12 Best Black Friday Deals on Google Hardware (2022): Pixel 7, Pixel Watch, Nest Cam
The sale has started early, and you can nab a brand-new Pixel 7 or Pixel Watch at a discount….
Google is getting a jump on the holiday shopping season before the real Black Friday chaos begins next week. Right off the bat, its latest Pixel phones, Pixel Buds wireless earbuds, and smart home gadgets we like are seeing substantial discounts. On the hunt for more Black Friday deals? We’ve got Best Buy’s early Black Friday deals here, and you can find more early deals in this roundup.
We test products year-round and handpicked these deals. We’ll be regularly updating this article and strike through items that sell out or rise in price as of publishing, and we mark discounts based on recent product pricing or average price, not MSRP.
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Pixel Phone Deals
Google’s most recent flagship phone, the Pixel 7 (8/10, WIRED Recommends), has barely been out for a month, but it’s already on sale. That’s impressive, since one of the biggest things we like about it is the low price in the first place. At $600, it’s the best value you can find in the Android world. But now, the Pixel 7 is $100 off. You get speedy performance, a 90-Hz screen, wireless charging, daylong battery life, one of the best cameras on a smartphone, and plenty of helpful smart features you’ll use every day (which you can read more about here).
There’s also the Pixel 7 Pro (8/10, WIRED Recommends), which adds a few perks over the standard Pixel 7, namely a 120-Hz screen refresh rate, a truly fantastic 5X optical zoom camera, a Macro mode for taking close-up shots, and slightly longer battery life. That’s without mentioning the larger 6.7-inch screen, which is better for anyone who prefers more screen real estate. These Pixels also come with five years of security updates, which is some of the best you’ll find on Android, though the three years of OS updates isn’t as good as what Samsung offers.
If you don’t want to spend nearly as much on a smartphone, then get the Pixel 6A (8/10, WIRED Recommends), which is our favorite smartphone for most people. This more budget-conscious handset still produces some of the best photos for the price, and you get a bright AMOLED display, daylong battery life, speedy performance, and five years of security updates. (Plus, many of the smart software features Pixels are known for.) You sacrifice a few bells and whistles like wireless charging or a higher screen refresh rate, but for the price, it’s a steal.
Pixel Accessory Deals
The Pixel Buds A-Series (8/10, WIRED Recommends) perform just as well as Apple’s standard AirPods (if not better), and they’re way cheaper to boot, especially now. They work better with Android phones, as they’ll instantly pair and have easy access to Google Assistant (though they’ll work with iPhones with some limitations). You get crystal clear sound, sweat resistance, and touch-sensitive buttons on the buds for music control. The five-hour battery life isn’t great, but it’s easier to stomach at this price. You can only recharge them via USB-C.
Step things up with the Pixel Buds Pro (9/10, WIRED Recommends), which are super comfortable wireless earbuds to wear, have even better sound (especially bass), and sit in a case that supports wireless charging. Battery life is a little longer here—seven hours—and the active noise canceling does a decent job of silencing the outside world. There’s also a solid transparent mode to let ambient sounds in so you’re more aware of your surroundings.
Google’s first-ever Pixel Watch misses some key features at launch, like SpO2 sensing, auto workout detection, and fall detection (coming soon), but it’s a gorgeous smartwatch that is really comfortable and is accurate at tracking the health and fitness basics—heart rate tracking plus electrocardiograms. Its responsive interface lets you keep track of notifications and respond to messages, even phone calls. Unfortunately, battery life is lackluster, and it charges slowly, so it’ll constantly be top of mind. It only works with Android phones.
Got a Pixel phone? Snag this wireless charger, which is rated to fast-charge Pixels without having to plug in a cable. It’s pricey, but it has other neat tricks too. It can automatically turn on Do Not Disturb and Bedtime modes on Pixel phones, which will silent notifications. You can have your screen turn into a digital photo frame or show smart-home controls, just like a smart display, and when the sun rises, it will try to mimic sunlight to gently wake you up before the alarm goes off.
Smart Home Deals
The Nest Cam (Battery) is one of our top picks for outdoor security cameras, particularly if you want to stick to the Google Assistant ecosystem. It has a simple magnetic mounting plate and its battery will last a little more than a month before needing a recharge. The 1080p quality is pretty great, even when night vision kicks on in low light. A Nest Aware subscription isn’t required, but it adds a few helpful features. There’s a version with a floodlight for $190 ($90 off), and the corded version of this Nest Cam (for indoors) is also on sale for $70 ($30 off).
The latest-generation Nest Thermostat can control your heating and central air, and it learns your patterns over time to intelligently adjust the temperature as needed. In some cases, it can help cut down on energy costs by turning your systems off when you’re not at home while getting your house back to a comfortable temperature before you return.
The Chromecast With Google TV (8/10, WIRED Recommends) finally brought the Chromecast in line with other streaming sticks that have a physical remote and a full TV interface. It’s one of the easiest streaming sticks (well, dongle really) to use, and I particularly like that you can add movies or TV shows to your watch list from Google search results and they’ll show up in the Chromecast’s interface. Google’s new HD version, suited for TVs that have a 1080p resolution, is also on sale for $20 ($10 off).
The Nest Hub (7/10, WIRED Recommends) makes a great centerpiece for a smart home. It can show calendar events and reminders, display the video from smart doorbells, and even control other smart devices. You can do all of this by tapping the screen or asking Google Assistant to do it for you. The assistant is also great at answering random queries you might have, like how much whiskey you should use for a whiskey sour. There’s no camera, so it’s nice for more private areas like bedrooms.
The Nest Hub Max (8/10, WIRED Recommends) has a camera, so you can use it for video calls on Google Meet and Zoom, among other platforms. The larger screen size here makes it great for the kitchen, where you can use it to follow along with recipes.
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