Best Early Black Friday Deals: Save Big on Everything From Laptops to Air Fryers
The countdown to Black Friday is on, folks. Officially falling on Nov. 29 this year, this major shopping event brings record-low prices on tech, home goods and just about everything else, year after year. And while we’re still a few weeks away from the official kickoff, you don’t have to wait until then to start scoring big savings.
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We’re already seeing major retailers like Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart rolling out plenty of early deals. To help you take advantage of these timely offers, Adam Oram and other members of CNET’s dedicated deals teams have rounded up some of the best bargains already available. Whether you want to get ahead of the holiday gifting season or save some cash on your own needs — including tech, fitness, appliances, gardening, home security and more — there’s a good chance you’ll find what you’re looking for at a discount below.
Just remember to check back in regularly, as we’ll continue to update this list with the very best deals out there throughout the holiday shopping season.
Best early Black Friday tech deals
This 2024 LG TV with 4K resolution and an OLED display is marked down by a massive $800 at Best Buy. It sports a 120Hz refresh rate that is great for playing video games, alongside Dolby Vision and HDR10 for watching the latest blockbusters.
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This ninth-gen Apple iPad from 2021 is marked down by nearly $100 at both Amazon and Best Buy. It has a 10.2-inch screen with an A13 Bionic chip running the show, 64GB of storage, Wi-Fi (not cellular), as well as a 12-megapixel front camera and 8-megapixel back camera. CNET’s Scott Stein reassessed the 2021 iPad last year and gave it an Editors’ Choice as an affordable, basic tablet that’s perfect for kids. The current 10th-gen iPad starts at $349 and is only a year newer.
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Thanks to advanced features like personalized spatial audio and lossless audio support, the noise-canceling Beats Studio Pro earned a spot on our list of the overall best headphones of 2024. They also boast up to 40 hours of listening time per charge, six built-in microphones and hands-free Siri control. All basic colors are available for $170 right now, while the Kim Kardashian collaboration variants are $190.
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Best early Black Friday home and kitchen deals
An air fryer is one of the most versatile appliances you can add to your kitchen. This Ninja model boasts a 6.5-quart capacity, six preset cooking functions and can reach temperatures of up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Plus, the crisper plate and basket are dishwasher-safe for easy clean-up.
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Nectar is known for being one of the best brands in the mattress industry, and this 12-inch, queen-size memory foam cooling mattress is marked down by $300. It’s only $1 away from the lowest price we’ve seen at Amazon to date.
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A limited-time 40% deal has been applied to this Oral-B iO Series 3 electric toothbrush. Available in black or white, it has three cleaning modes: Daily Clean, Sensitive and Whitening. It also has a sensor that signals when pressure is too strong, so your gums will be protected.
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Best early Black Friday laptop, PC and gaming deals
The latest model in Apple’s lightweight lineup, CNET named the M3 MacBook Air the overall best laptop of 2024. This model features a stunning 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display, an 18-hour battery life, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It’s also designed to work with Apple Intelligence. It’s automatically $100 off, and you can save an extra $149 on the midnight and space gray color variants when you activate the on-page instant coupon.
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Amazon has reduced this QHD Samsung monitor to its lowest ever price with a 43% discount. The 2023 monitor has an ultrawide 21:9 aspect ratio with 100Hz, HDR10, AMD FreeSync and 5-millisecond response time.
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The HyperX Alloy Origins is one of our favorite gaming keyboards on the market right now. It’s a wired keyboard with mechanical red linear switches and features customizable RGB lighting. It’s also easy to take on the go with a lightweight aluminum body and a compact 65% form factor.
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Best early Black Friday fitness deals
This budget-friendly Apple Watch is also one of our favorite fitness trackers of 2024. It has 12 preset workout modes that make it easy to track your distance, pace and calories burned, and it allows you to monitor helpful health metrics like your heart rate, respiratory rate and sleep patterns. You’ll find most colors and configurations on sale for $189 right now at Amazon.
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Recovery is a critical part of any workout routine, and a massage gun can help expedite the process. This Ekrin Athletics Kestrel is one of our favorite massage guns of 2024 and features six speed settings, a 13mm amplitude, an eight-hour battery life and six attachments to target specific areas. Just be sure to activate the on-page coupon to get the discount.
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Adjustable dumbbells are a must-have if you’ve got limited space for a home gym. These Bowflex SelectTech 552 dumbbells are our overall favorites of 2024, boasting a weight range of 5 to 52.5 pounds, which means they can replace 15 regular pairs of weights.
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When is Black Friday?
Black Friday will take place on Nov. 29 this year. It always lands the day after Thanksgiving in the US, which falls on the fourth Thursday of November. Expect hundreds of price cuts and sizable sales from the biggest online retailers.
Which stores have Black Friday sales?
Almost all major retailers offer tons of deals and discounts for Black Friday. Think the likes of Amazon, Best Buy, Target and Walmart, as well as more specialized retailers such as B&H Photo, GameStop and Dell. Major retailers with brick-and-mortar locations — such as Target and Walmart — will be offering online-only savings, whereas Best Buy’s Cyber Monday deals are both in-store and online. Keep in mind physical locations can run out of stock, too.
When do Black Friday sales end?
Black Friday sales tend to last a few days after the major sales event itself, which happens to land on Nov. 29. this year. With this in mind, it’s fair to assume offers will run throughout the weekend into early December. It will then be taken over by Cyber Monday on Dec. 2. Just note that the best deals are expected on the main Black Friday date.
Are Black Friday deals only available online?
Generally speaking, yes. The number of deals launching exclusively in stores has been dwindling in recent years, and this was certainly accelerated during COVID-19, when crowds were discouraged and much of the shopping moved online. We’ve seen retailers like Walmart and Target previously offering online-only deals, whereas others like Best Buy extend their Black Friday savings to in-store locations, as well.
When is Cyber Monday?
Cyber Monday is scheduled to take place on Dec. 2 this year. The major sale event always takes place the first Monday after Thanksgiving is observed in the US, which is on the fourth Thursday of November each year. Between Black Friday — which is the day after Thanksgiving — and Cyber Monday, we see an uptick in sales, though in recent years the shopping event has become a month-long bonanza.
Why are they called Black Friday and Cyber Monday?
The term “black” has historically been used to denote distressing or calamitous events. The earliest known use of Black Friday for the Friday after Thanksgiving was to refer to the practice of workers calling in sick the day after Thanksgiving in the early 1950s. Around that same time, US police adopted the term to describe the traffic conditions during the first major holiday shopping date.
After attempts to move to the term “Big Friday” failed, merchants attempted to ameliorate the term Black Friday in subsequent years, suggesting that its origin was not due to the terrible traffic the shopping spree created, but because the profit it generated put stores “back in the black” in financial terms.
Then, in 2005, the National Retail Federation coined the term “Cyber Monday” because it had noticed a spike in online traffic the Monday following Thanksgiving. At the time, it was believed it was because people were making online purchases while they were at work following the holiday so their kids couldn’t see any gift purchases and because work computers typically had faster internet connections. There was some chatter about calling the date Black Monday or Blue Monday — because hyperlinks are blue — but eventually, everyone settled on the more futuristic-sounding Cyber Monday. In 2014, Cyber Monday became the biggest online shopping day in the country.
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