Early Labor Day sales (2024): Tablets, streaming sticks, and more

Fall has unofficially arrived, bringing pumpkin spice to everything, changing leaves, and a ton of WIRED-approved deals on home theater gear, bedding, and more. We’ve rounded up our favorites below, and we’ll continue to update this post as we find more great deals.

For even more savings, be sure to check out our lists of the best REI Labor Day sales and the best Labor Day mattress sales .

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WIRED Special Sale

Technology

The LG C4 (9/10, WIRED Recommended) is the best high-end TV on the market. We love the eye-popping brightness, perfect contrast levels, great colors and highlights, and the LG Magic Remote. It supports Dolby Vision, Chromecast, Apple Airplay, and Nvidia G-Sync. Plus, it has four HDMI ports, more than the average person needs. Our main complaint when we reviewed this model was the price, and as of now, it’s the cheapest it’s ever been.

Every model of this TV is on sale, but looking at past deals we’ve seen, the larger the screen size, the bigger the savings. The TCL Q6 (7/10, WIRED Review) is the best TV for most people. Buying a TV can be tough, but this model has beautiful, accurate color, a gaming mode, and just the right amount of brightness. The interface is a little slow, but it’s easy to use, and you can adjust the TV’s legs to face the center of the set, making it compatible with a wider variety of furniture if you’re not mounting it on the wall.

The Sonos Roam 2 (9/10, WIRED Recommended) is a great Bluetooth speaker and the best portable smart speaker we’ve tested. It’s dust- and waterproof, and its battery boasts 10 hours of listening time on a single charge. It’s also pretty small, about the size of a tall beer can, so you can easily store it in a cup holder or the water bottle pouch of your backpack. Most importantly, it delivers the quality you expect from Sonos. The bass is powerful, and the mids and highs are well-balanced. Reviewer Parker Hall says it’s great for both podcasts and pop music. It’s also the cheapest we’ve tracked. What more could you want?

That price matches the lowest price we’ve seen in several previous years. The Sonos Era 100 (9/10, WIRED Recommended) is our favorite Sonos speaker. It’s not too big or too small to integrate seamlessly into your home, but it delivers powerful bass and room-filling stereo sound that belies its relatively compact size. The software’s “room tuning” feature intelligently and automatically adjusts the speaker’s output, so it still sounds great even if you have to place it in a corner or against a wall.

The Google Pixel Tablet (7/10, WIRED Recommended) is our favorite tablet-smart display combo. Use it in tablet mode, which supports up to eight profiles, or attach it to the included charging speaker dock to transform your tablet into a smart display. You can cast shows and videos to it using Chromecast, it looks sharp thanks to the 11-inch LCD display, and the software experience is top-notch. You generally won’t find it any cheaper than this.

The 9th generation iPad (8/10, WIRED Recommended) isn’t the most powerful or newest tablet, but it’s still a great value iPad with great basic features. This sale has been running for a few days now, bringing the price to an all-time low. The iPad still has a home button with Touch ID (a nice feature for some), and it’s compatible with accessories like the first-generation Apple Pencil. If you want an iPad and are on a budget, this is a safe bet.

A WIRED reviewer calls the Insta360 Link (8/10, WIRED Recommended) the “Rolls Royce of webcams.” We tested it live during a Gear meeting and several members of our team commented on its impressive quality. Our only complaint is that it’s quite pricey, but that price matches the lowest we’ve seen. It’s one of our favorite webcams, in part because of the built-in gimbal. It automatically tilts, pans, and zooms as you move around the screen. The video and audio quality is also top-notch. If you find yourself getting a bit blurry in the top-right corner of your Zoom calls (and I’m not the only one who feels that way), this is a worthy upgrade.

It feels like the first time in 84 years that I’ve seen a Kindle for a decent price on a model other than Scribe. This Kindle is the smallest and cheapest, but I still recommend it. The sale is good too. This model doesn’t go on sale often, and this is the best deal I’ve tracked since May. The Kindle doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles. It’s not waterproof, and it doesn’t have page-turn buttons. But it’s easy to hold with one hand, holds a charge for weeks, and can store thousands of books. There’s an optional three-month Kindle Unlimited trial. I love the service, and if you’re an avid reader (or someone who wants to be one), I think it’s worth a try. Don’t forget to cancel if you don’t want to renew.

The Roku Streaming Stick 4K is our favorite Roku and our favorite streaming stick. The Roku interface is easy to use and has voice search built into the remote. The Roku also has a wide variety of channels you can watch for free. How to make it It’s ready to use straight out of the box, and it plugs directly into your TV’s HDMI port, so there are no messy wires to get in the way.

The Blink Mini 2 (7/10, WIRED Recommended) is a great, affordable indoor security camera. It delivers solid video quality even in low light, and it’s so compact that you can put it basically anywhere. It has some smart features, like on-device person detection and customizable privacy zones. But be aware that there are monthly subscriptions starting at $3 per month or $30 per year for a single camera.

Home Sale

If you use our coupon link, you can save $400 off the Saatva mattress, making the Saatva Rx $50 cheaper than before. This is the best mattress for pressure relief. This mattress has seven different layers, one designed specifically for lumbar support and another that helps regulate your temperature at night. WIRED reviewer Nena Farrell says that most of her pressure and muscle pain disappeared completely overnight on this mattress. Our roundup of Labor Day mattress deals has even more recommendations.

Cozy Earth is offering 20 percent off a variety of products for Labor Day. We love the brand’s Bamboo sheets because they’re soft and silky to the touch, and they’ll warm you up and make you feel like you’re swimming in a pool of melted butter in bed (in a good way). We also love their Bamboo hoodie ($50 off), which is perfect for layering, especially when it starts to get cooler outside.

Tushy makes our favorite budget bidet, and right now it’s even more affordable than usual. The best part is that it doesn’t use electricity, so you don’t need an outlet and can install it in any bathroom. You can choose from a variety of finishes to match the decor of your toilet and bathroom. It’s simple to operate, but this bidet gets the job done. You can install it without the help of a professional.

We’ve only seen this price drop further once or twice in the past, but this bargain is still a steal. The Roborock Q5 Pro+ is the best robot vacuum. It’s an upgrade over the Roborock Q5+ (9/10, WIRED Recommended). The biggest change is that this model now comes with a built-in mop to help get rid of sticky dirt and dust. It’s fast, has plenty of suction power, and the app makes it easy to set up routines and designate cleaning zones. Robot vacuums can be a pain, but this one gets the job done consistently and reliably.

Outdoor and Health Deals

This is the best pellet grill on the market. The Ironwood 650 (7/10, WIRED Review) is Wi-Fi enabled, so you can keep track of everything on your smartphone. The app has tons of tasty recipes, too. The grill is easy to clean and operate. I wish it was cheaper, but this bargain makes it even more affordable.

This lightweight quilt is a favorite among backpackers. It weighs less than a pound and keeps you warm in temperatures as low as 40 degrees Fahrenheit. It compresses down to the size of a water bottle, so it won’t weigh down your pack. And most importantly, it’s efficient, so the small amount of space it takes up is a worthwhile trade-off. For more recommendations, check out our roundup of REI Labor Day deals.

Cotopaxi has a wide variety of bags and accessories on sale for up to 50 percent off. I’m a big fan of the Cotopaxi Del Día Convertible Tote Bag, which is on sale for $45 ($30 off). This bag is made from recycled nylon and polyester, and because it’s Del Día, you’ll be amazed by the color when your purchase arrives. The main compartment is spacious, and the backpack straps are comfortable for all day use.