Amazon will launch a shopping event called Prime Big Deal Days on October 10 and 11, aka Prime Day Part II. As usual, many of these Prime Day deals will require a Prime membership, but Amazon has a free 30-day trial. Just register before the event and cancel right when the trial ends so you can take advantage of these deals. In the run-up to the October Prime Big Deal Days event, we’ve rounded up some early deals worth your time and money. We’ll have more coverage of the best deals during the event. Farther below, we’ve got more details about what you can expect.
For more deals be sure to check out WIRED’s own coupon page, which right now features 20 percent off site-wide at Dyson and $20 off when you spend $50 at Walmart.
Updated October 2023: We’ve added a handful of early deals on Amazon devices.
Early Prime Day Deals
Amazon Device Deals
Amazon devices frequently go on sale, but this is an especially nice deal since it comes with a free smart plug that typically sells for about $20. It isn’t the same exact model, but a similar Kasa plug is the top pick in our Best Smart Plugs guide. The Echo Dot (5th Gen) is one of our favorite Alexa speakers. You can use the included smart plug to do things like ask Alexa to turn off your box fan or turn on a lamp. The version with a built-in LED clock was priced at $30 on Prime Day back in July, so this pricing is solid.
This is basically the same bundle as you get with the aforementioned Echo Dot deal. We think the Echo Dot is a better speaker, but the Echo Pop (7/10, WIRED Review) is arguably cuter. Either way, the price is right, especially with the included smart plug. This is $1 more than we saw on Prime Day in July 2023.
This pricing matches the lowest we’ve ever seen for this device, which is one of the best 4K streaming devices. It traps you in Amazon’s ecosystem, but if you don’t mind (or you are already fully entrenched), it’s a good deal.
Other Echo Show devices are also on sale, but the Echo Show 8 is our favorite. This product comes with a free trial of Alexa Together, an Amazon service that claims to help remove caregivers. It usually costs $20 per month. Set a reminder to cancel it if you aren’t interested in subsequent charges. You can also pay $2 more to get it bundled with a Philips Hue Smart Bulb.
We haven’t tested these yet, but they’re the newer version of the pair that we recommend here. Amazon says the battery lasts up to 6 hours per charge. Alexa is built in, should you require on-the-go voice assistant assistance. This is a crazy low price for wireless earbuds in general.
Work-From-Home Gear Deals
If you’re constantly moving back and forth from the bedroom to the living room when working from home, Flexispot’s adjustable table with wheels can make it easier to swap between rooms. WIRED reviews editor Julian Chokkattu has been wheeling this rollable desk around different spots in his apartment. You can adjust the height and, because the leg isn’t centered, pull it under your bed or couch to bring the desktop close to you.
WIRED contributor Simon Hill says the Ergotron LX is built to last and has a great range of movement, which makes it easy to adjust the monitor’s position. He uses it with his 34-inch Alienware display and has it clamped onto a standing desk. Other mounts have a tendency to jiggle when he adjusts the desk’s height; this arm barely moves. It’s also VESA-compatible, comes with built-in cable management, and can support displays up to 34 inches.
Photograph: Das Keyboard
If you use a Mac as your daily driver, the Das Keyboard MacTigr is an excellent keyboard to use with it. It has a dedicated Mac layout, Cherry MX Red switches, a two-port USB-C hub, and a high-quality, all-metal build. It rarely goes on sale.
Audio Deals
Photograph: Bose
These noise-cancelling headphones are our favorite for the office. With advanced signal processing and four microphones built in, these will limit any sound around you, making them great for focusing on work in a busy environment and for Zoom calls. These fluctuate in price often, but we think it’s a great deal.
The Tribit Stormbox has an IP67 waterproof rating, so it can handle hikes and trips down the river as well as backyard gatherings. Under the hood are dual-firing drivers, passive radiators in a 7-inch-long pill shape, plus an extra bass button for impressive sound clarity and some surprising thump (though it can get slightly muddy).
The JBL Bar 1300X (8/10, WIRED Recommends) comes with detachable wireless speakers. You can pop off the two speakers on the side of the main soundbar and place them wherever you’d like without having to worry about whether there are power outlets nearby or having to hide cables. It also has some of the best Dolby Atmos immersion we’ve heard from a soundbar at this price. The only downside is that, without cables, you’ll have to charge the speakers between uses.
Vacuum Deals
The Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is our favorite vac-mop combo in our Best Robot Vacuums guide. It vacuums well and does a thorough job of scrubbing the floors (using the included mopping bin) without getting the carpets wet. It also uses laser navigation to accurately map your home, allowing you to subdivide vacuuming and mopping zones within the easy-to-use app.
The Eufy X9 Pro (6/10, WIRED Review) doesn’t work well as a stand-alone robot vacuum, but it’s the best mopping vacuum we’ve tried. On the bottom of the X9 Pro are two mops that both rotate at about 180 revolutions per minute; it’s both fast and accurate. WIRED senior associate reviews editor Adrienne So says it only took 30 minutes to mop her kitchen (including a spilled half-bottle of syrup without leaving the floor sticky), laundry room, and bathroom. The docking station dries the mops for you too, so they don’t get gross.
The V15 Detect holds the top spot in our Best Dyson Vacuums guide. It’s lightweight (7 pounds), simple to convert into a handheld model, and easy to maneuver. Since it’s a Detect model, it also comes with a motorized head that projects a green laser to help you spot microscopic dust—making it easy to catch particles that are invisible to the naked eye.
Phone and Smartwatch Deals
Photograph: Garmin
The second-generation Garmin Epix Pro holds the title of Best Outdoor Watch in our Best Fitness Trackers guide and is one of our favorite sports watches (8/10, WIRED Recommends). It has a bright AMOLED display, long enough battery life for a week of camping, and useful features like redshift mode (for training outside at night), and a flashlight. There’s also an endurance feature, in addition to all the other Garmin proprietary metrics that assess what kind of shape you’re in. This deal applies to the 51-mm size, but the 42-mm and 47-mm sizes are also on sale.
The Polar Ignite received an honorable mention in our Best Fitness Trackers guide. We particularly like its low-profile design and highly specific data collection—you can use it to check how metrics like breathing rate, heart rate, and heart rate variability increase during exercise. It’s a good smartwatch for those who want to take the guesswork out of their data when exercising.
Samsung’s new folding phone delivers a larger cover screen, which means you can do more on the phone without having to open it up. If you or someone you know always complain about how big phones are these days, a folding flip phone might be the answer to those woes. Read our review for more details.
This received an honorable mention in our Best Fitness Trackers guide. It doesn’t run Wear OS (so it’s not that smart), the screen fritzes out sometimes, and it doesn’t have FDA clearance. But it comes with GPS, a 24-hour heart rate monitor (along with a feature called Arty, which uses two light sensors to monitor your heart health), and a blood oxygen sensor. It’s a safe choice for tracking your daily metrics, especially if you don’t want to spend a lot of money on a wearable. With the coupon, this is also the lowest price we’ve tracked for it, yet.
When Is Amazon Prime Big Deal Days?
Amazon’s next big sale event will be on Tuesday, October 10, and Wednesday, October 11, 2023.
What Happened to the Prime Early Access Sale?
Last year, Amazon held a Prime Early Access Sale as a follow-up to the event in the summer, and it was the first-ever fall Prime Day sale. The new Prime Big Deal Days is really just a renamed version of that second Prime Day. Our best guess is that many people will simply call it Prime Day II: The Primening. Hopefully, Amazon will relent and just call it October Prime Day. But not this year.
How Many Big Deal Days Are There?
It will be a two-day event, just like the main Prime Day event. The event will begin at 3 am Eastern (12:01 am Pacific) on Tuesday, October 10. WIRED’s Gear team will be here, caffeinated and posting.
Will You Need a Prime Membership?
Yes, this event is for Amazon Prime members. If you want to take the ride you need to buy the ticket. In this case, the ticket is $15 a month, and you get free two-day shipping plus the chance to stream the Giants-Niners game without paying San Francisco or New York rent. There are a whole bunch of other Prime Day perks you can take advantage of as well.
That said, there are usually a lot of discounted products available to folks who are not Prime subscribers. Retailers like Target, Best Buy, and Walmart may even price-match some items or throw their own competing sales.
What Are Invite-Only Deals?
During Prime Day this past summer, Amazon introduced invite-only deals—a system to help make it easier for Prime members to access deals that are expected to sell out quickly—and the company is bringing it back for Prime Big Deal Days. The feature is only available on select products but it’s spread across a variety of categories and price points.
If a specific product is part of the Invite-Only Deals system, you’ll see a “Request Invite” button on the right-hand side. All you have to do is click it for a chance to buy it at that sale price. However, it’s important to note that there’s no guarantee you’ll receive the invite. You can learn more about the program and how it works, in our story on How to Shop Like a Pro During Amazon Prime Day.
What Types of Deals Can You Expect?
The best deals you’ll find on Prime Big Deal Days or any other Prime Day spinoff are on Amazon’s own products, including Kindles, Alexa-enabled Echo speakers and smart displays, Fire TV sticks, and Fire Tablets. However, you can also expect steep price cuts on a range of items ranging from headphones, robot vacuums, toys, smartphones, tablets, and more, from brands such as Lego, iRobot, Sony, and more. Apple usually has a handful of decent bargains on AirPods and other gadgets like iPads.
Keep in mind that Black Friday and Cyber Monday will be a little more than a month away from this Prime Big Deal Days event, and there’s potential for even bigger sales from a variety of retailers. The downside is that there’s a potentially tighter shipping timeline before the holidays. Either way, we recommend adding the products you want to buy to your shopping cart so you can track the price drops and are ready to go when the discounts arrive.
