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Black Friday speaker deals for 2025 are still live: Save up to 50 percent on Bluetooth speakers, smart speakers and soundbars
Consumer Tech·3 min read

Pocket Power: The Best Small Gifts for Holiday Tech — Speakers, Chargers, and a Playdate App Worth Buying

By Riley Hart

Holiday shopping is shrinking. This season the loudest under-$100 buys are tiny Bluetooth speakers, compact 67W chargers that replace a drawer of bricks, and a twee voice-messaging app for the cultlike Playdate handheld. All three are on steep short-term deals or newly available downloads worth grabbing before the weekend ends.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2025 have pushed portable audio and travel power into bargain territory, with notable discounts across Amazon, JBL, Marshall, and Anker. Engadget’s round-up of speaker deals lists everything from $22 Echo Pops to a 50-percent-off Marshall Emberton II; these are headline prices that actually change how people use small rooms and trips. (See the live list here: https://www.engadget.com/deals/black-friday-speaker-deals-for-2025-are-still-live-save-up-to-50-percent-on-bluetooth-speakers-smart-speakers-and-soundbars-091904782.html.)

Speakers: big sound from tiny boxes, at shockingly low prices

If you want one concrete yardstick for 2025’s holiday audio market, it is this: Amazon Echo Pop dropped to $22 and the fifth-gen Echo Dot fell to $32 during the sales window. Engadget’s story from Nov. 30 lists the Pop and Dot alongside portables such as the JBL Go 3 ($30) and the Marshall Emberton II, which was marked to $90 - roughly half its usual price - and promises 30 hours of battery life.

Those price cuts matter because they turn a casual upgrade into a giftable necessity. The Roku Streambar SE landed at $75 as an entry-level TV upgrade, while the Fire TV Soundbar dropped to $85 and kept features like Dolby surround support, condensing an entire living-room audio refresh into one HDMI cable.

Chargers: the 67W brick that replaces a bag of tangles

Performance specs here predict real-world benefits: IP67 weatherproofing on models like JBL’s Go series means a speaker survives beach and backyard use, while devices with 12-30 watts of output or long runtimes (12-30 hours, depending on model) extend how long you can play away from a wall. If you want a smart-speaker experience, Echo devices in these deals also offer early access to Amazon’s Alexa+ features, making them more than just music players.

Anker’s Prime 67W three-port charger is the sort of travel gadget that makes packing noticeably easier. The Verge’s Nov. 29 hands-on notes the unit includes two USB-C ports and a single USB-A port, retractable prongs, and a holiday price of $35 versus its typical $49.99 - small enough to slip in a pocket while powerful enough to run a MacBook Air and still top off a phone.

Playdate’s helloyellow: charming voice chat for a tiny audience

Reviewer Allison Johnson wrote, “It’s impressively small considering the power it delivers and the number of ports it offers.” Practical takeaways: 67 watts easily covers ultrabooks that need 30-60W, and two simultaneous USB-C ports let you share peak charging between laptop and phone; just pair the charger with a good USB-C PD cable rated for your device’s wattage to avoid throttled speeds.

On the cost-per-port math, $35 for three working outputs is efficient. For travelers, frequent flyers, and anyone who juggles a laptop, tablet, and phone, consolidating to a single 67W brick trims wall-outlet competition and reduces the amount of gear you lose.

Not all holiday tech is about battery and watts. A new app called helloyellow - released Nov. 29 by developer Jon Simantov for Panic’s Playdate handheld - brings voice messaging, group chats, and reactions to a device best known for its crank and indie games. Engadget reports that the app is available free on itch.io with limitations, or $5 for the full version; the full version removes a two-minute cap, allowing messages up to 10 minutes.

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