November is a crazy month for technology because it is the time of Black Friday. An initiative that originally dates back to the American Thanksgiving holiday, it has, over time, become the most important shopping time of the year. The popularity of the initiative and the role of Amazon have turned Black Friday into a month of discounts, which for many people is often synonymous with Christmas presents. Not least because by anticipating, you have time to spot the right gift and pick it up at a reduced price.
Amazon has scheduled ten days of offers, from 17 to 27 November, but both online and offline, all brands and shops offer myriad sales to grab. Even if it is not always what it seems because, in many cases, the prices reduced on Black Friday are distorted by sudden increases in the previous weeks. It is useful to show a lower figure when November arrives. To avoid misjudgements, price trackers are useful. They monitor the cost of a product over the previous months, reporting the history and showing the highest and lowest cost peaks. An easy and safe way to know if you are looking at a bargain or if you are in danger of being ripped off.
The list of resources to consult to find out how to get around is long, but two of the most reliable trackers are Keepa and CamelCamelCamel. These are simple and immediate remedies, which follow the functioning of a search engine, asking you to enter the name of the product you are interested in or the link where it appears on promotion to obtain a descriptive card with a graph showing the price trend over time. To know when it is best to buy, some notifications warn when the cost drops. Both start with the products on Amazon, with the results that can be compared on other sites, while the difference between the two is that Keepa is a smartphone app, CamelCamelCamel, on the other hand, is only used via the web.
Another useful app for managing and comparing prices from thousands of retailers is ShopSavvy, which can be used to find out about product discounts in real-time, as well as when the desired item that has sold out becomes available again.
The shop apps are a different case but the most suitable for getting to the heart of the matter and finding the desired gift, discovering detailed information as well as cost and availability. A theoretically endless list in which the most well-known electronics chains in Europe can be included. Starting with MediaMarkt and Saturn, Euronics and Expert, to Dixons Retail, Darty, Argos, Boulanger and UniEuro. Huge physical shops and digital stores full of products, with many offers and promotions not only during the Black Friday period.
Smartphones, home appliances and Smart thermometers
Turning to the most exciting offers on the market, most hi-tech brands have planned several windows during the last three weeks of November. The main window runs from the 17th to the 27th of the month, followed by Cyber Monday promotions. Plenty of great bargains to buy a new smartphone come from Oppo and Xiaomi. In the first case between Italy and Spain, there are several reductions on top models, such as the Oppo Find Flip N2 (€1199) and Oppo Reno 10 Pro (€499), sold together with the Oppo Pad Air tablet and the Enco X earphones for an additional €2. Poco X5 Pro and Redmi Note 12 Pro are two of the most attractive smartphones discounted by Xiaomi (with prices in the range of 299.90 and 349.90 euros, -100 euros from the original cost).
The Pixel 8 (€729) and the Pixel Buds Pro (€169) form the winning combination of Google’s discounts, while those looking for gaming peripherals should look at Asus’ promotions in Italy. ROG headsets, mouse and keyboard, but also SSD cases and ROG and TUF Gaming monitors are some of the products to monitor. Staying with online gaming, for those interested in a gaming chair, there are the 360° swivel models with 90-180° tilting backrests, such as the GXT 708 Ruya (EUR 249.99) and GXT 701 RYON (EUR 149.99) by Trust.
On the smartwatch side, it is worth looking at Huawei’s list of offers, where the price cut is up to 250 euros, as in the case of the 43 mm White Ceramic Watch GT 3 Pro model. From €300 off the Galaxy Book3 laptop with a 15.6” screen to 40% less for the AI Control 9kg washing machine (until 27 November on promotion for €749), Samsung’s sales on telephony, household appliances, and IT are many and very convenient.
To give yourself or someone else a different gift in anticipation of the forthcoming Christmas now is the right time to buy Meater, the wireless smart thermometer with which it is impossible to make a mistake when cooking meat and fish. Thanks to the sensors connected with the app on the phone, it tells the user when it is time to turn off the fire or the oven and suggests recipes with 50 video tutorials showing step-by-step instructions. With Black Friday, €63.20 is enough to secure Meater Original and €79.20 for Meater Plus, which with a range of 50 metres has a longer range than the first model.
