Welcome to Black Friday Whack-A-Mole, when early deals pop up and disappear and then (sometimes) pop up again. There’s also Black Friday Ring Toss, the game of hoping you land the deal millions of other shoppers also want. Example: The long-teased TCL 55-inch Roku TV for $148 hit Walmart earlier this week — only to be sold out just minutes later.
That particular deal might not make a reappearance, but rest assured others will. For instance, the next Walmart early Black Friday sale starts this Saturday, Nov. 14. The latest Best Buy early Black Friday sale is happening right now. And although Amazon recently put the brakes on discounted Echo devices, there’s no doubt those price cuts will be back.
The list below continues to feature some of our favorite early Black Friday deals. Below them, you can see some of the expired stuff, which we’re keeping here because we expect them to resurface. As always, keep this post bookmarked and check it often for updates!
Best early Black Friday deals available now
Angela Lang/CNET
Why spend almost double to get AirPods Pro rather than the regular AirPods? I’ll make the arguments for better fit and much better sound, but, really, it’s all about the noise canceling: These in-ear ‘buds block outside noise better than just about any other product on the market.
They’re also great for calls and offer an excellent transparency mode. Like to work out? The AirPods Pro are sweat-resistant; standard AirPods are not.
Pro tip: Use your Amazon Prime Rewards Visa card to get 5% back on this purchase, effectively bringing your price down a bit. Don’t have that card? If you’re a Prime subscriber, grab it and score a $100 Amazon gift card.
Best Buy
TCL is best known for its Roku TVs, and we like the Roku smart TV system better than the Android TV version in this television, but for this price you can just buy a Roku Streaming Stick Plus, attach it to this TV and still come out ahead. Aside from its smarts we expect this 4-Series TV to perform “good enough,” just like the Roku equivalent.
Note that this was $50 cheaper last week, and therefore may be again — but for now it’s still a really solid deal on a 55-inch smart TV.
Ninja Chef™ Professional Blender, CT800: $89
Save $70
Walmart
Ninja took the value crown in CNET’s roundup of best blenders. This 10-speed model is larger and better than the one reviewed, and it’s currently $70 off.
Shark IQ Robot Vacuum R100: $199
You save $195
Walmart
Shark’s pet-friendly robot sweeper offers a high-capacity dust bin, Wi-Fi connectivity and home-mapping features, meaning you can confine it to certain rooms if that’s your preference. This model sells elsewhere for at least $330, so Walmart’s discount is solid.
23andMe Health + Ancestry Kit: $99
You save $100
Amazon
This is only the third time this kit has been priced this low. It’s an insanely popular item, as it’s great not only for checking your ancestry, but also for identifying potentially serious health issues. Makes a great gift, too.
Vanessa Hand Orellana/CNET
New for 2020, the Apple Watch SE is the middle child of the Apple Watch lineup. It’s got the same basic design as the Series 6, but lacks that model’s always-on display, ECG functionality and oxygen saturation measurements. The 40mm and 44mm models run $279 and $309 at the Apple Store.
Crock-Pot
Kohl’s isn’t technically having a Black Friday sale, but we’re tossing this in because it’s a great deal on an item every kitchen needs. Score the beloved Crock-Pot for just $25.50 with promo code SAVE15. This model has lid clamps for easier travel.
Take note that shipping isn’t free, however, unless your cart hits $75. But you can pick it up in-store and bypass shipping altogether.
Lenovo’s premium two-in-one, the Yoga C940, boasts a sturdy and sleek all-metal design and a touch display that can rotate 360 degrees into tablet mode. It includes an active pen and can also instantly wake from sleep, one of the phone-like features it received courtesy of Intel’s Project Athena.
This configuration features a 14-inch display with a 4K resolution powered by a 10th-gen Core i7 CPU, 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD with 32GB of superfast Optane memory. A similarly configured Yoga C40 on Lenovo’s site works out to $1,650, so this deal is even better than it looks. And it already looked good.
AeroGarden
As we roll into winter, I’m already missing my garden — especially the herbs I grow to make homemade chermoula (my best discovery of 2019).
LED-powered indoor gardens to the rescue! There are lots of these on the market right now, some pretty pricey. This is an unusually good deal on the AeroGarden Harvest Elite Slim, which supports up to six seed pods and comes with a starter heirloom-salad seed kit.
Óscar Gutiérrez/CNET
Amazon, Walmart, Costco and other stores were offering $99 AirPods, the lowest price on record, but for the moment that deal is gone. In its place: $129 AirPods on Amazon
Will $99 AirPods be back? [Shakes Magic 8-Ball.] All signs point to yes.
Eufy
You don’t have to spend hundreds to add some automation to your house cleaning. The Eufy RoboVac 25C can be controlled via a mobile app or by voice with Alexa and Google Home. It’s smart enough to differentiate between floors and carpet and can avoid stairs automatically.
Early Black Friday deals: Sold out or expired (for now)
Roku
Not wild about the Android TV or Fire TV interface in that bargain TV you bought? No problem: Simply plug in your streamer of choice. The Roku Premiere offers nearly all the important modern-era goodies, like 4K streaming and HDR support, all wrapped in a simple, effective UI.
However, the remote lacks voice controls. If you want that feature, consider waiting for a Roku Streaming Stick Plus deal. That’s going to be available for the same price at Best Buy starting Nov. 22.
CNET hasn’t reviewed this version of the Roku Premiere, but check out the Premiere Plus review, which covers most of the important details.
Walmart
This Keurig is the perfect size to make delicious coffee from your K-Cups and still have plenty of counter space.
The Keurig K-Compact Coffee Maker will be on sale for $35 from Nov. 14 to 15.
Believe it or not, these headphones debuted at $300 about four years ago — at which time we dinged them for not sounding quite as good as other $300 headphones. For $120, however, they’re a steal — and that’s $80 less than you’d pay at the Apple Store. Read our Beats Solo 3 Wireless review.
Screenshot by Josh Goldman/CNET
Looking for cheap storage? Amazon has slashed prices today on SanDisk storage products of all stripes. That 400GB MicroSD card for $60 would be a great Switch upgrade, for instance.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Excited as we are for the $148 55-inch Roku TV that’s coming to Walmart later today, this is a pretty sweet deal as well.
As a general rule, we don’t like Amazon’s Fire TV as much as Roku because Fire TV menus push Amazon content too much and are more confusing in general. But this model does have a voice remote with Alexa, and the price is just amazing for a screen of this size.
TCL
This 55-inch TCL has a 4K UHD display with HDR. It’s equipped with our favorite smart TV interface, Roku, which you can control with the included voice remote. There are four HDMI inputs (including ARC) and dual-band Wi-Fi for smooth streaming.
HP
This midrange Pavilion is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 5 4500U CPU, a 512GB SSD and has a 1,920×1,080-pixel display. It also features upgraded B&O speakers and weighs 3.9 pounds.
Bose
If ever there was a time to tune out the world, it’s now. (Because, you know, election, pandemic, murder hornets…) Sure, there are newer over-the-ear noise-canceling cans from Sony and even Bose, but this perennial favorite was great when it came out and it’s still great now — especially at this price, which rivals the lowest we’ve seen. Original list price: $350.
Instant Pot
These days, a multicooker is an essential kitchen tool, like a toaster oven or microwave. This Instant Pot Viva can get you in the multicooker business for half price: $49 buys you a nine-in-one gadget that works as a pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, yogurt maker, sous vide, cake maker and more. It has a 6-quart capacity and comes with 15 preset programs for recipes that include soups, beans, rice, ribs and eggs.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Normally $30, the new-for-2020 Fire Stick Lite continues to see a solid discount ahead of Black Friday. This entry-level streamer delivers 1080p video with HDR support (but not 4K). The big missing apps are HBO Max and Peacock (for now), but the Alexa-powered voice remote is top-notch.
Chris Monroe/CNET
The Echo Show 8 is simply a larger version of the Echo Show 5, but that makes it a better candidate for the kitchen and other places you might prefer a bigger display. (It’s definitely preferable for video calls.) This matches the lowest price on record for this model.
Note that Amazon shows an in-stock date of Nov. 24, so head to Best Buy if you’d rather get this immediately.
What you need to know about Black Friday 2020
Black Friday 2020 is shaping up to be a very different kind of shopping experience than any holiday shopping weekend in recent memory. With ongoing inventory issues due to the extended global pandemic — not to mention the need for retailers to maintain a safe environment for customers and employees — it’s likely that there will be no throngs of expectant customers lining up for hours ahead of massive doorbuster sales.
In fact, a number of stores will be closed on Thanksgiving this year, ending a long-standing tradition of kicking off Black Friday sales before the turkey has had a chance to cool. These retailers have not yet announced plans for Friday, Nov. 27, but we’ll update this article as we learn more about their holiday hours.
In addition, all of the retailers listed below require customers to wear face coverings. Unless their policies change between now and Thankskgiving, it’s reasonable to assume that face coverings will be required for Black Friday sales as well.
Bookmark this post and check back often for more early and upcoming Black Friday deals!
Read more: 4 things you need to know about Black Friday 2020
Watch this:
Tricks to score extra savings on Black Friday and Cyber…
2:06
CNET’s Cheapskate scours the web for great deals on tech products and much more. For the latest deals and updates, follow the Cheapskate on Facebook and Twitter. Find more great buys on the CNET Deals page and check out our CNET Coupons page for the latest promo codes from Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon and more. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Find the answers on our FAQ page.