Today might be Amazon’s big sale day—it just kicked off its second Prime Day called Big Deal Days—but Best Buy is also running an eye-catching list of deals right now. Whether you’re looking for a new laptop, earbuds, or even … checks notes … Amazon devices like Kindles and Echos, we’ve rounded up the best deals during Best Buy’s Flash Sale shopping event. It runs through October 11 until 10 pm PT (1 am ET on October 12).
Note: Most of the Best Buy Flash Sale deals are available to everyone, but a select few are exclusive to My Best Buy members. Not seeing a sale price? Make sure you’re logged in to your account.
WIRED Featured Deals
Updated October 11: We added the Dyson V8 stick vacuum, Razer Blade 14 gaming laptop, Samsung T7 external SSD, and Beats Studio Pro wireless headphones.
If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more.
Apple Deals
The 2023 MacBook Air (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is one of our favorite laptops this year. It has an excellent six-speaker sound system, a 1080p front-facing webcam, and a 10-core variant of the M2 processor the previous year’s model came with. It’s blazingly fast for most normal work and can even handle some light video editing and other heavier tasks.
The 9th-generation iPad (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is our pick favorite iPad for most people, even though it’s one generation behind. Aside from costing less than the more current 10th-gen model, it’s compatible with all the same accessories (including the first-gen Apple Pencil) and retains the physical Home button at the bottom of the screen with Touch ID.
If you’re looking for an upgrade to the typical iPad, the 5th-gen iPad Air (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is our pick for you. It has the same M1 processor that powers the 2020 MacBook Air. It has a beautiful screen, a USB-C port, and Touch ID built into the power button.
The 11-inch iPad Pro (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is what we call the ultimate iPad. Which is to say it’s the most powerful iPad, but not necessarily the most economical. It packs the same powerful M2 processor that’s in the newest Macbook Air, an excellent screen with 120-Hz Pro Motion for extra smooth animation, Face ID, and four high-quality speakers. If you need extra power and extra luxury, this is the iPad to grab. And if you need extra screen space, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is also on sale. It has a much nicer mini-LED screen.
TV, Laptop, and Phone Deals
The Roku Plus Series is our best entry-level TV recommendation. It has a QLED display and local dimming giving it solid black levels, and it supports Apple’s Homekit, Amazon’s Alexa, and Google Assistant for smart home control. It’s not the flashiest TV, but for its price, it’s hard to beat.
Samsung’s fancifully-named “The Frame” TV is designed to disappear into your home’s decor when you’re not using it. It looks like a framed piece of art when it’s idle, and you can customize what art or photos it displays. This is close to the lowest price we’ve seen it at, and it’s reaching the price of more typical TVs.
This is the old model, which was recently replaced, but this is still a good deal. The price 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.
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.
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is our top Surface pick for most people. It has an AMD Ryzen 7 processor, 8 GB of RAM, and a 256-GB SSD. It doesn’t have any of the flashy hinges or tablet hybrid features of its siblings, but it’s a solid all-around laptop, and even comes with a magnetic charger, so you don’t fling it across the room if you trip on the power cord.
For power users looking for a Microsoft laptop, our pick is the Surface Laptop Studio (7/10, WIRED Recommends). It has a 2-in-1 hinge that lets it function as either a laptop or a tablet. It’s got a 14-inch touchscreen, an 11th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, and 16 GB of RAM. Yes, there’s a new Laptop Studio, but we ran into some thermal issues, among other things. If you spring for the Surface Slim Pen, there’s a spot to magnetically attach it to the front of the laptop.
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.
We’re still testing the Razer Blade 14, but we can spoil our review and reveal it’s already earned an 8/10, WIRED Recommends. It brings the Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti to a laptop form factor, with the option to upgrade up to a 40-series GPU, and it includes a full-size HDMI output port so you can play on your best monitor. Not that you’ll need to, because its 16:10 display is already pretty gorgeous.
The WIRED Gear Team loves this external SSD from Samsung. It’s ludicrously fast—staff writer Eric Ravenscraft has used it to record 6K BRAW footage on Blackmagic cameras, a challenging task for most storage—durable enough to survive drops, and IP65 water- and dust-resistant. It uses a USB-C cable and fits handily into your (or your bag’s) pocket.
Amazon Hardware Deals
The standard Kindle is iconic for a reason. The 2022 model is the smallest, least expensive of all our favorite Kindles. It has a 6-inch screen, twice as much storage as the previous model with 16 GB of storage, and a crisper 300-ppi display; text should be a lot clearer on this one.
The Kindle Oasis is an indulgent e-reader for ebook fans. It has a sleek aluminum design, physical buttons to turn the pages, and a light-up display that looks natural and easy on the eyes. This model is a little old by this point and probably due for an update, but this sale also makes it much more appealing than its usual price.
For most people, the Kindle Paperwhite is our top pick. It has a lot of the features of the Oasis–including a spacious 6.8-inch screen, waterproofing, and adjustable warm lighting–at a lower price point. The Signature Edition can also automatically adjust your screen’s brightness based on the ambient light. If you don’t care about the auto-adjusting brightness, the regular Paperwhite is also on sale for $95.
The fourth-gen Amazon Echo (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is the Echo we recommend for most people. (Despite a 5th-gen Echo Dot, this is the latest version of the flagship speaker.) It has a spherical design, improved sound drivers, and better audio quality and speech recognition compared to previous generations of Echo.
The Echo Studio is the best-sounding Alexa speaker, but it’s also pretty expensive. This price matches a low we’ve seen just once before. It has more powerful sound in general, but the changes are especially noticeable on the low end. Check out our Best Smart Speakers guide for additional details and recommendations.
The Fire Max 11 (5/10, WIRED Review) is Amazon’s biggest, nicest, and most overpriced Fire tablet. This deal makes it much more palatable. The display and new fingerprint sensor are nice, as is the ability to use the keyboard without resorting to bluetooth, but the Fire OS operating system leaves much to be desired (like a decent app store). Still, if you’re set on a Fire tablet and you want a big display, this isn’t a bad deal.\
Headphone Deals
While its predecessor was one of the best pairs of wireless earbuds around, the WF1000XM5 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is still no slouch. They produce balanced sound, are comfortable to wear, and have active noise cancellation. When using the ANC, they last up to eight hours on a single charge, stretching to around 12 hours without it.
We like Sony’s standard LinkBuds (8/10, WIRED Recommends) for its open-ear design that allows you to hear what’s going on around you. If you do a lot of city walking, or use your earbuds and need to be aware of your surroundings, these are a great option.
If you’re not a fan of the open-ear look on the LinkBuds, the LinkBuds S offer a more traditional design. They have a closed-ear design and active noise cancellation instead, making them better for blocking out sound in your surroundings.
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 Beats Studio Pro Wireless Headphones (7/10, WIRED Review) are iconic for a reason. They have excellent calling noise canceling, good sound quality, and a generous wireless range. They’re missing some features we’d normally like to see from higher-end headsets, like auto-pause sensors or multi-band EQ, but when they’re discounted by this much—and the lowest price we’ve ever seen for these headphones—we can overlook those gaps.
Camera and Microphone Deals
The GoPro Hero11 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is our favorite action camera. It can capture up to 5.3K video, optimized for vertical video platforms, and has some fun shooting modes that make getting light trails easy. This bundle comes with the Hero11, a carrying case, vertical mounting bracket, and a battery grip/mini-tripod.
The Blue Yeti microphone and the Logitech 922 webcam feel like a natural pairing. Both have places in our top microphone and top webcam guides. They’ve each become standard in the streaming and podcast space as a high-quality yet inexpensive entry point with minimal overhead. And now you can grab them both at the same time.
Sony’s A7 is a generation behind, but it still does a fantastic job. It has excellent dynamic range and phase-detection autofocus that’s responsive enough to nab those fast-paced shots. This deal is only for the body, so it’s ideal for anyone that already has a collection of Sony E-Mount lenses.
Kitchen and Home Deals
The KitchenAid Stand Mixer is a godsend of a kitchen gadget. It has a generous 5-quart bowl that has plenty of room for mixing, kneading, or beating a wide variety of ingredients together. It’s built to last, so even if it weren’t on sale it would be worth the sticker price, but fortunately, this deal brings it way down.
Precision cookers—or sous vide, if you’re feeling fancy—let you cook food with a much higher degree of control than you might be used to. You can cook chicken perfectly every time, or cook large amounts of food using just bags and containers of water. It’s a handy addition to any kitchen, and the Nano 3.0 is one of our favorite starter precision cookers.
The Barista Touch has everything you need to turn your kitchen into a coffee shop. The built-in burr grinder and hot water spout are controlled by a digital display that lets you dial in your brews. Tap the Latte button and the Touch will crank out a latte, even foaming the milk. The results are not as good as what you can do by hand, but it’s a nice option if you’re feeling extra lazy.
The Breville Impress (6/10, WIRED Review) allows budding baristas to make good to very good espresso right out of the box. Breville has done a nice job of auotmating some of the trickier elements of espresso-making. The downside is that we found a good bit of variation from shot to shot.
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.
These scooters are our Best Electric Scooter; they also go on sale so regularly that we urge you to avoid paying full price for them. It offers some of the best range for the money, as well as commuter perks like bells and lights.
This is our top pick for budget-friendly Dyson vacuums, and it’s even more affordable with this sale. It works as a stand-up stick vacuum, or you can swap attachments to turn it into a hand vacuum, and its battery lasts about 40 minutes on a single charge. It also comes with a wall mount so you can hang it up to charge when you’re not using it, and a few extra attachments to clean those hard-to-reach corners.
Retailer Sale Pages
Credit: Source link