All of the early Prime Day deals that are actually worth your money.
Amazon has announced that Prime Day 2023 will begin on July 11th, but you don’t have to wait until then to get a good deal. The company has started to roll out a few early Prime Day deals before the two-day shopping event officially commences, including, as expected, several discounts on its own devices and services. We’ve rounded up the best early access Prime Day deals we can find below. Remember that you’ll need to subscribe to Prime to take advantage of many (but not all) of the offers, and that there’s always a chance that prices drop lower during the event itself. For those with no interest in Prime, we’ve also included a few of the best tech deals from this week that aren’t explicitly tied to the event. We’ll stay on the lookout as Prime Day gets nearer and update this roundup with new offers as they arise.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Kids
Prime exclusive
Amazon
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Kids (8GB)
$90 $160
Save $70
This is a new low for the Kids version of Amazon’s popular e-reader, which features the same hardware as the standard model.
Prime members can get Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite Kids for $90. That’s $70 off the 6.8-inch e-reader’s normal going rate and a new all-time low. While this device is marketed for children, its hardware is identical to the standard Paperwhite, with the same lightweight and waterproof design, 300 ppi display and 10-week battery life. It has the same extensive e-book library, too. With the Kids model, though, you get a case, an extended warranty (two years instead of one) and a year of Amazon’s Kids+ service. We gave the pricier Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition a review score of 97 back in 2021; the Kids edition lacks that variant’s ad-free lock screen (when you aren’t in Kids mode, at least), upgraded front light, wireless charging and 32GB of storage, but the two are otherwise similar.
Amazon Fire HD Kids tablets
Prime exclusive
Amazon
Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro (32GB)
$120 $200
Save $80
This matches the lowest price we’ve seen for Amazon’s 10.1-inch child-friendly tablet, and it comes as part of a wider sale on Amazon Kids slates.
If you want to buy your little one a tablet, Amazon has also discounted its entire lineup of Fire Kids slates for Prime members. The Fire HD 8 Kids and Kids Pro are each down to $75, while the Fire HD 10 Kids and Kids Pro are available for $120 apiece. Those are all-time lows for each respective tablet.
All of these devices will feel sluggish next to an iPad, and Amazon’s app selection is more limited than Apple’s. If you just need a cheap screen for a young kid to read comics and watch TV shows, though, they should do the job. The Fire HD 10 is the better option of the two: Its processor is a bit faster, and its 10.1-inch 1080p display is both larger and sharper. But both tablets come with strong parental controls, protective cases, built-in kickstands, two-year warranties, and a year’s subscription to Amazon Kids+. The Kids tablets have big rubbery cases built to withstand the abuse of a toddler, while the Kids Pro editions have slimmer hard-plastic cases designed for slightly older children.
Amazon Echo Dot Kids
Prime exclusive
Amazon
Staying on the kid-friendly Amazon device train, the latest Amazon Echo Dot Kids is on sale for $28. That’s another all-time low and about $25 below the smart speaker’s typical street price. Again, the offer is only available to Prime members. The Echo Dot Kids has the same impressive hardware as the standard model, which we consider the best small smart speaker for most people. The main difference is its cutesy design: One model looks like a dragon, the other looks like an owl. Like the Kids devices above, it also comes with a two-year warranty and a year of Amazon Kids+. In this case, the latter supplies kid-friendly podcasts, playlists and audiobooks along with more education-focused Alexa skills. The quality of that content can be hit or miss, but it’s all age-appropriate.
Amazon Echo Show 5 Kids (3rd gen)
Prime exclusive
Amazon
If you subscribe to Prime, you can get two Echo Show 5 Kids smart displays for $100 by adding them both to your cart and using the code SHOW5KIDS at checkout. The recently refreshed smart display normally goes for $100, so this offer gives you two for the price of one. Like most other Amazon Kids devices, the Echo Show 5 Kids takes the same hardware as the “normal” variant and adds a more playful design, a longer warranty and easier access to kid-friendly content. The 5.5-inch device isn’t as powerful as the larger Echo Show 8 for streaming or making video calls, but it makes for a nice smart alarm clock or bedside display if you regularly use Alexa. Of note, the device also comes with a physical camera shutter and mic mute button for when the kids aren’t playing around.
Amazon Echo Pop + Ring Video Doorbell
Prime exclusive
Amazon
A bundle that pairs Amazon’s Echo Pop speaker with a wired Ring Video Doorbell is down to $40 for Prime members. The Pop is more or less a cheaper version of the Echo Dot with a unidirectional design and less powerful audio quality, but it goes for $40 on its own, so this deal effectively nets you a video doorbell for no extra cost. The Ring doorbell here is decidedly entry-level, too, as it lacks local storage, won’t work with existing chimes and requires a subscription to store and view recordings. Like other Ring devices, it also comes with its share of privacy concerns. But if you just want the basics for as little as possible, it captures 1080p video and is generally easy to set up and use.
If you don’t care about the Echo Pop, the doorbell alone is available for $35, which is about $20 off its street price. A bundle with the doorbell and the Ring Chime, meanwhile, is down to $50, which is roughly $25 less than usual. Both of those offers are also exclusive to Prime members.
Amazon Kindle Unlimited 3-month membership
Prime exclusive
Amazon
If you’re a Prime member who has never subscribed to Kindle Unlimited, you can get a three-month trial to Amazon’s e-book service for no extra cost. Normally, the subscription goes for $12 a month after a 30-day free trial. Just note that the membership will be set to auto-renew by default. As a refresher, Kindle Unlimited makes a selection of e-books, audiobooks and digital magazines accessible on-demand. It doesn’t include every e-book in the Kindle library, but it may still be worthwhile if you’re a particularly avid reader. If nothing else, this deal makes it easier to figure out if it’s worth paying for.
Audible Premium Plus 3-month membership
Prime exclusive
Amazon
Audible Premium Plus (3-month)
$0 $30
Save $30
Prime members can get a three-month free trial to the Audible Premium Plus, so long as you’ve never subscribed to the audiobook service in the past.
Similar to that Kindle Unlimited offer, Prime members who are new to Audible Premium Plus can get three months of the audiobook service for free. This membership usually costs $14.95 a month after a 30-day free trial, so you’re saving about $30. Premium Plus is Audible’s upper tier: Like the less expensive Audible Plus, it provides an assortment of audiobooks, podcasts and other audio content you can access on-demand. The main difference is that it also includes a monthly credit that you can use to buy any book in the Audible store permanently. As with Kindle Unlimited, Premium Plus will be most worth it if you burn through audiobooks and podcasts quickly, but this extended trial is a comfier way to see if it’s useful. Again, be aware that the subscription will be set to auto-renew by default.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Nintendo
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is $10 off at Amazon and Walmart, bringing the hit Switch game down to a more traditional price of $60. As our review notes, Tears of the Kingdom doesn’t stray too far from Breath of the Wild, but it enriches its landmark predecessor’s ideas with a full-size underworld, fantastical sky islands and malleable crafting mechanics. Most importantly, it gets the core promise of a Zelda game right: that sense of being and adventuring in another world.
There are a few other video game deals of note. For the Switch, Metroid Dread, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and Fire Emblem: Three Houses are each down to $42, the remake of the classic RPG Live A Live is down to $35 and the Portal Companion Collection is on sale for $10. Over on PC, the open-world racer Forza Horizon 5 is down to $30, while Prime members can claim a couple of underrated older gems, the space FPS Prey and the 2D Metroidvania SteamWorld Dig 2, for no added cost.
Samsung Pro Plus microSD card
Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget
The 128GB version of Samsung’s latest Pro Plus microSD card is down to a new low of $13. That’s $6 off its MSRP. If you need more space, the 512GB model is within a few cents of its best price at $43.52. The Pro Plus is the top pick in our guide to the best microSD cards, as it finished at or near the top of all of our sequential and random speed tests. It also comes with a 10-year warranty.
Samsung 980 Pro SSD with Heatsink
Samsung
The variant of Samsung’s 980 Pro with an integrated heatsink is available for $63 with an on-page coupon. We’ve seen this SSD steadily drop in price over the course of the year, but this deal marks a new all-time low. You can get the 2TB version for $126 with a coupon as well, which is another new low. The 980 Pro is not the newest SSD Samsung makes, but this heatsink-equipped model meets Sony’s requirements for expanding the storage of a PlayStation 5, and we recommend it in our guide to the best SSDs for the console. If you aren’t buying for a PS5 specifically, the non-heatsink model is available for a few dollars less, though a speedy PCIe 4.0 drive like this may be overkill for some.
Apple iPad (9th gen)
Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
Apple iPad (9th gen, 64GB)
$250 $329
Save $79
This matches the best price we’ve seen for Apple’s wallet-friendly 10.2-inch iPad.
The 64GB model of Apple’s 9th-gen iPad is down to $250 at Amazon, matching the lowest price we’ve tracked. You should see the full discount at checkout. Apple normally sells the device for $329, though we’ve seen it retail closer to $275 in recent months. This is the budget pick in our iPad buying guide: It lacks the accessory support, thinner bezels and laminated display of the iPad Air, but it’s by far the most affordable route into iPadOS, and it remains fast and comfortable enough for casual reading, streaming and gaming. It’s also the only current iPad with a headphone jack.
Apple MacBook Air M1
Photo by Devindra Hardawar / Engadget
Apple MacBook Air (M1)
$800 $999
Save $199
This matches the all-time low for the entry-level configuration of Apple’s M1 MacBook Air with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD.
Apple’s M1 MacBook Air is back on sale for $800, which is a deal we’ve seen multiple times before but ties the laptop’s all-time low. Like the 9th-gen iPad, the M1 MacBook Air is on the older side these days; if you can afford the newest Air with an updated design, better webcam and faster M2 chip, it’s worth doing so. But if you just want a competent MacBook to do light work and web browsing for as little cash as possible, the M1 Air remains a solid value at this price. Its keyboard, trackpad and battery life are still excellent, and the M1 chip is still fast enough for the essentials. Just make sure you stick to lighter workloads, though, as this model only has 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD.
Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch
Photo by Devindra Hardawar / Engadget
Apple MacBook Pro (M2 Pro)
$2,199 $2,499
Save $300
This deal takes $300 off the list price for this 14-inch MacBook Pro configuration with an M2 Pro chip, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.
For those with more demanding needs, a configuration of the 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M2 Pro chip, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD is down to $2,199 at Amazon and B&H. That’s the best price we’ve seen for this config, which features a 12-core CPU and 19-core GPU. Apple normally sells this model for $2,499, though we’ve seen it go for less on Amazon in recent months. We gave the latest MacBook Pro a score of 92 early this year; our review applied to the higher-end M2 Max model, but this version still has a premium design and capable performance for most power users. The downsides are that it’s expensive and not upgradeable, but if you must have high-end laptop for serious photo and video editing, this discount offers at least a little extra relief to your bank account.
Xbox Series X + bonus controller bundle
Photo by Aaron Souppouris / Engadget
Microsoft had a big showing at this month’s Summer Game Fest, so if you planned on picking up an Xbox Series X before Starfield and Forza Motorsport arrive, note that Verizon is selling the $500 console with a second controller for no extra cost. That isn’t anything crazy, but spare Xbox controllers normally go for $50 or so, and discounts of any kind for the Series X have been few and far between. In fact, Microsoft said this week that it’s raising the price of the console in much of the world on August 1. The $300 Xbox Series S is still a strong value for those who don’t care about top-of-the-line hardware, but if you need a disc drive and more consistent performance, the Series X is your best bet.
Samsung QN90B 55-inch 4K TV
Samsung
The 55-inch version of Samsung’s QN90B, a recommendation from our gaming TV buying guide, has dropped to $998. That’s a new all-time low. Most reviews say this TV delivers enough brightness for well-lit rooms, with smooth motion performance and richer contrast than most non-OLED TVs thanks to its Mini LED backlighting. It also has four full HDMI 2.1 ports and can play up to 120 Hz in 4K. It still can’t match the contrast, response time or viewing angles of a good OLED TV, but it should be better equipped for rooms plagued by glare. Like most Samsung TVs, however, it doesn’t support Dolby Vision HDR. Samsung has replaced this 2022 model with the new QN90C, but the 55-inch version of that set currently costs $600 more, so the QN90B remains the better value for the time being.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 5
Photo by Cherlynn Low / Engadget
Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 (40mm)
$229 $280
Save $51
This is within $10 of the best price we’ve tracked for our favorite smartwatch for Android users.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 is down to $229 for a 40mm model and $259 for a 44mm model. Neither deal represents an all-time low, but both are within $10 of their best prices to date. We gave the Galaxy Watch 5 a score of 85 last year, and it’s currently the “best for Android users” pick in our smartwatch buying guide. While its battery life could be better, its design is durable and attractive, its OS is easy to navigate and its health tracking is relatively comprehensive. Samsung is expected to announce a Galaxy Watch 6 in the coming weeks, however, so it may be worth waiting to see how that model stacks up if you don’t need a new smartwatch right this instant.
Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for the best Amazon Prime Day tech deals. Learn about Prime Day trends on In the Know, and hear from Autoblog’s car experts on must-shop auto-related Prime Day deals.