Black Friday has hit early this year, surprising almost no one. Microchip shortages, supply chain issues, and the usual trend of bigger and better Black Fridays deals have all combined to make 2021 the best (and longest) holiday shopping event we’ve seen. As the Deals Editor here at Digital Trends, I pore through hundreds of deals per day, so I’d like to think I know when to spot a particularly good one. Here are my favorites so far.
Beats Solo 3 — $119, was $200
The Beats Solo 3 headphones aren’t the newest Beats model but still pack a punch. Because there are newer and shinier models, Solo 3s often get some impressive discounts. This year is shaping up to be the best yet. At $119 in mid-October, Beats Solo 3 headphones have already dropped to the same price they were at the end of Black Friday 2020. (Technically they were $118.75 last year, but we can ignore a quarter.) And that’s just for the most popular black model. If pink is your favorite color, the price drops to $109, the best price we’ve ever seen on Beats Solo 3 headphones.
Beats are great for music with heavy bass. They’re wireless and lightweight, making them perfect for workouts or long listening sessions. They have a battery life of 40 hours and a five-minute charge will give you three hours of listening time. This early price drop is emblematic of many Black Friday headphone deals. Many retailers are dropping prices early for fear of running out of stock by Thanksgiving. We’d recommend grabbing this deal as soon as possible because there’s no guarantee it will last. The “club white” color is already sold out!
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65-inch TCL 4-Series 4K Smart TV — $498, was $599
Is there any more iconic deal on Black Friday than a massive TV? We’ve all heard the stories of fistfights breaking out over who gets the last flat screen. Thankfully the only battle you need to fight on Black Friday these days is who can get the TV in their virtual cart faster (no fists needed). TCL has some impressive entry-level TVs with impressive prices. A 65-inch 4K TV for under $500? That’s what Black Friday is all about.
This 65-inch TCL comes with all the standards of a modern smart TV. You can stream content straight from the TV, no external device required. With a 16:9 aspect ratio, 4K UHD resolution, and 4K Upscaling, you’ll get a clear and rich picture for both streaming and Blu-ray. This is Walmart offer is one of the best Black Friday TV deals I’ve seen that gets you a massive screen from a quality brand at a good price.
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Microsoft Surface Pro 7 — $800, was $1,200
We love the Surface Pro 7 here at Digital Trends. The combination of laptop and tablet that actually has some power in it has yet to be duplicated. Best Buy has been running a pretty great deal on a cheaper, less powerful Surface Pro 7 for a few months now, but Black Friday has brought out the big guns. This version, retailing for $1,200 but currently dropped to $800, has an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory, and 256GB of storage. That’s a better processor, twice the memory and twice the storage as the lighter version (which is currently at $600). Unfortunately, this one doesn’t come with the Type Cover, but if you’re upgrading from an older model or will be using it with the Surface Pen, the upgraded power will be worth it.
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Alienware Aurora R12 Gaming PC — $1,300, was $1,850
If you’ve been searching for gaming PC components this past year, you know how impossible they are to find. Graphics cards in particular have been harder to find than the PlayStation 5. This leaves PC gamers with a couple of options: Pay double the retail price for a scalped GPU, or buy a prebuilt PC. For most, prebuilt is the way to go.
I applaud Dell for still slashing prices on prebuilt gaming PCs despite the intense demand. This Alienware Aurora R12 gaming PC is flying off the shelves, and for good reason. It has an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB graphics card and an 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, all for over $500 off the retail price. This one won’t last long, but I’m glad we saw it at all.
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65-inch Vizio OLED TV — $1,500, was $1,800
I’m ending this list with a bang. This is the cheapest OLED TV above 60 inches that I’ve seen so far, and boy is it a tempting purchase. If you’ve been debating OLED vs. LED, or QLED vs. OLED, take a look at one in person and try to say it isn’t worth it. Not everyone needs a super high-quality image with incredible contrast, but it’s hard not to fall in love with it. At only $1,500, I expect this deal to push some hesitant buyers over the edge.
If you need a refresher on OLED vs. LED, we can help. Basically, it all comes down to the source of light. Traditional LED TVs have light strips in the back or sides that light the pixels on the display. In an OLED TV, every pixel on display has its own light source and can brighten and dim independently. OLED brings the deepest colors and darkest blacks you can imagine. If you love nature documentaries or CGI-heavy blockbusters, you need an OLED TV.
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