Technologies

Prime Day Deal: Two Samsung Battery Packs Are 31% Off Right Now and One Has a Wireless Charger

Both chargers also come with multiple ports so you can charge more than one device at a time for a great deal.

Running out of battery stinks, especially on your smartphone and doubly so when you’re nowhere near a charger. That’s why the power bank business is booming with hundreds of products across dozens of manufacturers. It’s also no secret that mobile accessories like battery banks are often deeply discounted for events like Amazon Prime Day. Samsung is no exception to this rule, and two of the Korean tech giant’s portable battery packs are on sale for about 31% off. Spoiler alert, one of them has wireless charging capabilities too.

The two batteries only have a couple of small differences. The smaller one features 25W charging, 10,000mAh of capacity and two cable ports. Samsung says the extra port is for charging your wireless earbuds alongside your phone, which is a good idea. It also comes with a wireless charging pad, so you can rest your phone on the bank and get a charge that way.

The larger one features 45W charging, 20,000mAh capacity and, somewhat weirdly, omits the wireless charging found on its smaller sibling. Samsung makes up for this discrepancy by including a third charging port.

Both devices have a fairly good discount as well. The 45W version is $38, down from $55, which equates to a little less than 31% off while the 25W version is $31, down from $45, which is just a little more than 31% off.

Samsung clearly designed these for Galaxy devices, per the product image above. However, it should work with any tablet or smartphone. You just might experience a reduction in charging speeds because the Super Fast charging standard is specific to Samsung phones. On a positive note, Samsung claims to make the battery banks out of recycled materials, which is always a plus.

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

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Samsung’s accessories are built for Samsung’s products. If you’re here and you don’t have a Samsung phone, it’s OK. We have a whole list of portable chargers specifically for Android phones and also iPhones that you can sift through. These include power banks and MagSafe chargers, so you should be able to find something you like.

Why this deal matters

For starters, first-party accessories are almost always more expensive than third-party accessories, so the opportunity to get a Samsung-branded battery for your Samsung-branded phone and accessories for a discount is a win. You can use any old power bank on just about any old phone these days. However, the inclusion of Super Fast charging on both battery banks and the wireless charger on the smaller bank presents a unique value proposition for Samsung phone owners. The 45W Super Fast charging is usually only attainable on a wall charger, so having those speeds in a portable package is a nice upgrade from the standard stuff you see online.

Technologies

McDonald’s Snack Wraps Are Back but Was It Worth the Wait?

Review: McDonald’s Chicken Snack Wraps are back and I sampled both varieties on release day. Here’s what I think.

McDonald’s Snack Wraps, a chicken-tortilla entree that’s been missing from US locations of the Golden Arches, flew back into US restaurants on July 10 — and after all this build-up, I had to try both flavor varieties right away.

McDonald’s Snack Wraps first came out in 2006 and were meant to be a chicken item that would appeal to drive-thru customers because they’re less messy to eat while traveling. Both of the two varieties include white-meat chicken strips known as McCrispy Strips wrapped in a flour tortilla with shredded cheese and lettuce. McCrispy Strips are a reworked version of a chicken item formerly known as Chicken Selects.

McDonald’s Ranch Snack Wrap is worth the wait

If there’s a basic or classic version of the two Snack Wrap varieties offered, it’s the Ranch Snack Wrap. It consists of one McCrispy chicken strip wrapped in a flour tortilla, sprinkled with shredded lettuce and shredded cheese, and lightly doused with the chain’s McCrispy Ranch Sauce.

Honestly, I was a little worried that the Ranch Snack Wrap wouldn’t live up to all the hype. Two days before the McDonald’s wraps came out, I tried out the very similar chicken snack wraps at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, another fast-food franchise that’s jumped on the snack wrap bandwagon. And they were delicious — but then, chicken is Popeyes’ reason for being. Those wraps were so good, in fact, that I wondered if McDonald’s, not a chicken franchise by nature, could possibly compete.

Good news: The McDonald’s Ranch Snack Wrap is delicious, and just about as good as Popeyes’ version. You’ll notice right away that it’s weirdly designed. The tortilla is huge compared to the relatively small chicken piece, and if you don’t slide the chicken up your first few mouthfuls will be plain tortilla and little else.

But the chicken is fresh and juicy, the cheese and lettuce are decent add-ons and the ranch sauce brings in a creamy taste of herbs and spices that blends well with the chicken. Note that the sauce delivery was kind of hit-or-miss, so you might want to add a shot of your own ranch dressing if you want an even distribution of sauce.

But it’s McDonald’s, not a fancy Michelin-starred eatery, so who expects perfection? If I was eating at McDonald’s, I’d order the Ranch Snack Wrap over either a basic burger or a McChicken sandwich every day of the week.

Grade: A

McDonald’s Spicy Snack Wrap review: Sauce is the weak spot

The Spicy Snack Wrap also features one McCrispy chicken strip inside a flour tortilla, again sprinkled with shredded lettuce and cheese. But this time, the sauce is McDonald’s orangey Spicy Pepper Sauce. And that’s the problem.

I love spice, often adding Sriracha or hot honey to my sandwiches, but I actively disliked the McD Spicy Pepper Sauce. It was overly sweet and dominated each mouthful, so while the chicken itself was the same crispy juicy strip as in the Ranch Snack Wrap, its taste was buried. There’s no question that it comes with a kick, though — I was still feeling the heat 20 minutes after lunch.

If I ordered McDonald’s Snack Wraps again, I’d stick to the Ranch Snack Wraps and pass on the Spicy Snack Wraps. But if you want to try both, I noticed on McDonald’s app that you can order a mix-and-match meal including one Ranch Snack Wrap, one Spicy Snack Wrap, fries and a drink.

Grade: B-

Fans have Snack Wrap fever

Zach Ciampa, who regularly covers new food releases under the social-media handle Snach With Zach, said there’s been an intense fan base out there for the wraps.

«Regarding McDonald’s Snack Wrap, it’s by far the most requested item I’ve ever seen my audience ask or demand to come back,» he told CNET. «Not just the most requested in recent memory but the most requested of all time. And that’s not limited to McDonald’s.»

Read more: Review: McDonald’s Minecraft Meals Feature The Hottest Nugget Sauce Ever

Ciampa said the only similar fast-food items that come close to the same level of interest are Dairy Queen’s S’mores Blizzard and Taco Bell’s Caramel Apple Empanada, both of which have made recent returns.

McDonald’s is riding a viral wave. The fast-food chain’s Minecraft Happy Meals and adult Minecraft Meals hit restaurants on April 1 and sold out quickly.

A recent analysis by VegasInsider.com found that the Snack Wrap was by far the most searched for discontinued McDonald’s menu item of 2025.

What you need to know about Snack Wraps

Release date and time: The Snack Wraps are at participating McDonald’s now. You can order on the McDonald’s app, in restaurants, or in drive-thrus.

Price: At my local restaurant, Snack Wraps are priced at $3 apiece and a meal including fries and a drink was listed at $12. Prices may vary by location, A co-worker said Snack Wrap meals were $10.50 at his New York City McDonald’s.

Varieties: You can order a Snack Wrap in Spicy, which features a habanero-pepper kick, or Ranch, which features a burst of cool ranch sauce.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for July 11, #761

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for July 11, #761.

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

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle could be tough. The purple category is another of those groupings where you just can’t see the connection, so hope instead that the other three come together for you. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Don’t lose your trademark.

Green group hint: Like a clown.

Blue group hint: Sing out.

Purple group hint: Sounds like a negative word.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Companies that have become verbs.

Green group: Silly person.

Blue group: Kinds of songs.

Purple group: Homophones of synonyms for «despicable.»

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is companies that have become verbs. The four answers are Google, Photoshop, Uber and Zoom.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is silly person. The four answers are dodo, goof, goose and yahoo.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is kinds of songs. The four answers are folk, love, siren and swan.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is homophones of synonyms for «despicable.» The four answers are fowl, mien, offal and vial.

Fowl=foul

Mien=mean

Offal=awful

Vial=vile

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for July 11 #495

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for July 11, No. 495.

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.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle will require you to draw on your memories of literature terms. As an English major, I loved today’s topic. 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: It could be verse.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Rhyme time.

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:

MOST, PILE, LOPE, MIST, LATE, NICK, KITS, NITS, TEAL, TALE, POET, BALD, BALL, PALL, BRAT, CHAD, LIME

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 have 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: