The old “times have changed” applies to a lot of things — the way we consume media, the general office environment, Taco Bell. It also applies to wireless earbuds, which have come down drastically in price since the first pair of Apple’s now-iconic AirPods landed in 2016. Sony’s WF-C700N earbuds are a prime example of how you can now get a lot of functionality for very little, particularly since they’re available from Amazon, Best Buy, and Sony for as little as $98 ($21 off).
So what does a sub-$100 pair of earbuds look like in 2023? Well, in the case of the entry-level WF-C700N, you get a terrific fit and balanced sound for the price. Sony’s latest pair of noise-canceling earbuds also offer a slew of software features, including location-based sound settings, Fast Pair support on Android, and — thanks to a firmware update that will supposedly arrive this summer — the ability to connect to two devices simultaneously. Where they falter is active noise cancellation, but there aren’t a lot of earbuds at this price point that fare much better when it comes to drowning out city life.
At this point, it’s probably safe to presume that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a game that needs little introduction. However, if you have yet to grab Nintendo’s latest blockbuster, you can currently pick up the physical version at Amazon for about $62 ($8 off), at Walmart for about $66, or at Costco for $59.99 ($10 off) if you’re a member. Note that Walmart is selling it via a third-party seller, though the retailer itself is fulfilling the order.
Nintendo’s recently released Nintendo Switch title has been making tsunami-level waves since it arrived last month, partly due to it being a direct successor to the wildly successful Breath of the Wild and partly due to what feels like a never-ending feed of TikTok videos showcasing the game’s highly inventive building mechanics (which are impressive). Whether it truly lives up to its predecessor, it’s a game-of-the-year contender deeply rooted in exploration and mystery, with visuals that somehow leverage an aging console from 2017 in ways that, frankly, I just never thought possible.
The Series S still can’t compete with the more powerful Xbox Series X in terms of raw specs, but the storage bump is a welcome upgrade for Microsoft’s compact console, which remains a great Xbox Game Pass machine that can also tackle the same games as the larger Series X (albeit, often at a lower 1080p resolution). It’s also likely to be one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest, ways to experience Bethesda’s ambitious space title when it arrives in the fall. Now, fingers crossed the latter is as bug-free as Microsoft thinks it is.
