26 Best Deals From Best Buy’s 48-Hour Flash Sale (2023)

Today might be Amazon’s big sale day—it just kicked off its second Prime Day called Big Deal Days—but Best Buy is also running an eye-catching list of deals right now. Whether you’re looking for a new laptop, earbuds, or even … checks notes … Amazon devices like Kindles and Echos, we’ve rounded up the best deals during Best Buy’s Flash Sale shopping event. It runs through October 11 until 10 pm PT (1 am ET on October 12). 

Note: Most of the deals are available to everyone, but a select few are exclusive to My Best Buy members. Not seeing a sale price? Make sure you’re logged in to your account.

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Apple Deals

MacBook Air

Photograph: Apple

The 2023 MacBook Air (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is one of our favorite laptops this year. It has an excellent six-speaker sound system, a 1080p front-facing webcam, and a 10-core variant of the M2 processor the previous year’s model came with. It’s blazingly fast for most normal work and can even handle some light video editing and other heavier tasks. 

The 9th-generation iPad (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is our pick favorite iPad for most people, even though it’s one generation behind. Aside from costing less than the more current 10th-gen model, it’s compatible with all the same accessories (including the first-gen Apple Pencil) and retains the physical Home button at the bottom of the screen with Touch ID.

iPad Air

Photograph: Apple

If you’re looking for an upgrade to the typical iPad, the 5th-gen iPad Air (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is our pick for you. It has the same M1 processor that powers the 2020 MacBook Air. It has a beautiful screen, a USB-C port, and Touch ID built into the power button.

The 11-inch iPad Pro (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is what we call the ultimate iPad. Which is to say it’s the most powerful iPad, but not necessarily the most economical. It packs the same powerful M2 processor that’s in the newest Macbook Air, an excellent screen with 120-Hz Pro Motion for extra smooth animation, Face ID, and four high-quality speakers. If you need extra power and extra luxury, this is the iPad to grab. And if you need extra screen space, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is also on sale. It has a much nicer mini-LED screen.

TV, Laptop, and Phone Deals

Roku Plus Series

Photograph: Roku

The Roku Plus Series is our best entry-level TV recommendation. It has a QLED display and local dimming giving it solid black levels, and it supports Apple’s Homekit, Amazon’s Alexa, and Google Assistant for smart home control. It’s not the flashiest TV, but for its price, it’s hard to beat.

This is the old model, which was recently replaced, but this is still a good deal. The price matches the lowest we’ve ever seen for this device, which is one of the best 4K streaming devices. It traps you in Amazon’s ecosystem, but if you don’t mind (or you are already fully entrenched), it’s a good deal.  

The JBL Bar 1300X (8/10, WIRED Recommends) comes with detachable wireless speakers. You can pop off the two speakers on the side of the main soundbar and place them wherever you’d like without having to worry about whether there are power outlets nearby or having to hide cables. It also has some of the best Dolby Atmos immersion we’ve heard from a soundbar at this price. The only downside is that, without cables, you’ll have to charge the speakers between uses.

Photograph: Microsoft 

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is our top Surface pick for most people. It has an AMD Ryzen 7 processor, 8 GB of RAM, and a 256-GB SSD. It doesn’t have any of the flashy hinges or tablet hybrid features of its siblings, but it’s a solid all-around laptop, and even comes with a magnetic charger, so you don’t fling it across the room if you trip on the power cord.

For power users looking for a Microsoft laptop, our pick is the Surface Laptop Studio (7/10, WIRED Recommends). It has a 2-in-1 hinge that lets it function as either a laptop or a tablet. It’s got a 14-inch touchscreen, an 11th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, and 16 GB of RAM. Yes, there’s a new Laptop Studio, but we ran into some thermal issues, among other things. If you spring for the Surface Slim Pen, there’s a spot to magnetically attach it to the front of the laptop.

Samsung’s new folding phone delivers a larger cover screen, which means you can do more on the phone without having to open it up. If you or someone you know always complain about how big phones are these days, a folding flip phone might be the answer to those woes. Read our review for more details.

Amazon Hardware Deals

Amazon Kindle 

Photograph: Amazon

The standard Kindle is iconic for a reason. The 2022 model is the smallest, least expensive of all our favorite Kindles. It has a 6-inch screen, twice as much storage as the previous model with 16 GB of storage, and a crisper 300-ppi display; text should be a lot clearer on this one.

The Kindle Oasis is an indulgent e-reader for ebook fans. It has a sleek aluminum design, physical buttons to turn the pages, and a light-up display that looks natural and easy on the eyes. This model is a little old by this point and probably due for an update, but this sale also makes it much more appealing than its usual price.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite

Photograph: Amazon

For most people, the Kindle Paperwhite is our top pick. It has a lot of the features of the Oasis–including a spacious 6.8-inch screen, waterproofing, and adjustable warm lighting–at a lower price point. The Signature Edition can also automatically adjust your screen’s brightness based on the ambient light. If you don’t care about the auto-adjusting brightness, the regular Paperwhite is also on sale for $95.

The fourth-gen Amazon Echo (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is the Echo we recommend for most people. (Despite a 5th-gen Echo Dot, this is the latest version of the flagship speaker.) It has a spherical design, improved sound drivers, and better audio quality and speech recognition compared to previous generations of Echo. 

Amazon Echo Studio

Photograph: Amazon

The Echo Studio is the best-sounding Alexa speaker, but it’s also pretty expensive. This price matches a low we’ve seen just once before. It has more powerful sound in general, but the changes are especially noticeable on the low end. Check out our Best Smart Speakers guide for additional details and recommendations.

The Fire Max 11 (5/10, WIRED Review) is Amazon’s biggest, nicest, and most overpriced Fire tablet. This deal makes it much more palatable. The display and new fingerprint sensor are nice, as is the ability to use the keyboard without resorting to bluetooth, but the Fire OS operating system leaves much to be desired (like a decent app store). Still, if you’re set on a Fire tablet and you want a big display, this isn’t a bad deal.\

Headphone Deals

Sony WF-1000XM5 

Photograph: Sony

While its predecessor was one of the best pairs of wireless earbuds around, the WF1000XM5 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is still no slouch. They produce balanced sound, are comfortable to wear, and have active noise cancellation. When using the ANC, they last up to eight hours on a single charge, stretching to around 12 hours without it.

We like Sony’s standard LinkBuds (8/10, WIRED Recommends) for its open-ear design that allows you to hear what’s going on around you. If you do a lot of city walking, or use your earbuds and need to be aware of your surroundings, these are a great option.

If you’re not a fan of the open-ear look on the LinkBuds, the LinkBuds S offer a more traditional design. They have a closed-ear design and active noise cancellation instead, making them better for blocking out sound in your surroundings.

Photograph: Bose

These noise-cancelling headphones are our favorite for the office. With advanced signal processing and four microphones built in, these will limit any sound around you, making them great for focusing on work in a busy environment and for Zoom calls. These fluctuate in price often, but we think it’s a great deal.

Kitchen and Home Deals

KitchenAid Stand Mixer

Photograph: KitchenAid

The KitchenAid Stand Mixer is a godsend of a kitchen gadget. It has a generous 5-quart bowl that has plenty of room for mixing, kneading, or beating a wide variety of ingredients together. It’s built to last, so even if it weren’t on sale it would be worth the sticker price, but fortunately, this deal brings it way down.

Precision cookers—or sous vide, if you’re feeling fancy—let you cook food with a much higher degree of control than you might be used to. You can cook chicken perfectly every time, or cook large amounts of food using just bags and containers of water. It’s a handy addition to any kitchen, and the Nano 3.0 is one of our favorite starter precision cookers.

The Barista Touch has everything you need to turn your kitchen into a coffee shop. The built-in burr grinder and hot water spout are controlled by a digital display that lets you dial in your brews. Tap the Latte button and the Touch will crank out a latte, even foaming the milk. The results are not as good as what you can do by hand, but it’s a nice option if you’re feeling extra lazy. 

Photograph: Breville

The Breville Impress (6/10, WIRED Review) allows budding baristas to make good to very good espresso right out of the box. Breville has done a nice job of auotmating some of the trickier elements of espresso-making. The downside is that we found a good bit of variation from shot to shot.

The Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is our favorite vac-mop combo in our Best Robot Vacuums guide. It vacuums well and does a thorough job of scrubbing the floors (using the included mopping bin) without getting the carpets wet. It also uses laser navigation to accurately map your home, allowing you to subdivide vacuuming and mopping zones within the easy-to-use app.

These scooters are our Best Electric Scooter; they also go on sale so regularly that we urge you to avoid paying full price for them. It offers some of the best range for the money, as well as commuter perks like bells and lights.


Retailer Sale Pages

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Author: showrunner