Black Friday 2021 is just around the corner and you can look forward to a tonne of jaw-dropping discounts on laptops, headphones, tablets, smartphones and more.
It started as a US-only thing, but quickly made the journey over the Atlantic to form a sales extravaganza for us in the UK. And as we all know, Black Friday is a lot more than just a one day event now — starting from today, retailers are dipping their toes in the water with plenty of premature price cuts.
This makes the next few weeks a perfect time for ticking off items on your holiday present list, and treating yourself to some tech upgrades. Right now, Amazon is already kicking things off with some great daily deals; Currys is celebrating the rebrand with a sale; and Dell has some impressive laptop deals to boot.
Retailers of all sizes will start to wade in and get involved. It’s just a matter of time and given what this sneak peek of site wide savings suggests, we’re in for an absolute treat this year.
Is Black Friday really cheaper?
This is an interesting question to ask when it comes to electronics, because the answer isn’t as clear cut as other categories.
A lot of our sister sites under the Future umbrella will be able to confirm that those clothes, cameras, home appliances and cosmetics are going to be cheaper for sure. But over the years, I’ve seen no end of tech retailers inflate their prices sneakily on the run up to Black Friday, to make their price cuts that aren’t really discounts look good.
It’s something you see across laptops, tablets, computer monitors, earbuds, TVs and more. This is a shady practice that we are well aware of, but it does not mean every Black Friday deal is bad. For every one none-deal, there are several good deals worth your hard-earned money. Those are what we will show you.
If you’d like to find out yourself whether something is a good deal or not, use the CamelCamelCamel Google Chrome extension, to get a price history of any Amazon product you look at.
Why is it called Black Friday?
There are a few reasons kicking about as to why it’s called Black Friday, but the most common one is business-related: it’s a day that helps retailer companies go from making losses (being in the red), to making profits (being in the black).
While we don’t necessarily have the same Thanksgiving holiday tradition here in the UK, we still love our bargains and this continues to be a massively profitable few days for retailers.
Will stores be open on Black Friday?
Unless anything changes, this will be a Black Friday you could go and experience in person! Of course, you will find better deals online, but if you want the full retail therapy treatment, be my guest!
You can expect every retailer to take part in Black Friday, but particular shout-out to Amazon, Currys, John Lewis, Very, AO, Box and Overclockers for deals relevant to what you’re looking for.
Black Friday 2021 deals predictions
Now, I’ve covered Black Friday for years now and over this time, some trends in what deals you see have become clear. Namely, there are big savings in the categories you expect, such as laptops, headphones and video games.
But you can also find some surprises too, such as impressive freebies with phone contracts or slightly bigger MacBook price cuts than you’d expect. These more impressive savings usually occur later on into the Black Friday, so rest assured, we will only talk about deals that are Black Friday-worthy.
Here’s what we predict we’ll see go on sale:
Amazon devices: This one is pretty obvious. Out of all the discounts you predict for Amazon’s Black Friday sale, bit price cuts on Amazon devices is the most obvious.
M1 MacBook Pro: With a predicted Apple MacBook Pro announcement just around the corner and numerous M1 MacBook Pro sales happening over the past couple of months, it makes sense to assume you will see a lower price emerge during Black Friday.
Apple iPads: While we don’t expect the latest iPad Mini 6 to be discounted, we predict some sales across the iPad Air and maybe even the M1-armed iPad Pro.
Alienware RTX 30-Series gaming laptops: Dell has been discounting Alienware m15s for a while now, until the company stopped over the last couple of weeks. My inclination is that preparations are being made for something here.
Sony headphones: I love the Sony WF-1000 XM4s just as much as the next person, but that steep price makes them kind of hard to buy. I think we’re going to see a bit of a discount on these in November. Or at the very least, discounts on the last generation XM3s and the overhead WH-1000 XM4.
TCL TVs: TCL’s 4K screens are already pretty affordable, which is made even better during Black Friday with some decent savings too.
Smartphones galore: OnePlus, Samsung, Realme, Xiaomi, even Apple’s previous iterations. I think you’re going to see a lot of discounted SIM-free model pricing and contracts too. Like I mentioned above, you may even see some goodies too, including free games consoles if you’re lucky!
When is Black Friday 2021?
Black Friday is always on the last Friday of each year (or the day after Thanksgiving to those who are fans of the US holiday), so it’s set to fall on November 26th this year.
Black Friday Laptop deals
Asus C223 11.6-inch Chromebook: was £199 now £159 @ Currys
No frills. No fancy features. This is just a dirt cheap Chromebook with enough power for the essentials. If you ever need something really inexpensive for school work, web browsing or light productivity, this is the one for you.View Deal
Dell Inspiron 15 3000: was £349 now £249 @ Dell
This configuration of the 15-inch Dell Inspiron 3000 features an Intel Celeron CPU, 4GB DDR4 and 128GB SSD. All of this alongside an HD display and a sleek chassis make for a great option for quick day-to-day work.View Deal
Dell Inspiron 13: was £899 now £799 @ Dell
This powerful convertible is armed with an 11th Gen Intel Core i7 CPU, dedicated Nvidia GeForce MX350 GPU, 8GB DDR4 RAM and a 512GB SSD, alongside a gorgeous FHD touchscreen panel for creative work.View Deal
MacBook Air (M1/8GB/256GB): was £999 now £926 @ Amazon
Here is the cheapest way to get a taste of Apple’s new silicon while on the go. As you can read in our MacBook Air with M1 review, the switch to an ARM-based processor presents a groundbreaking transformation with blistering performance and super-long battery life. All of this is crammed into a seriously sleek chassis and runs so cool, it doesn’t need a fan.View Deal
New Dell XPS 13: was £1,398 now £1,288 @ Dell
Take a look at our 5-star Dell XPS 13 review and you’ll see just how much we love this portable powerhouse for its top-shelf specs and stylish design. This one is no different, cramming an 11th gen Intel Core i5 CPU, 8GB LPDDR4 RAM and a 256GB SSD into this masterfully crafted hardware with a bright and lovely FHD+ display on a 360-degree hinge.View Deal
M1 MacBook Pro: was £1,499 now £1,344 @ Amazon
Turning to Apple, we fell head over heels for the M1 MacBook Pro for bringing stellar performance and bonkers battery life thanks to Apple’s own ARM-based silicon. If you’re a creative pro in need of a machine that can do it all on-the-go, it’s hard to find much better than this (I use one myself).View Deal
Black Friday Tablet deals
Apple iPad Air: was £579 now £549 @ Amazon
The latest Air copies a lot of the iPad Pro’s homework and offers us a great tablet at an even better price. As you can read in our iPad Air review, we’re huge fans of the sleek design, powerful A14 Bionic Chip and awesome battery life.
256GB: was £729 now £638View Deal
Apple iPad Pro (12.9-inch 512GB): was £999 now £949.97 @ Amazon
Read our 12.9-inch iPad Pro review and you will see why this is a great choice for those who want a tablet as their professional daily driver — a huge and gorgeous ProMotion display with P3 wide colour, A12Z Bionic processor, four speakers and five high-quality microphones, and an awesome camera system round back with a LiDAR scanner. Plus, with a new model incoming, now’s the best time to save big!
Black Friday Monitor deals
iiyama G-Master Red Eagle 24-inch Gaming Monitor: was £199.99 now £149.99 @ Box.co.uk
Need a cheap gaming monitor that doesn’t sacrifice on the quality or competitive edge needed to dominate? This £150 24-inch 1080p display is a great way to go, with a 165Hz refresh rate and a 1500R curve for top immersion.View Deal
Dell S2421HGF Gaming Monitor: was £234 now £179.99 @ Dell
Bargain bin pricing for a gaming monitor that is anything but a bargain with its specs. This low-energy, 24-inch, 1080p monitor offers a 144Hz refresh rate and a 1ms response time. Alongside these specs, you’ll find Adaptive Sync, along with HDMI and DP I/O inputs and a 3.5mm headphone jack. View Deal
iiyama G-Master Red Eagle Gaming Monitor: was £469.99 now £329 @ Box.co.uk
Take the best bits of a curved monitor and sprinkle in the awesome gaming elements, then you’ll have a pretty irresistible deal in iiyama’s G-Master 34-inch curved screen. For the price, you get a panel with a 3440×1440 ultra-wide resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, HDR, adaptive sync and a USB port passthrough for any quick connection needs.View Deal
Samsung LF27 professional monitor: was £311 now £199 @ Box.co.uk
The high-end PLS panel in the Samsung LF27 makes it great for creative work alongside the standard productivity. This 1440p panel is placed on a vastly ergonomic stand with a sleek design that fits into any home office space.View Deal
Black Friday Headphone Deals
Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro: was £129.99 now £75.99 @ Amazon UK
Recommended by 10 Grammy Award-winning artists, I personally use a pair as my daily drivers and love them. The Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro offers a clear, deep sound quality, great noise cancellation, an awesome app with a fully customisable EQ and powerful mics for good call quality.View Deal
Sony WH-1000XM3: was £330 now £162.90 @ Amazon UK
Apple AirPods Pro: was £249.99 now £199 @ Amazon
Now £50 off for a limited time, Apple’s AirPods Pro picked up an Editor’s Choice award from us for their stellar audio quality, comfortable fit, great noise cancellation, and seamless integration with iOS.View Deal
Anker Soundcore Life Q30: was £79.99 now £64.99 @ Soundcore with code WSCPR3QVX9
The custom silk diaphragm drivers deliver impeccable sound alongside the hi-res audio certification for incredible detail and depth. Plus, the super long 40-hour battery life with ANC on is impressive.View Deal
Black Friday Gaming Deals
PS5 DualSense controller (Black): was £59.99 now £54.99 @ Amazon
Now’s a good time to get that second controller for a bit of It Takes Two or Overcooked, as Sony has chopped a fiver off the list price! View Deal
Medion Erazer: was £699 now £579 @ Box.co.uk
If you’re looking for a cheap way to get started in the world of PC gaming on the go, this is the one to get. The Medion Erazer features an Intel Core i5-10300H CPU, a dedicated GTX 1650 GPU, 8GB DDR4 RAM and a 256GB NVMe SSD.View Deal
MSI GP66 Leopard: was £2,199 now £1,999 @ Overclockers
A £200 price cut brings this powerful laptop into a more affordable category! The GP66 features an 11th gen Intel Core i7 processor, beasty RTX 3080 GPU, a whopping 32GB DDR4 RAM and a 1TB M.2 SSD, all alongside a fluid 240Hz 1080p display.
View Deal
