Eliana Willis

This year’s Black Friday may be the most competitive shopping season yet, with the biggest retailers and carriers battling it out to serve you the best phone deals. If you’re doing some early holiday shopping (or just missed out on Prime Day sales last month), we’re already seeing aggressive offers from Samsung, Google, Motorola, and, yes, even Apple.Also: The best Black Friday deals available nowThe phone deals below will save you a significant amount of money on some of the best handsets we’ve tested and recommend at ZDNET. You’ll also find links to the retailer with the best offer, whether that’s Best Buy, Amazon, Verizon, or AT&T. Stay tuned as the list will be constantly updated as new deals appear going into Black Friday.Our favorite phone deals for Black Friday 2024OnePlus Open More

Jada Jones/ZDNETApple’s latest mobile software update — iOS18.1 — includes new hearing health features for the AirPods Pro 2 More

Amazon/ZDNETAs part of Amazon’s Handpicked event, Samsung has opened preorders for two new displays: the Odyssey G95C Curved Gaming Monitor More

Black Friday, arguably the best holiday, is still a month away. But retailers like Amazon More

Don’t miss this Sam’s Club membership to save big on everything from groceries to electronics. Sam’s Club/ZDNETA Sam’s Club membership will get you discounts on groceries, clothing, electronics, and just about everything else you might need. And right now, StackSocial is offering a deal that will get you a Sam’s Club membership for $25 for the year with auto-renew — down from the usual price of $50. That’s 50% off. Your Sam’s Club membership will work at nearly 600 US Sam’s Club locations. This deal is only open to new Sam’s Club members in the US, or those whose membership lapsed more than six months ago. The membership will expire one year from the activation date, and will automatically renew at the full price of $50 per year after that unless you cancel it. To cancel, you can visit SamsClub.com or a club or call 1-888-746-7726. To take advantage of this deal, you’ll redeem your unique code through the link above, and then sign up for the membership. Once you purchase your code, you must redeem it within 30 days. The limit is one membership per person, but you can buy an additional membership as a gift.I signed up for a similar deal for a Costco membership through StackSocial, and can confirm the process was easy, and I’d vouch for the deal. Don’t miss out on 50% off a Sam’s Club membership right now.  More

Virtual private networks, also known as VPNs, are excellent tools to help protect your privacy and security. Also: Black Friday 2024: Everything to knowAt ZDNET, we’ve been testing top VPNs for years, and we recommend that you sign up for one to stop people from spying on your online activities. As VPNs create a secure, encrypted tunnel to protect your data and mask your IP address, you can use them as an additional layer of protection for changing your location, streaming, and more. If you’re looking for a great VPN deal ahead of Black Friday, you’re in luck. We found the best promotions and deals on VPN services before Black Friday begins. Check out our recommendations below. (Note that while many of these are for a monthly price, you typically have to pay the full contract amount up front, though there are often money-back guarantees if you change your mind.)Our favorite VPN deals for Black Friday 2024Surfshark More

Arc browser has one of the most elegant UIs on the market. Jack Wallen/ZDNETThe world of digital technology is filled with disappointments. I can’t begin to list the applications and operating systems that became favorites of mine, only to watch them go away and never return.That’s why I sometimes hesitate to become too dependent on a single application. At some point, it might no longer be available and I don’t want to find myself left in the lurch.So, when I read this piece (and watched the video that inspired it) about The Browser Company going back to the browser drawing board, I was extremely disappointed.Also: 5 obscure web browsers that will finally break your Chrome addictionAs my default browser on MacOS for over a year now, Arc Browser re-invented the way I browse.And that’s a problem. As a rule, people don’t like change. It’s one of the many reasons why so many people stick with Chrome — a browser I avoid at all costs. Why? Google’s browser is insecure and lacks an effective tab management feature (i.e., Spaces in Arc Browser or Workspaces in Opera).Arc browser made browsing fun again with a brilliantly designed interface and just the right collection of features. It took me no more than five minutes to acclimate to how Arc works. Once it became my MacOS default, I began wishing it was available for Linux, so I could use it with both operating systems I depend on. More