5 Best Weekend Tech Deals: Start the Year With Savings of Up to 50% Off

Welcome to 2025, my dear thrifty tech friends. Our resolution is the same as last year’s — to bring you rock-bottom pricing on technology that’s actually worth the money, backed up by robust reviews from the PCMag test lab. Every Friday, we round up five of the best bargains from major retailers, and this week, we’ve got both Amazon and Best Buy giving us winter sales with some nice deals. We’ve got heavily discounted smartwatches, gaming laptops, and more for you to discover, and a year’s worth of deals to come!

Let’s lead off with a half-price deal on the versatile Echo Show 5, Amazon’s smart screen that ties into your Alexa ecosystem and streams you all your favorite content. In our review of this pint-sized display, lead analyst Will Greenwald said that it was “one of the best small smart displays available,” with praise for its surprisingly robust sound, faster MediaTek 8169 B processor and intuitive controls. To list all the things you can do with the Echo Show 5 would take multiple paragraphs, but just to start it’s a capable smart frame for your photo albums, solid for video calls with a 2MP front-facing camera, and sports multiple privacy features including a physical microphone and camera off button. At this price, it’s a no-brainer.

Here’s a deep discount on a wearable that we gave an “Excellent” rating to in our review, with product expert Angela Moscaritolo declaring the Galaxy Watch 6 to be the best Android-compatible smartwatch on the market, thanks to its bright, vivid screen, solid selection of apps and robust biometric tracking. The addition of a touch bezel lets you rapidly scroll through icons on your watch face, and the Samsung Exynos W930 processor keeps it smooth and responsive. It’s spectacular for exercise logging, with automatic detection for several popular activities like running and swimming, as well as manual settings for over 90 others. Sleep tracking is also a strong point, and the advanced bioelectrical impedance analysis gives you a wide spectrum of data like BMI, skeletal muscle and more.

It’s a new year, but that doesn’t mean you should forget the classics. The collaboration between Marvel Comics and Capcom extends all the way back to 1993’s The Punisher, but the fighting games that followed became iconic, introducing mechanics and systems that would become fan favorites. Marvel Vs. Capcom Fighting Collection compiles seven arcade classics up to 2000’s cult favorite Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, and in our review we gave it an Editors’ Choice award and praised its smooth rollback netcode, massive art galleries and pixel-perfect conversions.

Here’s a 40% price drop on an Editors’ Choice-winning Bluetooth speaker we called the “life of the pool party” in our review. Although playing music outside might not be at the top of your to-do list this January, picking up a JBL Xtreme 3 at this price is a smart investment before summer comes. With four drivers and dual passive radiators, this rugged audio box delivers potent bass-forward sound with clarity and presence. The IP67 rating is about as durable as consumer products get, able to withstand dust and being submerged in water for up to 30 minutes without issues. This deal won’t last past the weekend, so snag it now.

On the hunt for a gaming laptop to keep you busy this year? The best deal we’ve found so far is the Acer Nitro 7 at a 27% discount. We reviewed this model and appreciated the price-to-performance ratio, with lead analyst Matthew Buzzi proclaiming it “a superb value” and giving it a Best of 2024 award. With a solid if unspectacular all-plastic build and a satisfying, responsive keyboard, it’s not luxurious but it does the job well. Under the hood you’ll get a speedy Ryzen 5 7535HS processor coupled with an RTX 4050 graphics card, delivering strong 1080p performance on modern games. A robust port selection and solid battery life are just icing on the cake.

Need to start the year off with even more savings? Our deals page is where it’s at!

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About K. Thor Jensen

Contributing Writer

K. Thor Jensen is a writer and cartoonist living in the Pacific Northwest. He has contributed to dozens of prestigious outlets, including PCMag, Tested, Clickhole, and Newsweek. His second graphic novel, Cloud Stories, was released in 2017.

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