Amazon Prime Day 2024 is officially a couple of days away now and we’re starting to see even more early Prime Day deals pop up. This was expected: Amazon may deem July Prime Day a two-day event, but for years, the online retailer has hosted lead-up deals in order to drum up excitement for the main event.
Most early Prime Day deals are exactly that — early discounts that only Prime members can access — but every once in a while there are some discounts available to all. We’ve collected the best early Prime Day deals here, along with the rest of the best discounts on our favorite gadgets that anyone can get from Amazon right now. We’ll be updating this post regularly, so check back to see the latest discounts.
As a reminder (and for the uninitiated): Engadget treats tech deals with the same care as we would “regular” tech news. When we scour the web for deals, we’re looking not only for the best prices possible, but also the best products as well. Our goal with our deals coverage, especially surrounding events like Amazon Prime Day, is to surface only the best deals we can find on the gadgets we’ve tested and rated highly, or that we’ve used and know to be worth your money.
Best early Prime Day deals: Engadget top picks
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Shark AI Ultra Voice Control Robot Vacuum
Best early Prime Day deals: Apple
The base 13-inch M2 MacBook Air has dropped to a record low of $799. This was already our favorite budget MacBook and now it’s an even better deal at this price.
While you can get the technically more powerful M3 MacBook Air now, most people won’t notice the performance differences between the two. If you’re coming from an older, Intel-based MacBook, any M-series machine will feel like a big upgrade. This M2 laptop excels thanks to its stellar performance, excellent screen and thin-and-light design.
Apple released the new iPad Air models with the M2 chip back in May and right now, the larger 13-inch model with 128GB of storage is available for a record-low price of $749, down from $799. The M2 iPad Air is our choice for 2024’s best overall iPad.
Apple’s new slate earned a 91 in our review because it’s powerful, capable and has a great-looking screen. It doesn’t have the top-of-the-line features and performance of the new iPad Pros — but the Air is nearly $500 cheaper.
Apple’s 9th-gen iPad is on sale for $249 right now, which is close to its record-low price. There’s a big caveat for this deal, though: Apple’s phasing this model out in favor of the 10th-gen iPad being its base tablet now. But if you’re comfortable snagging an older model, this is a good deal to consider. You’re getting a 10.2-inch display here, along with a physical Home Button with TouchID and an A13 Bionic chipset.
The latest stylus for iPads, the Apple Pencil Pro is currently on sale for $119 on Amazon. That’s just $10 lower than its original price, but does happen to be the first discount on the new accessory since it’s launch last month. The new Pencil Pro recognizes squeezes, which can trigger actions like bringing up app-specific tool palettes and shortcuts, and gives you haptic feedback as you use it. It can also detect rolling the barrel for more precision as you draw.
Apple’s third-gen AirPods are on sale for $139. These buds came out in 2021 and massively improved upon their predecessors with better sound quality, a more comfortable design and a six-hour battery life.
Also on sale are the second-gen AirPods for $79. These are arguably only best for those who are on a tight budget and want to spend as little as possible to get a pair of AirPods.
Best early Prime Day deals: Amazon
Amazon’s smallest smart speaker, the Echo Dot, has dropped to $25 for Prime Day. It’s one of the best smart speakers you can get right now thanks to its compact design, physical button controls that compliment voice commands and its solid sound quality for its size.
The revived Echo Spot is already on sale for Prime Day, down to just $45 for Prime members. The new model has improved audio quality and a sharper display, but notably absent is a built-in camera. That makes it better for more privacy-conscious folks; just not that you won’t be able to video chat with it like you can with other Amazon smart displays.
The Amazon Echo Show 5 is on sale for $50 right now. It’s one of our favorite smart displays thanks to its compact design, ambient light sensor and sunrise alarm feature, all of which make it an excellent smart alarm clock. Amazon improved the speaker quality on this latest model, which gives sound deeper bass and clearer vocals.
Amazon’s most powerful streaming dongle, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max, has dropped to a record low of $35 for Prime Day. In addition to support for 4K HDR content, this streaming device also supports Dolby Vision and Atmos and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity. It also has more memory than less expensive Fire TV sticks and it comes with an Alexa Voice Remote.
The second-gen Ring Indoor Cam has dropped to a record-low price for Prime Day. The latest model of the camera allows you to get a live look at what’s going on in your home from wherever you are with 1080p HD video. There’s color night vision support as well.
This version isn’t battery powered, so you’ll still need to place it near an outlet. But it does come with a swivel mount, so you’ll have a little more flexibility when it comes to the camera’s point of view.
Similar to the Amazon Music Unlimited deal above, Prime members who’ve never subscribed to Audible Premium Plus can get three months of the audiobook service for free. A membership normally costs $14.95 per month after a one-month free trial, so this is a roughly $30 discount. As a refresher, Audible Premium Plus gives access to a big library of on-demand audiobooks, podcasts and other content, plus a monthly credit you can use to permanently buy a title in the Audible store.
The service will be most worthwhile if you tend to burn through audiobooks quickly; if you’re on the fence, this extended trial should make it easier to see if you’d get any use out of it. Remember that your service will auto-renew at the standard price after the trial period ends until you cancel.
If you’re an Amazon Prime member who has never subscribed to Amazon Music Unlimited, you can now get five months of the music streaming service for no cost as any early Prime Day deal. If you’re a new user who doesn’t have Prime, you can get a three-month free trial. The service normally gives a one-month free trial then costs $10 per month for those who subscribe to Prime and $11 per month for those who don’t.
Music Unlimited isn’t a formal recommendation in our guide to the best music streaming apps: Its interface isn’t as tidy or smartly curated as that of Apple Music, our top pick, and we’ve found it to be a bit aggressive about promoting podcasts you may not care about.
That said, it’s hard to beat free, and the service has more or less the same giant music library as its peers. It also supports lossless streaming, unlike Spotify, which is a nice plus for audiophiles with high-quality wired headphones. If you just want to save a bit of cash on your music streaming for a few months, it should do the job. Just remember to cancel when the free trial ends, as your subscription will be set to auto-renew by default.
Amazon Prime members can get three months of Kindle Unlimited for free in this Prime Day deal. With this subscription, you get access to a library of millions of books, comics and magazines to read for free. There are also some audiobooks included as well; just make sure to cancel before the free trial is up if you don’t want to get charged full price on the fourth month.
You can get a two-pack of Blink Mini 2 security cameras for only $40 right now. They’re now better equipped to capture video outside, and they still support 1080p video, motion detection and two-way talk.
Amazon’s Fire TV Soundbar is $20 off and down to $100, which is the best price we’ve seen all year. It’s best paired with a Fire TV device or a standalone Fire TV, and it supports surround sound with DTS Virtual:X, and Dolby Audio.
The 43-inch and 55-inch Amazon Fire Omni QLED smart TVs are up to 25 percent off right now. The 43-inch model is the most affordable, down 20 percent with a final price of $360 for Prime members. These TVs support 4K HDR10+ content with Dolby Vision IQ, hands-free Alexa, Ethernet and Wi-Fi connectivity and the Fire TV ambient experience.
Best early Prime Day deals: Anker
The Anker Soundcore Space A40 earbuds have returned to a low of $59, that’s a savings of $21 over the full price. We named these our top pick for a budget-friendly set of buds because they provide features like EQ adjustment, splash-resistance, active noise cancellation and a decent transparency mode. Plus the sound itself is pleasant and warm.
Best early Prime Day tech deals
The Ninja Creami ice cream maker has dropped to $150 for Prime Day, which is close to the best price we’ve seen. This model includes seven programs including ice cream, gelato and sorbet, and it comes with one pint container for you to make and store your creations.
In our Ninja Creami review, we gave the machine a score of 90 for its ease of use and the fact that it’s parts are mostly machine-washable. There’s also just a plethora of treats you can make with this device, so it will likely be a mainstay on your countertop if you love frozen desserts.
The Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro is $100 off right now and down to $300. It’s got a larger footprint than the other top picks on our best air fryers list, but for some that will be a perk. If you cook often, entertain frequently or have a big family to make meals for, this multi-purpose air fryer will come in handy.
In addition to being able to fit an entire, 14-pounds turkey, the Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro has space for a five-quart dutch oven and a 9×13-inch pan. It supports a number of other cooking modes other than air fry, like bake, broil, toast, dehydrate and more, and you can download its companion app to follow along with guided recipes.
This Shark AI Ultra robot vacuum is half off and down to only $300 right now. A version of one of our top picks for the best robot vacuums, it supports cleaning schedules and home mapping, plus it comes with a self-emptying base that can hold up to 60 days worth of debris. The base is also bagless, so you don’t have to buy and replace proprietary garbage bags in it over time.
The beige color of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9+ is down to a near record-low price of $799, or $200 off. We consider the entire S9 series of tablets to be some of the best you can buy right now thanks to their solid performance, IP68-rated design, excellent optional accessories and handy Dex mode for multitasking.
These Bose true wireless earbuds are down to $189 right now. That’s $90 off their usual price. The Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds are a bit newer, but these are still solid buds with excellent noise cancellation for the price.
Our top pick for a Wi-Fi 6E mesh system is TP-Link’s Deco XE75, and right now, it’s on sale for just $290 with a $60 coupon for a pack of three. That’s the lowest price we’ve tracked, taking $160 off the set’s list price. We like how it balances power and user-friendliness, bringing fast connections to places in your home that may have been spotty before.
Amazon Prime Day FAQs
When is Prime Day 2024?
Amazon Prime Day 2024 lands on July 16 and 17 this year. The shopping event focuses on exclusive deals for Prime members, which means you’ll have to be a Prime subscriber on Prime Day to take advantage of most of the savings. Amazon still offers a 30-day free trial to new Prime subscribers, so you can start your free trial now to participate in the event.
Is Prime Day the same days every year?
No, but Prime Day usually happens during the summertime in the United States. In recent years, Amazon has held a second sale event in the fall as well, dubbed October Prime Day, which is similar to the summertime sale.
Can anyone shop Amazon Prime Day?
Amazon Prime Day focuses on exclusive deals available only to Prime members. However, if you don’t pay for Prime and have no intention of doing so, you should still check out Amazon on Prime Day for sales that are available to all shoppers — there are always a few of them.
Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.