Let’s be honest, this week it will be hard to resist and ignore our wishlist looking for the best deals. Instead of following the masses and posting the best deals available this Black Friday, I thought I will focus on quirky and interesting items from online vendors. If you follow me already, some of them will be in your taste, but that’s not a promise!
Black Friday things Mat likes!
I the spirit of transparency, the links included in this post may give me a small kickback on your purchases. I’m in no obligation to promote any brands in this post, so the picks are things that I found interesting (even if the actual price isn’t an amazing Black Friday deal). With the disclaimer aside, take a look at the list and I hope you will find something for yourself.
Amazon:
If you are into Alexa, Black Friday is the best time to top up/upgrade your collection of smart speakers. Previous generations are usually heavily discounted on Amazon, a perfect opportunity to equip new rooms, add stereo pairs or try new devices. Amazon is my go-to shop if I need something fast and I can’t wait for long delivery. It works well for items that may not work well, as Amazon Customer Support is simply stellar and returns trouble-free.
- Amazon Alexa Echo 3rd gen – £18.99 – You can’t get a better sounding speaker for that price (review). Especially as a stereo pair. I swear by it, and even if you are only going to use it for a multiroom audio it’s the price worth paying. Currently I have 7 of them (2 of which work as a stereo pair)
- Amazon Show 8″ 1st gen – £59.99 – this speaker sounds like a stereo pair, with better bass (review). Plus if you have IP cameras at home, you will be able to preview it with a voice command. Don’t cheap out for 5″, the speakers are inferior on that unit.
- This organiser – £21.78 – I have 3 of them and frankly speaking, I’m considering another 2 as I’m running out of space. Grab a label maker (£56.99) while you at it. A seriously underrated piece of kit.
- Waffle Maker – £38.99 – I’m completely serious. I got this one in particular. Belgium waffles are dead easy to make, but hard to perfect. Don’t even think about getting one that doesn’t rotate. It’s not worth it. Use this recipie – just add a pinch of salt and less sugar. You can thank me later. Every Sunday, I have waffles for breakfast! 😍
- This HDMI input device – £19.99 – excellent value for money for anyone looking into streaming, twitching or just working from home and trying to cast HDMI input in your Zoom/Teams/Slack – 1080p/60FPS
Banggood:
Banggood was my 1st serious sponsor, letting me use Banggood credits to secure stuff for reviews. Even though I can get things I’m interested in from them, I often buy these on Banggood too. Brexit ruined it for me, as it feels like half of the stuff is not available for shipping to the UK. I dealt with their regular Customer Support as well, and each time my experience was pleasant (even if purchased items were not). They only just finished 11:11 promotions (see my 11:11 recommendations) and they are ready to discount things again for Black Friday.
- Wowstick 1P – £12.91 – why by precision screwdriver, when you can get an electronic precision screwdriver for the same price. While I favour MiniWare ES121 (review), nothing beats Wowstick 1P on price!
- 1/16 RC Car – £70.64 – I know what you are going to say! This is just a toy! It’s not. 1/16 scale is perfect for modding, tinkering and fun. While I’m not big on shells, the chassis is solid, the model fast and provides lots of opportunity to learn. Apart from having “a go”, think about it as a more fun robotic kit to have. I adore mine, and I already converted it to a 6 channel monster! Details soon!
- Ender 3 PRO – £151.16 – This time it’s the PRO version of the Ender 3 (review), that has a really good price. You should consider it as your 1st printer. At this price it’s not a brainer. Unless you have your mind made up and you want to get Ender 3v2 (review) instead. I have both Enders and I absoluetly adore having a 3D printer at home.
- Xiaomi 4K Laser projector £1238.17 – It’s a pretty good deal as these ones are rarely under £1500. I have a 1080p Xiaomi DLP (review) and it’s great for bedroom cinema, but if you want to go bright and big, laser tech is the way to go.
- Xiaomi Mija 2in1 vac – £197.49 – I have two of these – one for each floor. They do decent job but the best thing is th fact that you can clean up something else while they are at work. Essentially shortening the time of your chores. Well worth considering even if this is not the most exciting thing on your shopping list.
- BlitzHome Cofee maker – £227.88 – I’m a coffee lover and I promised myself a coffee maker. A very similar one in Curry’s costs 3 times as much. I’m really tempted to save some money now, as with steamer and beans grinder – what else you can ask for? Maybe WiFi?
AliExpress:
Everyone’s favourite – a Westernised version of Alibaba! The Amazon of the East and the place to go to if you need to buy a pink elephant, prototyping board or a new solar panel. AliExpress is the hardest place to look for deals and the easiest place to find cool stuff. Brace yourself as I’m not sure what will I find!
- Step drills – £3.34 – since I lost mine behind a built-in kitchen, I need new one! And you should get one too. They are very useful for making all sort of big holes that drills can’t make!
- LVSUN charger – £35.20 – I know chargers are not the most exciting things, but this one will charge 2 laptops at the same time and 2 phones without slowing down. Best charger to take with you for family trips. I can’t live without mine.
- Scorp Pro – £452.10 – I don’t think I have to explain myself. This is one of the fancy toys for any makers. I will get this eventually, for now I’m trying to beg FeiyuTech for a sample since they worked with me before.
- LED panel 64×64 – £23.31 – if you ever wanted to play with RGB LED matrix, don’t be like me and don’t try to make it yourself. It’s not as satisfying as my upcoming video will tell you. It’s much faster and better to pay the machine to do it!
- Zero 2W touch display – £10.02 – this is super cute – a small touch screen display for your board. While it made little sense on the original Zero, with the latest release of the Pi Zero 2 W – it’s a great idea.
- LILYGO ESP32 e-ink (wearable) – £11.72 – it’s an adorable take on a small e-ink display which you can turn into a wearable device. LILIGO boards are always feature packed, even if they don’t look as polished as M5Stack devices.
- ZigBee Thermostat -£25.84 – if you are like me and have a DIY heating, you are probably in need of a thermostat panel. Something easy to access for anyone not using web interface. This looks neat and while it does not control the heating system directly, it will perform the function of a thermostat.
Other:
Lastly, a couple of other things that have direct stores. Worth checking!
- SwitchBot up 50% sale – Qiuckest way to automate curtains, buttons and other things. Recommended to anyone who rents, thanks to non invasive instalation. The Black Friday with SwitchBot looks promising.
- Sonoff Sale! – if you are not scared getting your hands dirty, then take a look at promotional offerings from Sonoff. From their budget-friendly ZigBee series (more about it), to the latest, futuristic NSPanel (review). Speaking of which – I need to write more about it. That and some othr things I have from them.
- Shelly – competing with ITEAD, shelly has new products as well. The plus series is waiting on my desk to find a purpose and Shelly EM meter needs installation I keep postponing. Shelly always has interesting alternatives to look at. Especially if your DIY automation needs all the compatibility without flashing.
- M5Stack – lastly my fav store with ESP32 based dev boards. This is the place where you will leave a lot of money and it’s worth it. Especially if you are into programming, learning and developping new ideas. I covered a lot of M5Stack products in the past: from AI camera to M5Paper
Same time next year? Let me know what have you ended up buying in this Reddit Thread.
