Should You Wait for Sam's Club Black Friday Deals?
We recently wrote about the Sam's Club pre-Black Friday sale on Nov. 12. The company has also revealed the deals it will offer on Black Friday itself. So the question for Sam's Club customers is, Which of the two events will yield the best TV deals? The Black Friday sale looks like the one to beat for very large-screen sets, but check our analysis of the deals below.
The Sam's Club Black Friday sales begin at 7 a.m. on Nov. 25. While the stores will be closed on Nov. 24 for Thanksgiving, the company's circular says you can shop early that day at SamsClub.com. Prices will be good through Nov. 27 or as long as supplies last; most of the items will be available in limited quantities. Everything in the ad comes with free shipping if it's available online. (Thanks to BFAds.net for sharing its Sam's Club Black Friday ad scans.)
We haven't seen the Black Friday ads from most major chains, so we'll have to wait a bit longer to determine how the deals at Sam's Club compare with those at other retailers.
Big-Screen Models
The Black Friday sales include a number of larger models, ranging from 60 inches up to 78 inches.
The Black Friday Deals
Samsung UN78JS9100 78-inch 4K UHD smart TV, $3,498. This curved screen model from 2015 is selling from $5,000 to $6,000 elsewhere right now, so it's a good deal for anyone looking for a giant-sized set. It's the biggest screen size we've seen promoted so far.
Samsung UN75JU641DFXZA 75-inch 4K UHD smart TV, $1,998. This TV is a warehouse-club model from 2015—2016 sets start with a "K" rather than a "J"—and right now it's selling at Costco for $2,200, so you'll save about $200. If you're willing to give up the extra 3 inches in screen size you get with the 78-inch set above, you can save a lot of money.
Vizio E70-E3 A 70-inch 4K UHD smart TV, $928. This is one of Vizio's "seasonal" TVs, meaning we haven't seen it or tested it yet. But Vizio models usually do well in our TV ratings. Like other E-series models, it's a Google Cast-based SmartCast TV.
Hisense 65CU6200 65-inch 4K UHD smart TV, $598. It's an online exclusive with free shipping. This is another Hisense model we didn't see earlier in the year, so it's difficult to compare pricing.
A 60-inch Vizio E60-E3 4K UHD smart TV for $548. It's the smaller version of the 70-inch Vizio above. Sam's Club says there will be a minimum of 10 of these sets per store, but I imagine they'll sell out almost immediately.
The Nov. 12 Sale
The biggest model in that one-day sale is the LG 70UH63504K70-inch smart TV, so Black Friday is the day to shop if you're really looking for a jumbo screen. This LG is priced under $1,000, down from $1,400 to $1,500 usually. LG TVs sets do well in our TV ratings, typically with very good or excellent picture quality.
So we'd give the LG the edge over the 70-inch Vizio being offered on Black Friday, even though that set is a bit less pricey.
In the 60- to 65-inch category, the pre-Black Friday sale has the Samsung UN60KU6270FXZA 60-inch 4K TV for $698, bundled with a Samsung sound-bar speaker that usually sells for about $170. Samsung is a top brand in our ratings, so I'd give it the edge over the 60-inch Vizio you can buy on Black Friday. However, if you don't need the sound bar, it's hard to beat the Vizio's sub-$550 price.
The Nov. 12 sale also includes the Vizio E65-E1 65-inch 4K smart TV for $598, which is priced the same as the 65-inch Hisense 4K model on the Black Friday sale roster. Although we haven't tested either set, we'd put our money on the Vizio being the better deal.
Midsized Sets
Though most of the Black Friday action will be on larger TVs, there are two medium-sized sets being advertised.
The Black Friday Deals
The first is the JVC LT55UE76 55-inch 4K UHD TV priced at $299. It's another online exclusive with free shipping. We don't see this set available elsewhere, at least not yet. JVC-brand TVs are made by Amtran, a Taiwanese manufacturer that has been licensing the brand for several years.
A Vizio E50X-E1 50-inch 4K UHD smart TV is listed for $348. This is another of the newer, seasonal E-series models that we haven't previously seen or tested. It's available in very limited quantities; Sam's Club says there will be at least a dozen of these sets in each store.
The Nov. 12 Sale
Comparing these Black Friday TVs against the models in the earlier sale, JVC faces off against the $398 Vizio E55-E1 55-inch 4K TV, and the 50-inch Vizio goes up against a $298 Hitachi Roku TV promoted in the Nov. 12 event. The Vizio's look like they differ mainly by screen size, so you'll pay a $50 premium to go from 50 inches to 55 inches.
The JVC is very low-priced for the screen size, but we don't know much about it. The Hitachi Roku TV has a very low price, but it's a 1080p set, not a 4K model. So you'll pay less than $50 to move up to the Vizio 4K UHD TV. In both instances we give the edge to the Vizios, especially if they'll be used as a main TV at home.
Sound Bar Speakers
The Black Friday Deals
On Black Friday, Sam's Club will have deals on several sound bars, which can remedy a TV's poor sound.
Sam's Club will have the Vizio SB3821-D6 2.1-channel sound-bar system for $120. We tested the Vizio SB3821-C6 model, which had good overall sound, so we expect this model to be fairly similar.
Sam's will also offer the Sharp HT-SB603 2.1-channel model, designed for larger TVs 60 inches and bigger, for $199. We didn't test that model but we did test the Sharp HT-SB602. It was among our top recommendations in 2015 and a Best Buy. If the sale model performs similarly, then it's a good deal at $200 and a great match for larger TVs with mediocre sound.
The Nov. 12 Sale
During the pre-Black Friday event, Sam's Club is featuring the Vizio SB3851-D0, a step-up 5.1 model, for $178.
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