The weekend’s best deals: Xbox Series S bundles, M2 MacBook Air, and more

It’s the weekend, which means it’s time for another Dealmaster. Our latest roundup of the best tech deals from around the web includes a new promotion for the Xbox Series S. We’ve seen a few deals for Microsoft’s diminutive game console in recent weeks, but this latest offer bundles the device with a digital game of your choosing for no extra cost. The promotion is available across several retailers, though both Microsoft and Target have the console priced at $290, which is $10 below its MSRP. (Stock appears to be limited at Target as of this writing, however.)

Exactly which games you can pair with the console differs by retailer. Microsoft’s selection, for one, includes the just-released Madden NFL 23 and notable 2022 games such as the kid-friendly LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga and the looter-shooter Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. Amazon’s promotion includes the ultra-popular Game of the Year contender Elden Ring, among others. Target, Best Buy, and GameStop, meanwhile, have extended the offer to many of the digital Xbox games in their respective stores. You’ll get the most value if you go with a newer game that isn’t included in Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass service, but if you were thinking of picking up the Series S anyway, this is a good chance to save on your first game regardless. In any case, you’ll see the full discount for each offer at checkout.

If none of the eligible games appeal to you right now, though, or if you just plan on using the console with a Game Pass membership, note that Adorama is still offering the device itself for $250 with an in-cart coupon.

To be clear, whether the Series S is worth buying in the first place depends on what you’re looking for. It is technically one of Microsoft’s “next-gen” consoles and can play all the same games as the beefier Xbox Series X, but it’s not designed to push a native 4K resolution or the higher frame rates of the Series X, Sony’s PlayStation 5, or a quality gaming PC. (It can still hit a solid 60 fps at 1080p in many cases, though.) It lacks a disc drive—hence why this promotion only applies to digital games—and its 512GB of built-in storage is fairly meager and pricey to upgrade. As your “main” console, it’s not an ideal choice—which likely helps to explain why we’re seeing greater availability and more discounts for the device compared to the Series X and the still-difficult-to-buy PS5.

All that said, as a secondary console to access Xbox exclusives or Game Pass games, stick in an upstairs bedroom, or just play on a lower-resolution 1080p or 1440p display, the Series S still has value. It’s significantly smaller than its peers, its SSD storage still results in markedly faster load times than the previous generation of consoles, and Game Pass continues to offer great bang for the buck. The whole thing is still an affordable entry point into the latest generation of games, and a recent game devkit update is expected to give a slight boost to the console’s performance, too.

If you don’t need another new gaming device, though, our weekend deals roundup has plenty more offers of note, including an early $100 discount on Apple’s latest MacBook Air, all-time lows for Google’s Pixel 6 phones, and lower-than-usual prices on the recommended board game Wingspan, Amazon’s Fire HD tablets, the Apple TV 4K, Echo Show and Nest Hub smart displays, Anker charging cables, and almost the entire Doom series of shooter games. You can find our full curated list of deals below.

Ars Technica may earn compensation for sales from links on this post through affiliate programs.

Featured deals of the day

• Microsoft Xbox Series S game console + one select digital game for $290 ($350) at Microsoft, Target (discount in cart; offer also available for $300 at Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop)
• Microsoft Xbox Series S game console for $250 ($290) at Adorama (discount in cart)
• Wingspan board game for $40 ($47) at Amazon, Target, Walmart
• 8BitDo Pro 2 wireless gamepad for PC, Switch for $40 ($50) at Amazon, Best Buy
• Doom 64 (PC) for free ($5) at Epic (also on Game Pass)
• Doom Franchise Bundle: 6 Doom games + DLC for $32 ($60) at Steam (also on Game Pass)
• Motorola Moto G Stylus (2022, 128GB) smartphone for $200 ($260) at Motorola, Amazon, Best Buy
• Google Pixel 6 (128GB) smartphone for $499 ($580) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy (256GB for $599)
• Anker PowerLine II (6ft) USB-C to Lightning cable for $11 ($15) at Amazon
• Amazon Fire HD 10 (32GB) 10.1-inch tablet for $100 ($140) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy
• Amazon Fire HD 8 (32GB) 8-inch tablet for $50 ($80) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy
• Apple TV 4K (32GB) media streamer for $120 ($160) at Amazon, Best Buy (64GB for $140)
• Apple MacBook Air (2022, Starlight) 13.6-inch laptop (M2, 2560×1664, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) for $1,099 ($1,199) at Amazon, B&H

Android phone we like if you can’t spend more than $200.”>

Electronics deals

• Motorola Moto G Stylus (2022, 128GB) smartphone for $200 ($260) at Motorola, Amazon, Best Buy
• Google Pixel 6 (128GB) smartphone for $499 ($580) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy (256GB for $599)
• Google Pixel 6 Pro (128GB) smartphone for $649 ($855) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy (256GB for $749)
• Amazon Fire HD 8 (32GB) 8-inch tablet for $50 ($80) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy
• Amazon Fire HD 10 (32GB) 10.1-inch tablet for $100 ($140) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy
• Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (8GB) 6.8-inch e-reader for $110 ($135) at Amazon, Best Buy
• Amazon Kindle Kids (8GB) 6-inch e-reader for $60 ($100) at Amazon
• Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max media streamer for $40 ($50) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy
• Apple TV 4K (32GB) media streamer for $120 ($160) at Amazon, Best Buy (64GB for $140)
• Apple iPad Mini (64GB) 8.3-inch tablet for $400 ($425) at Amazon, Target
• Wacom One (small) drawing tablet for $40 ($50) at Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart

• Google Nest Hub 7-inch smart display for $55 ($85) at Target, Best Buy
• Google Nest Hub Max 10-inch smart display for $174 ($220) at Target, Best Buy
• Amazon Echo Show 15 15.6-inch smart display for $190 ($250) at Amazon, Best Buy
• Amazon Echo Show 8 (2nd gen) 8-inch smart display for $90 ($120) at Target
• Amazon Echo Show 5 5.5-inch smart display for $40 ($60) at Amazon, Best Buy, Target
• iRobot Roomba i3 Evo robot vacuum for $249 ($285) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy
• Beats Studio Buds true wireless ANC earphones for $100 ($140) at Amazon, Target, Best Buy
• Blue Yeti USB microphone for $90 ($106) at Amazon
• Hisense U7G (2021) 65-inch 4K LED TV for $700 ($800) at Amazon
• LG C1 (2021) 65-inch 4K OLED TV + $150 gift card for $1,597 ($1,750) at Newegg

jumbo-sized entry in Amazon’s smart display lineup.”>

Laptop and desktop PC deals

• Apple MacBook Air (2022, Starlight) 13.6-inch laptop (M2, 2560×1664, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) for $1,099 ($1,199) at Amazon, B&H
• Microsoft Surface Pro 8 13-inch tablet PC (Core i5-1135G7, 2880×1920, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) + Surface Pro Keyboard for $1,000 ($1,200) at Best Buy
• Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 12.4-inch laptop (Core i5-1135G7, 1536×1024, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) for $600 ($685) at Microsoft, Amazon, Best Buy
• Lenovo Yoga 7i (Gen 7) 14-inch 2-in-1 laptop (Core i7-1255U, 2240×1400, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) for $860 ($1,050) at Lenovo (use codes: YOGABTS + BTS2022)
• Corsair Vengeance DDR5 32GB (2x16GB) 5600MHz RAM for $190 ($225) at Amazon, Corsair, Newegg
• Seagate FireCuda 530 (1TB) PCIe 4.0 SSD for $139 ($170) at Amazon, Walmart, B&H
• Crucial MX500 (500GB) 2.5-inch SATA SSD for $47 ($56) at Amazon, B&H (1TB for $76)
• Dell S2721DGF 27-inch monitor (2560×1440, IPS, 165 Hz, VRR) for $300 ($350) at Best Buy
• Gigabyte M28U 28-inch monitor (4K, 144 Hz, IPS, VRR) for $500 ($565) at Amazon, Best Buy

Enlarge / You can get better performance for the price, but we like the Surface Laptop Go 2 for its attractive design, clean software, and comfortable keyboard anyway.

Andrew Cunningham

Gaming deals

• Microsoft Xbox Series S game console + one select digital game for $290 ($350) at Microsoft, Target (discount in cart; offer also available for $300 at Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop)
• Microsoft Xbox Series S game console for $250 ($290) at Adorama (discount in cart)
• SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL mechanical keyboard for $135 ($170) at Amazon, Walmart
• Wingspan board game for $40 ($47) at Amazon, Target, Walmart
• 8BitDo Pro 2 wireless gamepad for PC, Switch for $40 ($50) at Amazon, Best Buy
• 8BitDo SN30 Pro wireless gamepad for PC, Switch for $34 ($44) at Amazon, Best Buy
• 8BitDo Arcade Stick wireless fight stick for PC, Switch for $80 ($90) at Amazon, Best Buy

Video game deals

• Doom 64 (PC) for free ($5) at Epic (also on Game Pass)
• Doom Franchise Bundle: 6 Doom games + DLC for $32 ($60) at Steam (also on Game Pass)
• Doom (2016) (Xbox, PS4, PC) for $5 ($10) at Xbox, PSN, Steam (also on Game Pass, $10 at Nintendo)
• Doom Slayers Collection (Xbox, PS4) for $7 ($20) at Xbox, PSN (also on Game Pass, $12 at Nintendo)
• Doom Eternal (Switch) for $15 ($35) at Nintendo (also on Game Pass)
• Quake (Switch, Xbox, PS4, PC) for $4 ($8) at Nintendo, Xbox, PSN, Steam (also on Game Pass)
• Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (Switch, Xbox, PS4, PC) for $8 ($20) at Nintendo, Xbox, PSN, Steam (also on Game Pass)
• Resident Evil Decades of Horror Bundle (PC): Includes 10 games + coupon for $30 ($195) at Humble

FPS Doom Eternal.”>

Enlarge / Bethesda’s QuakeCon event is this week, so a bunch of the publisher’s games are currently on sale, including the FPS Doom Eternal.

Bethesda

Accessories and miscellaneous deals