Best Buy US offers early Black Friday deals, here are our picks

Black Friday may still be a few weeks away, but you don’t have to wait – Best Buy in the US has some great deals right now. Here are some of the best deals we’ve found. As usual, we’re focusing on smartphones and tablets, but this time we’ve cast a wider net and included headphones and even some streaming sticks and smart speakers.

Here are some quick links for each category:

smart phone

The Samsung Galaxy S22+ is down to $750 for an 8/128GB device, the jump to 256GB storage is just $50. This is before any trade-in, mind you, so the final price may be lower.

The Motorola Edge (2022) is less than two months old and packs a 6.6-inch, 144Hz OLED display for $500. It also comes with a Dimensity 1050, a 50MP main camera (OIS) and a 13MP ultra-wide camera, and a 5,000mAh battery with 30W wired and 15W wireless charging.

The Motorola Edge (2021) is a lot cheaper at $300 but has its own 144-inch display – a larger 6.8-inch LCD. Plus, the Snapdragon 778 inside will rival the Dimensity, and you get a 108MP main camera (no OIS, though). The 5,000mAh battery has 30W wired charging but no wireless charging.

Finally, a couple of cheap options. The large Moto G Stylus (2021 model) has a 6.8-inch display (FHD+) and comes with a capacitive stylus. The Snapdragon 480 is nothing special, but it does have 5G connectivity.

The Moto G Power (2022) is newer, but at just $50 less than the G Stylus, it’s probably not worth the saving. You lose 5G connectivity and, despite the ‘Power’ name, the battery capacity isn’t greater than that of the stylus – 5,000mAh in both cases.

headphones

Next – wireless headphones, because who has a phone with a 3.5mm jack anymore? A solid mid-range choice from the TWS range, the Samsung Galaxy Buds2 come in a variety of colors to match your phone.

If you want something cheap, the JVC Marshmallow+ are down to just $30. There’s no ANC like the Galaxy Buds2, but there is basic water resistance.

For those who prefer over-ear headphones, the Sennheiser Momentum Wireless comes with comfortable faux leather pads and an adjustable headband. These are currently reduced by half.

tablets

Windows tablets can help you work or study on the go—or at home if you can’t always use a desk. The Microsoft Surface Pro 8 is a fairly premium offering at $900, with an Intel Core i5-1135G7 (8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) and a 13-inch, 2880 x 1920 display. It comes with Windows 11 Home.

At the other end of the scale is the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 3i – at $200 this is one of the cheapest 10.3-inch tablets you can buy, Windows or otherwise. In this case, it’s Windows 11 Home in S mode. It runs on a Celeron N4020 with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage (eMMC).

Note that both slates come with QWERTY keyboard covers.

streaming sticks

Roku or Google? 1080p or 4K? Depending on your answers, you can choose one of the four sticks below. The 1080p options are the cheapest way to refresh an old TV with some new smarts – it’ll set you back around $20.

However, if you want quality streaming, 4K is a must (especially since some streaming services lock HDR behind the 4K tier – we’re looking at you, Netflix). In this case, the Chromecast is cheaper ($40) and you get the Google TV experience. Which isn’t for everyone, so you might want the Roku Ultra ($70) instead.

smart home

If you jump into the Google ecosystem, you can get a second-gen Nest Mini speaker for another $20. It’s good enough to have the Google Assistant always on call and even for music playback.

The Lenovo Smart Clock Essential is also $20 and can replace your alarm clock. You can also use it to talk to the Google Assistant, but the display is very basic – like a real alarm clock.

Lenovo’s 2nd Gen Smart Clock is only $15 more, but it’s much more advanced – its 4-inch LCD can display information like the weather and is a touchscreen, simplifying the user interface. Also, the speaker is now front-facing for better sound.

The most advanced of the range is the Meta Portal Go – with its 10-inch display and front camera, you can use it for group video calls and to control your smart home. For the privacy-conscious, there’s a hardware cover that you can slide over the camera when not in use.