Best October Prime Day TV deals

Amazon is readying its second October Prime Day sale for Oct. 11 and Oct 12. It’s called the Prime Early Access Sale, and we’re already seeing some really great TV deals—from both Amazon and competing retailers. Take advantage!

You’ll need to sign up for Amazon Prime (for free) to take advantage of Amazon’s best Prime Early Access Sale discounts. You can look for all of Amazon’s October Prime Day deals on the Prime Early Access site, but be aware other electronics retailers have announced deals to steal some of Amazon’s thunder, too. Target is holding its Deal Days right now from Oct. 6 to 8, and Newegg plans its FantasTech Sale II between Oct. 10 and 13.

Amazon’s own Fire TV products, along with third-party Fire TV hardware, will be on sale—in fact, some of it is already discounted. Amazon is also offering deals on products that have Fire TV software built in, like the $249.99 Echo Show 15 and the $139.99 Fire TV Cube.

Several of the October Prime Day deals we’ve listed below are just as good or better than the earlier Prime Day, especially those in our mainstream TV deals section. Are Echo Shows technically TVs? Maybe not, but they’re on steep discount right now, and they connect to Fire TV. Target’s Westinghouse deal is fantastic, though reviews are good though not outstanding.

Best Prime Early Access Sale TV Deals under $100:

Amazon is also selling the older Fire TV Cube for $59.99, 50 percent off with Prime.

Best mainstream Prime Early Access Sale TV Deals:

Note that the Insignia 75-inch deal does not offer HDR capability.

Best premium Prime Early Access Sale TV Deals:

Prime Early Access Sale TV buying advice:

Retailers know that amid rampant inflation, consumers are feeling the pinch, so expect older hardware to once again go on sale. If you don’t need the latest HDR capabilities or voice integrations, you may find older premium TVs that are excellent deals. But in some cases, you won’t see big discounts, but that’s because price have already been marked down. For reference, you can consult our home technology site, TechHive, and TechHive’s best TVs for 2022 and how to shop for them.

At this point, 4K TVs are the new normal. So are “smart” TVs. Typically, you have a choice of four interfaces: Amazon’s FireTV interface; Roku’s blocky but easy-to-use interface, also found on separate streaming sticks; Android TV (now rebranded as Google TV), also found on a separate dongle; or the manufacturer’s proprietary interface.

Why link to TechHive’s dongle reviews? Because you don’t absolutely need to buy a smart TV, though integrating the “smart” capabilities into the basic TV saves you another remote.

Otherwise, think about how many HDMI ports each offers, as you might want to connect a game console as well as some other device, like a legacy VCR or DVD player. The difference between midrange and “premium” TVs may be in features you might not think about, such as brightness, contrast, or HDR. Generally, other TV owners have already figured out whether these differences matter, so be sure and skim the online ratings and reviews for TVs you’re considering.

Updated on Oct. 7 with more early Prime Early Access deals, including Target Deal Days TV deals.