive interface. It’s also worth noting that the Tractive’s claimed battery life is seven days. That’s a fairly long time, and recharging is easy.

The Momcozy Retractable mesh gate is unrolled by pushing down a button and sliding the latch to the open position. It earns top marks in our tests for ease of installation and security, which measures how well the gate resists when being dislodged.