Amazon Prime Day: The best deals available right now

The other Black Friday is back and the deals start right now

Amazon’s shopping holiday has become one of the biggest events of the summer, especially this year, as Prime Day is back in July to kick off the back-to-school shopping season. If you’re unfamiliar, Amazon Prime Day is a two-day online shopping bonanza where the online giant unleashes hundreds of thousands of deals for Amazon Prime subscribers. While you're sure to find plenty of sweet deals on Amazon devices, the online retailer slashes prices for everything from cases to cars.

What makes Prime Day so special is that it happens in the middle of summer. You don't have to wait in horrible lines on Black Friday or pray that your Cyber Monday gifts will arrive in time for the holidays. Other online retailers like Best Buy and Walmart have taken notice, and they typically offer some of their biggest discounts during the event.

The best early Prime Day deals

Prime Day itself may not be until sometime in July, but Prime members don’t need to wait that long to snag some deals right now.

Google Pixel 6 Pro — $100 off

Google’s first flagship to feature its own chipset, the Google Tensor, has finally worked out its early bugs and proven itself a great phone with some of the best cameras on a smartphone today. Discounts for the Pixel 6 Pro have been infrequent, so take advantage now — Amazon has sold out for weeks at a time before.

$800 at Amazon

Samsung Galaxy S22 series — $100 off S22, $200 off S22+ and S22 Ultra, and free storage upgrade

The “baby” Galaxy S22 is the closest Android has to a compact flagship these days; at the very least, it’s the easiest Android flagship to use one-handed. With Samsung’s polished hardware and One UI software, the Galaxy s22 series — especially the S22 Ultra with that built-in S Pen — offer an incredibly consistent and reliable experience. If you lack a trade-in-worthy phone, Amazon is taking at least $100 off the original price of each model of the S22, and you can snag the larger 256GB models for the same price at 128GB.

From $700 at Amazon

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 — $150 off

Ladies, do you miss the days when phones actually fully fit in your front pocket, even while sitting down? Children of the 90s, do you miss the satisfaction of flicking open your phone and snapping it back shut after a call? The Galaxy Z Flip3 is already discounted and might see even deeper discounts as we get closer to the unveiling of its successor, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4. The Flip4 doesn’t appear to have any jaw-dropping upgrades, so save money with the current model and join the foldable club.

$850 at Amazon

Fitbit Charge 5 — $25 off

The Fitbit Charge 5 has been hard to keep in stock, but Amazon still has it discounted ahead of Prime Day as many of us seek to escape our sedentary routine and get in shape for those summer beach vacations. With a week-long battery life, color display, and Fitbit’s tried-and-true tracking prowess, the Charge 5 more than earns its title as the best premium fitness tracker on the market today.

$125 at Amazon

Amazon Echo Dot (4th generation) — $22 off

Amazon’s smallest Echo smart speaker is as flexible as it is ubiquitous, and it's already on sale. Coming in at 44% off the regular price,the Echo Dot is the perfect product to build out your Alexa-powered smart home experience. Whether you want to automate daily routines, easily access to the latest weather and news, or just have impromptu dance parties all over your home, the Echo Dot is ready for it all. The uber-cute Echo Dot Kids and the extra-functional Echo Dot with Clock are also $25 and $20 off, respectively.

From $28 at Amazon

When is Amazon Prime Day 2022?

You could almost call Prime Day Amazon's birthday, even if the dates have slightly shifted away from that original July 15th date over the years. Amazon said at the end of April that Prime Day 2022 would be in July, which is a return to form for the shopping holiday, but they've yet to send a press release with the exact dates. From 2015 through 2019, Prime Day took place in mid-July, but the pandemic in 2020 caused the event to shift. Amazon Prime Day 2020 took place October 13-14, 2020, after the pandemic and a global shipping crisis left supply in a stranglehold that summer.

Last year, the two-day event was held from June 21-22, 2021. It was largely back to normal in terms of supply and deal variety, with Amazon offering over 2 million deals in 20 countries including Germany, Mexico, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates. Amazon looks ready to top that again this July.

What deals can we expect for Prime Day 2022?

Almost everything on Amazon gets some kind of discount or Lightning deal around Prime Day. Smartphones and smartphone accessories of every flavor will be discounted, as will smart TVs, tablets, computer accessories, and, of course, computers themselves. In previous years, Prime Day has been the perfect time to grab a good Chromebook as Amazon targets parents who need something for their children to do homework before school starts.

Fitness trackers and smartwatch deals are fast and frequent. With the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 expected to arrive in late August or September, the Galaxy Watch4 will likely reach its lowest prices ever on Prime Day; the Galaxy Z Fold3 and Flip3 will be in the same position. The Pixel 6 also launches at the end of July, so Prime Day may be the last chance to grab the Pixel 5a on sale. That puts three of the best Android phones on the market at likely their lowest prices to date.

While you may not see deals on the PS5 or Xbox Series X, you're likely to find some of the best deals on games for both of these platforms — as well as Nintendo Switch and PC. microSD cards reach very low prices, which are necessities for your Switch, dash cam, phone, and camera. Speaking of dash cams, both they and all manner of indoor/outdoor security cameras will be primed for you to finally pull the trigger on. Almost all Amazon devices like the Echo Show 10 smart speaker and the Fire TV Stick 4K will almost certainly see a price cut.

Of course, there will be hundreds of thousands of Prime Day sales in every product category from clothing to coolers. Since we're an Android site, we’ll primarily focus on all the best deals you need to see. From ridiculously low prices on USB-C cables to Lightning deals on 4K TVs, we’ll comb through them all. Apple fans, however, need not worry since everything from Apple AirPods Pro to the Apple Watch have gone on sale in the past.

You'll also want to keep an eye out for small business deals that happen before Prime Day. In past years, Amazon has worked to encourage its customers to shop small. Last year, Prime members who spent $10 on products from small businesses on Amazon received a $10 credit for Prime Day.

Do you have to be a Prime member to get Amazon Prime Day deals?

Yes. Amazon Prime Day deals are only for members. Although an Amazon Prime membership costs $140, students, EBT, and Medicaid recipients can score a discount. You can sign up for a free 30-day trial to get access to the deals. Just remember to cancel your free trial once the event ends and your packages have arrived.

That said, your Amazon Prime account comes with much more than just free shipping and access to incredible deals. It also includes discounts at Whole Foods, access to Amazon Prime Video and Prime Music, along with a lot of other perks. In previous years, Amazon has even added member-only concerts to Prime Day in order to amp up the two-day event. The company has also partnered with sports franchises to bring its members NFL and MLB games.