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Tuesday, 8 June 2021

Amazon Prime Day 2021: Dates and what deals to expect

Amazon Prime app is seen on a mobile phone on January 11, 2021 in London.

Amazon Prime Day is always one of the biggest shopping events of the year, and 2021 is unlikely to be any different.

Even though we’re not quite there yet, there’s no harm in starting your search early to find the best deals possible – indeed, there are already a fair few nice price drops already out there.

Plus, it’s not only Amazon who will have discounts across the 48-hour period, with many other retailers likely to follow suit. So you’ll want to know where to find the best deals and how to check prices to make sure you’re getting a genuine bargain.

We’ve pulled together all the key information so that you know everything there is to know about Amazon Prime Day 2021. That includes when it’s happening, what to expect and how to get a good deal. You might also want to read our article on how to sign up for Amazon Prime.

To find out more about the Amazon devices that could be discounted this Prime Day, read our Amazon Echo Dot review, Amazon Fire HD 10 review and the Amazon Fire HD 8 Plus review. Be sure to check out our best Amazon Echo deals to find the latest price cuts.

When is Amazon Prime Day 2021?

The date is now confirmed – Amazon Prime Day is happening on Monday 21st June and Tuesday 22nd June.

That’s right, Prime Day is, in fact, two days, as it has been for the last few years. Across this 48-hour period, you can expect a wealth of deals to appear online, some of which might only be around for a couple of hours. We’ll be keeping this page up to date with all the best deals we find during this time.

In 2020, Prime Day didn’t take place during the normal period – hardly surprising since nothing about 2020 you could legitimately describe as normal. Amazon Prime Day 2020 was a two-day event, and it happened on the 13th and 14th of October.

Prime Day 2021
Credit: Amazon

What is Amazon Prime Day?

Amazon Prime Day is an annual sales event that the retailer puts on for its Amazon Prime members.

Lots of big brands, including Apple, Samsung and Nintendo, discount their products, and you’ll make significant savings on nearly all Amazon devices. You can expect this to cover the likes of the Amazon Fire TV Stick and smart displays, including the new Amazon Echo Show 10.

To gain access to these exclusive offers, you need an Amazon Prime membership which costs £7.99 a month. For this, you get free premium delivery, the ability to watch TV shows and movies on Amazon Prime Video, and the chance to stream playlists via Prime Music. There is also a student Prime membership for just £3.99 a month.

However, Amazon also offers a 30-day free trial, allowing you to take advantage of the Prime Day deals. This is a great way of trying out the membership without committing. If you decide it’s not for you, just remember to cancel before the 30 days are up, or you will be charged.

Best Amazon deals right now

Best Amazon deals

Although Prime Day is yet to kick-off, there’s still a nice array of price drops to be found – and these are available to all shoppers, not just Prime members.

We recently watched the prices of various flagship handsets from both Apple and Samsung drop in price, along with a former flagship too. So if you’ve already got a SIM-only plan, you might want to consider picking up one of these leading smartphones. To hear what our experts had to say about some of these devices, read our iPhone 12 Mini review and iPhone 12 Pro Max review. If you’re not sure which generation of iPhone to pick up, there’s also our iPhone 11 vs iPhone 12 article too.

We’ve also noticed a few TVs on sale at Amazon, ranging from budget to mid-range. We’re currently seeing offers from industry leaders, including Samsung and LG. Buying a new TV can be a pretty intimidating experience, and if you’re unsure where to start, we recommend you read our in-depth which TV to buy guide.

And, true to fashion, Amazon also has a run of its own devices on sale right now. We’re not surprised the first-generation Echo Show 5 and Echo Show 8 are on sale since there are new models on the way very soon. For our tech expert’s verdict on the eight-inch version of the Show, read our Echo Show 8 review. Although it’s not on sale (though might be come Prime Day itself), you might also want to read our Echo Show 10 review.

There’s even an Apple product on sale right now, which certainly isn’t something you see every day. Yes, it’s a minimal price drop, but as you can read in our Apple Airpods review, it is a piece of tech our experts rate highly. The question is: will they drop any further during Prime Day itself?

Fitness fanatic? Amazon currently has reductions on a number of health wearables from the popular brand Fitbit, including the Charge 4 and Versa. Check out our review of the mid-range Fitbit Versa 3, which now has more than £30 off. 

There are several great discounts and promotions now live that are exclusive for Amazon Prime members, with some expected to extend across Prime Day. 

What deals can you expect on Prime Day 2021?

During Prime Day, Amazon always puts (literally) thousands of products on sale across pretty much every last conceivable category. Whether it be tech devices, home and garden products, kitchen appliances or toys, you’ll find almost everything gets its price dropped during this manic 48-hour period.

We’re huge tech fans at RadioTimes.com, so we’ll be keeping our eye most closely on discounts on TVs, soundbars, games consoles, smartwatches, fitness trackers, earbuds, phone handsets and other tech products. We’re anticipating price drops on products from major brands, including Apple, Samsung, Sony, Nintendo, Fitbit, Huawei and Xiaomi – but if there’s one brand that’s guaranteed to be offering discounted products, it’s Amazon itself. The retailer always slashes the prices of its own devices, such as its Echo range, its Kindle e-readers, its Fire tablets and Fire sticks.

Indeed, as detailed in an independent consumer survey, during Prime Day 2019, the most purchased product was the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K, which was followed by the third-generation Echo Dot, the Fire TV Stick 4K with Alexa remote and the Echo Show 5. In fact, of the ten most sold products that year, only two weren’t Amazon products: the PlayStation Classic Console and the Neos Smart Cam.

If you’re on the hunt for any of these (and you’re a Prime member, of course), then we suggest you pay close attention to this page during the Prime Day period: there’ll invariably be lots on sale. Unsure which product to pick up? You may want to read our expert best smart speaker, best streaming stick and best Alexa speaker articles in advance.

What were the best Amazon Prime Day deals in 2020?

Prime Day deals 2020

There were some brilliant tech deals to be found during Amazon Prime Day last year. The only other time you’ll see these kinds of discounts from the retailers is during Black Friday.

Some of the best discounts were found on Amazon’s own devices, including the Amazon Fire TV Stick, Amazon Echo Dot and Kindle.

The Kindle Paperwhite, usually £119.99, was just £79.99 with a saving of £40. There was over £40 off the Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet, too, bringing the price down to just £44.99 (RRP £89.99).

Looking beyond the Amazon devices, we also saw great savings on brands including Apple, Nintendo, Google, Fitbit, Samsung and Roku. Much like with Black Friday, Apple AirPods proved to be extremely popular. Typically costing £159, the earbuds were on offer for less than £130.

Also among the most popular products was the Nintendo Switch Lite. Both the standard Nintendo Switch and Lite consoles were near impossible to find during parts of 2020, thanks to our eagerness for new entertainment in lockdown. This increased demand meant that we saw the Nintendo Switch Lite sell out in minutes on the first 24 hours of Amazon Prime Day.

Many of these products are also likely to be extremely popular for Amazon Prime Day 2021. Along with the Apple AirPods and Nintendo Switch consoles, we expect there to be good deals on Amazon’s Echo smart displays, especially the new Amazon Echo Show 10 and the latest Fitbit Sense. Amazon recently unveiled updated versions of the Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 5 smart speakers, meaning the older models may end up discounted.

Outside of technology, you can also expect offers on Nespresso and Tassimo coffee machines, Shark vacuum cleaners and Ninja air fryers.

How to get a good deal on Amazon Prime Day

To take advantage of Amazon Prime Day, you need to be an Amazon Prime member. This can be done by signing up for the 30-day free trial or for £7.99 a month.

While you’ll likely see products across Amazon drop in price, many retailers will also put on sales to draw you to their websites instead. Therefore, it is always a good idea to check prices at other retailers in case the product you’re after is being sold for an even lower price elsewhere.

If there’s a particular pair of earbuds or smart speaker you’re after, it is also a good idea to keep an eye on prices in the run-up to Amazon Prime Day. This way, you’ll know how much of a saving you’re getting if they’re discounted during the event. CamelCamelCamel is a brilliant tool to help you do this as it tracks the price of any product sold on Amazon and can alert you of price drops.

Many of the best Prime Day deals are lightning deals, too, meaning they’re only of limited quantity and for a set amount of time. If you’re looking for a specific product, we suggest regularly checking for new deals – the best ones usually sell out quickly, and new ones will appear throughout the day.

Our expert reviewers are constantly putting new devices to the test. Before you snap up a bargain, it’s also worth doing your research. Whether you’re after a new phone or a printer, read our round-ups before you start shopping:

Our Amazon device reviews:

How to sign-up to Amazon Prime

Signing up for Amazon Prime is simple. Sign-up on Amazon for exclusive access to deals, free delivery and Amazon Prime Video.

There’s a monthly cost of £7.99 a month, or £3.99 if you’re a student. Once you enter your card details during sign-up, the amount will automatically be taken out of your bank account each month. And if you change your mind, there’s the option to cancel anytime.

However, if you just fancy trying it out, there is also a 30-day free trial. You can create an account the same way you would with the standard Amazon Prime membership and get all the same benefits (including Amazon Prime Day deals).

If you decide it’s not for you, just make sure you cancel your membership before the 30 days are up to avoid getting charged. Otherwise, the account will automatically renew to a standard paid Amazon Prime membership, and you can continue to reap the benefits.

Sign up for a 30-day free trial now

Where to find the best technology deals now

If you don’t want to wait until Prime Day for a bargain, we have collated various deals pages to help you find the best prices whatever the time of year.

Our tech experts monitor the price of products, including smart speakers, smart TV sticks, smartwatches and TVs all year round. This helps us spot when a discount is genuine and saves you the hassle of jumping to and from retailers trying to find the best price.

Each deals page is updated throughout the month so that you can be sure that you’re getting the product you want for the lowest price possible.

Find a full list of our deals pages below:

Amazon Prime vs Black Friday: What’s the difference?

Amazon Prime Day isn’t the only major annual shopping event if you are hunting for tech deals and discounts, with the other notable sales period known as Black Friday/Cyber Monday – scheduled to kick off this year on 26th November.

While Prime Day price slashes are geared towards Prime members (although many businesses will attempt to match Amazon’s deals and capitalise on the branding), the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales generally include a wider variety of retailers, including Currys/PC World, Argos, Very, AO and John Lewis.

With so many retailers taking advantage of Black Friday, you are more likely to see a wider variety of products or services discounted and for longer.

Amazon Prime Day 2021 is limited to a two-day period: taking place this year on June 21 and June 22, as previously mentioned. Black Friday will last from Friday 26th to Sunday 28th November, with Cyber Monday on Monday 29th.

Much like previous years, however, discounts are expected to actually start much sooner – with retailers marketing Black Friday deals throughout the entire month and launching sporadic price drops on everything from TVs to tumble dryers. Cyber Monday always takes place on the first Monday after Black Friday.

Both events will see major discounts on tech products, but Prime Day is likely to see especially great discounts on Amazon’s own devices and services – such as the Echo Show, Echo Buds, Fire TV sticks, Audible, and its Ring Doorbells.

Amazon markets 30-day free trials for anyone who wants to participate in Prime Day, while Black Friday is generally open to everyone in-store and online. Prime Day also offers Lightning Deals, which typically only last for a few hours.

Typically, the events are separated by months – leaving Prime Day to cover the summer period and Black Friday to capture those shopping for Christmas.

Last year was different due to disruptions related to the Covid-19 pandemic, with Prime Day being delayed to the 13th and 14th of October – pushing the two shopping events closer together. Historically, Prime Day took place around July.

For technology deals, however, both Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday offer fantastic price drops. Be sure to stay with RadioTimes.com for the highlights.

For more of the latest news, product guides and reviews, head to our dedicated Technology hub. And don’t forget to bookmark our Black Friday 2021 guide for more shopping and product discount news.



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