It’s that time of the year again – no, not Black Friday, but Amazon’s own private holiday – Prime Day – where we actually get two days of discounts, July 11-12 – with some good deals on streaming devices, tablets, premium channels, earphones and more.
As always, the tricky part is to sort out the good offers – so I’m here to help. Remember though, while there are good bargains to be had, it’s important to keep in mind that not every “Sale!” you see is necessarily the best price, so it’s always a good idea to check around.
Also, especially in these times, please only buy things you actually need – and, more importantly – can afford, even if they’re heavily discounted.
And don’t forget – in order to take part in the Prime Day sales and offers, you need to be an Amazon Prime subscriber. Prime usually costs either £95/year or £8.99/month (which then comes down to £107.88/year), and you get free next day shipping, a big library of movies and TV shows via Prime Video, and a number of other perks.
You can get a 30-days free trial for Prime – so you can use that for Prime Day’s special deals, and then cancel if you don’t want it anymore.
Streaming Devices Prime Day Deals
Streaming content via the internet is the cornerstone of TV cord cutting, with services such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon’s own Prime Video. But if you want to watch these services on your telly, you need a streamer (or a Smart TV).
And while Smart TVs are getting better and better, sometimes you don’t want to replace your TV (or perhaps your Smart TV’s streaming interface is just too slow and annoying). For those cases, a stand-alone streamer is an excellent choice.
Amazon Fire TV Prime Day Deals
I’m a big fan of Amazon’s Fire TV streaming devices – I’ve been using the Fire TV Cube as my main device this year, but the Fire TV Stick 4K Max, is just as good in terms of how fast and responsive it is.
Most Fire TV devices are currently on sale and heavily discounted – so which one should you get? (Also see our Fire TV Specs comparison)
If you want the absolute best in terms of speed and performance – the Fire TV Cube is currently discounted (though not by a whole lot).
The Cube is not only a streaming device – it’s also an Echo device, with built-in microphones and a speaker that lets you use Amazon’s Alexa – the digital assistant that can answer questions, play music and even control your TV in some cases.
If you don’t need a full Echo device, then the Fire TV Stick 4K Max is the most powerful – and advanced – Firestick, at the moment. It’s down to £37.99 for Prime Day, which is a great bargain (see our Fire TV Stick 4K Max review).
But wait, there’s more – The Fire TV Stick 4K – which is almost identical to the 4K Max (the main differences being that it’s a bit slower, and doesn’t support WiFi 6) – is being offered for even less (£34.99). However, with such a small difference – I would just go for the 4K Max (see our full Fire TV Stick 4K review).
Lastly, if you want the cheapest Fire TV stick money can buy – the Fire TV Stick Lite doesn’t support 4K, it’s a bit less powerful (so slower) than the 4K ones – but other than that it’s quite useful, and can be great for an extra bedroom or even for travelling – especially at this price point.
Roku Prime Day Deals
The three streaming devices from Roku are excellent streamers – with the 4K Streaming Stick being our top UK streaming device for 2023.
However, the Roku standalone sticks are not on sale this year – but the Roku Streambar is – and it’s heavily discounted.
The Roku Streambar (see my review) combines two devices in one – a powerful Roku streaming device and a compact soundbar that will, in most cases, sound miles better than your TV’s built-in speakers.
For Prime Day, you can get with a discount of 42%, so it’s down to just £75.
Google Chromecast Black Friday Deals
Google has two main versions of the newer Google Chromecast with Google TV, which has a remote and an on-screen operating system with apps (unlike the older Chromecast that could only be controlled from your phone).
Both versions are very similar – but the HD version only supports 1080p content, and the 4K version – which is also a bit more powerful – supports 4K / HDR content.
Both versions are currently discounted for Prime Day.
Fire Tablets
While on the go, many of us use our phones to watch videos these days. But a tablet can be an even better option, in the car or when you go on holiday.
For Prime Day, Amazon has some deep discounts on their own Fire Tablets:
Fire HD 10 Tablet: If you want to go Full HD, this is an excellent – and now very affordable – choice, at more than half the price for Prime Day. The screen is bigger at 10.1″, it has a Full HD resolution and would be perfect for streaming from services like Netflix and BBC iPlayer (see our full Fire HD 10 review).
Fire Max 11 Tablet: Amazon’s largest and most powerful (to date) tablet, was just released a few weeks ago – and it’s already discounted heavily for Prime Day – so it’s certainly worth a look if you’re looking for a productivity tablet (though, remember – it doesn’t have the Google Play store, just Amazon’s app store).
Echo Show 15: Not exactly a tablet, this is an Echo device with a huge 15″ display, that you can either hang on the wall or place on a counter. It combines Alexa’s voice assistant skills with a smart touch display, speakers and a camera. The word “cool” best describes this device (see our review), though it’s normally a bit expensive – but the current Prime Day discount will make it more tempting than usual.
See more Prime Day tablet deals via this link.
Amazon Music Unlimited – 4 Free Months
As an Amazon Prime subscriber, you get access to Prime Music – a limited library of two million songs you can listen to for free. Above that, however, there’s Amazon Music Unlimited, which is Amazon’s answer to Spotify and its rivals.
With 50+ million songs, curated playlists and special prices for Prime subscribers (and Amazon Echo owners), it’s not a bad choice – but what better way to test it out for yourself, for four months – without paying anything.
Just remember that once the 4 months are up, it will renew at the regular £8.99/m, so don’t forget to cancel if you don’t want it to continue.
Free Kindle Unlimited Books Library For 3 Months
Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited is a huge library of over 1 million books and audiobooks that you can read on any device with a Kindle app (so – Android phones and tablets, iPhones, iPads and Amazon’s own Kindle devices.). Additionally, there’s a rotating selection of popular magazines to read as part of your subscription.
For Prime Day, you can now get a free, three-month trial of Kindle Unlimited (it’s £7.99/month after that, so don’t forget to cancel if you don’t plan to keep it.)
Audible – Free For 3 Months
While not a streaming TV service, Audible still offers great entertainment, with one of the largest audiobook collections in the world (We gave it a lot of praise in our Audible UK review).
Prices are the best when you join a monthly subscription, which gives you new audiobook credits each and every month, as well as access to Audible Plus, a library of thousands of books, podcasts and Audible Originals that are part of the membership at no extra cost.
For Prime Day, eligible Prime members can get three free months – so that’s three book credits and access to Plus.
True Wireless Earphones
There are lots of Prime Day earphone deals this year – but in particular, we wanted to highlight deals on three models we raved about in our reviews:
- EarFun Air Pro 3 – If you want excellent true wireless earphones at an even more budget-friendly price, the Air Pro 3 from EarFun are a great choice (see our review) – especially at their current Prime Day price.
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Earfun Air Pro 3
- Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro Earphones – Excellent true wireless earphones with top-notch audio quality and Active Noise Cancellation (so they’re perfect when you’re watching something on the train or even on a flight) – and almost endless customisation options. See our Liberty 3 Pro review.
- Edifier NeoBuds Pro – Another excellent pair of true wireless earphones (see our review) – the audio quality is excellent (though not as tweakable as on the Liberty 3 Pro), and the Active Noise Cancellation is truly impressive.
12 Free Premium Channels
Amazon is offering extended 30-day free trials on 12 premium Prime Video Channels, such as MGM, Shudder, ITV Catchup and more.
For the full list – see our free channels guide.