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Prime Day Live: your last chance for deals on five-star headphones, stellar turntables, OLED TVs, Dolby Atmos soundbars and more

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One of our favourite streaming sticks has had its price slashed

(Image credit: Amazon)

We tend to recommend the Apple TV 4K as the best streaming box from a pure quality perspective.

But if that’s a bit rich for your blood, or you’re looking for a streamer to add smart TV powers to a bedroom/kitchen TV, or just prefer Amazon’s Fire OS to whatever is running your lounge set, then the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max is a fantastic choice.

This is especially true right now, as you can grab the streamer for just £40 at Amazon (save £30).

For your money you’ll get a competent streaming stick with an included remote that delivers solid picture quality and decent audio for everything but serious music listening.

Looking for a Dolby Atmos soundbar?

Sonos Arc

(Image credit: Future)

If you want a new Dolby Atmos soundbar, then there’s one in particular our TV and AV editor, Tom Parsons, recommends you look at – and keeping up the trend in this year’s Prime Day live blog, it’s not on a new flagship model.

Instead, if you want the best bang for your buck buying a Dolby Atmos soundbar, he recommends looking at the now retired Sonos Arc, which you can buy at Amazon for £489 – a huge £410 discount on its £899 regular price and the best we’ve seen across every retailer.

Why this one when we found the newer Sonos Arc Ultra offers better audio quality, especially at lower frequencies when we ran them head-to-head? Like our LG C4 OLED TV recommendation, it all comes down to our hallowed performance-per-pound metric.

The Arc isn’t as good as its Ultra sibling, but it is still an excellent performer that will elevate most home cinema setups. It’s also by far the best sounding you’ll find at its current price. So, for most people it’s the best option available right now.

Don’t go for gimmicks

Dyson OnTrac headphones on wooden table

(Image credit: What Hi-Fi?)

Prime Day always brings with it at least 10 terrible deals for every good one we recommend. A good example is the current discount it’s offering on Dyson’s wireless headphones.

Sure, there’s no denying The Dyson OnTrac is interesting and a strong opening effort from the British tech firm – especially considering its focus on vacuums.

But after testing them against the competition, we don’t recommend them to any serious music fan, even with their current discount – they’re down from £450 to just £359 at Amazon.

Trust us, we tested them against rivals and if audio quality is your priority there are multiple better sets available with healthy discounts that will serve you better. Here’s a shortlist of the ones we recommend considering.

If you want new headphones or earbuds, Sony has you covered

Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones next to their carry case

(Image credit: What Hi-Fi?)

Sony has made some of the best wireless headphones and best wireless earbuds we’ve tested this year. That’s why you’ll find so many of them recommended in our buying guides.

Which is why you may justifiably be after a set during Prime Day. If you are, our deputy editor, Andy Madden, has some good news and advice.

First, pretty much every Sony set we’ve checked has had some form of Prime Day discount. Second, some of the best are on sets we’ve fully reviewed and wholeheartedly recommend.

As a key team member that helped review them, these are the ones Andy recommends most.

If you’re picking between LG OLEDs we have some advice

65-inch LG C4 TV photographed straight-on on a wooden stand. On the screen is an image of a golfer celebrating.

(Image credit: What Hi-Fi? / Netflix, Full Swing)

LG OLED TVs are always a hot item, especially during sales events. And this Prime Day is no different. Over the past week we’ve seen savings appear on the firm’s ever-popular C-line of TVs in particular.

And while many of you may be tempted to take advantage of the current, and atypically early discount doing the rounds on the newest, five-star, 55-inch LG C5 – which is available at Amazon for £1699 ($1599.99 in the US / AU$2920 in Australia) – our editor would advise caution before pulling the trigger.

This is because there’s a much more impressive discount available on its, still excellent predecessor, the LG C4. Specifically, you can grab the 55-inch LG C4 at Amazon now for a significantly cheaper £859 ($1096.99 in the US / N/A Australia). That’s a massive £1240 saving on its launch price.

Having tested both, while the C5 does offer better peak brightness levels and better colour volumes, especially during low light scenes, its perks don’t justify such a huge gap in price. Which is why we’re recommending most of you go for the LG C4.

Remember it’s not just about Amazon

A woman flicking through stacks of vinyl records in a Rough Trade shop.

(Image credit: Rough Trade)

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again – Amazon is not always the best place to find top savings on hi-fi, especially if you’re after something beyond entry level.

That’s why if you regularly read What Hi-Fi? you will know many of the deals we recommend come from specialist retailers including Richer Sounds, Sevenoaks Sound and Vision, Peter Tyson and more.

This remains true on Prime Day. So much so, that our hi-fi and audio editor, Kashfia Kabir, and TV and AV editor, Tom Parsons, both penned lists detailing the top savings they’ve found on said specialists – and as expected, many beat what you’ll find on Amazon.

These include:

So make sure to give other stores a check and make sure the deal you’ve spotted on Amazon is actually the best price available before you pull the trigger.

Meet the team looking after this live blog!

What Hi-Fi? Alastair Stevenson profile pic

Alastair Stevenson

Alastair is What Hi-Fi?’s editor in chief. He has well over a decade’s experience as a journalist working in both B2C and B2B press. During this time, he’s covered everything from the launch of the first Amazon Echo to government cybersecurity policy. Prior to joining What Hi-Fi?, he served as Trusted Reviews’ editor-in-chief. Alastair is in the process of turning his newly converted attic into a full-blown cinema room, so he walks the walk just as much as he talks the talk.

Andy Madden author bio pic

Andy Madden is one of the most seasoned and senior members of the What Hi-Fi? editorial team. Though he’s reviewed pretty much every category we cover in his career, in the past few years, he’s become one of our main headphone expert. Whether it’s a pair of premium wireless headphones from Focal or an affordable but musical set of earbuds, he’ll be on hand here offering his expert advice on which is the best pair to get.

Kashfia Kabir

Kashfia Kabir

Kash is the veteran professional shiny things chaser who runs our hi-fi and audio section. She first joined What Hi-Fi? 13 years and has spent a good chunk of that time reviewing everything from premium stereo amplifiers and turntables to affordable DACs and speakers. If you’re after some hi-fi this Prime Day, she’s the person you want to speak to.

A photo of What Hi-Fi? journalist Tom Parsons. He is wearing an unbuttoned shirt over a t-shirt, has shoulder-length dark hair and is smiling at the camera.

Tom Parsons

Tom Parsons has been writing about TV, AV and hi-fi products for over 18 years. He began his career as What Hi-Fi?’s Staff Writer and is now the TV and AV Editor. Tom is a huge fan of OLED TVs and Dolby Atmos speaker packages, but he also loves budget kit that punches above its price tag and appreciates lifestyle-friendly gear that allows more people to get a great home cinema experience at home.

Lewis Empson author profile image

Lewis Empson

Lewis Empson is a Senior Staff Writer on What Hi-Fi?. He was previously Gaming and Digital Editor for Cardiff University’s Quench Magazine. Lewis graduated in 2021 and worked on a selection of lifestyle magazines and regional newspapers before joining the What Hi-Fi? team. He is an avid gamer and movie-lover, and a champion of the 4K Blu-ray format.

Harry McKerrell headshot

Harry McKerrell

Though he’s the youngest member of our audio team, Harry brings a fresh perspective to our coverage. Though he initially focused on reviewing headphones, he has since branched out and helped us test everything from record players to floorstanding speakers to all-in-one systems. This gives him a fantastic holistic knowledge of the hi-fi market.

robyn quick headshot

Robyn Quick is a Staff Writer for What Hi Fi?. After graduating from Cardiff University with a postgraduate degree in magazine journalism, they have worked for a variety of film and culture publications. In their spare time, Robyn can be found playing board games too competitively, going on cinema trips and learning muay thai.

It’s the final countdown

Europe – The Final Countdown (Official Video) – YouTube
Europe - The Final Countdown (Official Video) - YouTube


Watch On

Prime Day has been a marathon, not a sprint, this year. But all signs suggest Amazon is planning on having its 2025 sales event end with a bang, not a whimper.

Which is why we’d strongly recommend keeping an eye on it and rival specialist retailers’ deals sections, as we’re expecting a wave of new deals, or deeper discounts on products that have already had their prices slashed.

As a word of advice, if you’re looking for a new pair of wireless headphones, we’d suggest looking at older models in particular. Some of the best discounts we’ve seen this week have targeted outgoing, but still very capable sets.

These include a massive saving on the older Sony models.

If you want a set of over-ears, the Sony WH-1000XM5 are available at Amazon now for £249 (save £131).

If in-ear’s your game, then there’s a solid discount on the Sony WF-C700N, which you can also nab at Amazon five-star, Sony WF-C700N for £55 – a £45 saving on their launch price.

They may not be the latest models, but we can personally confirm they are both still very capable options that will meet most music fans’ needs.



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Immigration raid at cannabis farm leads to chaos, one farmworker reportedly suffers grave injuries

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Federal immigration agents carried out immigration sweeps at two Southern California cannabis farms on Thursday, prompting a heated standoff between authorities and several hundred protesters at a Ventura County site and reports of a farm worker gravely injured in a fall.

Videos shared on social media showed nearly a dozen agents using less-lethal ammunition on a crowd that had gathered near Glass House Farms, a large, licensed cannabis greenhouse in Camarillo. Meanwhile, 35 miles up the coast in Carpinteria, federal agents entered another Glass House Farms growing site, where a smaller crowd gathered around the perimeter.

The United Farm Workers union said they were told one worker fell several stories from a greenhouse. UFW official Liz Strater said the person was taken from a Ventura County farm by ambulance. Strater said the person suffered catastrophic injuries and is not expected to survive. The worker’s name was not released, and local law enforcement officials could not immediate provide any details.

Eight people with injuries were transported from in and around Camarillo facility Thursday afternoon to local hospitals, according to Andrew Dowd, a spokesperson for the Ventura County Fire Department. He said he did not know the extent of those injuries or their current status. Dowd said an additional four people were treated at the scene for minor injuries and did not need hospital care.

U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli confirmed in a statement on X that federal agents had executed a search warrant at a marijuana farm. He said they arrested several individuals on suspicion of impeding the operation and warned that people who continued to interfere would be arrested and charged with a federal offense.

A spokesperson for the FBI said the agency was investigating a shooting that occurred during the operation in Camarillo. Video captured by ABC7 News appeared to show a protester opening fire at federal immigration agents after smoke canisters were thrown to disperse the crowd.

Ten minors without documentation were found at the farm during the raid, eight of whom were unaccompanied, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott said in a statement on X. The facility is now under investigation for child labor violations, he said.

Cesar Ortiz, 24, told a Times photographer in Spanish that his brother works at the farm and was detained and being held in a hot container without air conditioning.

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“They are taking everyone and the truth is it’s not right because these people come to work, struggle every day, to earn for bread every day,” he said. “It feels like they are against us but there are no narcos here, no one is armed here and they come fully armed, full of military personnel.”

The Ventura County Fire Department was dispatched around 12:15 p.m. to provide medical aid as a result of federal enforcement activity along Laguna Road in Camarillo, according to agency spokesperson Andrew Dowd. Five patients were transported to hospitals for treatment and four were treated on the scene.

Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the area to assist with traffic control but were not involved in any way with the federal operation, he said. Dowd also noted that the Fire Department has no connection with any federal immigration enforcement actions and will never ask for a patient’s immigration status.

“There’s so many family and friends who work here at the Glass House Factory, it’s a huge factory. … We were notified that the people working inside were all being detained, whether they were U.S. citizens or not,” said Angelmarie Taylor, who is with the 805 Immigration Coalition, a volunteer organization that tracks immigration activity by federal agents.

About 500 people gathered near the farm to protest during the day, according to Taylor. As of around 6:30 p.m. Thursday, about 200 protesters remained at the site where around 40 troops, some holding shields, and agents made a stand.

Marc Cohodes, an investor and famed short-seller who has invested in Glass House, called the raid “beyond outrageous.”

“The government is aware of cartels, illicit crime, the whole thing and yet, and yet, they decide to spend their resources going after a total legal company that pays the state of California hundreds of millions of dollars excise tax,” he said.

He added that Glass House is “the largest cannabis cultivator in the world” and “a highly regulated business fully licensed by the state of California,” with a site in Ventura County and another in Santa Barbara County. “It’s run by a guy named Kyle Kazan, who is an ex-cop who plays by the rules and does things by the book.” Kazan, he added, is also a supporter of President Trump.

Ortiz, whose brother was detained Thursday, said he had a message for Trump: “We all have a right to come here and work. Here, we all have a dream, we have to give it our all.”

Farther north in Carpinteria, U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) attempted to enter the marijuana farm after hearing reports of an immigration operation but was not let past the masked federal agents agents who formed a perimeter along the road about 75 yards from the raid.

“It was disproportionate, overkill,” Carbajal said. “These tactics are creating an incendiary, hostile environment the way they are being deployed, which could lead to, regrettably, violence in the future.”

He identified himself as a Congress member conducting oversight but said he was told to contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and was turned away. A crowd had gathered around the perimeter, but he said they dispersed after agents wrapped up and boarded a military-style vehicle.

Aerial views of the scene in Camarillo taken by news helicopters showed dozens of workers sitting in the shade alongside a warehouse, with federal agents standing guard.

Protesters blocked the roads in and out, and at one point federal agents drove their vehicles through the fields. Multiple ambulances had gone in and out of the facility, Taylor said.

Sarah Armstrong, outreach chair with Americans for Safe Access, said it appeared that Homeland Security and the U.S. National Guard were at the location firing tear gas and rubber bullets at the Camarillo protesters.

Lucas Zucker, co-executive director of Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy, or CAUSE, said Thursday that the organization had staffers on the ground after reports of a raid at Glass House, but he asked them to leave once federal agents started deploying tear gas.

The vast area is largely remote farmland, Zucker said, and the use of rubber bullets and tear gas on a small crowd was “pretty unusual.”

“I don’t think there’s any credible case that they were under threat,” he said, describing the scene as “a small crowd of community members … in pretty remote agricultural areas.”

He added that Glass House had been targeted by immigration authorities in the past couple of months, including when federal agents began conducting workplace raids in the region in June. Numerous videos on social media showed agents chasing after farmworkers and making mass arrests at farms.

Glass House Farms said in a post on X that the company was “visited today by ICE officials” and “fully complied with agent search warrants.” The statement said nothing else, except to add that the company would “provide further updates if necessary.”

Zucker said Ventura County saw a drop in worksite raids after an intense week in June, when community members mobilized to the fields and began patrolling farmlands. For the last few weeks, he said, they’ve received reports of raids in more suburban areas, including Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks. This raid represented the first major workplace raid in the region since then.

In a social media post, Oxnard Mayor Luis McArthur said he was “in communication with emergency services to ensure that safety personnel are on standby and ready to provide immediate assistance if necessary.”

“While this matter is taking place outside the jurisdiction of Oxnard, I am increasingly mindful that many of the facility’s employees are likely from Oxnard and are seeking refuge in their vehicles amid the high temperatures, raising concerns about the safety and well-being of those individuals,” he said.

He then commented on the broader strategy apparent from the raids across the Southland.

“It is becoming increasingly apparent that the actions taken by ICE are bold and aggressive, demonstrating insensitivity toward the direct impact on our community. These actions are causing unnecessary distress and harm. I remain committed to working alongside our Attorney General and the Governor’s office to explore potential legal avenues to address these activities.”

Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, criticized the protests.

“What happened in California is just another example of protesters becoming criminals, and they’ve been emboldened by even members of Congress who compare ICE to Nazis and racists and terrorists,” Homan told Fox News.

Freelance photographer Julie Leopo and staff writer Grace Toohey contributed to this report.





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Wimbledon men’s semifinals: Live updates, highlights as Carlos Alcaraz beats Taylor Fritz, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic look to advance

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World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz are each one win away from meeting in the Wimbledon final, just over a month after their legendary duel at Roland-Garros crown in June. However, they have No. 6 Novak Djokovic and No. 5 Taylor Fritz, respectively, standing in their way in the semifinals on Friday.

While Fritz provided a strong threat, Alcaraz was able to knock him off 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 on Friday. The win pushed Alcaraz into the Wimbledon final for the third-straight year. Alcaraz has won the event the last two years, and will be looking for a third-consecutive Wimbledon title Sunday, where he’ll face the winner of Sinner and Djokovic.

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Sinner and Djokovic will face each other in the semifinals again after the top-seeded Italian eliminated the 24-time Grand Slam winner in three sets at the French Open. Sinner has yet to drop a set at Wimbledon as he looks to avenge his championship loss to Alcaraz last month. Djokovic, 38, continues to age like fine wine as he scraped his way to the semifinal over the last week and a half.

Djokovic has won six of the last 10 Wimbledon men’s singles titles, while Alcaraz emerged victorious each of the past two years, beating the Serbian veteran both times.

How to watch the Wimbledon men’s singles semifinals

Date: Friday, July 11

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Carlos Alcaraz-Taylor Fritz start time: 8:30 a.m. ET

Jannik Sinner-Novak Djokovic start time: 10:10 a.m. ET

Location: Center Court | All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, London

TV channel: ESPN | ESPN+ | Disney+

Follow along with Yahoo Sports for live updates, highlights and more from the Wimbledon men’s singles semifinals:



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TikTok Star Aldo Miranda Dead at Age 32

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TikTok Star Aldo Miranda
Dead at 32

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