When you shop through retailer links on our site, we may earn affiliate commissions. 100% of the fees we collect are used to support our nonprofit mission. Learn more.
Remember when Black Friday meant shopping only the day after Thanksgiving?
But over the past few years, Black Friday has morphed into an almost monthlong event, with run-up sales starting weeks earlier and extending into Cyber Monday, which itself has become a weeklong deals bonanza.
The big decision for shoppers, of course, is whether to jump on the pre-Black Friday sales or wait for the deals and doorbusters on Black Friday (Nov. 29) and even, at some retailers, Thanksgiving night (Nov. 28).
Go to Consumer Reports' 2019 Holiday Gift Guide for updates on deals, expert product reviews, insider tips on shopping, and much more.
We've already covered some early TV deals as part of Walmart's pre-Black Friday sale, and found that most of the listed TVs were from secondary brands that didn't do especially well in our ratings. (We did find a good deal on a 65-inch Vizio set, however.)
BJ's has now entered the fray, with several TVs from LG and Samsung, major brands that typically do well in our tests, making them worthy of consideration as a primary TV for your home. And they're all larger sets, ranging in size from 65 to 82 inches.
We evaluated each of these TV deals, checking their performance in our TV ratings. If we haven't tested a set, we looked at similar models we did test to offer our best guess as to how they might stack up in terms of picture quality. We then compared BJ's prices against those at other retailers.
It's hard to predict whether you'll see any of these sets at much lower prices next month, but a few of these deals look good enough to warrant serious consideration. If you decide to buy, see whether BJ's will offer a price guarantee. And if you'll shop for a new TV in the next 30 to 45 days, use our top 10 Black Friday shopping tips for 2019.
BJ's Big-Screen TV Deals
All of these deals include a $50 Google Play credit.
65-Inch LG 4K Smart TV, $870
CR's test results: LG 65SM8600AUA
This LG performed well overall in CR testing. It's part of the company's step-up line of NanoCell sets that replaced last year's Super UHD models. Although BJ's says it goes on sale for $870 on Monday, Oct. 28—and will be on sale through Nov. 20, 2019—it's at this price right now, though you might not get the Google Play credit. We see this set, available mainly at warehouse clubs, for $969 at Sam's Club, so the BJ's price is a pretty good deal. The set is a smart TV that has LG's ThinQ voice-enabled artificial intelligence platform, as well as built-in support for Google Assistant. It will also work with Amazon Alexa devices.
65-Inch Samsung 4K Smart TV, $1,000
CR's test results: Samsung QN65Q6DR
This set, basically the warehouse equivalent of the company's Q60 entry-level series of QLED TVs for 2019, is available for $1,000 from Oct. 30 through Nov. 20, 2019, at BJ's. It's selling for about $1,200 at BJ's and Sam's Club right now, and both offer the $50 Google Play Credit, so you'll save $200 once the BJ's sale starts. We tested this set, and it offers generally satisfying overall picture quality. It's a smart TV that has Samsung's Bixby digital voice assistant, so it will work with other Bixby and SmartThings-enabled devices; it's also compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Home voice assistants.
75-Inch LG 4K Smart TV, $1,470
We didn't test this set, the LG 75SM8670AUA, which BJ's says will be available at this price from Oct. 28 through Nov. 20, 2019. It doesn't seem to be that great a deal, because you can buy this TV for about the same price at Sam's Club right now. We also see the LG 75SM8670PUA, a similar set but sold at electronics stores, selling for $1,500 right now at Best Buy and P.C. Richard & Son. Based on the specs we've seen, we expect it to perform similarly to the SM8600-series sets, though we often see some differences in very large sets that have different LCD panels from those used in smaller sets.
75-Inch Samsung 4K Smart TV, $1,500
CR's test results: Samsung QN75Q6DR
This is the larger sibling to the Samsung listed above. We tested this set and it did well in our tests, very much like the 65-inch model above. Right now, BJ's is selling this TV for $2,000 with the Google Play credit. It's also that price at Costco and Sam's Club, so this seems to be one of the better TV deals at BJ's. It will be on sale at this price from Oct. 30 through Nov. 20, 2019.
82-Inch Samsung 4K Smart TV, $2,000
The Samsung QN82Q6DR, the largest set of the group, may also be the best deal because it's selling for about $2,700 right now at BJ's and Sam's Club. We didn't test this TV, but we expect that it will perform similarly to the 65-inch set, above. That one, which is in our ratings, has satisfying overall picture quality and better-than-average sound. The deal is available from Oct. 30 through Nov. 20, 2019.
