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Enlarge Image Ninety7

One of my favorite products of recent memory is the Ninety7 Vaux, a battery-powered speaker for the Amazon Echo Dot.

Okay, but what if your smart-speaker of choice is the Google Home? Must it forever stay within arm's length of an electrical outlet?

Not anymore. For a limited time, you can get the Ninety7 Loft portable battery base for Google Home for $38.95 shipped when you apply promo code CNETLOFT at checkout. That's a Cheapskate exclusive, my friends; civilians have to pay full price!

The Loft comes in your choice of three colors: Copper, snow and carbon. Installation is a snap, just twist off your Google Home's decorative base, insert the Loft and you're done.

Just to clarify, this is a single-purpose product: It adds portability to your Home in the form of a rechargeable battery, one that's good for up to eight hours, according to Ninety7. It's not, like the aforementioned Vaux, a speaker as well.

The key thing to remember is that your Home still needs connectivity if you want it to function as anything other than a Bluetooth speaker. Take it outside the house, for example, and it won't respond to commands -- not unless you use your phone as a hotspot for it.

But if you just want to move your Home around your, well, home, this makes it possible. And super-easy.

As fate would have it, CNET reviewed the Ninety7 Loft just yesterday. That's good, because I haven't tried it myself. Interestingly, tests revealed a battery life of more like 10 hours, not just eight. (Your mileage may vary, of course.)

It's a mostly positive review, though can you guess one of the dings? Yep, price! And I agree $50 seems a touch steep, stylish and practical though the Loft may be. But here's your chance to get a discount of better than 20 percent! What say you?

Beats

Bonus deal: The Beats headphone brand is synonymous with premium and, if you ask me, overpriced. Ah, but do you get what you pay for? Let's come back to that.

For a limited time, and while supplies last, Daily Steals has the certified-refurbished Beats by Dr. Dre Powerbeats3 Wireless in-ear sport headphones for $74.99 shipped when you apply promo code BEATSBYRICK at checkout. That's another exclusive, folks -- best price you'll find elsewhere is at least $5 more.

Back in 2016, CNET's David Carnoy, in his review of the Powerbeats3, called these "improved but still pricey." That was based on a $200 (!) price tag. So for just $75 out the door, these are a steal, right?

Maybe. Here in 2018, yours truly got the chance to test-drive a sample of Daily Steals' Powerbeats3 inventory. Condition: Indistinguishable from new, save for the brown-box packaging.

Sound quality: I encountered the same issue as Carnoy; I couldn't get a really good seal with any of the provided eartips, a problem I don't usually have with earphones. Consequently, I wasn't able to enjoy what is widely regarded as top-notch sound quality. Your mileage may vary.

Verdict: If you've always craved the Beats brand but couldn't justify the sky-high pricing, here's your chance to get a genuinely good deal. Don't care about branding? Watch this space, because I routinely share sport 'buds that cost even less.