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Get a pair of Ausdom over-the-ear headphones for $37.99

These Bluetooth headphones sold out fast last time, and may do so again now that they're even cheaper. Plus: three bonus deals!

Rick Broida Senior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
Rick Broida
3 min read

Over-the-ear Bluetooth headphones for $37.99? Yes, please. Ausdom

This is a repeat of a deal I shared a couple months ago -- now with a lower price and the promise of enough inventory to satisfy my legions of cheeps!

(Cheep\chēp\ noun A portmanteau of "cheap" and "peep," the latter slang for "people." All Cheapskate readers are "my people," and therefore "cheeps.")

Headphones are like blue jeans: Everyone prefers their own style. I'm partial to basic earbuds when I'm out for a run, noise-isolating earbuds when I fly, and over-the-ear headphones for around the house. (Can't say I care for the on-ear variety.)

Now for the important question: Do you really need to spend $100 or more to get a decent set of over-the-ear 'phones? Not today. For a limited time, and while supplies last, HiGears (via Amazon) has the Ausdom M06 Bluetooth headphones for $37.99 shipped. That's after applying coupon code HIGEARS8 at checkout.

Update 6/30/15: Although there was a glitch with the code late yesterday, as of this morning it seems to be working again. It should remain valid at least through the end of the day.

Ausdom? Nope, I never heard of the brand, either -- well, except for last time I ran this deal (when it was $2 more expensive). Luckily, I was able to test-drive the M06, so I have ears-on experience to share. Let's start with the good: These are attractive, very solid-feeling headphones, with a padded headband and earcups and a nice brushed-metal veneer on the earcups' outer side.

Those earcups can each rotate 90 degrees, thus allowing the M06 to lie "flat" for easier storage. The rechargeable battery, which charges via a standard Micro-USB cable, is good for an impressive 20 hours of listening.

I had no trouble pairing the M06 with my iPhone -- though there's an included stereo cable if you want a wired connection to, say, an MP3 player. Either way, you can use built-in buttons -- three on each earcup -- to control volume and playback.

Most important of all, to my ears, the headphones sounded great. My go-to test track is Parov Stelar's "All Night," which delivers a veritable kitchen sink of musical styles and ranges. Loved it. Same for the Adele station I streamed through Pandora.

The M06 includes a microphone for hands-free calls. My test call sounded fine, and the person at the other end reported the same. It's a little weird talking when both your ears are covered, but as long as you make an effort not to shout, it's all good.

Of course, like virtually all over-the-ear headphones, these get uncomfortable after a while. The control buttons are small and stiff, and it takes some time to memorize the layout. I also found that volume levels dropped off a bit when I tried a wired connection.

Those minor gripes aside, this is a really solid pair of headphones, especially at this price. Frankly, I didn't expect them to be this good. If you grabbed a pair last time, hit the comments and let your fellow cheeps know what you think of them. (The headphones, not the cheeps.)

Acer

Bonus deal: Which would you rather have in a sub-$200 laptop: a bigger screen that doesn't respond to touch or a smaller screen that does? Anyone who raised their hand for the latter, take note: For a limited time, and while supplies last, Amazon has the Acer Chromebook C720P for $199.99 shipped. That's not the lowest price I've seen for this 11.6-inch laptop -- it was briefly $20 less in April -- but it's still an amazing deal on a popular, well-reviewed machine.

Bonus deal No. 2: How low can they go? Big TVs, I mean. Apparently, pretty darn low: P.C. Richard & Son has the Haier 50E3500 50-inch LED HDTV for $299.97 shipped (plus tax in some states). I haven't found any reviews to speak of, save for the one on the store's product page (5 stars, if you're wondering), but at least one spec seems above-average for this price point: three HDMI inputs instead of just two. Incidentally, it sells elsewhere for around $450.

Bonus deal No. 3: If you've ever wished you could stream video from your PC to your iPhone or iPad, wish no more: Air Video HD (for iOS) is free for a limited time. Normally $2.99, the app (when paired with server software for Windows or Mac) lets you watch just about any video, regardless of format. It's one of the top-rated solutions for computer-to-mobile streaming.