Maybe you’ve been on the edge of your seat for the past couple of days or holding your breath — hopefully not that long — but now you can relax because the Prime Day deals are officially here. It’s Day One, and there’s an abundance of discounts, offers, and great gear to be had. If you’re looking for something specific, there are a few categories to shop like Apple Prime Day deals, Prime Day tablet deals, and so much more. If you want to privately listen to audio, whether that be music, audiobooks, or the Bluetooth-enabled TV you picked up from Prime Day TV deals, then you’re going to need some headphones (or earbuds). We’re already finding great deals on popular offerings from Beats, 1More, Samsung, and even a few Prime Day AirPods deals. However, below, you’ll find a few of our favorite headphones and earbuds for that are on sale.
The best Prime Day headphone deal, picked by our experts
Sony WH-1000XM5 — $298, was $400
While there are a lot of excellent headphones on the market, the Sony WH-1000XM5 tops our list of the best headphones, period. For starters, it has industry-leading active noise cancellation and is great for those who just want the best ANC money can buy. In terms of audio, it’s also pretty great, with perfectly balanced frequencies that can sound great with pretty much any genre of music. Call quality is also on par with the best the industry has to offer, while the battery life will last you a whopping 30 hours with ANC on, and about 40 hours with ANC off, which is very impressive. So, all in all, the XM5s come out on top when it comes to the best headphones, and for the $298 discounted price tag, they’re an absolute steal.
Today’s best headphone deals
Prime Day isn’t here just yet, but we do know it’s running from July 16 to July 17 this year. That means one thing when it comes to deals on headphones: Bookmark what you’re interested in right now, especially since there will be early Prime Deals available in the run-up until the main event. There already some great headphones deals going on as we speak, and if you just can’t wait (or your old headphones are broken) it’s still fine to shop deals now so long as you accept that the widest range of deals, and possible better prices, are coming later.
Here are the best headphone (and earbuds) deals going on now:
- 1More SonoFlow ANC headphones —
- Apple AirPods 2 —
- Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro 2 —
- Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Gen) —
- Beats Studio Pro —
- Sennheiser Momentum 4 —
- Bose QuietComfort (Renewed) —
- SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro —
- Apple AirPods Max —
- Bowers & Wilkins Px8 —
Is Prime Day a good time to buy headphones?
Generally speaking, Prime Day is a great time to buy headphones. This is the major summer shopping holiday, not to be outdone until Black Friday and (ironically enough) the possible second fall Prime Day we’ve been seeing lately. As previously stated, this isn’t just an Amazon holiday, as there is a lot of competition to get your summer dollars and retailers know that the average person isn’t wearing more than one or two pairs of headphones per season.
So what’s the salient advice? Wait.
If you can hold off on your headphones purchase until that point in July when sales heat up, you’ll have the best possible selection to choose from. There’s nothing wrong, per se, in buying discounted headphones now if you need them and you see your dream pair on sale, but clutching onto your wallet for just a while longer will hold the best results.
How to choose headphones on Prime Day 2024
There are many ways to pick headphones for Prime Day this year. Part of it can be intuition, but you may also with to use some strategy. Here are a few techniques to consider to make picking your headphones a smooth process.
Keep your budget in mind: We already have a collection of quality cheap headphones that cost under $100. Many more headphones will be joining the ranks of the under $100 crew as Prime Day proceeds. One exercise you can try here is to pick out a pair of headphones that you’d be willing to buy now, at their non-sale price, and then look at other headphones that are currently more expensive but are overall better than the ones you’d currently buy. Later, if these better headphones drop below the price of the headphones you would buy anyhow, they become a safe low-chance-of-regrets buy.
Look at the favorites: The best headphones are the best headphones for a reason, be sure to check them out. Our overall favorite headphones, Sony’s WH-1000XM5 are already on sale here in June (see above) but others might be holding out to start their sales later and even the WH-1000XM5 might get a better deal as the days progress.
Shop with a purpose in mind: To avoid picking up something just because it is on sale, envision what using the headphones looks like to you. If tuning out the world and finding inner peace (or your grindset) is the goal, look for deals on the best noise-canceling headphones. If you want to get fit, check out these headphones for running and other exercises. Want to max out your couch potato joy? Try some of the best headphones for watching TV. Finally, note that there will be a lot of overlap here (you’ll see the WH-1000XM5, again, in two of these lists) and that’s okay. Headphones can be generalist objects while also serving a primary purpose.
Consider the form factor: When we think headphones, we typically think of two earcups with a band over the head. But you may also want some of the best true wireless earbuds, especially if you’re on the go a lot and don’t have much room in your go bag for full headphones. They’re getting better than you might think. Or, you might hate the feeling of having something on, or in, your ears all the time. If that’s the case, try some of the best bone conduction headphones that transmit sound into you directly via vibrations. There are a lot of innovative headphones out there that don’t fit the typical model if you aren’t satisfied with it.
If you’re gifting to a gamer: If you have a young gamer in the house and the dlip, beep beep beep, chugugugugugugu sound coming from their room is driving you up a wall, you aren’t the first to have ever considered gifting yourself a pair of headphones for them. However, we suggest you be kind to your young gamer and get them one of the best gaming headsets instead, which are better for the team games they love to play with friends.
