33 Best Deals on Last-Minute Holiday Gifts (2022): Stand Mixers, Vacuums, Phones
These discounted vacuums, smartphones, and gift cards will help you finish up shopping—without overspending….
Nobody wants to brave the mall on December 23. You might not have elves, but consider this list to be the next best thing. We’ve chosen deals that should arrive in time, but we still advise you to shop earlier rather than later for the best chances of delivery by December 25. You might also be able to choose free in-store pickup where available. When in doubt, give a greeting card with a tracking number written inside and blame the supply chain. These digital gifts and last-minute gift ideas might also help.
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Home, Kitchen, and Toy Deals
Exclusively for WIRED readers, Aura is matching its Black Friday price on our favorite digital photo frame—just enter the code WIRED at checkout. These make especially great gifts for long-distance loved ones, but they’d work well in any home. It’s time to finally put your phone’s overloaded camera roll to good use. After all, there are only so many Instagram posts you can share. This deal ends on December 18. Read more about it here.
This smart display packs plenty of features into its small footprint. Since Google Assistant is built right in, you’ll be able to set alarms, check the weather or traffic, play music, and more with a few spoken words. There’s also a night-light and a USB-A charging port. The 4-inch screen size works well for a nightstand or end table. Read more about it in our Best Smart Displays guide.
This is our favorite office chair for most people, and while this discount is small, it makes it even more accessible. It’s surprisingly adjustable, the seat is plushy, and the mesh backrest doesn’t trap heat. It hits the most important points at a remarkable price. The equally excellent Branch Verve steps things up a notch and is also on sale for $494 ($55 off).
This is one of the best discounts we’ve seen for our favorite robot vacuum. The Roborock Q5+ (9/10, WIRED Recommends) has a self-emptying bin, intelligent navigation, and solid cleaning power. It’s also relatively quiet, and the battery life is great. We think the list price is too high, but this deal makes for another tally in the “recommended” column.
We think Wyze Smart Bulbs are some of the best you can buy. We’ve tested the white version; the discount here is for the color version, which should work just as well. The bulbs use your Wi-Fi network, so no fancy hubs are required. You can control the color, brightness, and power with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or your smartphone.
This is almost matches the low price we saw during Black Friday (it’s off by $2). Fancy up your coffee life with some hot and frothy milk. With a little practice, this affordable handheld battery-powered frother can turn out café-quality foam.
The Colgate Hum (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is our favorite smart toothbrush. It’s slim and light, with a small brush head that can reach the back of your mouth without discomfort. It also connects to a companion mobile app to offer insight on your brushing habits. The Hum costs significantly less than most app-connected brushes, and the mobile app’s features are superior to other options.
Yes, there’s an actual stand mixer on sale, and it arrives before December 25! This matches the price we saw during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This model is large enough to handle everything from cookies to bread dough. It’s the traditional model, which lacks the tilting head, but it has a height-adjustable arm and a more powerful motor for mixing the thickest of doughs.
This deal is better than what we saw during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It has a green laser that shoots out from the motorized head to illuminate dust particles in your path. It basically makes it really easy to see where you need to clean. It’s the best Dyson vac you can buy right now, and you can read more in our Best Dyson Vacuums guide.
Give the gift of the ultimate forbidden snack. This includes 65 cans of the squishy, satisfying modeling compound in various colors and finishes (including sparkles!). A kid-safe knife and roller are included as well. These 1-ounce cans are perfectly sized as stocking stuffers if you don’t mind splitting them up.
Walgreens has a huge sale on dolls, with prices starting at $3. This is one standout for kids who just want a name-brand doll (or folks that want to make last-minute donations on the cheap). You can get free in-store pickup where applicable on orders of $10 or more; otherwise, shipping is free on orders over $35 at Walgreens.
Phone, Tablet, and Accessory Deals
This deal has been popping in and out since late October, but it’s still the lowest price we’ve seen on the best Android phone. We were impressed with the Pixel 6A (8/10, WIRED Recommends) even at full price, so taking $150 off makes it a steal. This deal is matched at Target and Best Buy.
Google’s most recent flagship phone, the Pixel 7 (8/10, WIRED Recommends), has been out for only two months, and its price has frequently dipped by $100. It’s plenty fast, has a 90-Hz screen, wireless charging, an all-day battery, and one of the best cameras on a smartphone. The Pixel 7 Pro, which has a larger 120-Hz screen and a 5X optical zoom camera, is also on sale for $749 ($150 off).
The Pixel Buds A-Series (8/10, WIRED Recommends) aren’t just great cheap earbuds, they’re also some of the best wirefree earbuds around. We wish the five-hour battery life was longer and that the case featured wireless charging, but other than those drawbacks, they’re fantastic. The sound quality is good, they’re comfy, and there’s quick access to Google Assistant. The deal is matched at Best Buy.
This deal has also been popping in and out for a few months, but it’s a good one. The iPad Mini (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is our pick for the most portable iPad. Small but powerful, this is the iPad for students and travelers. It has USB-C charging and support for the second-gen Apple Pencil. If you want a bigger screen and slightly better performance, the new 10th-gen iPad is also on sale for $399 ($49 off).
Speaking of, the Apple Pencil is one of the most useful tools you can add to the iPad. You’ll want to make sure your iPad supports the second-generation model (see our iPad Accessories guide), but it’s excellent for drawing and for navigating iPadOS, which has handwriting support in various search fields, so you don’t need to switch to the keyboard to type.
The Magic Keyboard is one of our favorite iPad accessories, but we balked at the exorbitant $300 price tag. This deal makes the gadget much more palatable. It’s nice to type on, and there’s a trackpad to make the most of cursor support in iPadOS. This is compatible with the iPad Air and 11-inch iPad Pro; just make sure it will fit your specific model. This price is matched at Target. The version for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is also on sale for $299 ($50 off).
Nimble makes some of our favorite USB-C cables, because they’re made from certified recycled plastic and aluminum, and are BPA- and PVC-free. The braided design makes them quite durable (and attractive). They can carry up to 60 watts of power to your laptop. You can choose between three lengths. Need a USB-C to Lightning cable? Nimble has a sale on those too.
This is an even better deal than what we saw during Black Friday. This model is an incremental update, with the main draw being the 12th-generation Intel chips (there is no AMD option anymore). If you have to have the latest, this will save you some cash.
This is a near match to the price we saw during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The Flip C434 holds the title of Best Overall Chromebook in our roundup—striking a great balance between power, features, and price. It packs a 14-inch, 1080p display that’s sharp and bright (which is rare for a Chromebook) and impressive all-day battery life. (We managed to hit nearly 11 hours in testing.)
The Snap+ Juice Pack Mini is one of our favorite MagSafe accessories. Mophie also includes an adhesive adapter you can stick onto your non-MagSafe phone to make it work with MagSafe accessories, which is nice. The 5,000-mAh capacity won’t blow your mind, but it’ll top up your battery in a pinch without taking up too much space in your daily carry. The deal price is matched at Best Buy.
Compact, but packing 10,000 mAh of power and capable of fast charging, this is our favorite portable charger. It supports Power Delivery and Quick Charge 4, has one USB-C and one USB-A port, and is relatively quick to recharge.
This is a match of the discount we saw during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and it’s the lowest deal price we’ve shared for this handy Bluetooth tracker. The app is available for both Android and iOS phones. Attach the water-resistant tracker to your purse, keys, or wallet and you’ll be able to track the item’s location with ease. The deal is matched at Target.
Gaming Deals
These are well known in the streaming and podcasting scenes, but an Elgato Stream Deck can be useful for more than just gaming. Use it for running scripts, controlling videoconferences, as a HotKey panel, and more. We haven’t shared a Stream Deck discount this good in quite a while. The price is matched at B&H Photo.
The discount has been around for a bit, but this is a good deal on our favorite budget gaming mouse. It isn’t the most sensitive mouse on the market, but the G203 should work just fine for gamers and non-gamers alike. There are six programmable buttons and RGB lighting that’ll add some flair to any battle station.
While it’s outclassed by some newer models, the Asus G15 held a recommendation in our Best Gaming Laptops list for a long time. It’s still a worthy machine, especially at this price. You’ll get a 512-GB solid-state drive, 16 gigabytes of RAM, and an AMD Radeon RX 6800M graphics card. The 15.6-inch display is spacious, and we also like the feel of the trackpad and keyboard.
This is just $10 more than the discount we saw during Black Friday. We don’t give many 10/10 ratings, but this wireless gaming headset made the grade, thanks to its incredible battery life, which goes way beyond the norm. These offer rich, booming sound and are comfortable to wear. And the battery life—well, how does 300 hours sound?
We like the SteelSeries 7P+ (8/10, WIRED Recommends). This price is the best we’ve shared for the headset, which works with PC, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and smartphones. The fit is comfortable, the controls are easy to use, and we like the right ear-cup dial, which allows you to customize the audio mix levels of game soundtracks and chat.
Deals on Everything Else
Photograph: The Happy Planner
This is a solid discount on our favorite paper planner. The dated columns will help get you through 2023 in a more organized and productive way. Pair it with some stickers or extension packs as a thoughtful gift for the pen-and-paper enthusiasts in your life.
This is the bigger and slightly fancier version of one of our favorite camping stoves. Blackstone griddles will let you play line cook for a night. The big, flat cooking surface lends itself to every meal, from pancakes to smash burgers.
Groceries are expensive. This card can be redeemed at thousands of stores across the US—so long as you live in an area where Instacart operates, you can use the card to save $15 on groceries, pet supplies, and varying specialty stores. Stack the card redemption with other coupons or promotions to stretch the savings even further. There’s a limit of two cards per buyer.
This Uber gift card can be redeemed on Uber’s rideshare services as well as Uber Eats food delivery. If you know a broke kid with a penchant for food delivery and limited transportation options, this gift will mean a lot (but cost a little less).
Ain’t no shame in taking the easy way out, especially with some extra cash to sweeten the deal a bit. These specialty gift cards can be redeemed at various retailers, giving your giftee some autonomy. Options include restaurants, movie theaters, airlines, stores, gas stations, and more. There’s even one that can be redeemed at Airbnb. All of the cards include a bonus $10 Target gift card when you purchase a denomination of at least $100.
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