Technologies

At Just $54, Our Favorite Budget ANC Earbuds Have Never Been Cheaper

These days, you don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars to get a pair of wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation.

Choosing a pair of wireless earbuds can be difficult, especially if you don’t want to spend the big sums needed for some of the most popular models. But you don’t have to spend a lot to get some top-tier features, and the EarFun Air Pro 4 earbuds prove it. They were already our favorite budget earbuds, but we can help make them even more affordable. Enter our special discount code (EAP4CNET) and you’ll pick them up for just $54. That’s a new low, but keep in mind that it’s only available on the black earbuds.

Despite the bargain price, these wireless earbuds support advanced features, including active noise cancellation tech. But that isn’t all, and you’ll find many of the features that you might expect to be reserved for earbuds from Apple, Sony and others.

CNET’s David Katzmaier says that the EarFun Air Pro 4 earbuds «have every other feature I’d expect, including the ability to connect to two devices simultaneously and programmable touch-sensitive controls on the buds.» There’s more, too, with Katzmaier pointing out that «battery life has been more than ample for me» even when using the ANC feature to block out a noisy household.

Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.

EarFun says that these earbuds can block up to 50 decibels of noise thanks to adaptive ANC technology, while support for aptX lossless audio and up to 52 hours of battery life round out the most notable features. Need to stretch those batteries a little further? A 10-minute charge will get you an additional two hours of listening time.

Why this deal matters

Whether you’re commuting through a busy city or work in a noisy office, a pair of noise-canceling earbuds can be a real lifesaver. Enjoying music, audiobooks and podcasts is much easier when you don’t have to crank the volume just to be able to hear them. At just $54. you really can’t argue with the value proposition on offer here. But if you are looking for savings on other models, we’ve rounded up all the best deals on earbuds and headphones.

Technologies

Dangerous TikTok Chromebook Challenge Involves Kids Sparking Fires in Laptops

Well, this is a bad idea: Kids are jamming metal into their school computer USB ports to try and start fires.

TikTok is full of entertaining cat videos, humorous dances and yes, even challenges — the famed ice-bucket challenge has returned and is promoting mental-health support. But now a dangerous TikTok challenge is spreading through the short-video app, and through schools across the country.

The Chromebook Challenge, named for Google’s line of laptops, encourages students to insert metal items into the USB port on their school-issued computers, intending to create sparks, smoke, and possibly a fire.

Read more: Best laptops of 2025

Searching TikTok will bring up videos showing kids attempting the dangerous and damaging challenge. Schools, as you might expect, are not happy.

David Winston, principal of Lincoln Park Middle School in Morris County, New Jersey, sent a letter home to parents about the dangers of the act, as reported by NorthJersey.com.

Read more: The 75 Hard and 75 Soft TikTok Fitness Challenges Explained

«We expect our students to make responsible choices and refrain from any behavior that could result in injury, property damage, disciplinary action, or the loss of privileges,» Winston said in his letter. «This type of act is considered a form of vandalism and, if a fire results, could be treated as arson.»

And kids might not be laughing when their parents get the bill for a damaged or ruined laptop.

«We’re asking for your help in talking to your child about the importance of taking care of their school devices and thinking twice before participating in online challenges like this,» reads a letter sent to parents of kids in Virginia’s Prince George’s County Public Schools, as reported by FOX5. «As a reminder, families are responsible for the cost of any deliberate damage done to school-issued Chromebooks.»

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for May 9, #432

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 432 for May 9.

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

Todays NYT Strands puzzle might leave you longing for a summer weekend away. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Outsiders

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Off to the mountains.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

BACK, COOL, CART, PACK, SALE, RILE, POEM, CARE, RACE, TRASH, GATE, LATE, LATER, GALE, TIME, RAGE, CAMP

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you’ve got all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

TENT, GRILL, COOLER, LANTERN, THERMOS, BACKPACK

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is CAMPINGGEAR. To find it, start with the C that’s two rows to the right and five letters down, and wind all around — kind of in the shape of a mountain.

Technologies

Ultrahuman, Oura Ring’s Competitor, Will Fulfill Ring Air Orders in US

The announcement should mean tariffs won’t impact prices on its smart ring.

Ultrahuman, Oura Ring’s competitor in the growing world of smart rings, soon plans to fulfill all orders at its Plano, Texas facility, UltraFactory. Ultrahuman also plans to scale production to 500,000 smart rings annually. The facility is in partnership with SVtronics and has been operating since November 2024.

Read more: I Put 3 Popular Smart Rings to the Test to Find Which is the Best

«With expansion plans underway, the facility aims to serve 100% of US demand for the Ring Air and will soon scale its production to more than half a million units annually,» the company said in a statement. No date was given for the change.

President Donald Trump’s administration is imposing tariffs on imported goods from other countries, so the Texas-made products would not face such tariffs.

The Ultrahuman Ring Air first came out in June 2023, and the company teamed up with Verizon to be the first carrier to sell a smart ring. The light ring, which costs $349, is available for iOS and Android and uses sensors to track sleep, recovery, stress levels, caffeine intake, calories burned, steps and women’s health issues, including ovulation.

CNET chose the Ultrahuman Ring Air as the best smart ring for fitness enthusiasts, while also noting that the ring is thicker than competitors, and its app interface could be better designed.