Amazon's secret sale section is bursting with amazing tech deals — they're up to 40% off

Psst: Did you know Amazon has a hidden section devoted to stellar markdowns on its own devices? Now you do! On any given day, the e-tail giant adds and removes deals from this secret hub on a handful of Echo smart devices, Fire TV video streamers and Kindle e-readers — and the savings are great. If you’re looking to build out a smart home or just want to read mountains of books on one goes-anywhere screen, you need to know about this page. Here are our current fave finds.

The Fire TV Stick 4K is nearly the perfect streaming device. Not only does it hide just out of sight behind the TV, but the remote is easy to use and has shortcuts for all the major streaming outlets. At the same time, you can use Alexa to control your home. Looking for something similar to this?

There are lots of other Fire TV Sticks on sale.

One fan quipped, "I just bought an Echo Dot (5th generation) with clock and it sounds great. I have several 2nd generation Echo Dots and had to attach an external speaker to them to get a good sound. This isn't necessary with the new ones, and the clock display is a great new feature. I'll probably end up replacing all the older ones with these. Anyone need a couple of external speakers?"

"We have Echo Dots in most rooms of the house and added the Show at the beginning of the year to incorporate video and camera monitoring. This thing is awesome. The sound is very good, on par with the Echo Dot 5, and the vide quality is excellent for something in this price range. The entire Alexa system is a great way to retrofit a home to make it function like a smart home and the voice recognition is multitudes better than Siri," one user said.

"The sound is excellent and crisp, the screen is clear, and the device itself is perfect and it has smooth motion. Also the delivery guy left it on the porch and the device got here safe and unharmed. I am satisfied," one user said.

What's that? You'd like a larger screen that's also at an impressive discount? Coming right up:

One fan called it 'life changing': "I love this product so very much. It was a Mother’s Day gift from my family. It sits in my kitchen and it’s the first thing I look at each morning. I can see my calendar for the week, the weather and my grocery list. I absolutely love the communication capabilities: announcements and drop-ins to the upstairs room. We also use the sticky-note widget where I leave reminders for the family. The green is so big and beautiful that you can’t help but look at it! It has simplified our lives and I absolutely love it!"

The Ring Spotlight Cam Plus brightens up the area around your home and can distinguish between incidental motion and that of a person. It even has a siren to help startle would-be intruders. Oh, and it comes with lifetime theft protection: If the camera is stolen, Ring will replace it for free.

One fan said, "I bought this camera to be a nanny cam for my car because I live in an apartment building and I have a garage that, while technically private, is easy to get into. I have a car that I love and wanted to ensure that she stays safe.... I now get videos sent to me daily of the person in my garage (me) petting and polishing my car. It's a great product and a very inexpensive insurance system if you have something you wish to protect."

Check out these other Ring deals:

If you're looking for an easy-to-use, lovely-to-look-at TV, you can't go wrong with the Omni series. Between its support for HDR and Dolby Digital Plus, the 4K resolution and easy access to more than one million TV shows and movies, it's a great set-up-and-go set. It comes with a lot of bonus features too — and right now, it's $130 off.

"Bottom line: This is a great TV. Gaming in 4K and movies/shows look amazing. There are a plethora of options to fine-tune the picture settings," said one happy viewer. "My favorite feature is the Smart-HDR setting, which makes SDR look much more detailed and have better contrast. The FireTV OS is my favorite over everything else (Roku, AppleTV). Best purchase I've made in a long time.

And don't forget about bigger options:

A question as we approach the year's midpoint: How's that "I'm gonna read more in 2023!" resolution going? The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition Bundle holds all your books but weighs just six ounces. It also grants you access to Amazon’s ginormous Kindle library — get thousands of titles delivered straight to your e-reader. Read for up to 10 weeks without needing a recharge. The Paperwhite has a screen that looks like, well, actual paper, so you can get more of that real-book feel. This set comes with its own case and stand.

"When I read about the new Kindle Paperwhite, I really couldn’t believe I needed another device, but I am an avid reader, and it just sounded great," said a satisfied shopper. "I ordered it. I love it. It reads so much like a book, has more memory and holds a charge for longer. It was a great buy."

If you have Amazon Prime, you’ll get free shipping, of course. Not yet a member? No problem. You can sign up for your free 30-day trial here. (And by the way, those without Prime still get free shipping on orders of $25 or more.)

The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.