Nanoleaf’s latest sale drops its colorful smart light starter kits to as low as $50

Smart lighting accessories make for cute home and dorm decor, but they’re often expensive. However, today until September 5th, Nanoleaf’s back-to-school sale is making it just a little more affordable to brighten up your dorm or house. Right now, you can buy Nanoleaf’s colorful Mini Triangle five-pack starter kit for just $49.99 ($70 off) at Amazon and directly from Nanoleaf itself. The kit consists of five small triangles you can customize into whatever kind of layout you prefer, as well as a controller and power supply. All of the lights integrate with Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, and Google Assistant, and you can sync them with music or even the lights emanating from your games for a more immersive experience.

However, if you want something larger and don’t mind paying more, Nanoleaf’s Lines starter kit, which consists of an adaptor as well as nine backlit light bars you can stick to your wall, behind a gaming monitor, or your TV, are also on sale. These bars are capable of displaying colorful lights in a variety of patterns and are also compatible with Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, and Thread. They can also sync with your music and games, while the companion app offers 19 preloaded scenes you can use to create a sunset-like effect or a nightclub vibe in your home. Typically $199.99, you can buy them for $179.99 at Amazon and directly from Nanoleaf. That’s a small yet still helpful discount, especially as — while we consider them some of the best artistic LED lights around — we were originally turned off by their price. Read our review.

If you often listen to music while running or bicycling outside, and if you live in a busy city, a good pair of headphones that actually lets you hear oncoming cars and other noises could keep you safe. That’s why the OpenRun headphones from Shokz — the successor to the AfterShokz Aeropex that we liked and reviewed a few years ago — are so great. Unlike conventional wireless earbuds, they don’t cover your ears, instead carrying the sound through bone conduction so you remain aware of your surroundings. Plus, they can handle a bit of rain as well, with an IP67 water-resistance rating. Normally $129.95, right now, they’re available in a variety of colors for $103.95 at Amazon and Shokz, which is one of the better prices we’ve seen for those buds.

If you’re looking for a powerful laptop that’s also highly portable, Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Nano is an excellent choice. It’s Lenovo’s lightest ThinkPad and also our favorite for business travel, thanks to a great balance of business-targeted security and management features, terrific performance, and stellar build quality. However, like all devices, it comes with its downsides. This laptop sadly offers battery life that’s less than average, and the port selection is relatively limited. Still, it’s an overall good laptop that’s amongst our favorites and is currently half off at Lenovo, selling for $1,239.50 when you use promo code THINKCTODEAL1 and buy the model with 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and an Intel Core i5 processor. Read our review.

Once again, we’re seeing yet another good deal on wireless earbuds. Right now, you can buy Amazon’s second-gen Echo Buds wired charging case for $79.99 ($40 off) or with a wireless charging case for $99.99 ($40 off), which are among the better prices we’ve seen for both. For the price, these earbuds offer an impressive array of features, including noise cancellation, which — while not mindblowing — is decent. Plus, the comfortable buds offer great sound quality as well as a terrific passthrough mode so you can hear noises around you. They also come with Alexa support, so you can perform a variety of tasks with just your voice, as well as IPX4 water and sweat resistance. Read our review.

A few more before we wrap up today…

• The Meta Quest 2 virtual reality headset equipped with 128GB of storage is on sale for $299 at GameStop. That’s a $100 discount and what it used to sell for before Meta increased prices last month. The Quest 2 offers 120Hz refresh rate support for certain games, as well as other features we like, including the ability to connect wirelessly to gaming PCs and a sharp display. Read our review.
• If Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Nano is too expensive for you, right now, you can also buy Samsung’s red Galaxy Chromebook 2 equipped with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage for $549 instead of $699.99 at Amazon. This is one of our favorite Chromebooks on the market, one that comes with a nice QLED display and better battery life than its predecessor. Read our review.
• The standard edition of Marvel’s ’80s-inspired superhero action game, Guardians of the Galaxy, is on sale for $19.99 instead of $59.99 at Amazon and Best Buy. The discount is available on both PlayStation and Xbox One-compatible games. Read our review.
• Nomad’s taking 15 percent off a variety of charging accessories, phone cases, smartwatch bands, and more during its Labor Day sale when you code LABORDAY15 at checkout. You can, for example, buy this leather iPhone 13 phone case for $16.95 instead of $19.95.