WiiM’s capable HomePod-esque smart speaker is almost $50 off

The smart speaker market is more or less dominated by major tech companies: Apple, Google, Sonos, and Amazon. But WiiM’s powerful 100W Sound smart speaker is an attractive alternative because it’s not locked down to play nicely with select music services. It supports over 20 services, and it sports Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 and ethernet, giving you multiple ways to connect. Additionally, it taps into standards used by other speakers, including Chromecast, Spotify Connect, DLNA, Alexa Cast, and more (AirPlay 2 is off the table, though its Pro Music Streamer supports it). In other words, it can be added to multi-room setups you may already have in the Google Home or Amazon Echo ecosystem.

The black and white versions are rarely discounted, but they’re each 15 percent off at Amazon and directly through WiiM. Normally $299.99, they’re $254.15.

WiiM also makes the Sound Lite, which is also discounted by 15 percent. Originally $229, it’s $194.65 at Amazon and WiiM. It has the same dimensions, connectivity and performance output as the Sound (plus, the ability to use AI to adapt its sound quality to your room), but it lacks the 1.8-inch touch display that can show off album art, and there’s no voice remote included — those are around $33. That said, you can wirelessly pair these speakers and other recent WiiM products to each other to build a surround sound setup. Read more in our coverage.

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Other great Verge-approved deals

• All colors of Apple’s AirPods Max 2 over-ear, noise-canceling headphones are down to $429 at Best Buy as part of its 60-year anniversary sale. Originally $549, this sale brings them down to their second-best price, only bested by Prime Day’s $399 deal. Amazon has fewer colors available at this price. In our review, John Higgins praised their improved sound quality and noise cancellation effect, but wished certain things about it had changed. At their original price, he would have liked a proper carrying case included with purchase. But, at least with this discount, you can get a nicer case with the cash you’ll save.
• Look, sometimes you just need a cheap TV, not an amazing one. If that’s you, there might be a 58-inch Hisense 4K QLED Roku TV that’ll do. Normally $399.99, the QD5 is down to $189.99 at Best Buy. It doesn’t seem particularly impressive, but it’s a feature-packed TV at a good price. Beyond having built-in Roku guts for streaming movies and TV shows, it supports Dolby Vision, HDR 10 and HLG, and its game mode supports variable refresh rate and auto low latency mode (though, it tops out at 60Hz refresh rate).
• We highlighted a deal on the Godox ES45 key light recently, and the deal is back on at Amazon. The $20 off sale brings the powerful key light setup down to $119, and while it doesn’t match Elgato’s Key Light one-for-one with specs, it’s a great value that costs $60 less. It has adjustable color temperature and brightness, and its settings can be easily tweaked with its controller, which gets recharged by sticking magnetically to the back of the light. A key light is great for adding a strong light source to your room. It can be used to light you directly, or aim it at the wall to be softly illuminated in light that bounces off.