UPDATE: Oct. 13, 2020, 3:20 p.m. EDT This post has been updated to include helpful tips on how to get the most out of Amazon Prime.
Our picks for the best Prime Day deals:
The long-awaited day is finally here: Prime Day 2020 has officially begun and our credit cards are ready. There are literally thousands of deals to shop across the web during this two-day span, so we’re here to make things a little easier for you by rounding up the very best Prime Day deals.
Remember that Prime Day ends at 11:59 p.m. PT Oct. 14 (2:59 a.m. ET Oct. 15), so be sure to check out on Amazon before then to score all of these deals. Honestly, check out as soon as you can because we predict some hot items to run out of stock, and we can’t be sure they’ll be restocked before Prime Day is over.
Amazon isn’t the only retailer participating in the shopping holiday, though. Walmart, Best Buy, and Target are all hosting their own versions of Prime Day as well, so the internet is chock full of deals. Happy shopping!
AMAZON DEVICES
Our top pick: Echo Studio with two Philips Hue bulbs — $149.99 (save $79.97)
The Echo Studio utilizes five speakers to produce impressive sound with powerful bass. It’s not just a body for Alexa voice controls — it’s actually a good speaker for bumping music and adjusts its playback depending on the room it’s in. This bundle includes the Echo Studio as well as two Philips Hue smart bulbs, which you can operate via voice control with the Echo.
More Amazon device deals
AMAZON SERVICES
Our top pick: Audible annual membership — $99.50 (save $50)
Prime members can get their first year of Audible for $50 off and receive 12 credits upfront instead of on a monthly basis. One credit equals one title, meaning you get 12 books included for free in the membership.
More Amazon service deals
APPLE PRODUCTS
Our top pick: MacBook Air (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $1,149.99 (save $149.01 at checkout)
This laptop has a gorgeous 13.3-inch Retina display that Apple is known for, and it features a backlit Magic Keyboard and Touch ID.
More Apple deals
4K TVS
Our top pick: Samsung 70-inch Class 6 Series 4K TV — $529.99 (save $220)
Grab a 70-inch Samsung TV for about the same price as what a 55-inch usually costs. This TV has absolutely stunning visuals with crystal clear 4K resolution. Plus, it’s big enough for the whole fam to gather around for a movie night.
More TV deals
LAPTOPS AND TABLETS
Our top pick: XPS 13 2-in-1 laptop — $1,499.99 (save $450)
Is it a laptop? Is it a tablet? It’s both! This device features a touchscreen and folds in half to easily transform into whichever mode you need. It has a full keyboard and a webcam.
More laptop and tablet deals
HOME AND KITCHEN
Our top pick: iRobot Roomba 981 robot vacuum — $399.99 (save $200)
Roomba and robot vacuum are synonymous, and for good reason — iRobot makes some seriously impressive cleaning machines. The Roomba 981 is great for pet hair, carpeting, and hard floors, and it’s WiFi connected, allowing you total control from your smartphone.
More home and kitchen deals
GAMING
Our top pick: Razer Blade 15 advanced gaming laptop 2020 — $2,099.99 (save $500)
Razer is one of the top names in gaming accessories, so it’s exciting to see a Razer gaming laptop included in Prime Day sales. The Razer Blade 15 boasts the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super graphics card and a 4K OLED touch display.
More gaming deals
HEADPHONES
Our top pick: Bose QuietComfort 35 II — $199 (save $150)
These are some of the most impressive noise-canceling headphones on the market, and this is a huge price cut. The QuietComfort 35 II headphones have industry-leading sound quality and three levels of noise cancellation for different environments.
More headphones deals
SPEAKERS
Our top pick: JBL Boombox — $279.95 (save $120.40)
Get booming sound loud enough for a party from this portable Bluetooth speaker. It’s bigger than most portable speakers because it delivers powerful sound with hard-hitting bass. The battery lasts up to 24 hours and the rugged speaker is waterproof and can withstand drops.
More speaker deals
SMARTWATCHES AND FITNESS TRACKERS
Our top pick: Fitbit Versa 2 — $127.95 (save $52)
Fitbit is *the* brand to have in fitness tracking. The Versa 2 is essentially a smartwatch that also has super impressive fitness tracking qualities — think Apple Watch, but more focused on health.
More smartwatch and fitness tracker deals
HOME SECURITY
Our top pick: Ring Video Doorbell Pro — $169.99 (save $80)
If the doorbell ringing when you’re not expecting company or a delivery freaks you out as much as it freaks me out, you should get a Ring Video Doorbell Pro. It allows you to see who’s at your door without actually having to answer it. The video doorbell connects to your phone or smart video devices, letting you see, hear, and speak to whoever’s out there.
More home security deals
What is Prime Day?
Prime Day is sort of like a Black Friday that’s exclusively for Amazon Prime members. It’s usually in the summer, though shipping delays and challenges related to COVID-19 pushed it back to October for 2020. It’s been a two-day shopping event the last couple years, and in 2020 falls on Oct. 13 and 14.
It’s typically a nice chance to get big savings outside of the normal holiday shopping season, but this year it’s a chance to start your holiday shopping early. We usually see discounts on hot ticket items like Echo devices, tablets, 4K TVs, and headphones.
How does Prime Day work?
Within the 48 hours of Prime Day, there will be exclusive deals for Prime members that show up automatically when logged in. There are deals that last the whole stretch of the event and then there are lightning deals that last for a much shorter time (like an hour or two) and have a limited supply. The items on sale during Prime Day are not limited to just Amazon products and include categories like electronics, furniture, outdoor gear, clothing, and tons more from a variety of brands.Amazon has been throwing us some early Prime Day deals ahead of the event, and these deals do mostly focus on Amazon brands like Echo devices and Fire TVs.
How to shop Prime Day
If you’re a Prime member, just go to Amazon’s homepage and you will likely be bombarded with Prime Day promotional banners that’ll take you to the Prime Day deals page. If you’re not a Prime member, you can sign up for a 30-day free trial or an actual paid membership. You’ll get access to deals on physical products and services like Audible and Prime Video.
Prime Day 2020 shopping tips
A savings event on a platform as massive as Amazon can feel seriously overwhelming. There are some steps you can take now, and once Prime Day actually begins, to make your shopping experience go as smoothly as possible — and ensure you get all the best deals.
First of all, it’s never too early to start. What big ticket items are you hoping to score this year? Compile a list and then wishlist those products and set deal alerts within the Amazon app (tap “watch this deal” on items you want).
Amazon discounts tons of stuff every day, so in order to find actual Prime Day deals, look for deal badges. They’ll be in blue to help you differentiate from regular deals. For the best experience, figure out which platform you like to shop best: Amazon.com, the Amazon app, or through Alexa.Once you have your shopping list put together, don’t be afraid to jump on deals you see ahead of Prime Day’s actual start date. Like Black Friday, this shopping event’s lines get blurred and savings can crop up outside of the set timeframe.
Prime Day competitors
This comes as no surprise, but other retailers are planning their own shopping events to ride the coattails of Prime Day. We saw this last year with Target and Walmart running exceptionally good deals during the same dates as Amazon’s event, and this year they’re being far more blatant about it. Hey, it’s 2020, there are no rules.
We already saw Wayfair’s Way Day event, which was a very obvious copycat, and now CNET has reported that Walmart and Target are following suit with “Big Save” and “Deal Days” events. Best Buy is coming in hot with a Black Friday event, where customers have two days to shop early deals that will match Black Friday savings prices.
Walmart’s Big Save will take place Oct. 11 through Oct. 15, which is technically longer than Prime Day, but early Prime Day deals have already started, so Walmart doesn’t really have the upper hand there.Target’s Deals Day is set to run Oct. 13 through Oct. 14, making the event a direct Prime Day competitor.
Best Buy’s early Black Friday deals will be available to shop Oct. 13 and 14, also directly competing with Prime Day. All of these stores are boasting Black Friday-level deals on thousands of products, and honestly, we suspect these savings will stick around until the end of the year. More and more retailers (these ones included) have publicly extended their holiday shopping seasons to span October through December.
How to sign up for Amazon Prime
New Amazon Prime members start with a 30-day free trial, so you can jump ship if you decide Prime membership is not for you. (Just be sure to cancel within the 30-day time frame, because Amazon will have your credit card information on file.) After that, it’ll be $12.99 per month or $119 per year, depending on which subscription you’ve picked.
If you want the $12.99 per month option, click any of the “TRY PRIME” buttons on this page to get started. Luckily, Amazon really wants you to sign up for Prime, so you shouldn’t have trouble spotting one.
If you’d prefer the $119 annual option (which comes out to less than $10 per month, so it’s a better deal if you don’t mind paying up front), click “SEE MORE PLANS,” which is underneath the big button. From there, you’ll select a plan, create an account and a password, and enter your address and payment information.
Students with a valid .edu email can sign up for Amazon Prime for a discounted rate of $6.49 per month after a six-month free trial. (Check out our separate guide to Amazon Prime Student to learn more.) If you have Medicaid or EBT, you can also sign up at a discounted rate of $5.99 per month — you just won’t be able to share your account with one other adult like you would at the higher rate.
You can also give Prime as a gift. Not the most romantic present out there, but hey: If they’ll use it, they’ll use it.
What comes with Amazon Prime?
Amazon has a pretty comprehensive list of Prime benefits here, but they’re a lot to parse (and a few of them are out of date). Here are some highlights.
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Memberships: Prime Video, Prime Music, Prime Gaming (formerly Twitch Prime)
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Discounted memberships: Amazon Music Unlimited (30-day free trial, then four months for $0.99 for Prime members), Amazon Kids+ (30-day free trial, then $2.99 per month for Prime members), and more
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Access to Prime Wardrobe, which allows you to try on select clothes (many of which are from Amazon’s in-house brands) and send back the ones that don’t work within seven days free of charge
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Deals and coupons that only work for Prime members, as well as early access to some deals (including 30-minute early access to Lightning Deals)
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Access to Amazon Fresh, a grocery delivery service in select cities
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Free unlimited photo storage with Amazon Photos
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Members-only savings at Whole Foods (Amazon bought the grocery store chain in 2017.)
And, of course, only Amazon Prime members will get access to Prime Day.
Is Amazon Prime worth it?
Amazon certainly pushes Prime enough that it seems like everyone has it. While there are plenty of reasons to take your business to retailers other than Amazon, whether a Prime membership will benefit you from a financial standpoint depends on your priorities as a shopper.
First, consider how much you generally order things online, and how many of those things can feasibly come from Amazon. If you spent more than $119 on shipping in the past year and would’ve been cool with all of those items coming from Amazon, well, do the math. Another element to consider is shipping speed: A huge percentage of Prime purchases will come in two days or fewer.
It’s also worth considering the other services that come with Prime. If you would pay for Prime Video and full-rate Amazon Music Unlimited separately anyway, it might make mathematical sense to spring for the full Prime membership, which includes both. If you don’t plan on using those features, though, the deal’s allure might lessen.
If you don’t think Amazon Prime is for you but still want access to Prime Day deals, consider opting for the free trial now and simply canceling your membership once Prime Day is over.