IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Amazon Prime Day 2020: Best sales and deals to shop now

Prime Day is live and so are tens of thousands of deals at Amazon, as as well as at many other retailers. Here’s what to know and where to save.
Learn the history of Amazon Prime Day, how Prime Day became Amazon's most successful shopping event and the impact it's had on the retail industry.
Prime Day sales can save you on both small and large purchases at Amazon as well as at other retailers like Walmart, Wayfair, Target, REI and more. Amazon; Getty Images

Select is editorially independent. Our editors selected these deals and items because we think you will enjoy them at these prices. If you purchase something through our links, we may earn a commission. Pricing and availability are accurate as of publish time.

Prime Day was created by Amazon, which has an affiliate relationship with Shop TODAY. Whenever you buy an Amazon product through our site, Amazon pays Shop TODAY a small commission on that sale.

Amazon Prime Day is live right now and nearing the midpoint of its first day: It ends tomorrow, Wednesday, Oct. 14 (as far as we know right now). During the two-day sales event, you’ll come across massive sales on significant items like TVs and mattresses, as well as noteworthy savings on distinct and lower-priced items like gifts, apparel, simple home electronics and even groceries. Though Amazon started its Prime Day sale in 2015, it has since grown so much that other retailers offer similarly large-scale sales during Prime Day, meaning you have more ways to save. Some of those sales are running at Shopping reader favorite retailers like Wayfair, Walmart and Target. In our other coverage of Prime Day sales at Amazon — which currently includes best tech deals, best home and kitchen deals, best wellness deals and best style deals — we'll be noting top deals and highlighting comparable savings at other retailers to give you an idea of how each sale holds up against the competition.

SKIP AHEAD Top Prime Day deals right now

While the effects of Covid are still rampant across the world, there’s enough reason to predict that the holiday season will grow increasingly straining on various mailing and shipping centers. If you’re concerned about getting your holiday shopping shipped in time, consider moving on it sooner than later, whether during Amazon’s Prime Day sale, upcoming Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales events across retailers or otherwise. While we’ll be updating our coverage on an ongoing and regular basis throughout the sale, so it might be wise to bookmark this page and come back regularly come morning. Housekeeping aside, let’s get into what you need to know about Prime Day 2020.

Prime Day sales at other retailers

In our in-depth look at the history and impact of Prime Day, several experts told us that, as a result of the exponential growth of Prime Day (which started in 2015), other major retailers have begun running their own sales during the sales event. “Quite frankly, it has completely altered the retail calendar,” explained CNBC’s Annie Palmer.

While that usually happened in July, this year it’s happening right now. Given Shopping reader interest, we looked into some of those sales specifically:

Outside of those, retailers large and small are running likewise substantial sales right now to match up against Amazon’s Prime Day sale. Here are some of the most relevant ones to Shopping readers:

  1. Aerosoles: Up to 30 percent off sitewide
  2. Best Buy: Up to $500 off select TVs and $15 off various video games for the Nintendo Switch
  3. Blue by ADT: $40 off select home security devices
  4. Dyson: Up to $150 off select devices
  5. Macy’s: 50 percent off women's coats
  6. Nordstrom: An additional 40 percent off select shoes and clearance items
  7. Old Navy: Up to 50 percent off sitewide (excluding masks, today only deals and gift cards)
  8. The Home Depot: Up to 50 percent off select interior furniture, decor and kitchenware
  9. TOMS: Up to 30 percent off sitewide
  10. REI: Up to 70 percent off clearance clothing (on Oct. 12, get an additional 25 percent off those deals)

Amazon Prime Day 2020: Best sales

Here are the best deals during Prime Day that are live right now. We’ve compiled some of the more general category and brand sales to give you a more coherent sense of what’s on sale. And we'll be posting new articles throughout the day on major categories for which Shopping readers have shown interesting over the last year, starting with a dive into the best deals on tech during Prime Day. If you want to keep things simple, shop the Prime Day sale by category:

Best sales to shop right now

Our favorite deals to shop right now

1. Apple AirPods Pro

  • Rating: 4.6-star average rating, nearly 61,000 reviewers
  • Highlights: Tech expert Whitson Gordon notes these earbuds are the best wireless earbuds for Apple users able to invest some more into their headphones.Fitness expert Stephanie Mansour considers the non-Pro edition, the Apple AirPods, the best wireless earbuds for her routine. The Pro version of the earbuds were discounted to this price in mid September for several days, after which they jumped up closer to their $235 average price over the last year, according to price comparison site CamelCamelCamel.

2. Safe+Mate x Case-Mate - Cloth Face Mask

3. Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Noise Canceling Overhead Headphones

  • Rating: 4.5-star average rating, nearly 1,300 reviewers
  • Highlights: This new set of headphones from Sony is an upgrade to its beloved pair of ANC headphones, the Sony WH-1000XM3, which is also on sale right now. You can get it in Silver or in Black and Amazon is giving you a $25 gift card with your purchase. With up to 30 hours of battery per charge and 10 minutes of quick charging giving you up to five hours of playback time, as well as noise sensing tech that quiets your sound once you talk and otherwise able to create a real-world immersive listening experience (the headphones can react to your surroundings both with their ANC capabilities and in how they serve your music), this is a deal worth considering and the lowest price this months-old pair of headphones has ever been.

4. Fitbit Versa 2 Health and Fitness Smartwatch

  • Rating: 4.5-star average rating, more than 49,760 reviewers
  • Highlights: From devices that help your sleeping to great gifts, the Fitbit Versa 2 is common in Shopping circles for its flexible use case and style. With Alexa built in, this highly-rated fitness tracker can help you get updated with the latest news as easily as it can start a timer for your next run. Tracking your heart rate, time asleep and calculated level of restlessness, Fitbit wiull make some suggestions about improving your overall health and at least keep you in check.

5. Asus ZenBook Pro Duo UX581

  • Rating: 4.2-star average rating, more than 300 reviewers
  • Highlights: This highly-rated and top-performing laptop sports a lot of top notch features, from its 4K touchscreen to its Intel Core i7 processor and 16GM of RAM and a terabyte-large solid state drive. With specs like these, it's not only a workhorse but one that sticks by your side for some time. And right now, it's the lowest price it's ever been.

6. Yale Assure Smart Lock

  • Rating: 4.4-star average rating, nearly 1,700 reviewers
  • Highlights: the best keyless smart lock in our guide to the best smart locks on the market, Yale's version allows you to "get rid of your keys altogether," writes tech expert Whitson Gordon, noting the smart lock "sticks a touch screen keypad on your door. You can enter a code, set it to automatically unlock as you arrive home or use your voice assistant of choice." This is the lowest price this smart lock has been since December 2019, when it was running at $151, or two dollars less than it is now.

7. TP-Link AC1750 Smart Wi-Fi Router

  • Rating: 4.3-star average rating, more than 23,000 reviewers
  • Highlights: A mainstay option in both our guide to buying the best router for you and our list of the best routers in 2020, this option from TP-Link should check off lots of boxes for anyone looking to elevate their at-home signal. " TP-Link offers some of the best bang for your buck with their Archer A7 router, a budget-focused router with remarkably fast Wireless AC performance, offering theoretical top speeds of 1300Mbps for an individual device or 1750Mbps combined speed across multiple devices," writes tech expert Whitson Gordon. This is the lowest price the router has been since January 2019.

8. Kindle Paperwhite

  • Rating: 4.5-star average rating, nearly 65,000 reviewers
  • Highlights: Since its original launch in 2007, Amazon has released over 15 different versions of its Kindle e-readers. One Shopping contributor noted that with the highly-rated Paperwhite version, "I can read whatever I want, wherever and whenever I please." This is the lowest price the Paperwhite has ever been on.

9. Amazon eero mesh WiFi system

  • Rating: 4.5-star average rating, nearly 6,900 reviewers
  • Highlights: His top option in our guide to the best mesh Wi-Fi systems, tech expert Whitson Gordon notes: Eero was one of the pioneers in the consumer mesh Wi-Fi space, and since Amazon acquired it, they’ve released a new base-level system. It’s not the fastest mesh system around, but it comes at a great price compared to the competition, and it’s extremely easy to set up. This is the lowest price this Wi-Fi system has been since December 2019.

10. LifeStraw Personal Water Filter

  • Rating: 4.8-star average rating, more than 34,500 reviewers
  • Highlights: With appearances in our gift guides and eco-friendly guides, this personal water filter is Amazon's No. 1 bestseller in the sports and outdoors category. It can filter up to 1,000 galloons of contaminated water, according to the brand, which claims it removes virtually all waterborne bacteria and parasites (not toally). This is the lowest price it's been since January of this year.

11. FOREO LUNA 2 Facial Cleansing Brush

  • Rating: 4.5-star average rating, more than 2,-000 reviewers
  • Highlights: In our guide to shopping for a facial cleanser brush, Ava Shamban, a board-certified dermatologist recommended the Foreo Luna 2 because it is antimicrobial, antibacterial and a non-abrasive way to remove dirt and oil when cleansing your face. If you’re crunched for time you’re in luck — the Luna 2 only requires two minutes of use, and employs T-Sonic technology, which pulsates 8,000 times per minute, to help you get a deeper cleanse and face massage. This is the lowest price the Foreo Luna 2 has hit since November 2019.

12. Samsung 85-Inch Class QLED Q90T Series Smart TV (less than 10 remaining)

  • Rating: 4.4-star average rating, nearly 200 reviewers
  • Highlights: With an ultra-wide viewing angle, this highly-rated smart TV from Samsung equips built-in Alexa, 4K resolution and its four speakers are designed to track sound around the room to resonate realistically with the picture. Given the investment needed for this deal, consider that tech expert Whitson Gordon has this to say about Samsung TVs: "Samsung's TVs are all well-made ... their top-of-the-line models are where the good stuff is."

Amazon devices on sale: Best deals

Save up to 60 percent on Amazon devices, from TVs to Echo smart assistants and more.

Best smart home products on sale right now

Save up to 30 percent on smart home products, like the Ecovacs N795 robot vacuum and Kasa’s indoor security camera.

Best vacuums on sale right now

Amazon has a plethora of vacuums on sale right now, including upright models, robot vacuums and more.

Amazon Prime membership 101

To get the most out of Amazon Prime Day savings, you’ll want to be an Amazon Prime member, which means shelling out $120 annually for the perks of membership (after a 30-day free trial), which include:

Given options like Walmart’s Prime-like subscription Walmart Plus and online shopping at similar major retailers like Target, Macy’s, Best Buy and Bloomingdale’s, consider where, how and what you shop for to determine if a Prime membership is right for you.

More shopping guides and recommendations

Catch up on the latest from NBC News Shopping guides and recommendations and download the NBC News app for full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak.