Amazon Prime Day's Best Deals: Everything to Know for the Epic 2021 Summer Sale
The 2021 edition of Amazon Prime Day kicked off on Monday, June 21, and the deals continue through Tuesday, June 22.
Yes, Amazon Prime "Day" actually takes place over the course of two days, and it's occurring in June this year. For 2021, Amazon shoppers are being tempted with over a million deals, featuring sweet discounts on popular items like air fryers, headphones, tools and robot vacuums, and promotions from major brands such as Levi's, Le Creuset, Lego, Ring, Shark, DeWalt and, of course, Amazon itself.
As usual, Prime Day deals are available only to members of Amazon Prime, the company's subscription program that comes with free two-day (or faster) shipping on most Amazon purchases, plus unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows. Here's everything you need to know about Prime Day 2021.
What are the best Prime Day deals?
To scoop up Prime Day deals, you must be a member of Amazon Prime. In fact, Amazon Prime memberships are really what this day is mostly about. Amazon knows that once people have Prime subscriptions, they tend to do a lot more of their shopping on its website. So the online giant does everything it can to coax people into signing up for Prime — including hosting special exclusive members-only sales like Prime Day.
Amazon's many devices also help the company keep consumers in its retail ecosystem, which is why products like Amazon's Echo smart speakers, Fire tablets, Kindle e-readers and Fire TVs always see major discounts on Prime Day, including the 2021 sale.
Here are some of the best Prime Day deals we've seen, updated as of the morning of Tuesday, June 22. Bear in mind that sale items can sometimes sell quickly, and that some discounts are short-lived. In other words, act quickly if there's a deal you really want.
Best Prime Day deals: Vacuums, kitchen and home goods
• Vitamix Explorian Blender, Professional Grade 64oz: $188.99 (list price $269.95)
• Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Upright Vacuum: $169.99 (list price $259.99)
• Cuisinart Airfryer Convection Toaster Oven: $124.99 (list price $199.95)
• Up to 50% off Instant Pot appliances
• Ninja FD401 Foodi 8-Quart 9-in-1 Deluxe XL Cooker: $141.54 (list price $249.99)
• iRobot Roomba i4+ Robot Vacuum: $399.99 (list price $649.99)
• Up to 44% off Philips Sonicare Electric Toothbrushes
• Shark AV1010AE IQ Robot Vacuum With XL Self-Empty Base: $319.99 (list price $599.99)
• Up to 55% off Hoover vacuums and carpet cleaners
• Le Creuset Square Skillet Grill Pan: $99.95 (list price $134.71)
• Ninja BL610 Professional 72oz Blender: $69.99 (list price $99.99) SOLD OUT
• CHEF iQ Worlds Smartest Pressure Cooker: $117.95 (list price $199.99)
• Tineco Pure ONE S12 Smart Cordless Stick Vacuum: $349.99 (list price $499.99)
• Eureka Blaze Stick Vacuum Cleaner: $22.99 (list price $33.99)
• Up to 33% off razors and blade refills from Gillette and Braun
• Zojirushi Micom Rice Cooker: $99.99 (list price $192)
• Oster Digital Air Fryer, 12-Function: $97.99 (list price $159.99) SOLD OUT
• Up to 57% off Calphalon cookware and appliances
• Up to 57% off Amazon Basics furniture
• NordicTrack T Series Treadmill: $467.84 (list price $649)
Prime Day deals on TVs, headphones and electronics
• Sony WF-SP800N Truly Wireless Noise Canceling Headphones with Mic: $88 (list price $199.99)
• Sony A8H 55-Inch Bravia OLED 4K Ultra Smart TV: $1,198 (list price $1,899.99) EXPIRED
• Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700: $229 (list price $399)
• Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Headphones: $248 (list price $348)
• Segway Ninebot S-Plus Self-Balancing Electric Scooter: $599 (list price $849.99)
• Sony SRS-XB12 Mini Bluetooth Speaker: $29.99 (list price $58)
• TCL 50-Inch Class 4-Series 4K UHD DVR Android Smart TV: $299.99 (list price $449.99) EXPIRED
• Fitbit Sense Advanced Smartwatch: $199 (list price $298.95)
• Segway Ninebot eKick Scooter E8: $169.99 (list price $229.99)
• Up to 55% off JBL portable Bluetooth speakers EXPIRED
• Up to 30% off Garmin smartwatches
• Anker Nebula Capsule Smart Wi-Fi Mini Projector: $229.99 (list price $299.99) EXPIRED
• Nintendo Switch Lite with SanDisk 128GB MicroSDXC UHS-I Card: $199.99 (list price $234.98)
• Anker USB-C Portable Charger: $18.98 (list price $29.99) EXPIRED
• Anker PowerCore III 45W Portable Charger: $47 (list price $65.99) EXPIRED
Prime Day deals: Amazon devices and Fire TV Editions
• All-new Fire HD 10 tablet: $79.99 (list price $149.99)
• Insignia 24-Inch Smart TV Fire TV Edition: $99.99 (list price $169.99)
• All-new Echo Dot (4th Gen.) Smart Speaker With Clock: $34.99 (list price $59.99) EXPIRED
• Up to 49% off Ring Stick up Camera Echo Bundles
• $50 off Kindle Paperwhite 8GB + $5 eBook credit
• Fire TV Stick 4K Streaming Device: $24.99 (list price $49.99)
• Up to 35% off Amazon eero 6 Mesh Wi-Fi Systems
Prime Day 2021 deals on tools
• Up to 50% off Black + Decker tools and products
• Up to 40% off Craftsman tools and outdoor power
• NOCO Boost XL GB50 1500 Amp 12-Volt Lithium Jump Starter: $93.96 (list price $149.95)
• Sun Joe SPX3001 2030 PSI Electric Pressure Washer: $124.99 (list price $229.99) EXPIRED
• ThruNite TT20 Tactical Flashlight: $52.46 (list price $69.95) EXPIRED
Does Prime Day or Black Friday have the best deals?
Prime Day and Black Friday are both known for having great deals. Thanksgiving Day, Cyber Monday and the rest of the winter holiday season have their share of amazing deals too.
So which day is the best overall for shopping discounts? The unsatisfying but honest answer is that there is no single best day for deals.
Traditionally, Thanksgiving and Black Friday tend to have the best deals on cheap TVs, as well as things like tools and gaming consoles. Amazon Prime Day, on the other hand, has been known to feature incredible deals on Amazon products, kitchen goods and housewares, as well as somewhat mediocre sales on TVs. And Cyber Monday is associated with big sales on clothing and electronics, including smartphones, tablets and (once again) TVs.
All that being said, every one of these major sales events features a huge array of deals, and shoppers can and will find compelling discounts in virtually every shopping category on each of the days.
Just bear in mind that not everything you see on sale on Prime Day — or Black Friday or other days — is being offered at the absolute cheapest price. In fact, some of the "deals" on Prime Day are nothing special. To evaluate just how good any given discount is, consult a price-tracking site like CamelCamelCamel or Keepa, which show how much Amazon has been charging for different products over the past year.
What is Amazon Prime Day?
Amazon Prime "Day" actually takes place over the course of two days: Monday, June 21, and Tuesday, June 22.
The first official 2021 Prime Day deals are live as of midnight PDT on June 21, which is 3 a.m. EST. Millions of deals launch periodically in the hours that follow, until Prime Day sales come to an end 48 hours after they began.
This year marks the first time that Prime Day is taking place in June. The inaugural Prime Day, in 2015, was promoted as a "summertime Black Friday," and it happened on a single day in mid-July. Amazon has since expanded Prime Day into a two-day sales event, which has traditionally occurred in July but was shifted to October in 2020 because of the pandemic. In 2021, Amazon again moved the dates for Prime Day, and this time it's happening in June.
As you might guess, competing retailers don't want Amazon to grab all of the attention (and cash from shoppers), so they are also hosting big sales around Prime Day. So if you're hunting for deals, don't limit yourself to Amazon. Look for great discounts around the same time from stores like Target, Walmart, Best Buy, Kohl's and others.
How much is Amazon Prime?
The only way to be eligible to buy Prime Day deals is to be a Prime member. You can get a free Amazon Prime subscription trial for 30 days if you haven't been a member in the recent past.
After the free trial is over, Prime costs $12.99 per month or $119 per year for most people. Students and low-income people with EBT or Medicaid cards qualify for discounts of roughly 50% off. Students have a choice of paying either $6.49 per month or $59 per year for Prime membership, while consumers on government assistance programs would pay $5.99 per month.
