Why You Can Trust CNET Get an iPhone 6S for $100
There's some life -- and a headphone jack -- left in Apple's former flagship. Plus: Get Battlefield: Earth for a buck and add Alexa to any speaker for $20.
Pocket-friendly: check. Headphone jack: check. Extremely affordable: check. You were saying about the iPhone 6S?
Let's go back not very far in history, shall we? Just three years ago, the iPhone 6S was still Apple's flagship. Price at launch: $649 -- and that was for the 16GB model.
Today, and for a limited time, Cricket Wireless is offering the iPhone 6S (32GB) for $99.99 when you transfer a non-AT&T number and buy at least one month of service (starting at $30). I got as far as the final checkout page without seeing any additional taxes or fees; your mileage may vary.
Is it crazy to buy an iPhone that's coming up on four years old? Maybe. But think about this: In 2015 and 2016, we considered it plenty powerful. The must-have new model.
Read more: iPhone 6S review
It's smaller than current-generation iPhones, and therefore much more pocket friendly. And perhaps most important of all: The iPhone 6S has a headphone jack!
Not everyone needs or wants a giant screen and lots of bells and whistles, and certainly not everyone can afford to spend a small fortune on a premium phone. I look upon this as a $649 phone for $100.
As for Cricket, it's actually been my carrier of choice for the last few years. The $30 plan nets you just 2GB of high-speed data per month, but the next tier ($35 per month with auto-pay) bumps that to 5GB. And there are some pretty good multi-line discounts. (Four unlimited lines for $100, anyone?)
Although you're not roped into a contract with this deal, you do have to keep an active Cricket line for at least six months before the carrier will unlock the phone for you.
One last bit of food for thought: Three years from now, do you think we'll be seeing the iPhone XR for $100? If I'd asked you the same question about the 6S back in 2015, you'd have thought me crazy.
Read Battlefield: Earth for 99 cents
The author may be controversial, but there's no debating that Battlefield: Earth is an epic, and pretty awesome, sci-fi novel. And for a limited time, you can grab Battlefield: Earth for Kindle for just 99 cents.
As for the movie adaptation, the less said, the better -- though some might argue it's in the so-bad-it's-good category. I can't say (haven't seen it) but I do remember liking the novel quite a lot.
Add Alexa to your favorite speaker for $20
You know those little adapters that add Bluetooth wireless capabilities to older speakers? The Echo Input adds Alexa. This little puck normally runs $35, but for a limited time, Amazon is offering the Echo Input for $19.99.
Cool, right? Yes, except for one thing: As CNET's Ry Crist points out in his Echo Input review, the Echo Dot can do the same thing -- and it has a speaker of its own.
Granted, the Dot sells for $50, though it routinely goes on sale. Right now, for example, you can get one for just 99 cents when you subscribe to Prime Book Box for $20, for a total investment of $21.
Don't want to jump through those hoops? For a limited time, Daily Steals (via Facebook) has the third-gen Echo Dot for $30. All this is to say, the Echo Input is a decent deal at $20, but a Dot is probably a smarter buy -- if you wait for one in the same price range.
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