Black Friday blues
Feeling déjà vu about Black Friday
It’s only a couple of days from Black Friday, our annual celebration of consumerism, but I’m already over it. Perhaps because in Singapore, the buying frenzy starts earlier on 11.11 Singles’ Day. So I have been inundated by nothing but non-stop ads, promotions, and offers since the beginning of the month.
It doesn’t help that Black Friday has been extended over the years (see Cyber Monday). In fact, Amazon’s Black Friday sales started last week on November 21. By now, I believe some consumers, and even companies may have busted their budgets, leaving little or nothing for Black Friday. So don’t be surprised if you see the same (or worse) discounts this weekend as the 11.11 sale — the Google Store in Singapore is still showing 11.11 deals, for example.
In other words, the Black Friday deals, especially from local retailers, aren’t always better than the ones on 11.11. Nevertheless, Black Friday is generally one of the best times to buy certain products, like TVs. Unfortunately, if you’re looking for premium OLED TVs, prices look rather stale — they haven’t gone down as much as I had expected. Instead, you’ll probably find more discounts for cheaper or older models.
Now, if you’re really on a budget, there’s always the second-hand market to explore post-Black Friday. I certainly have spent too much of my life browsing Carousell Singapore. For example, the recent launch of the PlayStation 5 Pro and the Sonos Arc Ultra have likely led to an increased number of Carousell listings for the older PS5 and Sonos Arc. As a Sonos Arc owner, it’s staggering to see how low the second-hand prices have dipped (spoiler: some are lower than a new, undiscounted Sonos Beam 2) as folks upgrade to the new and better soundbar. Of course, buying used goods requires a lot more work and hassle, though for me, snagging a good deal is satisfying on its own.
So a final disclaimer before your Black Friday: Here at Can Buy or Not, we try our best to give unbiased opinions about consumer tech goods, and we don’t advocate spending on new stuff just because of FOMO. But knowing what’s good and what’s not about a product can reduce post-purchase regret, cut down on returns, and is probably (?) a net positive for the environment. That being said, here are some great products that you should consider if they are on sale — but only if you really need them.
This week, we found the new SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds good for gaming (and bears some similarities to the discontinued Jabra Elite earbuds), tested Sony’s latest vlogging camera, and completed the fun but short Lego Horizon Adventures that’s based on the Horizon Zero Dawn game.
With an attractive but mainstream design, the SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds don’t draw unwanted attention with extraneous RGB lights when you’re listening to your favourite tunes on your daily commute. But these earbuds still offer the low-latency 2.4GHz connectivity that gamers desire, and fit comfortably in the ears.
The Sony ZV-E10 II is a versatile vlogging camera that lets you switch out its lenses to an ultra-wide or a telephoto to suit the occasion. The camera doesn’t have in-body stabilisation, so you may want an additional gimbal if you’re shooting on the move. Videos look great with lots of detail, and the microphones are excellent, too.
Lego Horizon Adventures remakes Horizon Zero Dawn in the Lego style, doing away with the open-world gameplay, and making it more family friendly. The world looks awesome and the levels are pretty. The story is now mostly conveyed through cutscenes voiced by the original cast. However, the game is rather short (around 8 hours to finish the the story) for a full-price game.