Best Early Black Friday Deals on Tech

The AirPods Pro 3 are Apple’s top-of-the-line earbuds, and they’re jam-packed with features. The newest functions include live translation for overseas travel and a workout mode that allows you to leave your Apple Watch at home while you’re out on a run or ride. The buds still offer a clinical-grade hearing test and the option of turning your Pro 3s into an over-the-counter hearing aid. They also sound good and offer a better fit and noise canceling than last year’s Pro 2s. The Pro 3s don’t go on sale very often, so this is an opportunity to get Apple’s latest tech at an enticing price.

If you want a pair of noise-canceling earbuds at a budget price, check out the Soundcore Space A40s. The bass packs some wallop, and the overall sound is warm, which makes the A40s pleasant to listen to over a long period of time. The noise cancellation is impressive, too—there’s even a transparency mode that allows you to monitor your surroundings when you’re out running or walking down a busy street. The discount is barely significant, but these headphones are a serious value even at their normal street price.

Beats headphones are sleek, and they sound good too. The over-ear Beats Studio Pros get top marks for noise reduction, making them perfect for anyone who wants to lock in at the gym, get some serious work done, or just tune out the world for a little while. If you’ve got a big head or big ears, make sure you buy them at a retailer where you can return them if they don’t quite fit. Just note that these headphones were $30 cheaper during the big sales earlier this month. So they may be cheaper closer to Black Friday

If you’re a fan of the Google Pixel phone, then the Pixel Buds Pro 2 are a solid choice for a complementary earbud. They have a Find My Device function, and the sound can be adjusted through the Pixel app. The Pixel Buds 2 earn very good sound quality grades and score well for noise cancellation.

The Galaxy Watch7 has given way to the Galaxy Watch8, but it’s still a solid pick for anyone with a Galaxy phone. It features a bright 1.3-inch display and offers a wide range of health, fitness, and safety features, from automatic workout tracking to sleep monitoring. The battery life is not particularly impressive, though, so the watch may require frequent charging. Note that the price varies by color, the watch face size, and whether you are choosing Bluetooth only, or an LTE-equipped model.

This rugged-looking (and high-performing) Samsung smartwatch is aimed at outdoors enthusiasts—and anyone who wants the latest premium health- and fitness-tracking features. Just note that Galaxy Watches work only with Android devices.

We didn’t test this 85-inch Hisense TV, part of its CanvasTV line of lifestyle TVs that let you display artwork and photos when you’re not watching shows and movies. But we did test the 75-inch version, the Hisense 75S7SG, and that set does well for overall picture quality, though its HDR performance is only decent. The TV has a matte finish and a 144Hz refresh rate. It uses the Google TV smart system.

The Roku 65R6C7, a model in the company’s midtier Plus series, does well overall in our tests, though not for HDR, which is relatively ineffective due to the TV’s peak brightness limitations. (This set supports both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ HDR formats, as well as Dolby Atmos audio.) It’s a QLED TV with a Mini LED backlight, and it has a remote-finder button on the TV that, when pressed, will cause the remote to emit a sound. Although not a lifestyle TV per se, it has a Backdrops setting that allows you to display artwork and photos when you’re not watching TV.

The TCL 85QM6K is an 85-inch entry-level set from the company’s 2025 Mini LED TV lineup. We didn’t test this set, but we did test both the 65- and 75-inch versions of this TV, and both do well for overall picture quality, though not for HDR. This TV supports both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ HDR, and unlike the smaller versions of this series, it has a matte screen that helps minimize reflections. It runs on the Google TV smart system.

The compact JBL Flip 7 delivers a lot of speaker for the money. Its classic cylindrical design takes up relatively little space in a beach bag or on a picnic table. The company claims a battery life of up to 16 hours, and the advertised IPX68 water-and-dust-resistance rating means the JBL Flip 7 can survive being fully submerged, which makes it perfect for the beach or any outdoor setting where a shower—or a full-fledged dunking—is a distinct possibility. With slightly boomy bass and subdued trebles, it’s not a device for audiophiles, but it’s got a pleasing sound quality that encourages you to play your tunes one after another. At around $100 for some colors—that’s $50 off—it’s a winner among portables you can toss like a football. 

The JBL Xtreme 4 delivers deep bass and adequate volume even in large rooms. It also features an internal power bank that can charge other devices, and the manufacturer says the speaker is dust-resistant and water resistant to 1 meter, claims that CR didn’t test. Note that the Xtreme 4 is quite massive by portable speaker standards, at almost 12 inches long and almost 5 pounds in weight.

This is a substantial discount on Samsung’s foldable phone. Think of the dual-screen device as part smartphone, part tablet, which comes in handy if you use your phone for texting and editing spreadsheets at work. It’s a bit heavier than most phones at 7.2 ounces but hinges open to reveal an impressive 7.6-inch display. (If you want a foldable Samsung phone with taller, Passport-style dimensions, you can also get hundreds of dollars off the highly rated Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra.)

This pint-sized, foldable phone easily stows in your pocket but flips open to reveal a high-quality 6.9-inch display. The cover screen, visible even when the device is closed, shows notifications, dynamic widgets, and your personalized wallpaper. The battery life is also impressive. All in all, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 is a solid performer for fans of foldable phones.

This Denon model is a 2.1-channel soundbar, though it has built-in bass drivers rather than a separate subwoofer. It supports Dolby Atmos audio but not DTS:X. However, it lacks up-firing drivers, so it relies on audio processing to deliver an impression of height. It has decent overall sound but is a fairly basic model in many ways, not surprising given its price. It has built-in Bluetooth for playing music from a mobile device.

This relatively simple, compact 4.0-channel soundbar from Denon offers acceptable overall sound quality. It can be expanded by adding optional HEOS rear speakers and/or subwoofer from Denon or Marantz, though that option wasn’t available at the time of our test. (The company said it will be enabled via a firmware update.) It can play Dolby Atmos and DTS:X 3D audio, but it lacks the upfiring speakers for the height channels.

The Viofo A229 Pro is a superb multicamera dash cam, offering views out both the front and back of your car. It has a 2.4-inch display for reviewing footage, voice control, a GPS antenna for speed and location data, and a removable polarizing lens filter. The dash cam features a vibration- and motion-based parking mode, but it requires a Viofo HK4 hardwire kit ($26, not included), for continuous power when the car is turned off. It uses an adhesive mount with an electrostatic sticker (to prevent adhesive residue from getting on your windshield), supports up to 512-gigabyte microSD cards for video storage, and has apps for Android and iOS. This dash cam is currently almost 40 percent off its list price, and hasn’t been priced this low since April.

The hardwired Eufy Floodlight Camera E30 has dual 2,000-lumen floodlights that automatically illuminate when movement is detected, plus a 105-decibel siren to deter intruders and a two-way intercom to speak with visitors. This 2K camera scores well in our tests, too. It’s equipped with AI-powered object detection for people and vehicles, customizable activity zones, and motorized pan and tilt to keep them in view. It’s also compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Home, so you can control the camera with your voice or alongside other devices from those smart home apps. You can use a microSD card to store clips locally, or rely on paid cloud storage. It’s been on sale at this price sporadically throughout the year, but it’s the best deal we’ve seen on a floodlight camera that doesn’t require a subscription.

The Arlo Video Doorbell 2K is versatile: You can run it using the rechargeable battery or hardwire it to a home’s doorbell wiring for continuous power. Features include geofencing and voice/app control via Amazon Alexa and Google Home. Cloud video storage and additional features (such as alerts for people, packages, animals, and vehicles) require an Arlo Secure subscription. This doorbell is on sale at the lowest price we’ve ever seen, dropping about $15 below its summer Prime Day sale price.

Google’s newest smart thermostat, the Nest Learning Thermostat 4th gen, comes with a remote temperature sensor that you can place in another room to balance heating and cooling. It’s one of just a few Matter-compatible smart thermostats on the market, meaning it works with any major smart home system, including Apple Home.

This black-and-white laser printer is a workhorse at producing crisp, quality text at a clip. As with most laser printers, it doesn’t excel at graphics or photos, but it’s a great pick if you print a lot of text documents. It also scans, copies, and faxes. The estimated toner costs are also far lower than what you find with an inkjet cartridge printer.

Mesh systems are the best way to banish WiFi dead zones forever, and the Deco XE75 Pro is a fine example of just such a system. This 2-pack system uses the newer WiFi 6E standard, which opens up a “fast lane” for compatible devices, reducing interference from your neighbors’ networks. With coverage up to 5,500 square feet, it can blanket a large home in a reliable signal. Getting a high-performance 6E mesh system for under $160 is a rare find, making this one of the standout networking deals of the week.