These earbuds overpowered a plane engine

★

The best right now

TECH

Best wireless earbuds overall

Sony WF-1000XM6

Pros

Incredible sound and noise cancellation

Comfortable design

Up to 24 hours of battery (with case)

Cons

−

Price out of reach for many

−

Case isn’t weatherproof

On a small plane with a droning engine, these Sony buds made the noise vanish the moment they went in. Add crisp, balanced sound, hi-res support, and an app full of tweaks, and they’re the pair to beat.

See all 5 picks >>

KITCHEN & COOKING

The oven setting that turns baked-on grime into ash

Every spill eventually bakes itself into the enamel. Most ovens can handle the cleanup, and knowing which self-clean mode yours has is the difference between a quick wipe and a few-hour lockout.

Degrease the oven >>

From the Editor’s Desk

Black Friday is 16 days away. Amazon didn’t wait.

Every November, it’s the same dilemma: Buy now, or hold out for Black Friday and hope the price drops further? Most of us have been burned both ways. This year, Amazon is making the call a little easier, because plenty of its Black Friday pricing is already live.

Start at the front door. Holiday shipping season means more boxes sitting on more porches, and the Ring Battery Doorbell 2K is down to $40, less than half its usual price. Still comparing models? Our video doorbell guide breaks down which ones are worth mounting. And if you want eyes inside, too, a two-pack of Blink Mini 2K+ cameras costs under $30, which is cheap enough to finally find out what the cat gets up to all day.

Next up is the living room. If your TV takes longer to open Netflix than you take to pick a show, a Fire TV Stick HD is $20. For a bigger upgrade before the relatives arrive, there’s a 65-inch Samsung Mini LED TV for under $400, plus a Samsung Dolby Atmos soundbar for under $300. Re-watching your favorite holiday movies is fun. Re-watching them with HD visuals and sound is magical.

Deals like these tend to move fast, so if something has been sitting in your cart for a while, now’s a good time to check on it. More early price drops and gifting ideas are live now. Give it a look, and let me know: Are you a buy-now or a wait-and-see shopper?

P.S. — Have you gotten your Advent calendars yet? We found almost 60 that are worth the splurge.

Devin McQuillan

Newsletter Editor

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HOME & GARDEN

Your house can handle some of the hosting this year

Someone has to turn off the tree lights every night. It doesn’t have to be you. The Home Depot’s Black Friday sale already has deals on the plugs, thermostats, and cameras that pick up the holiday slack.

Delegate to your house >>

APPLIANCES

The case for clearing off your fridge

Art, invites, and schedules on the fridge can make a clean kitchen look cluttered. Here’s why we recommend against it and where all of it can go instead.

Clear the door >>