The best early Prime Day deals

Amazon Prime Day may not start until July 11th, but early deals are already trickling out. We’re expecting to see some worthwhile discounts on wireless earbuds, noise-canceling headphones, tablets, TVs, smart home tech, games, and other gadgets on the actual days of, with the early deals functioning as a kind of small temperature check.

As the ghosts of Prime Days past can tell us, the ahead-of-schedule deals are almost always on Amazon-owned devices and brands. There are sure to be more deals coming online in the days ahead — especially since Amazon has promised discounts from brands like Sony and Bose — but early bird shoppers already have some decent discounts to take advantage of.

Usually, these early deals will hold through the duration of Prime Day, though there’s always a chance they end up dropping further during the actual event. If that happens, your only action may be to buy the item again for less and return the one you previously paid for. It’s not ideal, but it’s the harsh reality of Amazon not offering price matching or price protection policies.

You can get the kid edition of the fifth-gen Echo Dot on Amazon right now for just $27.99 ($32 off). This is the latest version of Amazon’s tiny, orb-shaped speaker, which is great for listening to music, issuing smart home commands, and making various Alexa requests. Also, given this is the version that’s designed for kids, it comes in one of two adorable patterns and includes a one-year membership to Amazon Kids Plus, which provides access to a wealth of kid-friendly games and audiobooks. Amazon will even replace it if it breaks within two years.

Speaking of smart speakers, Amazon’s new Echo Pop is currently available to Prime members in black for $39.99 with a wired Ring Video Doorbell, which effectively means you’re getting the doorbell for free. It’s far from the best video doorbell (or Ring, for that matter) on the market, but it offers decent enough video quality for a bundled freebie.

As for the Echo Pop that makes up the meat of this deal, it’s Amazon’s latest compact smart speaker, one that comes in some stylish colors like purple and teal. It may not be as full-featured as the fifth-gen Echo Dot that retails for $10 more, but the Pop offers a unique look, pretty good sound quality, and Amazon Alexa support.

The kids are still alright because another great, kid-friendly edition of a popular Amazon device is seeing a steep discount at Amazon. Right now, Prime subscribers can get the latest Kindle Paperwhite Kids for just $89.99 ($70 off), which is another all-time low.

The 2021 model is one of the best e-readers around, and the kid-oriented version lacks ads and comes with a cute cover / protective case. It’s low-key the best deal for adults, too, because the covers are fun for readers of all ages (or you can just get it in black). Plus, if you turn off the parental controls, you’re really just left with an ad-free Kindle that features terrific battery life and an excellent, backlit screen.

The largest, highest-end model of Amazon’s TV lineup, the 75-inch Fire TV Omni QLED, is on sale for $899.99 ($200 off) at Amazon. We’ve seen this deal come up before — in fact, it’s currently the same price at Best Buy — but it’s still a great value for a jumbo TV.

The Fire TV Omni QLED supports 4K resolution, HDR with full array local dimming, and a respectable 60Hz refresh that’s fine for watching movies and TV. Only one of its four HDMI ports supports the 2.1 spec, but since it doesn’t reach 120Hz, it’s not exactly the best TV around for gaming anyway. Overall, it’s a good and bright TV for the money, especially if you want value for size.

The kid range of Fire tablets is geared toward different age groups, with the standard Fire HD 7 ($54.99), Fire HD 8 ($74.99), and Fire HD 10 ($119.99) designed for ages three to seven, and the Fire HD 8 Pro ($74.99) and Fire HD 10 Pro ($119.99) designed for ages six to 12. It’s kind of hilarious to think of “pro” kids, but that’s how Amazon ranks it. If you’re a Prime-subscribing parent and comfortable with giving your child an Amazon services-infused tablet for activities and video watching, you can boil it down to picking the age group, screen size, and price that best fits for you.

A few more early-bird deals