Not so long ago, you had to wait in line outside a big box store to score the best Black Friday deals. Fingers frozen, lips chapped, knees trembling—warmed only by a cup of drive-thru hot cocoa and the spirit of holiday camaraderie that would turn to fierce competition the moment a hungover manager in an ill-fitting polo shirt loosed the gates to a neon-lit palace of discounted electronics and soft goods.
We’d be out there with them, dear reader, but those days are over. The best Black Friday deals are now exclusively online. The daily newspapers once as thick as a telephone book with CMYK circulars for holiday sales are now thin and ghostly things. The doorbusters are digital and don’t require physical suffering or fitness, merely fast fingers.
We cannot give you the thrill of sprinting past strangers to grab the last Furby off the shelf but we can give you this full and complete accounting of live sales handpicked by WIRED editors based on our extensive product testing and the quality of the discounts relative to their real street prices in the days before Black Friday deals hoopla began. We will update this live blog regularly through the morning and afternoon of Black Friday. Good luck with your shopping.
WIRED’s Top Deals
- Apple’s best earbuds: Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Generation) for $190 ($70 off)
- Our favorite TV for most people: TCL Q6 TV for $348 ($100 off)
- The best mattress for side sleepers: Bear Elite Hybrid Mattress for $1,499 ($115 off)
- A super cheap kids tablet: Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition for $75 ($75 off)
- The best ultralight sleeping pad: Nemo Tensor for $100 ($100 off)
- The best pickleball paddle: Engage Omega Evolution Extreme X for $118 ($50 off)
- An excellent budget laptop: Lenovo IdeaPad Flex for $691 ($160 off)
- Paris Hilton’s modernized flip phone: Motorola Razr+ (2023) for $700 ($300 off)
Fresh Black Friday kitchen deals just dropped!
Nintendo Switch Black Friday Deals come when?
Nintendo Switch
This go-anywhere console is the runaway hit of 2020, thanks to its versatility and Nintendo’s massive library of wholesome games. Play it as a handheld, prop it on a tabletop, or connect it to your T.V. for family fun. The Switch also supports online play, so your lil’ gamers can retreat into the popular world of Animal Crossing: New Horizons with their friends, where everything’s just fine.
Nintendo Switch deals: Everyone wants them, everyone is searching for them on Black Friday, and as yet they’re not really showing up. The best bargains we’ve seen so far on the Nintendo console are bundles that basically get you a free game with the system.
Walmart has bundle deals with Animal Crossing, Legend of Zelda and Mario Tennis Aces among a dozen or so titles. You can get the OLED model with Mario Kart for $359 from Walmart which is what I’d buy.
The basic console is running at $299 at Amazon with the OLED model going for $349.
The lesson here is that if everyone wants something and is desperately searching the internet for it the producer can be patient about offering it.
Feeling flush
Envying the AirPods Pro
AirPods Pro (2nd Generation) with USB-C
I’m one of the few people on earth who finds that the traditional AirPods fit me like a dream—I’ve loved the design since they were wired and connected to my iPod—but I’m increasingly jealous of people who get the Pro given the noise canceling and much better battery life.
Reviewer Parker Hall gave the latest model a glowing review last year (9/10, WIRED Recommends) writing that “the sound, noise canceling, and microphones are top-notch for everything from running music to vital conference calls.”
They have better battery life, significantly better sound quality, and even better noise-canceling tech than their predecessor, let alone my regular ol’ AirPods.
Other Apple deals we’re tracking:
Apple iPad 10.2-Inch Tablet (9th Gen, 2021) for $230 ($40 off)
Apple iPad (10th Gen, 2022) Tablet for $349 ($50 off)
Apple iPad Air 10.9-Inch Tablet (5th Gen, 2022) for $500 ($60 off)
Apple Pencil (2nd Gen) Stylus for $89 ($40 off)
MacBook Air 13-Inch Laptop (M1, 2020) for $750 ($250 off)
Apple Watch SE (40 mm, 2nd Gen) Smartwatch for $179 ($70 off)
My favorite mattress is on sale
Stuff your pack with camping and hiking gear deals
We’re doing it live!
Yes, folks, WIRED’s gear team is liveblogging Black Friday deals. It’s just after 6 am Eastern and we know lots of people are making their morning coffee and steering themselves toward temptation and we’re here to help spot great deals for you. Stay tuned as we’ve got a lot of updates ready to hit the wire.
If you’re looking for someplace to start our always popular Best Black Friday Deals under $50 post is a great place to clear out the bottom half of your gifting list.