Technologies

Tariffs Are Raising Prices. Here’s How You Can Still Save On Tech

Higher prices don’t mean fewer options. Here’s how you can save on high-end electronics, despite the tariffs.

Over the past month, the global electronics market has experienced significant upheaval, and it’s probably only going to get worse. The Trump administration’s sweeping tariffs — up to 145% on Chinese imports — have disrupted supply chains and driven up prices on a wide array of consumer electronics.

Even with exemptions for smartphones and laptops, the threat of additional levies has led to price hikes across the board, from power banks and e-readers to toasters, microwaves and gaming consoles.

While the new Switch 2 won’t be affected by the tariffs (for now), several of the new Nintendo console’s accessories, like the Pro and Joy-Con controllers, have already increased in price because of the tariffs. Anker has raised prices for many of its power banks. The tariffs will likely also increase the price of iPhones.

Read more: Buy or Wait Guide: How Tariffs Will Change Tech Prices and What to Do Now

Amid this economic turbulence, consumers are increasingly turning to refurbished tech as a cost-effective alternative to buying brand new. This sector is not only growing rapidly, it’s also becoming a mainstream choice for savvy shoppers looking to save. The global refurbished electronics market is expected to grow from $47 billion in 2023 to over $123 billion by 2033, according to one report.

If you’re in the market for a new phone, new laptop or any other tech product, you’re better off buying used than new right now. For folks looking to navigate this burgeoning market, there are several reputable platforms that offer high-quality refurbished electronics.

Where you can shop for refurbished tech

Not everyone wants to buy used products, especially when there are risks. A used electronic item might look fine from the outside, but there’s always the chance of hidden hardware issues, like a degraded battery or water damage. Plus, there are rarely ever warranties or return policies on used items. Not to mention, the products could be stolen.

So that’s why you want to buy refurbished, not just used. The difference is that a refurbished item is usually sold by a manufacturer, retailer or certified refurbisher and is inspected, tested, repaired and restored to full working condition. This isn’t like buying a used computer from someone on Facebook Marketplace. Instead, you get a cleaned and repackaged product with a warranty, just like a new product. If you want the assurances of a refurbished item, there are many options.

Apple Certified Refurbished
Apple’s in-house refurbishment program is widely considered the gold standard. Every device — whether it’s a MacBook, an iPhone, an iPad or even an Apple Vision Pro — comes with a new battery and outer shell, so cosmetically it’s indistinguishable from new. All products are rigorously tested, cleaned and repackaged in an official Apple box, along with cables and other accessories. You’ll also get a one-year limited warranty and the option to add AppleCare Plus, making this one of the safest ways to buy refurbished Apple gear.

Amazon Renewed Store
Amazon’s refurbished technology storefront offers a pretty sizable catalog with everything from smartphones and laptops to home appliances, headphones and even electric toothbrushes. All these devices are inspected and tested by qualified suppliers to meet certain performance benchmarks. Most products come with a minimum 90-day Amazon Renewed Guarantee, which allows you to return or replace the product if it doesn’t work as promised.

Best Buy Outlet
Best Buy’s certified refurbished store includes TVs, tablets, laptops, smartphones, kitchen gadgets, gaming gear and more. Many items are Geek Squad Certified, meaning they’ve been restored and tested by its in-house technicians. And if you’re more about an in-person experience, Best Buy offers local pickup for many of these refurbished items, along with standard warranties that vary by product.

eBay Refurbished
eBay may seem like the Wild West at times, but the company partners with certified refurbishers and brands like Samsung, Lenovo and Dell to offer items with up to 50% off retail pricing. You can also check out product grading, which varies from good to excellent, and you’ll receive a one- or two-year warranty, as well as 30-day returns.

Swappa
Swappa is a peer-to-peer marketplace, but with guardrails. Sellers can only list fully functional devices, and every item is manually reviewed before it goes live on the website. All you need to do is find your product and then check out the price, condition and age, and you can buy directly from the seller. All transactions are protected via PayPal, which can help you in case a purchase never shows up or you’re unhappy with a product and need a refund.

As tariffs continue to influence the tech industry, the refurbished market stands out as a great alternative for you to get the tech products you want at an affordable price and without compromising on quality. If you use any of these trusted platforms, you can mitigate the financial impact of tariffs and rising electronics prices, and also participate in more-sustainable consumption practices.

You can try secondhand but there are risks

A refurbished tech product might still be expensive. Enter the raw, unfiltered secondhand market: Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp, Craigslist and Nextdoor, to name just a few. These platforms are less about guarantees and more about opportunity. You can be smart and patient and scoop up a MacBook from a college student upgrading midsemester, or grab a highly discounted PS5 from someone cleaning house before a cross-country move. But there are trade-offs. No warranty. No refurbishment. No assurance it wasn’t dropped in a pool or «borrowed» indefinitely. You can still get some unbeatable prices with the right negotiation tactics.

These platforms are seeing increased tech activity, with anecdotal spikes in metro-area listings for iPads, AirPods and OLED TVs since tariff announcements started to dominate headlines. Some sellers are flipping open-box returns or reselling their own gear to upgrade in anticipation of price surges, which effectively creates a grassroots resale economy shaped by the current trade policy. Before you venture into the secondhand market, there are a few tips you should follow.

Meet in a public place and always test the item before handing over payment. You may want to handle the transaction quickly, but it’s best to ensure the item is in good condition. And doing it in public protects you (a bit) from getting ripped off.
Check battery health on phones and laptops. You can do this in the settings of the devices.
Verify serial numbers when possible to check warranty or theft status. There are websites that quickly allow you to use the IMEI of a phone to check whether it’s stolen. (IMEI stands for international mobile equipment identity, a 15-digit unique ID number.)
Use payment apps like Venmo or PayPal Goods & Services for added protection. Cash is great, because you can typically get a better discount, but you have to ensure that the product you’re buying is in good condition.

We don’t have the full picture of how tariffs will affect all the tech products in our lives, but as new devices become less affordable amid general economic uncertainty, buying used can be a smart choice. It doesn’t matter if it’s a refurbished iPad from Amazon or a gently used Nintendo Switch from OfferUp, sometimes pricing matters so much more than packaging. With the trade war showing no signs of cooling, the secondhand and refurbished tech ecosystem isn’t just a reaction. It’s a quiet rebellion we can all have a hand in.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Friday, Sept. 19

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Sept. 19.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

I didn’t get off to a great start with today’s Mini Crossword, completely blanking on 1-Across. Thankfully, the other clues were easy, and that answer filled itself in. Need some help? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Cancel on plans at the last moment
Answer: FLAKE

6A clue: Shade of light purple
Answer: LILAC

7A clue: ___ acid (protein builder)
Answer: AMINO

8A clue: Sarcastic «Yeah, sure»
Answer: IBET

9A clue: Sardonic boss on «Parks and Recreation»
Answer: RON

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Stylish panache
Answer: FLAIR

2D clue: Party game that tests how low you can go
Answer: LIMBO

3D clue: Visitor from outer space
Answer: ALIEN

4D clue: Philosopher who posed the question «What can I know?»
Answer: KANT

5D clue: Environmentally friendly prefix
Answer: ECO

Technologies

Your Old Android Isn’t Dead. These Tweaks Can Bring It Back to Life

Clear space, optimize your battery and update the basics. These quick changes can make an old Android phone feel snappier.

You don’t need the latest Android flagship to get good performance.

Thanks to longer software support from brands like Google and Samsung, older models can still run smoothly, as long as you give them a little attention. Clearing out unused apps, updating your software and tweaking a few settings can breathe new life into a device that feels sluggish. These quick fixes can help your phone last longer and save you from spending on an early upgrade.

Before you start shopping for a replacement, try a few simple adjustments. You might be surprised by how much faster your phone feels once you free up space, optimize battery use and turn off background drains.

Whether you use a Samsung Galaxy, Motorola or OnePlus phone, chances are you can still improve battery life and overall speed without buying something new. Just remember that Android settings vary slightly from brand to brand, so the menus may look a little different depending on your phone.

Don’t miss any of CNET’s unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add us as a preferred Google source on Chrome.

Settings to improve your battery life

Living with a phone that has poor battery life can be infuriating, but there are some steps you can take to maximize each charge right from the very beginning:

1. Turn off auto screen brightness or adaptive brightness and set the brightness level slider to under 50%

The brighter your screen, the more battery power it uses.

To get to the setting, pull down the shortcut menu from the top of the screen and adjust the slider, if it’s there. Some phones may have a toggle for auto brightness in the shortcut panel; otherwise, you need to open the settings app and search for «brightness» to find the setting and turn it off.

2. Use Adaptive Battery and Battery Optimization

These features focus on learning how you use your phone, including which apps you use and when, and then optimizing the apps and the amount of battery they use.

Some Android phones have a dedicated Battery section in the Settings app, while other phones (looking at you, Samsung) bury these settings. It’s a little different for each phone. I recommend opening your settings and searching for «battery» to find the right screen. Your phone may also have an adaptive charging setting that can monitor how quickly your phone battery charges overnight to preserve its health.

Why you should use dark mode more often

Another way to improve battery life while also helping save your eyes is to use Android’s dedicated dark mode. Any Android phone running Android 10 or newer will have a dedicated dark mode option.

According to Google, dark mode not only reduces the strain that smartphone displays cause on our eyes but also improves battery life because it takes less power to display dark backgrounds on OLED displays (used in most flagship phones) than a white background.

Depending on which version of Android your phone is running, and what company made your phone, you may have to dig around the settings app to find a dark mode. If your phone runs Android 10 or newer, you’ll be able to turn on system-wide dark mode. If it runs Android 9, don’t despair. Plenty of apps have their own dark mode option in the settings that you can use, whether or not you have Android 10.

To turn it on dark mode, open the Settings app and search for Dark Mode, Dark Theme or even Night Mode (as Samsung likes to call it). I suggest using dark mode all the time, but if you’re not sure, you can always set dark mode to automatically turn on based on a schedule, say from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. every day, or allow it to automatically switch based on your location at sunset and sunrise.

Keep your home screen free of clutter

Planning to hit up the Google Play Store for a bunch of new Android apps? Be prepared for a lot of icon clutter on your home screen, which is where shortcuts land every time you install something.

If you don’t want that, there’s a simple way out of this: Long-press on an empty area of your home screen and tap Settings. Find the option labeled something along the lines of Add icon to Home Screen or Add new apps to Home Screen and turn it off.

Presto! No more icons on the home screen when you install new apps. You can still add shortcuts by dragging an app’s icon out of the app drawer, but they won’t appear on your home screen unless you want them to.

Read more: Best Android Phones You Can Buy in 2024

Set up Do Not Disturb so that you can better focus

If your phone routinely spends the night on your nightstand, you probably don’t want it beeping or buzzing every time there’s a call, message or Facebook alert — especially when you’re trying to sleep. Android offers a Do Not Disturb mode that will keep the phone more or less silent during designated hours. On some phones, this is referred to as the Downtime setting or even Quiet Time.

Head to Settings > Sounds (or Notifications), then look for Do Not Disturb or a similar name. If you can’t find it, search for it using the built-in search feature in your settings.

Using the feature, you can set up a range of hours when you want to turn off the digital noise. Don’t worry, any notifications you get while Do Not Disturb is turned on will still be waiting for you when you wake up. Also, you can typically make an exception that allows repeat callers and favorite contacts’ calls to go through. Turn that on. If someone is calling you in an emergency, odds are they are going to keep trying.

Always be prepared in case you lose your phone or it’s stolen

Is there anything worse than a lost or stolen phone? Only the knowledge that you could have tracked it down if you had turned on Google’s Find My Device feature.

To prepare for a successful recovery, here’s what you need to do: Open the Settings app and then search for Find My Device. It’s usually in the Security section of the Settings app.

If you have a Samsung device, you can use Samsung’s Find My Mobile service, which is found in Settings > Biometrics and security > Find My Mobile.

Once that’s enabled, you can head to android.com/find from any PC or mobile device and sign in to your account. Samsung users can visit findmymobile.samsung.com to find a lost phone.

If you have trouble setting any of this up, be sure to read our complete guide to finding a lost Android phone.

Assuming your phone is on and online, you should be able to see its location on a map. From there, you can make it ring, lock it, set a lock screen note to tell whoever has it how to get it back to you, or, worst-case scenario, remotely wipe the whole thing.

And always keep your phone up to date

As obvious as it may seem, a simple software update could fix bugs and other issues slowing down your Android device.

Before you download and install the latest software update, make sure your device is connected to Wi-Fi, or else this won’t work.

Now, open the Settings application and type in Update. You’ll then either see Software update or System update — choose either one. Then just download the software, wait for a few minutes and install it when it’s ready. Your Android device will reboot and install the latest software update available.

There’s a lot more to learn about a new phone. Here are the best ways to boost your cell signal, and here’s a flagship phone head-to-head comparison. Plus, check out CNET’s list of the best cases for your Samsung phone. More of an Apple fan? We have tips for boosting your iPhone’s performance, too.

Technologies

Your Pixel 10 Might Have Issues With Older Wireless Chargers

You might want to try taking the case off your phone in order to successfully charge it.

When Google introduced the Pixel 10 lineup in August, it became one of the first major Android phones to receive the Qi 2 wireless charging standard, which Google calls Pixelsnap. However, users noticed issues with wireless charging on the Pixel 10 almost immediately after its release.

Some people are having trouble charging their phone with the new Pixelsnap charger, and others are having issues with older wireless chargers, including Google’s own Pixel Stands. The bulk of the problems happen when a case is on the phone — whether it has the magnet array or not.

I own both the first and second generation Pixel Stands and both will charge my Pixel 10 Pro XL without an issue if there’s no case on it. However, when I add a case to my phone, the problems begin.

I have three cases for my phone, the Mous Super Thin Clear Case, the Magnetic Slim Case Fit by Grecazo, and a no-name soft TPU case. If my phone has any of those cases on and I attempt to charge it while it’s vertical, it starts to charge and then stops after a second or two, and keeps doing that.

I can fix this for the first-generation Pixel Stand by turning the phone horizontal, but it will still charge very slowly. I can’t seem to fix it at all for the Pixel Stand 2 — vertical, horizontal, it doesn’t charge.

Not everyone has this issue

The problem doesn’t seem to be universal. CNET editor Patrick Holland said he had no issues charging the Pixel 10 Pro during his time with it.

A Google spokesperson told me the Pixel 10 lineup is not optimized for older Qi wireless charging standards, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the phones won’t work with older wireless chargers.

Qi 2 is backwards-compatible with older standards, but the phone’s height and charging coil placement on both the phone and the charger are still factors. If you’re having problems, you might see if removing the case helps.

The prospect of potentially needing to replace your older wireless chargers with newer ones isn’t ideal, especially if you shelled out $80 for one or both of Google’s own Pixel Stands. Still, if you want the best wireless charging speed for your brand new Pixel 10 phone, it won’t be with wireless chargers that only support older Qi standards.