It’s that time again. Amazon Prime Day is back. Among thousands of discounted items, from the necessary to the wacky, are the steep discounts on Amazon’s own broad lineup of hardware, including Prime Day Kindle deals you won’t see surpassed the rest of the year. Savvy shoppers know Amazon Prime Day is usually the best time to get a deal on a new Fire tablet or streaming stick. We’ve rounded up the top deals on our favorite Kindles, streaming sticks, and tablets. Don’t see anything you like? Don’t forget to check out our nonstop Prime Day coverage on our liveblog, as well as our rundown on the very best Amazon Prime Day deals.
We test products year-round and handpicked these deals. We’ll update this guide periodically throughout the sale event.
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I was Team Paperback until I tried my first Kindle, and now you can’t pry it from my fingers. The Paperwhite is the best of the Kindle lineup and our favorite e-reader overall. You have to pay $20 more to get rid of lockscreen ads, but they don’t interfere with reading if you don’t want to spend more. There are two main versions—this base Paperwhite and a Signature Edition (8/10, WIRED Recommends), which comes with 32 gigs of storage over 16, wireless charging, and an auto-adjusting backlight. There’s also a kids’ version with a case, a year’s subscription to Amazon Kids+, and a two-year, no-questions-asked replacement guarantee. The Paperwhite hasn’t been updated since 2021 and we aren’t sure when a new one might be coming, but mine is still performing as it did on day one. We think it’s still safe to buy one.
The Paperwhite is the best for reading. The Scribe (8/10, WIRED Recommends), with its 10.2-inch screen, is made for writing and drawing too. It’s a Kindle at heart, so reading is seamless, and there’s no lag while writing. Professional artists will want something better, but it felt natural to use. The Scribe is very pricey though, and the premium pen version, with its eraser on one end, costs another $30. You can’t write directly on book pages, since Kindle opts for sticky notes, and it isn’t waterproof.
Generally, we prefer Roku streaming devices, but if you tend to watch a ton of Amazon Prime content, get the Fire TV Stick 4K Max. Anyone can use it, of course, but it obviously heavily promotes Prime content. It has 16 gigabytes of storage, which should be enough for all your streaming apps and games. You can pull up your security camera feed and ask Alexa to do things, like order you pizza.
Amazon also has its own line of tablets, and in our guide, we specifically recommend that you do not buy one unless it’s Prime Day. Fire tablets mostly suck, but if all you plan to do is watch Amazon content and do basic work tasks like email, they are reasonably capable and frighteningly affordable. The Fire HD 10 is our favorite of the bunch, with a 1080p screen and 3 gigabytes of RAM so it can handle watching videos and browsing a bunch of tabs. Like with Kindles, you have to pay an extra $15 to get rid of lockscreen ads. There are 32- and 64-GB models available.
Amazon’s Echo Show 8 has been our favorite smart display for Alexa for multiple generations, and the 2023 version is another winner. It sits perfectly between the tiny five-inch Show 5 and the mondo-sized Show 10, providing an inviting screen that’s large enough for easy interaction without taking up too much desk space. You can check the weather, video chat, add up to three informational widgets, and much more, all with Alexa at the ready to assist. It’s a little pricey at full cost, but this sale makes the Show 8 seriously enticing for anyone after a smart helper that does a little of everything. —Ryan Waniata
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Photograph: Amazon