The 29 best Black Friday tech deals under $50, including the Echo Dot with a free smart bulb

The Echo Dot by itself is listed at $50 on its own, but now it's on sale for $23, plus Amazon is throwing in a free TP-Link color smart bulb. The bundle would go for $73 at full price. These make a perfect pair, as asking Alexa to turn on a light is one of the convenient perks of having the assistant in your home. The Echo Dot is one of our favorite smart speakers and TP-Link Kasa makes our favorite smart bulbs (this one is a slightly brighter version of our pick). This bundle would make a great gift for someone just staring out with a smart home setup.  

This might be a good time to pick up a spare gamepad for your Xbox, as the official Xbox Series X/S Wireless Controllers are as low as $40 at Microsoft. This often sells for between $50 and $60, so this is at least a $10 discount. The controller will pair up with either the Series X or S consoles, as well as a PC, and some people find the asymmetrical joysticks to be a little more comfortable than the DualSense controllers for PS consoles. But unlike that controller, this Xbox controller isn't rechargable and runs on AA batteries.  

The Biolite PD 40 is our favorite low-capacity power bank and now it’s down to $45 at Biolite as part of a site-wide sale taking 25 percent off most of their stock. This rugged, 10,000 mAh battery pack is plenty durable and in our tests, filled a fading smartphone back to 100 percent about one and a half times.

Moft’s clever Sit-Stand Desk props up a laptop (even a big one) 10 inches off a desk so you can stand and work. It also configures into four other positions for better ergonomics as you sit. It’s one of our favorite MacBook accessories and usually sells for between $60 and $70, but is down to $49.99 for Black Friday.

At At $49.99, this just sneaks under our $50 limit. Google's Nest Hub is now half price at Target and Walmart. That's about $10 higher than its all-time low but still $50 off Google's list price. The Nest Hub is the top overall pick in our smart display buying guide, and we gave it a review score of 89 back in 2021. It'll bring the Google Assitant's smarts into your home, along with a convenient display that can play you YouTube vids, keep tabs on your video footage from your smart cameras and doorbells. And if you want to set it up in your bedroom, you can take advantage of its sleep-tracking capabilities (though to be fair, we weren't overly impressed with that feature). 

Our top recommendation in our streaming devices guide is the Roku Streaming Stick 4K, which is 40 percent off and down to $30 at Target and directly from Roku. That’s about $5 more than it was last Black Friday. The Roku Express 4K is on sale for $25. It has a different form, a shorter Wi-Fi range and lacks support for Dolby Vision but is otherwise pretty similar.

The Tile Mate Bluetooth tracker is one of our recommended affordable gifts and now it's more affordable at just $18 instead of $25 at Amazon and direct from Tile. It keeps tabs on keys or anything else it’s attached to, allowing you to ping and track items with your phone. It’s supported by the Tile 360 Life app, which is far smaller than Apple’s Find My network, but in our tests, it still managed to find our “lost” item in around ten minutes of being marked as lost.

Our top pick for a smart speaker under $50 is Amazon’s Echo Dot. It’s got a list price of $50 and often sells for around $30, but now it’s down to $23, which matches Prime Day low from back in October. The Dot spits out surprisingly full and clear sound for its size and brings Alexa’s helpfulness wherever you plug it in.

The Echo Dot Kids is also on sale, and down to $28, again matching its all-time low from back in October. At full price, it sells for $60. The hardware is the same as the standard Dot, but the kid version comes with an owl or dragon exterior and includes a free year of access to Amazon Kids+ and allows for parental controls via a dashboard.

The new Echo Show 5 has a $90 MSRP, but is 55 percent off right now and down to $40, which matches its all-time low from October’s Prime Day. The compact smart display connects to your smart home devices, supports video calls and makes a good bedside alarm clock or compact kitchen screen for recipe videos. There’s even a built-in camera shutter for privacy.

Anker’s new Nano power bank is on sale for $23 at Amazon, Target, Best Buy and direct from Anker. The small battery has a foldable, built-in USB-C connector and can give a partial charge to a dying smartphone. It’s an upcoming addition to our guide and, in our tests, got a Samsung S23 Ultra from 5 to 62 percent in about an hour. It’s also available with a Lightning connector.

The Blink Mini indoor, plug-in security camera often goes on sale often, and for Black Friday it’s down to $20 which is $2.50 more than the Prime members-only price it went for during July’s Prime Day. It takes 1080p video, triggered by motion, and can send a feed to your smartphone or Alexa-enabled smart display. It also supports two-way audio and night vision.

If you’re already invested in Alexa for your smart home control, Amazon’s Smart Plug makes it easy to set schedules for lamps and holiday lights. It’s one of our top picks in our smart plug guide and right now it’s down to $15 instead of $25, though that’s $2 more than its all-time low.

A four-pack of the Kasa Smart Plug EP25 is down to $35, which is $2 more than the members-only Prime deal from October’s Prime Day sale. It’s our favorite overall plug because it connects easily with Alexa, HomeKit, Google Home and with its own app.

The Otterbox Fast Charge refills smartphones quickly and looks good doing it, which is why we named it one of the best power banks. Right now at Amazon, Target and Otterbox, the 15,000 mAh bank is down to $34, which is $11 off the list price, but a few dollars more than its all-time low from earlier this year. For what it's worth, I carry this thing with me everywhere.

The only bluetooth speaker from our guide that’s less than $50 is the Tribit Stormbox Micro 2. It’s currently 20 percent off and down to $48 at Amazon and from Tribit direct. It’s a compact speaker that kicks out decent volume and has a rubbery strap that attaches to belts, pack straps and even bike handlebars.

JBL’s Clip 4 Eco portable Bluetooth speaker has a list price of $80, but is down to $45 for Black Friday at Target, Amazon and from JBL. It’s one of our recommended gifts for travelers because it has a waterproof build, fits in any suitcase and has a handy clip for attaching to beach chairs or hotel towel racks.

The Soundcore 2 has a list price of $40 and it went down to $28 for October's Prime Day, but now it's $2 above that all-time low and still a pretty good deal for a speaker that's racked up thousands of positive reviews. We didn't test this one directly, but recommend Anker's Soundcore line in many of our guides. This little box has an IPX7 rating to handle an accidental dunk in water and the battery should give you 24 hours of play time, per Anker's tests.  

Another gift we love for travelers is Newvanga’s power adapter. It’s down to $10 at Amazon, which is $2 less than its all-time low, though the deal is only for Prime members. The unit has detachable input plugs for European, UK and Australian outlets so people abroad can use their existing electronics.

The HyperX Cloud Stinger 2 wired gaming headset is down to $35 at Amazon, which is $10 less than it usually sells for and just a dollar more than the low it hit as a members-only deal for Prime Day in October. It’s the budget pick in our gaming headset guide because it’s comfortable, has a decent mic and makes voices sound clear — though the sound is a step down from more expensive models.

In our best budget earbuds guide, we named EarFun’s Free 2 the best pick under $50. Now they’re down to $30 at Amazon, which matches the lowest price they’ve dropped to a few times before. They’re waterproof, comfortable to wear and get about seven hours of play on a charge.

Another entry in our affordable earbuds guide is the Echo Buds made by Amazon. They’re down to $35, which matches their all-time low. If you don’t like the buds that go into your ear canal, but rather rest on the concha (the bowl next to the canal) these are a worthy compromise to Apple’s more expensive AirPods.

We recommend Thermacell’s E55 rechargeable mosquito repeller in our guide to outdoor gear and right now it’s down to $36. It’s been updated to cover a 20-foot area and run for 12 hours on a charge. Our favorite part is that it doesn't emit odors so next mosquito season it won’t compete with your grill smells.

Google’s Chromecast streaming dongle has a list price of $50, though it goes on sale often. For Black Friday it’s down to $38 at Amazon, Walmart and directly from Google. It’s the runner-up pick in our guide to streaming devices. It’s got an easy-to-use interface and a remote with an Assistant button that lets you find stuff just by using your voice. It makes a great gift for travelers.

We like Logitech’s Signature M650 mouse because it’s lightweight, quiet, portable and made from recycled materials. It will also run for two years on a single AA battery and gives you the option of Bluetooth or radio connection with a receiver.

Kasa’s smart bulbs are our favorite budget smart bulbs in our guide and are down to $26 at Amazon for a four-pack. That’s a 35 percent discount and just $2 more than its all-time low. They’re easy to set up and let you control them with Alexa, Google Home and through the Kasa app.

These earned an honorable mention in our smart bulb guide and right now the Sengled Wi-Fi Color Changing bulbs are down to $20.39 for a four-pack. That’s a 32 percent discount and their lowest price ever. We like the easy app, though it’s not as polished as others we tried.

Anker’s Bio-Braided cable is already pretty affordable at $19, but we thought we’d point out that it’s on sale for 15 percent off at Amazon for Black Friday. It’s one of our recommended accessories for iPhones and will quickly charge up an iPhone 15 when you pair it with a fast charging brick.

Anker's 100W cable is the one our reviewer used to test out the fast chargers in our guide and right now Prime members can get it for $9.59 instead of $16. It's rated to 100W, which can properly deliver power from a 100W USB-C power bank port or a fast charger brick.