I scanned Best Buy's massive back-to-school sale — these are the 12 deals I'd buy on laptops, tablets, AirPods, TVs, and more

Best Buy has Apple's AirPods 4 on sale for $99.99. The AirPods 4 feature a new design for all-day comfort and feature Apple's H2 chip, which supports personalized spatial audio and voice isolation. You also get a redesigned case with 30 hours of battery life and support for USB-C for wireless charging.

Read our full AirPods 4 review

Best Buy's back to school sale also has the AirPods 4 with active noise cancellation for $149.99, which is the best deal you can find right now. The AirPods 4 feature a new comfortable design, handy controls, and Apple's H2 chip, which supports personalized spatial audio and voice isolation.

Read our full AirPods 4 with ANC review

Best Buy has a $30 discount on the already affordable Apple Watch SE 3, making it an excellent bargain at just $219. While the Apple Watch Series 11 currently holds the title of the best smartwatch for most people, the SE 3 is still packed with features, including activity, heart rate, and sleep tracking, plus an impressive 18 hours of battery life.

Read our full Apple Watch SE 3 review

If you want to get your hands on Apple's latest and greatest smartwatch, the retailer has a $100 discount on the Apple Watch Series 11. The thinnest Apple Watch yet, with a wraparound LTP3 OLED display, it's a great-looking watch with Apple Intelligence-powered smarts and a boosted battery compared to previous Apple Watches, clocking in at 24 hours of average use.

Read our full Apple Watch Series 11 review

A truly great, budget mini-LED TV, the TCL QM6K delivers vibrant picture quality along with solid gaming features for a price that won't break the bank. Upgrades here include support for 120Hz refresh rates at 4K resolution, which is perfect for gamers. This deal knocks a decent $250 off the 55-inch model, making it a truly appealing option for those who want a premium display at a mid-range price.

Read our full TCL QM6K TV review

The latest in Samsung's well-received budget tablet range, the A11+ picks up where the A9 left off, and at the same price too. This is the base model, with just Wi-Fi connectivity and 128GB of storage, but you can expand that easily up to 2TB via a microSD card. If you need an Android tablet for daily use like web browsing, watching videos and maybe playing a few games, this one's well worth considering. Note that this model doesn't support Samsung's excellent S-Pen, unfortunately, but you can still use other basic generic touch styluses.

Processor: Intel Celeron N4500
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 64GB

HP's range of cheap Chromebooks has always been a good option if you're on a small budget. As a Chromebook, you don't need much to get smooth performance, and this 14-inch model is worth checking out if you just want the basics for studying, emails, or streaming. Despite not being a high-end laptop by any means, this is a relatively portable option with plenty of battery life.

Processor: AMD Ryzen AI 9 465
RAM: 16GB
Storage: 512GB

My favorite high-end laptop deal in the Best Buy back-to-school sale is this 14-inch Asus Zenbook 14. With $300 off, you're saving a significant amount here on a machine with a really high-end Ryzen 9 chipset and 2K OLED display. While you only get a 512GB SSD, this is an excellent choice if you don't need much space on your drive, as it's a very stylish and powerful machine, indeed.

Graphics card: RTX 4050
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 7235HS 
RAM: 16GB
Storage: 512GB

I wouldn't recommend this Lenovo LOQ for gamers who need cutting-edge performance, but it's a good option if you're more of a casual gamer. With the slightly older RTX 4050 graphics card, this one will still run a lot of games at 1080p if you're willing to tweak your settings. If you mostly play older, eSports, or Indie games, especially, then this could be a decent value option.

Graphics card: RTX 5070
Processor: Intel Core 7 Series 2
RAM: 16GB
Storage: 512GB

If you're looking for a high-end gaming laptop, then one of the best options I've seen at Best Buy is this RTX 5070-equipped Acer Nitro V. You usually don't see laptops with such a powerful graphics card at this price point, although you do sacrifice a bigger storage drive and RAM to squeeze such a component in here. Still, in terms of bang for the buck, this is a very strong contender.