Best Amazon Prime Day Deals on Echo Smart Speakers and More
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Amazon Prime Day kicked off at 3PM Monday and is running for 36 hours. Consumer Reports will be listing the best deals on electronics, from smart speakers to laptops, below.
We'll also be covering home goods and deals under $150, and we've put together a list of tactics for finding your own deals.
As in past years, some of the best deals are on Amazon's own products. Below, we've broken out smart speakers and streaming devices, along with tablets and e-readers. But the sale also includes headphones, laptops, printers, smartphones, TVs, Wi-Fi routers, wireless speakers, and electronic devices such as fitness trackers from other companies. These are all listed here, as well. (You can click on the links above to take you to the right section.)
As in past years, Amazon's devices are being promoted heavily, along with other products that can be controlled through the company's Alexa digital assistant.
Keep in mind, Amazon can change pricing at the last minute, and some deals may sell out.
Full Coverage: Amazon Prime Day
Smart Speakers
Amazon Echo (2nd Generation)
Sale price: $70
Is it a good deal? The Echo is the smart speaker that started it all, but our testers placed the second generation Echo in the middle of the ratings pack, largely because its sound quality is significantly worse than newer competitors' like the Sonos One and Google Home Max. But if you’re not that concerned about sound quality, this is a good deal: The Echo lists for $100.
Shop for the Amazon Echo (2nd Generation) at Amazon
Other options: If you really don't care about sound quality, or plan to pair your Echo device with another wireless speaker, consider the Echo Dot, below.
Shop for the Echo Dot (Black) at Amazon
Shop for the Echo Dot (White) at Amazon
Amazon Echo Dot
Sale price: $30
Is it a good deal? The inexpensive Echo Dot is one of the cheapest ways to get started in the world of smart speakers. And when it comes to smarts, it performs just as well as pricier products that access Amazon's Alexa voice-activated digital assistant. Our testers found the Dot’s sound to be lacking when playing music, but you can pair it to a non-smart Bluetooth speaker for better audio quality. The Dot normally retails for $50, but is frequently discounted to $35 at retailers including Best Buy and Bed Bath and Beyond. This Prime Day deal essentially saves you an additional five bucks.
Shop for the Echo Dot (Black) at Amazon
Shop for the Echo Dot (White) at Amazon
Other options: The Google Home Mini is the Dot’s logical competitor, also listing at $50 and routinely discounted at other retailers. It's currently $34 at Best Buy.
Shop for the Google Home Mini at Best Buy
Amazon Echo Dot (Kids Edition)
Sale price: $60
Is it a good deal? The Kids Edition of the Echo Dot adds a colorful rubber cover to a normal Dot, along with a year’s subscription to Free Time Unlimited, which includes access to Audible children’s books, kids’ songs on Amazon Music, and games and apps from outlets such as Disney, National Geographic, and Nickelodeon. Note that Amazon’s FreeTime parental dashboard is free, and can be used with a regular Dot or Echo. On Prime Day the Kids Edition sells for $30 more than the regular Dot, listed above for $30. This Prime Day offer begs two questions: Is the Free Time Unlimited subscription worth $30 to your family? (It costs $3 to $10 a month when ordered separately); and should your child have a smart speaker at all? Some privacy experts have raised concerns about putting such devices in a child’s bedroom.
Shop for the Echo Dot (Kids Edition) at Amazon
Amazon Echo Look
Sale price: $100
Is it a good deal? Well, it's $100, or 50 percent, off on an Alexa-powered device, but whether that's a good deal depends on whether this quirky device appeals to you—some people love it, while others find the concept creepy. (Consumer Reports has not tested the product.) The Echo Look is a voice-activated webcam that you can use to take photos or videos of what you're wearing. You can store the files to build up a fashion lookbook, share your styles with friends, or get feedback on your fashion choices from Amazon's combination of artificial intelligence and human experts. It's sort of a fashion security camera—or, perhaps, insecurity camera.
Shop for the Echo Look at Amazon
Amazon Echo Plus
Sale price: $100
Is it a good deal? Consumer Reports yet hasn’t tested the Amazon Echo Plus, which is essentially a higher-end version of the Echo that includes a built-in Zigbee smart home hub designed to allow for easy setup of smart home products from companies like Phillips Hue, GE, and Yale. The Plus also includes an upgraded speaker. The Plus normally sells for $150, so the $100 Prime Day price represents a $50 discount, steeper than Amazon’s $30 discount on the second-generation Echo.
Shop for the Echo Plus at Amazon
Amazon Echo Show
Sale price: $130
Is it a good deal? Like the Echo Look, the Echo Show is being discounted by $100. The product is innovative, adding a 7-inch touchscreen to an Alexa-powered smart speaker and earning a Best Buy rating from our testers. However, the Show is still primarily a voice-powered product. Its screen is best suited to secondary uses like showing the steps of recipe in addition to narrating them, although you can use it to stream video if you’re so inclined. At $130 it now costs just a few dollars more than the $100 second-generation Echo.
Shop for the Echo Show (Black) at Amazon
Shop for the Echo Show (White) at Amazon
Other options: Amazon is also packaging the Show with a Ring Video Doorbell Pro for $300. Since the Ring is discounted to $174 on Prime Day, this bundle saves you only $4—and a couple of clicks—compared to buying the two products a la carte.
Shop for the Echo Show plus Ring Video Doorbell at Amazon
Amazon Echo Spot
Sale price: $100
Is it a good deal? The Echo Spot, which hasn’t been tested by Consumer Reports, is essentially an Echo Dot with a small round touch screen. The design is sleek, but the small size and round format of the screen makes it useful only if you’re reasonably close to it. That means that stashing it on a high shelf isn’t a great option. The Spot generally sells for $130 at retailers like Office Depot and B&H Photo, so the $100 Prime Day price represents a significant discount.
Shop for the Echo Spot on Amazon
Other options: The Echo Show (above) which has a larger and more useful screen is also on sale for $130 on Prime Day.
Shop for the Echo Show (Black) at Amazon
Shop for the Echo Show (White) at Amazon
Sonos One Smart Speaker with $50 Amazon Gift Card
Price: $199
Is it a good deal? Our testers were impressed with the Sonos One smart speaker, giving it a Best Buy rating because of its great sound and versatility. The company’s first—and so far only—smart speaker comes with Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant, and you can update it using the phone app to work with Siri. (Support for Google Assistant has been promised for later this year.) All of which makes the Sonos One reassuringly futureproof in a fast-moving category. Sonos products are rarely discounted, so the bonus of a $50 Amazon gift card makes this a nice Prime Day deal on a great smart speaker.
Shop for the Sonos One at Amazon
Amazon Streaming Devices
Amazon Fire TV 4K Ultra HD with Alexa Voice Remote
Sale price: $35
Is this a good deal? Yes, since Amazon basically cut the price in half, making this your least expensive option for streaming 4K videos with HDR. This latest Fire TV is a diamond-shaped dongle with a slightly faster processor than its predecessor, plus support for a smoother-looking 60 frames-per-second video. It also supports Dolby Atmos sound. The Alexa voice remote lets you find, launch, and control content with voice commands. Amazon can’t access as many services as Roku, and still prioritizes its own content over others, so it’s best for Amazon Prime subscribers. But of course, if you're shopping Prime Day sales, that's you.
Shop for the Fire TV 4K Ultra HD with Alexa Voice Remote at Amazon
Amazon Fire TV Cube
Sale price: $90
Is it a good deal? This is a solid $30 drop from the usual price—that's a 25 percent savings and a great price for Amazon’s newest streaming media player. We haven’t tested it yet, but we described it as a mash-up of an Echo Dot and Fire TV. As you'd expect, it has Alexa and can stream TV shows and movies from Amazon and other services, plus it can control many other home entertainment devices, such as TVs, sound bars, and wireless speakers. Those who jumped on the Cube when it was first announced early last month were able to get it at this same price, but only for two days.
Shop for the Fire TV Cube at Amazon
Other options You can get the Fire TV Cube plus a Cloud Cam security camera for $150. The security camera is typically $120 on its own, so the combined deal represents steep savings. We have not tested that security camera, a WiFi-connected device meant for indoor use.
Shop for the Fire TV Cube plus Cloud Cam at Amazon
Amazon Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote
Sale price: $20
Is it a good deal? Basically, this basic stick-style streaming player is half off its usual price, so it’s a decent choice for anyone looking to add access to streaming services to any non-smart TV. It’s also a good choice for Prime members looking to get free streaming movies and TV shows from Amazon’s own services. One thing to note: It’s a 1080p model, so it doesn’t support 4K or HDR—but at this price it’s the least expensive streaming device you can buy.
Shop for the Fire TV Stick at Amazon
Headphones
Bose QuietComfort 25
Sale price: $125
Is it a good deal? Definitely. The Bose QuietComfort 25 is among the top-scoring wired, noise-canceling headphones in our tests, and it’s a steal at $125. In recent months it's been running $180 or more both at Amazon and other retailers. The QuietComfort 25 has superb audio quality, and the noise-canceling is best in class.
Shop for the Bose QuietComfort 25 on Amazon
Sennheiser HD 4.50 Special Edition BTNC
Sale price: $100
Is it a good deal? We haven’t tested the “Special Edition” of the Sennheiser HD 4.50 Bluetooth Noise Canceling Headphones, but these seem to be essentially the same as the regular model, which we recommend. These headphones are a bargain even when they aren’t on sale. The HD 4.50 BTNC has great sound and even better noise-canceling capability. The typical price is around $200. And while they aren’t the best noise-canceling headphone in our tests, models that scored higher cost as much as $350.
Shop for the Sennheiser HD 4.50 Special Edition BTNC on Amazon
Tablets and E-Readers
Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8
Sale price: $50
Is it a good deal? All three of Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets are on sale for Prime Day, but you might get the best bang for your buck by going with the Kindle Fire HD 8, which is priced at $50—that's a $30 discount. You get an 8-inch tablet that can be used for things like watching Netflix and YouTube in HD, reading Kindle e-books and digital magazines, and browsing the web and checking your email. The 15-hour battery life and feathery weight (less than a pound) make this tablet it a handy accessory for a nightstand or handbag. For many people, the 8-inch screen is the sweet spot for a tablet, but there are also smaller and larger Fire tablets—see "Other options," below.
Shop for the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8 at Amazon
Other options: The Fire 7 (which is not HD, and thus not as well-suited for watching streaming video) is $30, down from the usual $50). The 10-inch Fire 10 HD model is $100, down from the usual $150.
Shop for the Amazon Kindle Fire 7 at Amazon
Shop for the Amazon Kindle Fire 10 HD at Amazon
Amazon Kindle Fire 7 Kids Edition
Sale price: $70
Is it a good deal? This Prime Day price of $70 represents a $30 savings. The Kids Edition of Amazon’s Fire tablets includes a rugged case as well as a one free year of FreeTime Unlimited, a subscription service normally priced at $3 per month that offers kid-friendly content including e-books, movies, and TV shows. Otherwise it’s a normal Fire tablet, which means access to apps such Netflix, YouTube, Kindle e-books, and a web browser. When we tested the product a couple of years ago, it achieved more than 9 hours of battery life.
Shop for the Kindle Fire 7 Kids Edition on Amazon
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite
Sale price: $80
Is it a good deal? Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite is a great option if you’re considering a dedicated e-reader—especially at this price, which is $40 less than you’d ordinarily pay. We tested the device a couple of years ago, and found that the Paperwhite's sharp display lets you read Kindle e-books outdoors on even the brightest days (which isn’t always the case with tablets). And the battery lasts some 42 days. There are higher-end Kindle e-book readers that weigh a little less than the Paperwhite, but that's probably not worth the extra cost for most consumers.
Shop for the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite on Amazon
Lenovo Tab 4 8 Plus
Sale price: $170
Is it a good deal? If you want a smaller Android-based tablet, the Lenovo Tab 4 8 Plus is certainly worth a look. It has averaged $250 on Amazon over the past 13 weeks, according to data from research firm GAP Intelligence. The display isn't as bright as some others (such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3, below), but it's still reasonably easy to use in the bright sunlight thanks to an effective anti-reflective coating. Our tests found that the battery lasts nearly 10 hours, and you can expand the storage using the built-in microSD card.
Shop for the Lenovo Tab 4 8 Plus on Amazon
Samsung Galaxy Tab S3
Sale price: $400
Is it a good deal? It just so happens that the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 is the highest-rated large-screen tablet in our ratings, so seeing this for around $200 off qualifies as a good deal. It averaged $478 on Amazon over the past 13 weeks, though it dipped to $448 a few days ago. The 9.7-inch display impressed our testers in terms of resolution, wide viewing angles (which makes it easier for more than one person to crowd around the screen at a time), and minimal glare. Consumers may also appreciate the nearly 9-hour battery life and feathery 0.9-pound weight. A built-in microSD card reader makes it easy to add extra storage.
Shop for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 on Amazon
Laptops
Acer Chromebook R11
Sale price: $200
Is it a good deal? This is $70 off a Chromebook that has averaged $270 at Amazon and other retailers for the past three months. That's a decent discount. And this particular Chromebook, the Acer Chromebook R11, fares well in our ratings. It has an 11.6-inch display, an Intel Celeron processor, and 2GB of memory. If you’re used to looking at specs for Windows-based laptops that may not sound like much, but remember that Chrome OS (the software that powers all Chromebooks) is designed to perform well on relatively modest hardware. Add a battery that lasts a bit more than 9 hours and you’ve got a decent little package.
Shop for the Acer Chromebook R11 on Amazon
Asus Chromebook Flip
Sale price: $400
Is it a good deal? The Asus Chromebook Flip typically goes for around $500 and it dipped to about $460 at some retailers this spring. That means this discount isn’t as significant as the deal on the Acer Chromebook R11 (above). But it’s still a good savings, especially if you want something a little bigger. The 12.5-inch display offers a bit more real estate than the Chromebook R11 does, and the Intel Core m3 processor is a bit more capable than the R11’s Celeron—you’ll likely notice that during tasks like switching among lots of browser tabs. Bottom line? It’s a perfectly capable Chromebook, but since it's twice the price of the R11 it only makes sense if you really want the slightly bigger screen.
Shop for the Asus Chromebook Flip on Amazon
Asus VivoBook S410
Sale price: $700
Is it a good deal? While we haven’t tested the VivoBook S410, we have tested the very similar VivoBook S510, and rated it highly. At $700, it’s about $100 less than you’d typically pay. And this is a good price for a 14-inch laptop with the latest-generation Intel Core i7 processor, 8GB of memory, and 256GB of solid-state storage. What’s key here is the combination of the i7 processor, a quad-core chip, and a dedicated Nvidia graphics chip. That duo means this is a laptop that’s particularly well-suited for more demanding tasks such as applying complex filters in Photoshop or zipping through huge photo libraries in Lightroom.
Shop for the Asus VivoBook S410 at Amazon
Dell Inspiron 13 5000
Sale price: $600
Is it a good deal? We think this Dell Inspiron is a good option for consumers looking for a solid, everyday laptop (and one that usually goes for $650). You’ll find the latest Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory, and 256GB of solid-state storage. It doesn’t have a dedicated graphics chip like some high-end computers, which means it may not perform its best at graphics-intensive tasks such as editing photos or gaming. But with even a modest discount, the Inspiron is worth a look.
Shop for the Dell Inspiron 13 5000 at Amazon
Google Pixelbook
Sale price: $750
Is it a good deal? This is a good deal in the sense that $250 off a device that’s normally $1,000 represents generous savings, but you should keep in mind that this kind of money can get you a pretty decent Windows laptop. Sure, the Pixelbook is the highest-rated Chromebook in our ratings—the high-res display, 10-hour battery life, and backlit keyboard all impressed our testers—but it is somewhat hard to understand paying this much for a Chromebook, which primarily runs only web-based software. If you’re looking for pure computing value you should probably look elsewhere, but if you’ve had your heart set on the Pixelbook this price will be hard to beat.
Shop for the Google Pixelbook (128GB) on Amazon
MSI GL62M
Sale price: $800
Is it a good deal? We haven’t tested this particular model but the listed specs—a quad-core i7 processor, 8GB of memory, and an Nvidia GTX 1050Ti graphics card—suggest that this could be a good choice for parents whose children have been begging them for a gaming laptop. Or anyone who wants a computer with graphics oomph, for tasks such as editing photos and videos. This laptop normally goes for around $1,000—and it’s probably a decent deal even at that price. So $200 off is nothing to brush aside, especially given how expensive gaming-oriented laptops can be.
Shop for the MSI GL62M on Amazon
Printers
Brother HL L2300D Monochrome Laser Printer
Sale price: $60
Is it a good deal? If you want a laser printer to handle black-and-white text and nothing more, it's hard to find anything less expensive. This Brother typically has hovered around $100 at both Amazon and many brick-and-mortar stores over the past three months, according to data from research firm GAP Intelligence. We haven’t tested this model, but we think it’ll perform similarly to the Brother HL L2350DW, one of the best black-and-white printers in CR’s ratings. And you won't be spending much on toner as the years roll by. Each page of text will cost only about 2 cents to print, less than half as much as pages produced by many inkjets.
Shop for the Brother HL L2300D Monochrome at Amazon
Canon imageCLASS MF247dw Wireless Multifunction
Sale price: $130
Is it a good deal? This black-and-white laser printer has been averaging about $240 over the past three months at retailers tracked by GAP Intelligence, making today’s price a $110 savings. Like most laser printers in CR ratings, this all-in-one produces text with excellent quality and speed. And because toner is cheap and doesn’t dry out like inkjet cartridges, the Canon imageCLASS MF247dw won’t cost you much to operate. Unlike the Brother listed above, this model can also copy, scan, and fax documents.
Shop for the Canon imageCLASS MF247dw at Amazon
HP Officejet 3833
Sale price: $40
Is it a good deal? Yes and no. This CR-recommended model has averaged $60 at Amazon in recent months, and twice as much at other retailers, so you're getting a sizable discount—and $40 for a printer is about as cheap a price as you can find. But this model has a couple of knocks against it. The same ink cartridge supplies all three colors, so you need to replace the cartridge when just one of them runs out. (Black comes in a separate cartridge.) And printing text costs about 8 cents per page, twice what many other printers will run you. However, HP says you can reduce ink costs by signing up for the company's automatic replenishment subscription service: The printer will send a message to HP when you're low on ink
Shop for the HP OfficeJet 3833
Smartphones
LG V35 (Unlocked)
Sale price: $600
Is it a good deal? While our test results for this relatively new smartphone aren’t in yet, it is just an incremental update to the V30, which did pretty well in our testing. In fact, if you’re looking for a phone not made by Apple or Samsung, it’s one of your better options. The Prime Day price represents a big drop from the $900 currently being charged by both AT&T and Best Buy. If you want the latest and greatest LG phone, you might want to wait until this fall, when LG is widely expected to release a V40 model.
Samsung Galaxy Note8 (Unlocked Version)
Sale price: $650
Is it a good deal? The Note8 is one of CR’s top-rated smartphones, boasting a super-sharp 6.3-inch screen, as well as the stylus that Samsung’s Note series is known for. It’s just a hair bigger than its Galaxy S8+ sibling. And this is the first Samsung phone to feature a dual-rear camera, allowing for a portrait photography mode in which the background is blurred while your subject stays sharp. Over the past three months, the phone hasn't dipped below $750 on Amazon, and it has averaged around $940 at retailers tracked by research firm GAP Intelligence, making the $650 Prime Day price a great deal.
Shop for the Samsung Galaxy Note8 at Amazon
Other options: Keep in mind that this phone has been on the market for nearly a year and the Note9 is widely expected to hit stores this fall. When it hits the market, the prices on the GalaxyNote8 could drop even further.
Samsung Galaxy S7 (Certified Pre-owned, Unlocked)
Sale Price: $220
Is it a good deal? When it launched in 2017, the S7 became our No. 1-rated phone. It featured a great screen, big battery and top-of-the-line camera. But the phone is now more than two years old. It’s still rated highly by our testers, but it is missing many of the latest bells and whistles of other top phones, such as an OLED screen and dual-rear camera. Still, if you’re looking for a quality phone at a bargain-basement price—and you’re okay with buying used—this might be a great deal for you. Over the past three months, new, unlocked S7s have sold for as little as $560 on Amazon, or an average of $459 when you look at all retailers.
Shop for the Samsung Galaxy S7 on Amazon
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (Certified Pre-owned, Unlocked)
Sale price: $280
Is it a good deal? The S7 Edge is a slightly larger version of the Galaxy S7. It has all the same features, but that little bit of extra screen space lets it show your frequently used apps, tasks, contacts, news and other useful items when you swipe its edge. But, like the regular S7, the Edge version is two years old. Samsung doesn’t make Edge phones anymore, instead opting for the larger S8+ and S9+ versions. Over the past three months, new, unlocked, S7 Edge models have sold for an average of $650, both on Amazon and at other major retailers. The Prime Day price represents a super-clearance deal on a super-clearance phone.
Shop for the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge at Amazon
TV Sets
LG 65UJ7700 65-inch 4K UHD smart TV
Sale price: $649
Is it a good deal? This is a leftover 2017 set, but don’t let that worry you: It did well in our ratings, with very good HD and UHD performance, a wider-than-average viewing angle, and very good sound. So it’s a TV worth owning. It’s been selling for just around $1,000 at retailers tracked by GAP Intelligence over the past 13 weeks—a bit less at Amazon—so this is a good deal.
Shop for the 65UJ7700 65-inch 4K UHD smart TV at Amazon
Sony KD49X720E 49-inch 4K UHD Smart TV
Sale price: $438
Is it a good deal? This 2017 smart TV is still available at several retailers, including Best Buy, B&H, and PC Richard, and it’s been selling for about $550, making the Amazon Prime Day price a discount of $100. The set is one of Sony's entry-level 4K models, and it did well in our ratings for both HD and UHD performance. Unlike most Sony 4K models, which use the Android smart TV system, this model has a more basic smart TV system.
Shop for the Sony KD49X720E 49-inch 4K UHD Smart TV at Amazon
TCL 32S305 32-inch smart TV
Sale price: $130
Is it a good deal? Right now you can get this 2017 set, a 720p Roku TV, at several retailers, including Best Buy, for $150, although Walmart had it over the weekend for just over $132. So this is the best price on an already super-inexpensive set. Amazon had the same TV on sale for $170 at Black Friday last fall.
Shop for the TCL 32S305 32-inch smart TV at Amazon
TCL 40S305 32-inch 1080p Roku TV
Sale price: $195
Is it a good deal? This is another 2017 TCL Roku TV, but it has a higher, 1080p resolution. Amazon’s price is about $35 to $55 cheaper than what we’ve seen elsewhere, and it’s not a bad deal for a set this size. However, it’s hard to say how well this model performs. CR hasn’t tested it, and smaller and mid-sized TCL sets have been somewhat inconsistent in our ratings. For example, the 43-inch version of this model had only good high-def picture quality, while the similar S403 model had very good HD picture quality.
Shop for the TCL 40S305 32-inch 1080p Roku TV at Amazon
Toshiba 50-inch Fire TV Edition 4K UHD TV
Sale price: $290
Is it a good deal? In most screen sizes, Toshiba Fire TV Edition television sets are sold exclusively through Best Buy. But right now this 50-inch 4K model is being sold by Amazon, and only Amazon. It's priced even lower than Best Buy's smaller 43-inch model. We haven’t tested this set yet, but it seems to be about $110 less expensive than usual, a significant savings. As with all TVs that use the Amazon Fire TV smart TV platform, it has all the Alexa skills, and you can control the TV by speaking into the voice-enabled remote control. If you’re looking for a smaller TV, Amazon has added the 43-inch version of this set for $250.
Shop for the Toshiba 50-inch Fire TV Edition 4K UHD at Amazon
Other options: Walmart is responding to Prime Day with a "Summer Sale" where a 55-inch JVC 4K UHD TV (model LT-55MA770) costs just $280 right now. We haven't tested this set, but it's a hair cheaper and a lot bigger than the Toshiba at Amazon. It's not a smart TV, so you'll need to connect a separate streaming media device to get Netflix and similar services.
Shop for the 55-inch JVC 4K UHD TV at Walmart
Wireless Speakers
Bose Soundlink Micro Bluetooth Speaker
Sale price: $69
Is it a good deal? Consumer Reports didn’t test the Soundlink Micro but the larger and somewhat more expensive Soundlink Color earned a Best Buy rating from our testers. The Micro is truly tiny—small enough to fasten to a bag or even a bike with its Velcro strap. It features a microphone for phone calls and is supposed to be water-resistant enough to withstand 3 meters of water for 30 minutes. Bose products are rarely discounted, so if you’re in the market for a Soundlink Micro, this is a good opportunity to buy one.
Shop for the Bose Soundlink Micro Bluetooth Speaker at Amazon
Other options: The JBL Clip 2 is small, stylish, and attaches to a bag with a slick anodized carabiner. The Clip 2 is also supposed to be waterproof and often discounted from its $60 price tag, The best deal we found is the $42 refurb available from the manufacturer.
Shop for the JBL Clip 2 at Harman
Wi-Fi Routers
Google WiFi Router AC1900
Sale price: $90
Is it a good deal? This model was introduced a few years ago as one of the first of a new generation of easy-to-use, attractive routers. If you have multiple units, they can talk to each other, creating a mesh network that spreads Wi-Fi access into every corner of even large homes. This router did well in our testing and typically sells for $120, making this a worthwhile deal. One disadvantage compared to many routers is that there’s only one ethernet port for plugging in devices such as gaming consoles and 4K streaming boxes. On the plus side, if you already own other Google WiFi routers, you can add this unit to extend the network.
Shop for the Google WiFi Router AC1900 at Amazon
Netgear Nighthawk with Parental Controls
Sale price: $112
Is it a good deal? While we haven’t tested this particular model, we expect it to perform similarly to the Netgear AC1900 Nighthawk (R7000), which did well in our ratings. New to this model are parental controls from Circle and support for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. You get five ethernet ports, two USB 2.0 ports, and a discount of around $50 off the typical price.
Shop for the Netgear Nighthawk with Parental Controls at Amazon
Netgear Orbi Whole Home and Yard Mesh System
Sale price: $500
Is it a good deal? Netgear sells a number of Orbi bundles, all capable of creating a mesh network. This bundle includes a weatherproof unit that's meant to live outside, ensuring that your can get online from the backyard. And the price is the best we've seen for this combination of units. While we haven’t tested these routers, they have many of the advantages of newer models, including app-based setup and management, slick design, and voice assistant support.
Shop for the Netgear Orbi Whole Home and Yard Mesh System at Amazon
Norton Core Secure Wi-Fi Router
Sale price: $150
Is it a good deal? This Prime Day price of $150 is the lowest we’ve seen for this router. The Norton Core, released in the second half of last year, claims to have added security features to help safeguard connected devices from security cameras to smart TVs. It comes with parental controls, and a mobile app that's meant to make setup easy. CR hasn't tested this router, but our testers do recommend the Norton Security Suite, which comes free for a year with the purchase. After the first year, there's an annual fee of $120—but to be clear, the router doesn't require that security suite to operate.
Shop for the Norton Core Secure at Amazon
Other Sale Items
Garmin Viviofit 4
Sale price: $60
Is it a good deal? This is the newest version of Garmin’s Viviofit fitness tracker. Before Prime Day, it was selling for about $80, both on Amazon and through other major retailers. We haven’t tested the Viviofit 4 yet, but its predecessor, the Viviofit 3, performed well in our labs. The Viviofit 4 adds a color screen and the company claims its battery will last a year. But, this device missing several basic features that fitness tracker users have come to expect. It doesn’t have a heart-rate monitor or GPS built in, and it won’t let you know when a call or text comes into your smartphone. But, if you’re looking for a bargain-priced device that you never have to charge and that will count your steps, this might work for you.
Shop for the Garmin Viviofit 4 at Amazon
Norton Security Deluxe
Sale price: $20
Is it a good deal? Norton’s security suite gets top marks in Consumer Reports testing for its ability to protect consumers and their personal data. In fact, it’s our second-highest rated security suite this year. The Amazon-exclusive version of the downloaded software, which covers five of your devices, is good for 15 months. After that, you’ll have to pay to renew. Before Prime Day, this version was selling for $80 on Amazon, but we’ve seen similar versions selling for an average of $30 through other retailers.
Shop for Norton Security Deluxe at Amazon
Ring Video Doorbell Pro
Sale price: $174
Is it a good deal? This offer represents 30 percent off the typical price of $250, making it the lowest price we’ve ever seen for this smart home product. No video doorbell aces CR’s tests, but the Ring Video Doorbell Pro is the only model in our ratings that delivers strong performance across the board. Like most video doorbells, it requires power from your existing doorbell’s wiring.
Shop Ring Video Doorbell Pro on Amazon
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