Sonos home theater bundles are 20 percent off, plus the rest of this week's best tech deals

It's still a few days until Halloween, but retailers are already pushing early Black Friday deals. That makes this week either an opportunity to bemoan the unrelenting passage of time or a good time to shop. For those who take the latter view, we gathered up the better tech deals that've popped up. Those include a rare sale on Sonos home theater speakers, sweeping discounts on Blink security cameras and a steep price drop on a recommended VPN service. We've also spotted discounts on Apple's M2 MacBook Air and 9th-generation iPad that respectively top and meet their prices from Amazon's October Prime Day event earlier this month, as well as a couple of gift card bundles for new smartphones in the OnePlus Open and Samsung Galaxy S23 FE. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.  

Sonos home theater sets

From now through Sunday, Sonos is selling a few its home theater sets (which include soundbars and subwoofers) for up to 20 percent off. Sonos rarely runs sales, so this may be one to check out if you want to upgrade your TV's sound setup. One deal is the Ray + Sub Mini, regularly $708, for just $566. We recommend the Ray in our soundbar buying guide because it provides excellent sound quality for both TV and music, while its compact size makes it ideal for smaller living rooms. Adding the Sub Mini to the mix helps round out the sound and fill in the bass that soundbars are hard-pressed to deliver on their own. 

At the other end of the pricing spectrum is Sonos' high-end bundle, the Ultimate Immersive Set, which includes the Arc soundbar, the Sub subwoofer and two Era 300 smart speakers. Usually the set goes for $2,596, but it's now down to $2,211. The Arc is our runner up pick for a premium option in our soundbar buying guide, while the Era 300 earned an Engadget review score of 80 thanks to its detailed and balanced sound quality. We did think the speaker's spatial audio experience was hit or miss and we were disappointed by its lack of Google Assistant support — though you can use Alexa or Sonos' own assistant instead. 

iRobot Roomba Combo j7+

Wellbots is taking up to $300 off a few of iRobot's vac-and-mop Roomba Combo cleaners. The Roomba Combo j7+ usually costs a steep $999, for instance, but you can drop it down to $699 if you enter the code ENGROOMBA300 at checkout. The Roomba Combo j7+ is the top 2-in-1 pick in our robot vacuum buying guide, and it even earned a spot in the smart home of one of Engadget's senior editors. 

A few other vac-and-mops are on sale too, including the iRobot Roomba Combo j5+, which is $300 with the same code, and the standard iRobot Roomba Combo j5, which is $250 off with the code ENGROOMBA250. (Those two are largely similar, though the former comes with a self-emptying base station.) If you've been thinking about automating your floor cleaning, this might be a good time to go for it.

Blink Outdoor 4 security camera

Blink's latest outdoor security camera, the Outdoor 4, has only been around since August but has already gone on sale a few times. Now through November 5th, Amazon is dropping the price back down to $72, which is 40 percent off its list price. This deal comes as part of a wider sale on security cams and video doorbells from the Amazon subsidiary.

The Outdoor 4 is the top wireless security camera pick in our guide to the best smart home devices. It can capture 1080p footage and send it straight to a phone or Alexa-enabled smart display. You can also talk and listen through the built-in mic and speaker. Improved motion detection should help it discern between a person approaching your house and the neighborhood cat, and the wireless build lets you set it just about anywhere around your home's exterior. Its battery can last up to two years with a pair of AA batteries, depending on your usage, and Amazon includes a set with the camera. Also included in this deal is the Sync Module 2, a separate accessory that lets you locally store video clips. 

For keeping tabs on the inside of your home, you can grab the Blink Mini. During the same time frame, a three-pack of the Blink Mini is down to $40. The list price for one of those cameras is $35, though we often see them drop into the $20 to $25 range.

Google Nest Learning Thermostat

Another Wellbots deal brings Google's Nest Learning Thermostat down to $174, which is a $75 discount and one of the best prices we've seen as of late (though not the lowest ever). Enter the code ENGNLT75 to see the full savings at checkout. The Nest Learning Thermostat can help with your energy bills by not overly heating or cooling the house when you're not home and by making suggestions on energy-saving temp settings. The "learning" here gets to know your routines and preferred settings to automatically create schedules, which you can always adjust manually in the Nest app.