By Elissa Sanci
Elissa Sanci is a writer on the discovery team. She has found that clear ice makes carbonated drinks taste better, and citronella candles don’t work.
The Wirecutter Deals team scans the virtual aisles of the internet, searching for great discounts on Wirecutter-recommended products so you don’t have to. In our Deals blog posts (like this one), we highlight the discounts that we think Wirecutter readers will love. For more deals information, check out our Deals page, follow us on Twitter @WirecutterDeals, and subscribe to our daily deals newsletter.
Like it or not, frigid winter weather is here. And if you don’t want to spend the season swaddled in a wearable sleeping bag while shivering near a backyard fire pit, you might want to consider taking the pandemic-proof indoor hobbies you dabbled in last winter up a notch. Whether you prefer sketching on an iPad or getting your hands dirty in the kitchen, here are the best deals to help you pass the time this winter—and here’s to hoping it’s a short one.
A portable mic perfect for podcasters
Shure MV5 USB Microphone
Deal price: $80; street price: $100
Tap tap... Is this thing on? Okay, great. Now that I have your attention: A professional microphone can take the podcast you may have started earlier this year from good to great. And now that the Shure MV5 USB Microphone is down to $80, you can reward your loyal listeners with high-quality audio for less. The Shure MV5 is a small, lightweight microphone that offers voice recording so good that some of our testers thought it outperformed the Yeti, our top pick. Capable of capturing vocals clearly with almost no background noise, the MV5 has a few helpful features that can make your recording sessions a breeze, including a direct-monitoring headphone jack, an automatic gain control, and a “vocals” preset. The highly portable Shure MV5 is especially great if you have plans for travel to different recording spaces once it’s safe to be in close contact with your special guests again. Now for a quick break to hear from our sponsors.
Read our review of the best USB microphone.
A fast-reacting stylus for illustrators and artists
Apple Pencil (1st Generation)
Deal price: $80; street price: $100
Apple Pencil (2nd Generation)
Deal price: $100; street price: $125
If you’ve been sketching masterpieces with pencil and paper all year, taking the whole thing digital might be starting to sound like a great idea—with just a tablet and a stylus pen, you’ll be able to sketch anywhere. And if you’re going to buy yourself a stylus specifically for drawing on an iPad, the Apple Pencil is the cream of the crop. In our guide to the best stylus for your iPad, we recommend both the first- and second-generation Apple Pencil models as our top picks (which one you need depends on which iPad you’re working with). Well balanced with great pressure sensitivity, the Apple Pencil has next to no lag in optimized apps and minimal lag in others. In fact, the illustration expert our guide writers spoke with was so impressed with the Apple Pencil that she actually ended up purchasing her own iPad Pro and Pencil after testing. The first-gen and second-gen models are on sale from Best Buy for $80 and $100, respectively, and the first-gen version is also available from Amazon.
Read our review of the best styluses for iPad.
A quick-cutting Cricut for crafters
Cricut Explore Air 2 Cutting Machine
Deal price: $180 in blue, black, and emerald; street price: $220
Maybe you became a newbie crafter back in March, looking to fill your newfound free time at home, and you thought the paint-by-number kits and cross-stitch patterns you tried were fun. But now that you’ve burned through those kits and you feel more confident in your abilities, it’s time to take your crafts to new heights. The Cricut Explore Air 2 is perfect for beginners interested in learning how to use an electronic cutting machine to create stickers, vinyl decals, custom cards, and decorations. Among all the cutting machines we tested, the Cricut Explore Air 2’s software was the easiest to use, and the image and project library is extensive. The blades make clean, quality cuts, and they’re easy to replace if you wear them down over time. This Cricut model is now available for $180 in blue from Home Depot, black from Joann, and emerald from Walmart, matching the low we’ve seen a few times during the holiday season.
Read our reviews of the best electronic cutting machine.
A bread knife perfect for bakers
Mercer Millennia 10-inch Bread Knife – Wide
Deal price: $13; street price: $18
As you may have learned this year, baking sourdough bread takes a lot of effort (and likely a little blood, sweat, and tears). And the last thing you want to do after spending days tending to your starter, letting the dough cold ferment overnight, singeing your fingers on the Dutch oven, and patiently waiting for your beautiful boule to cool is to use the wrong knife to slice into that fresh-baked loaf, leaving it squashed and ripped to shreds. Investing in a decent bread knife, such as the Mercer Millennia 10-inch, can make all the difference between squashed bread pucks and lovely, uniform slices. With a comfortable handle and a serrated blade, the Mercer Millennia performs almost as well as our top pick for a much more affordable price. Its thick blade and larger serrations mean this knife works best for bakers looking to cut their loaves into thicker slices—so as long as you aren’t hoping to carve precise, uniform slivers, this is a great chance to snag this bread knife (with a black and white handle) for less.
Read our review of the best serrated bread knives.
A coding robot for little tech enthusiasts
Educational Insights Artie 3000 The Coding Robot
Deal price: $41; street price: $50
You’re not the only one who is at risk of being bored out of your gourd this winter. If you have an elementary schooler who has shown interest in tech, consider investing in a toy that’ll teach them how to code. Educational Insights’s Artie 3000 The Coding Robot is an adorable robot that young ones can program to draw different shapes and designs. After pairing Artie 3000 with the compatible app or website, kids can use the program to create their own works of art. Your little coders will start with simple drag-and-drop instructions and slowly work their way up to coding in Python, a popular programming language. Now down to $41, the educational Artie 3000 will keep kids occupied all winter long.
Read our review of the best gifts for 7-year-olds.
A reliable meat thermometer for budding grill masters
ThermoWorks ThermoPop Meat Thermometer
Deal price: $32 in cart; street price: $38
With a reliable meat thermometer, anyone can re-create the cooked-to-perfection steak dish from their favorite restaurant at home. The ThermoWorks ThermoPop Thermometer is our top pick for a reason: It’s fast, accurate, and affordable, and it has a large, easy-to-read display. This durable thermometer is also easy to hold, and its 4.5-inch probe is long enough to reach the center of a thick roast without endangering your fingers. Down to $32 shipped, this thermometer is now just a few dollars more than the lowest price we’ve seen it drop to in the past, making now a good chance to save on a brand-new meat thermometer that rarely goes on sale. Just remember, you’ll see the sale price only once you have the ThermoPop in your cart.
Read our review of the best instant-read meat thermometer.
Meet your guide
Elissa Sanci is a senior staff writer for Wirecutter’s discovery team based in Denver. Her byline has appeared in The New York Times, Woman’s Day, Marie Claire, and Good Housekeeping. When she’s not testing TikTok-famous products or writing about car garbage cans, you can find her hiking somewhere in the Rockies or lying on the couch with a bowl of chips balanced on her chest. There is no in-between.