Amazon is readying its second Prime Day sale for Oct. 11 and Oct 12. It’s called the Prime Early Access Sale, aka Prime Day 2, and we’re already seeing some really great TV deals—from both Amazon and competing retailers.
You’ll need to sign up for Amazon Prime (for free) to take advantage of Amazon’s best Prime Early Access Sale discounts. You can look for all of Amazon’s deals all on the Prime Early Access site, but be aware other electronics retailers have announced similar sales to steal some of Amazon’s thunder. Target will hold its Deal Days from Oct. 6 to 8, and Newegg plans its FantasTech Sale II between Oct. 10 and 13.
Amazon’s own Fire TV products, along with third-party Fire TV hardware, will be on sale—in fact, some of it is already discounted. Amazon is also offering deals on products that have Fire TV software built in, like the $249.99 Echo Show 15 and the $139.99 Fire TV Cube.
Several of the October Prime Day deals we’ve listed below are within 5 percent of the discounts we saw during the July Prime Day event, and the TCL deal at the top of our “mainstream” list is definitely worth a look.
Are Echo Shows technically TVs? Maybe not, but they’re on steep discount right now, and they connect to Fire TV.
Best Prime Early Access Sale TV Deals under $100:
- Echo Show 5 (2021 release): $34.99 (58% off at Amazon)
- Echo Show 8 (2021 release): $69.99 (46% off at Amazon)
- Insignia 32-inch F20 720p Fire TV (2018 Model): $99.99, (44% off at Amazon)
Amazon is also selling the older Fire TV Cube for $59.99, 50 percent off with Prime.
Best mainstream Prime Early Access Sale TV Deals:
- TCL 50-inch 4K Smart Roku TV (2021 Model): $299.99, (40% off at Amazon)
- TCL 65-inch 4K HDR Smart Roku TV, $429.99 (46% off at Best Buy)
- TCL 55-inch 4K HDR Smart Roku TV: $319.99 (47% off at Amazon)
- Vizio V-series 50-inch 4K HDR Smart TV: $299.99 (21% off at Target)
- Amazon Fire TV 43-inch 4-Series 4K Smart TV: $299.99 (19% off at Amazon)
- Amazon Fire TV 50-inch 4-series 4K Smart TV: $349.99 (26% off at Amazon)
- Amazon Fire TV 50-inch Omni Series 4K Smart TV, $399.99 (22% off at Amazon)
- Hisense U6 Series 50-inch 4K Quantum Dot QLED Smart Fire TV with Dolby Vision, $354.00 (34% off at Amazon)
Best premium Prime Early Access Sale TV Deals:
- Samsung 65-inch Smart 4K HDR TV TU7000, $499.99 (23% off at Target)
- Hisense 65-inch ULED Android 4K 120Hz TV w/Alexa, $748.00 (32% off at Amazon)
- LG OLED65B1PUA 65-inch Alexa B1 Series (2021), $1,596.99 (35% off at Amazon)
Prime Early Access Sale TV buying advice:
Retailers know that amid rampant inflation, consumers are feeling the pinch, so expect older hardware to once again go on sale. If you don’t need the latest HDR capabilities or voice integrations, you may find older premium TVs that are excellent deals. But in some cases, you won’t see big discounts, but that’s because price have already been marked down. For reference, you can consult our home technology site, TechHive, and TechHive’s best TVs for 2022 and how to shop for them.
At this point, 4K TVs are the new normal. So are “smart” TVs. Typically, you have a choice of four interfaces: Amazon’s FireTV interface; Roku’s blocky but easy-to-use interface, also found on separate streaming sticks; Android TV (now rebranded as Google TV), also found on a separate dongle; or the manufacturer’s proprietary interface.
Why link to TechHive’s dongle reviews? Because you don’t absolutely need to buy a smart TV, though integrating the “smart” capabilities into the basic TV saves you another remote.
Otherwise, think about how many HDMI ports each offers, as you might want to connect a game console as well as some other device, like a legacy VCR or DVD player. The difference between midrange and “premium” TVs may be in features you might not think about, such as brightness or contrast. Generally, other TV owners have already figured out whether these differences matter, so be sure and skim the online ratings and reviews for TVs you’re considering.
Updated at 11:06 AM PT on Oct. 5 with more early Prime Early Access deals and buying advice.
Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor
As PCWorld’s senior editor, Mark focuses on Microsoft news and chip technology, among other beats. He has formerly written for PCMag, BYTE, Slashdot, eWEEK, and ReadWrite.