Best Early Black Friday Deals on Tech

The AirPods Max sound really good and have superb and flexible noise-canceling tech. They have a high-performing transparency mode to pipe in outside sound, as well as spatial audio capability. But the biggest selling point might be the distinctive design and premium feel we’ve all come to expect from an Apple product. At the normal street price of $550, they’re hardly a bargain, but subtract more than $50 and the Maxes become much more attractive.

Dyson has been known for the eye-catching design of its vacuums. The company’s sleek and well-built On Trac over-the-ear headphones are both lovely to look at and a joy to touch. And they sound as good as they look, with detailed bass and a warm midrange that’s great for long listening sessions. The noise cancellation is top-notch, too. The model’s biggest drawback? It would probably be the steep list price. So, at under $250, this deal is worth a long look.

JBL Tune 510BT headphones feel like they’re built with quality in mind: They’re cheap, but they don’t seem cheap. This Bluetooth model delivers pretty good sound quality, it has a 40-hour advertised battery life, and we’ve seen it selling at remarkably low prices. The 510BT sits on the ears, which some people find more comfortable than being engulfed by the more common over-ear style. As an extra perk, you can also use them with a cable if you forget to charge them.

If you’re looking for high-value noise-canceling headphones, the Sennheiser Accentum Plus is a very solid option. They’re amiable companions, with robust bass, neutral midrange, and that sense of lively openness that makes really good headphones fun to listen to. They’re pleasantly light in weight, and the fit and stability are good for most of our testers, though those with large heads and/or prominent ears may want to double-check the fit.

These headphones were on sale for $149 during the fall sales, but this is the best price right now.

Headphones are all about sound, and these sleek Sonys are simply the best-sounding earbuds we’ve tested. They deliver so much musical detail that you simply hear your favorite songs in a different way. They also offer powerful active noise cancellation and an effective transparency mode. Even at their normal street price, the XM5s are a solid sonic investment, but with a healthy discount, they’re approaching no-brainer territory.

While we also recommend the Apple Watch SE 3, the previous-gen Apple Watch SE 2 impresses our testers, comes with nearly all the health and fitness features an Apple Watch fan could want, and is now available at a steep discount. 

The Apple Watch Series 10 (42mm) is now a generation old, but it still delivers stellar performance. It comes with a bright display, fast-charging capabilities, and all the Apple Watch basics, from automatic workout detection to sleep tracking. The larger 46mm case option is also on sale.

The Fitbit Charge line routinely features great general-purpose trackers, and the Charge 6 is no exception. It offers a 1.1-inch full-color display and a range of tools that help you stay on top of your health, everything from stress monitoring to an ECG (electrocardiogram) function that can alert you to irregular heart rhythms.

This previous-generation Pixel Watch 3 has an elegant design, robust health features, and seamless compatibility with the Pixel phone and Google ecosystem. CR’s testers also found the performance of the watch’s heart-rate monitoring and step tracking to be excellent. Just note that Amazon sold this watch for $179.99 during Prime Big Deal Days.

The 77-inch OLED77C5PUA is LG’s midtier OLED TV for 2025, and it’s among the best sets you can buy, with great picture quality, high dynamic range, and sound. It features numerous gaming capabilities, including a 144Hz refresh rate. But note that most retailers have been selling it for about $2,700 in recent weeks, not $3,700.

The Samsung QN65S84FA is a 2025 OLED TV that appears to be exclusive to Best Buy. It’s well-priced for its performance, with excellent overall picture quality and very good HDR performance. It also has very good sound. It comes with most of Samsung’s TV features, including support for object-tracking sound and Dolby Atmos immersive audio.

We haven’t tested the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Plus, a new model that features AI search and WiFi 6 streaming capabilities. But it is essentially the same as the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K, which did well in our tests. It supports Dolby Atmos audio, as well as the HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision, and HDR10+ HDR formats.

The JBL Xtreme 3 is one hefty hunk of speaker. In fact, you might be surprised by how large it is when you see it in person. The 5-pound, foot-long beast sports a strap instead of a handle, which can make it a handful to haul around. But it’s water-resistant, delivers strong bass, and can play loud enough to fill a large-ish room. At just about $200, it’s—quite literally—a lot of speaker for the money. Note that the Walmart offer only applies to the blue model.

The JBL Flip 7 is a classic do-it-all speaker. It’s small enough to stuff into a bag, but delivers enough sound to provide background music at a barbecue. It’s IP68 water-resistant and dust-proof, and the company claims you can drop it onto a concrete floor from a height of one meter and it’ll keep working. Also, according to JBL, it delivers 16 hours of music on a single charge. This is the sale price for the red model. You’ll find other options available for roughly $110. All represent a decent value, especially if you think there’s a good chance you’ll be abusing your new speaker more than a little.

Looking for a really good, inexpensive small speaker? The Flip 6 is at a fantastic discount at Walmart right now. This speaker is very similar to the venerable Flip 5, and that’s a good thing. It’s water and dust-resistant, has a 12-hour battery life, and is just the right size to slip into a bag or even the water bottle pocket on a backpack. This is the price for the black model. Others are priced at $95 to $100.

We didn’t test the Amazon Fire TV Soundbar (B0C4BZ28PG), but it’s a fairly basic, low-cost model at a very nice price. As a 2.0-channel system, it features a single bar with stereo speakers and no separate subwoofer. It supports DTS Virtual: X, which attempts to create a more immersive experience using just the two speakers in the main enclosure. The model offers Bluetooth audio for streaming music from a smartphone.

This full-featured Dolby Atmos soundbar speaker from Sonos, an all-in-one model that doesn’t require a separate subwoofer, is among the top models in our ratings, with very good overall sound quality. It should provide satisfying sound for music and movie/TV soundtracks for even more critical listeners. The model features a total of 11 drivers, including one on each end, as well as two upfiring drivers positioned at the top for Dolby Atmos audio. The soundbar can be configured as part of a full surround-sound system when paired with a Sonos subwoofer and rear Sonos speakers, and/or as part of a multiroom system.

The Sony Bravia Theater Bar 6 is a 3.1.2-channel soundbar that delivers satisfying sound, so it’s a good choice for both movies and music. The model supports both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X immersive sound, and the main enclosure has upfiring drivers for height sounds. The soundbar features Bluetooth wireless connectivity, allowing you to stream audio from portable devices.

The latest MacBook Air with M4 chip continues Apple’s streak of making truly compelling laptops. While we technically tested the 15-inch model, we expect this 13-inch version to deliver the same top-tier performance and all-day battery life. It’s an ideal choice for travelers or students who need power in a significantly smaller package. You might miss having the extra screen real estate of its big brother, but the speed of the M4 chip and the sharp Retina display make this a standout deal all the same.

The Asus Vivobook 16 isn’t flashy, but it covers the basics really well, especially at this price. It earns top marks for portability and ergonomics, making it a great pick for students or remote workers who value comfort and a lightweight build. Performance and display are average, but with a roomy 16-inch screen and solid all-around versatility, it’s a strong value at $699.

Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop is a sleek, ultra-portable powerhouse built for AI. It features a vibrant 13.8-inch touchscreen and the brand-new Snapdragon X Plus chip, which brings excellent battery life. This is a great price for a laptop with the cutting-edge chip.

This 14-inch model weighs next to nothing—2.9 pounds to be precise—and delivers nearly 19 hours’ worth of battery life per charge. Our testers say that it’s not the fastest Chromebook you’ll see, but if you’re just doing typical Chromebook-y tasks, that shouldn’t be much of an issue. Just note that it was on sale for $50 less on Amazon Prime Day.

The Amazon Fire HD10 isn’t a high-end tablet, but it offers plenty of power if you just want to tackle “tablet-y” things, like streaming video, reading ebooks, or browsing the web on something bigger than your phone. You can also snag a discount on the smaller 8-inch Amazon Fire HD8.

We think Apple’s basic iPad is a great pick for nearly everyone. Count on a crisp 11-inch screen and plenty of battery life. Plus, at just about 1 pound, it’s easy to take along with you while traveling.

The 22.5-watt Anker Nano Portable Charger aces our tests and is petite enough to easily slip into a bag or even pocket. It has enough juice to charge an average smartphone battery from empty once or top it off a few times, and its two USB-C ports can charge two devices simultaneously.

This compact, budget-friendly charger can be handy to toss in your kid’s backpack, especially if they need something that connects via USB-C. It’s roughly the size of a credit card and has two USB-A ports as well as a USB-C port, so it can charge three devices simultaneously. Iniu claims it can charge a pair of AirPods Pro over 10 times on a single charge and an iPhone 13 nearly twice.

This third-party iPad stylus writes silky smooth, whether you’re scribbling notes in class or creating advanced digital art. CR’s own pro illustrator Sharon Seidl says it feels like a “real pen writing on real paper” and rivals the pricier Apple Pencil models in performance. This model works with all iPad models after 2018.

If you’re looking for a versatile printer for your home office, the HP Smart Tank 7602 ticks a lot of boxes: It’s an all-in-one model, which means it can handle copying and scanning, too. It delivers high-quality text and graphics, though at a slightly slower rate than some other options. And, because you refill the “tanks” with bottled ink instead of pricey cartridges, ongoing ink costs remain super low.

The Arlo Essential 2K (VMC3050-100NAS) is one of Arlo’s most budget-friendly security cameras. It performs well in our tests and features a built-in spotlight, a siren, and voice/app control via Amazon Alexa and Google Home. Additional features, such as activity zones, person detection, and cloud video storage, require an Arlo Secure subscription.

The TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug Slim EP25 is one of the most versatile smart plugs on the market, offering energy monitoring and compatibility with all four major smart home systems: Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings. It’s also very easy to use and set up based on our expert evaluations, and it offers decent data security. This four-pack is down to the lowest price we’ve seen for it.

The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Enhanced is one of the company’s newer smart thermostats, and it has dropped back down to its Prime Day sale price from July. It performs well in our tests for manual operation and offers an array of smart features, but it’s not as proficient at learning your routine and making adjustments automatically. It features a new radar-based occupancy sensor and works with Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings for voice and app control. It doesn’t come with one of Ecobee’s wireless temperature sensors (called SmartSensors), but you can buy those separately in a two-pack for $100 at Best Buy and Ecobee.

One of the best (and least expensive!) doorbell cameras you can buy, the TP-Link Tapo D130 offers a bunch of features—even without a subscription. These include 24/7 recording with local video storage on a microSD card (up to 512 gigabytes, sold separately), AI object recognition (for people, vehicles, packages, and pets), activity zones, and color night vision. This model needs low-voltage doorbell wiring for power. Cloud video storage is available via subscription.

The TP-Link Tapo D210 is one of the most affordable doorbell cameras in our ratings, and it outperforms many of the more expensive models. The doorbell is battery-powered, meaning you don’t have to mess with doorbell wires, and it comes with a plug-in doorbell chime in the box. Features include activity zones, color night vision, local video storage on up to a 512GB microSD card (not included), person detection, pre-recorded responses to ask visitors to leave a message, and voice/app control via Amazon Alexa and Google Home. Best of all, none of these features requires a subscription.

If you’re a Samsung Galaxy lover and due for a phone upgrade, you can save $120 on the latest S25 smartphone. (The S25+ and S25 Ultra are also on sale, if you want a larger or more deluxe model.) Either way, expect a vibrant display and an excellent camera system.

This pint-sized, foldable phone is now a generation old, but still a solid performer for fans of foldable phones. It easily stows in your pocket but flips open to reveal a high-quality 6.7-inch display. (This offer is for the siver or the yellow model; other options are on sale for $899.) The Flip6’s cover screen, which remains visible even when the device is closed, shows notifications, dynamic widgets, and your personalized wallpaper.

You don’t need to spend a fortune on the latest tech for a huge WiFi upgrade, and the TP-Link Archer AX72 Pro is proof. A solid performer in our testing, this WiFi 6 router delivers speeds that are more than fast enough for most families, easily handling multiple video streams, online gaming, and a house full of connected devices. For anyone still using the basic router provided by an internet service provider, this is a sensible, low-cost upgrade.