Visits: 8
Hello you lovely reader – welcome to another round of the very best sale items that we're sniffing out, heading deep into the Amazon Black Friday sale and finding the stuff that's really worth talking about.
I was counting the other day and the deals-hunting team we've got assembled has a cumulative half-century of experience between them (and that's already increased by a few months of late…)
This live blog is an Editor-In-Chief's mumbling witterings of what we're rating as truly good deals in Amazon's pre-Black Friday sales – as well as those we think you should steer clear of thanks to likely later price drops.
If you want to see the full, dedicated list of all the top Amazon Black Friday deals in one place, we've got that for you – and if you're after more than just the best Amazon has on its books, then our gargantuan Black Friday deals hub is a way to begin – especially if you're like me and your brain just remembered it's Christmas soon and – ah crap – I've bought nothing.
But this live blog is going to be a place that mixes expert insight with nonsensical notions as we start our engines, crack open the trunk and get ready to fill it with all manner of savings. I will caveat it with the fact I've got a newborn and am trying to run a site when all our readers just want to know the best deals, so I've had about three minutes' sleep in a week. Fun.
So to get the best out of this experience, bookmark this page and come on the absolutely wild ride that is Amazon having a pre-Black Friday sale.
Great categories to check out
- Not buying a LG C1 OLED? You’re not Black Friday-ing: They start at just $1,097
- People love Instant Pot. Do you? Well, you will with up to 44% off nearly everything
- Vacuum cleaners suck etc, etc: But you should probably buy a Shark, they’re good.
- Imagine huge computing savings, with 47% off Chromebooks: Stop imagining. Boom.
- Shock. Amazon has sales on its devices: 50% off Fire TV sticks, Kindles & more
- I’ve just had a baby, I’m buying these cabinet locks: Get up to 34% off sterilizers too.
The 5 deals we’re into right now
- Amazon Fire TV 50-inch 4K Smart TV: You want it for $329.99? You can have it for $329.99
- Beckham Hotel Collection Pillows: My sister once met David Beckham. He smelled amazing.
- The best true wireless earbuds: They’re down to ‘only’ $248. But they are great.
- Samsung ‘The Frame’ smart 4K TV: Save 15% on this very expensive, artistic telly.
- I really don’t like weighted blankets, but you probably do: Then buy this half price YnM Weighted Blanket, please.
Right, this is the first post. Got to set the tone. Got to find a great deal to convince you, the loyal and intrepid deals reader, that this live blog is one to read and be excited about. Man, that's a lot of pressure. I hope I can manage it.
Orrr…. I could procrastinate and look in my inbox and see if there are any important emails to reply to.
Taking the very first one I see, here's the opening line: “I wondered if you might be interested in an announcement this morning from leading lithium-sulphur battery developer Li-S Energy?”
Even I can't spin that into a way to distract myself. Probably should bring you the first deal.
OK, remember how I made it seem like I was all jazzed up for bringing you loads of good deals?
I'm starting to regret that promise. I'm tired, I've got a 3-month-old and I'll be going far more down the 'rapid-fire' route as it's simpler and I've got a million people asking me things.
So here you go:
1. The Jabra Elite Active 75t are an absolute steal at $99 – they're among the very best true wireless earbuds, and bring additional IP rating against your hard-won sweat, with our review loving the package. Plus seven hours of battery life. Yeah, you do.
2. I spent a long time last year worrying about whether to buy a 65-inch OLED TV – the CX fell to £1499… but did I buy it? This year, the (better) LG C1 OLED is $1796 at Amazon… could that fall even further? It's hard to believe.
3. These are brilliant true wireless earbuds from Sony. They're not cheap, even with discount, at $248, and 11% off isn't mega, but if you've got the cash they're literally the best out there and have loads of battery life.
Despite the fatigue, I've found myself in the pet section of Amazon's Early Black Friday sales. Or maybe because of the fatigue.
Two things I'm now enamored with – here's the first, and it's going to see me buying a load of fish just so I can not bother looking after them.
This is not a speed gun – it's an automatic fish feeder, and it's down to $23.99.
Imagine buying some fish and then not even bothering to tend to them – just get this thing that will do it for you.
I'm already feeling guilty about wanting it – more so when I see the kind of description it has:
“Intelligent design: You can set up to 4 feedings a day, feeding 1-3 times each time. At the same time, you can also feed manually and experience the fun of feeding.”
You can also experience the fun of feeding by just feeding your fish.
I think I'd also need a webcam set up to make sure it's still functioning and they're not all dead.
Time to check the ol' email again. What's top now?
“FORMULA E: UNPLUGGED GOES LIVE AND FREE TO VIEW ON YOUTUBE AND FACEBOOK.”
There you go.
Oh, and the other pet thing I want to buy: the PetSafe ScoopFree Original Automatic Self-Cleaning Cat Litter Box, down to just $149.95 (although I forgot I was supposed to be finding deals, and was just into this idea).
I had a cat until quite recently, and I would have loved this to take the stress out of my life. It automatically rakes all the poo into a special container and leaves the rest looking all clean and lovely.
And, thankfully, there's a sensor in there to make sure you don't accidentally rake your cat up with it. Although, my cat used to wait until I was doing a meeting over Zoom and then do the most almighty effort in the litter tray… it was so overpowering I think this machine would have just stopped working.
I do miss her.
If you want proof that I like automated cat litter trays, check out this video I did eight years ago. I so nearly bought one.
Right, before I sign off for the evening, my Deals Editor Mackenzie Frazier has just scolded me for not writing about the bigger deals of the day. I shall rectify that now to avoid her glare.
The first is to the range of Instant Pot models that are discounted right now. Fair warning – the Instant Pot with Air Fryer lid does not make amazing fries.
However, if you want some delicious home-cooked stew, then the Instant Pot Duo Plus 9-in-1 is a snip at $79.99 – I've got the 8-in-1, and while I don't use it as much as I should, it gets a darn sight more action that my George Foreman.
And if you do want good fries, we rate the heavily-discounted Instant Vortex air fryer pretty highly – so that's where you can get your chipped potatoes tasting all crunchy and nice.
I've just realized the Beckham pillows I linked to in the intro above are not endorsed or made by David Beckham, just a nice pillow maker.
I won't be changing the entry though. My sister did meet David Beckham and he did smell nice. Think about that when sleeping on the old, lumpy pillows you should be replacing with these heavily-reduced fluffy (non-David) Beckham ones.
Right, the final deal before we sign off until tomorrow: this Keurig K-mini coffee maker is down to $49.99, which is the lowest price it's ever been.
Here's why you should trust this deal:
1. It's under $50 and Keurig is a great brand.
2. Mack told me to do it.
Here's why you shouldn't trust this deal:
1. I hate coffee.
Your choice.
Right, that's enough from me for one evening. I'll be back with more of the best deals / the ones I see when I'm procrastinating through Amazon tomorrow.
For now, enjoy this image I found when searching our image library for 'sleep'. Is he testing the mattress… or does he really miss it and wishes that they hadn't broken up, and maybe they should just try one more night, honestly it won't get weird.
OK, I'm not going to be allowed to leave it on that note.
Instead, why not enjoy some of our heavily-curated Black Friday Apple deals? Maybe you'll find a nice iPod or something in there.
Goodnight!