Amazon fired a salvo years back when it launched Prime Day, which has since expanded to multiple days—and, this year, two separate events. Best Buy is the latest to launch a lightning strike of its own with a flash sale to steal Prime Day’s thunder. But act quickly if you want new headphones, a new TV, or more because these deals only last through Thursday.
The WIRED Gear team tests products year-round. We sorted through hundreds of thousands of deals by hand to make these picks. Crossed-out products are out of stock or no longer discounted. Our Amazon Prime Day coverage page and our Prime Day Shopping Tips will help you avoid bad deals. Check out our live blog to find the best Lightning Deals. You can also get a 1-year subscription to WIRED for $5 here.
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Headphone and Smartwatch Deals
These are the best workout earbuds on the market right now. Our reviewers have found them to fit comfortably and securely in a range of ear shapes and sizes. They run for up to eight hours on a charge, which is impressive for something that sounds this good and also features active noise cancellation.
“Among the very best-sounding wireless headphones you could buy” is how we led off our Sony WH-1000XM5 review (9/10, WIRED Recommends). They’re light and comfortable, yet they’re also true heavy hitters with stellar sound quality and excellent noise cancellation. All without cords to tie you up.
Ever since Apple bought Beats, its sound quality has been improving, due in no small part to the use of Apple’s W1 chip in this pair of Beats. It’s getting a bit old, but this is still a good price for a great pair of cans. With active noise cancellation on, they’ll last for 22 hours between charges. This jumps to 40 hours if you turn active noise cancellation off, and the over-the-ear form will still block out a fair amount of noise.
Even though Fitbit just announced the Versa 4, the Versa 3 remains a solid buy for somebody looking for a no-nonsense fitness tracker, mostly because it grants you access to Fitbit’s excellent app that lets you track workouts and health data, such as heart rate and runs—thanks to its built-in GPS. It’ll last for six hours on a charge, and there’s Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa included, too.
We love the Vívoactive line of Garmin smartwatches because it doesn’t look like most hulking Garmin watches. It can record your heart rate, sleep data, blood oxygen, and respiration, and it can all be synced to Garmin’s Connect app, as well as handle the basics, such as calendar notifications.
Home Theater Deals
Although this model doesn’t have a QLED screen, it remains one of our favorite TVs from one of our top-recommended TV manufacturers. For five years now, TCLs have been among the best value in 4K ultra-high-definition televisions. From the excellent built-in Roku streaming device to sharp picture quality that performs like a $1,000+ TV, this is your chance to upgrade your space to that home theater feeling you’ve been wanting.
Sony OLEDs have arguably the most beautiful displays among the high-end of 4K televisions. We like its big brother, the A90J, quite a lot and called it the prettiest TV on the market. The A80J is similar and comes with Google TV built-in, which is intuitive and easy to use, although not quite as good as Roku.
When somebody asks what’s the best soundbar and subwoofer combo, we point them toward the Signa S4 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) because it offers Dolby Atmos sound at an affordable price and fills a room with rich bass. Read our Best Soundbars guide for more.
You might have the sickest 4K-capable TV in the world and maybe you pay extra for the 4K-streaming Netflix tier, but it’s all for naught if you’re stuck with a lackluster TV interface. This cheap streaming dongle will help. You can plug it into the back of any TV (even one mounted to a wall) without worrying about where to place a big box. The built-in Alexa voice assistant is a nice touch, as well. It puts Amazon content front and center, so it’s best for people using a lot of Amazon services.
Apple Deals
This powerful MacBook Pro (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is really only meant for people who run intensive apps and need powerful machines, otherwise, it’s overkill. You get excellent performance with the M1 Pro chip, a beautiful ProMotion 120-Hz display, a MagSafe connector, a built-in 1080p webcam, plus a Touch ID sensor with way more ports than ever.
The M2 MacBook Air (7/10, WIRED Recommends) saw a cosmetic upgrade more than anything else, but it’s a welcome one. You get a better webcam, a MagSafe connector, and a slightly bigger and brighter screen. Plus improved performance with the M2 chip.
If you want to stream 4K content on your 4K TV, you’re going to need a streaming device. Apple’s 4K device is capable but pricey when it’s selling for full price. For Apple purists who want to be able to shout, “Hey Siri. Play Last Week Tonight With John Oliver on HBO,” this Apple TV is the one to get.
The recently released Series 8 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) has a new Low Power Mode that will help it last the weekend, and Crash Detection too, in addition to the stalwart fitness, health, and productivity features. This is the first time it has gone on sale.
We called this entry-level iPad, well, “boring, but perfectly fine” (8/10, WIRED Recommends). OK, the reason we could is that a tablet, especially one under $350, doesn’t need flashy high performance to handle the kind of web-scrolling most of us use our tablets for on the couch during commercial breaks. Apple’s iPad design reached a point of maturity years ago, and its simplicity just works. We’re expecting a new iPad on the way, but this is still a great price.
This deal is on the 2019 model of AirPods Pro (aka the first-gen model). They’ll last for 4.5 hours on a charge, though you can use the included charging case to juice them back up on the go. They easily switch between a very impressive active noise cancellation, passive, and transparency mode. This model comes with a MagSafe charging case, so you can magnetically attach it to MagSafe chargers for easier charging.
Retailer Sale Pages
Photograph: Qi Yang/Getty Images
Other stores have started offering competing deals that don’t require an Amazon Prime membership (and more will likely join in). Here’s a list of merchants that may be getting in on the action.
