Best Buy’s 48-hour flash sale to compete with October Prime Day is live — here are the best deals

UPDATE: Oct. 8, 2024, 11:40 a.m. EDT This post has been updated with more info on Best Buy’s fall deals schedule, as well as the best deals from some of our favorite categories the week before Amazon’s October Prime Day.

Best Buy is having several fall sales to compete with Prime Big Deal Days — check out our favorite deals on TVs, laptops, Dyson products, and more.

If you know anything about nature and the circle of life, you know that Amazon announcing October Prime Day also means that other retailers like Best Buy are also conveniently holding their own fall savings events.

Yes, Best Buy dropped its huge fall savings schedule the same week that the Prime Big Deal Days schedule was confirmed (actually, Best Buy’s plan came a day earlier). Best Buy’s event, which is being framed as a countdown to the holiday season, is technically split up into several sale events that kicked off on Sept. 27 and run through Oct. 25. Quietly baked into the agenda is one of its iconic 48-hour flash sales, which is happening right now, Oct. 8 and 9 — the same start and end dates as Amazon’s October Prime Day. (Check out all the latest updates on our Prime Big Deal Days live blog).

As you start to spiral over the mere mention of the word “holiday” in mid-September, let’s break down Best Buy’s pre-Black Friday timeline. (We’ll be crossing out events as they wrap up.)

• Exclusive Member Sale: From Sept. 27 to 29, Best Buy Plus and My Best Total members will get exclusive access to offers on big tech items like laptops and TVs — huge, because we actually prefer Best Buy’s selection (and reliability) of deals on premium laptops and TVs to Amazon’s. (Like Prime, these are paid plans, but My Best Buy Plus is almost $100 cheaper than Prime per year. Just saying.)

• Outlet Event: Through Oct. 11, Best Buy is dropping prices further than usual — up to 50% off — on clearance items as well as open-box and refurbished items. Samsung and LG OLED and QLED TVs, Apple products, and Dyson hair tools are all in the mix.

• Apple Trade-Up Event: Through Oct. 20, you’ll be able to squeeze a little more out of your Apple Watch, MacBook, iPad, iMac, and unlocked iPhone trade-ins by unlocking savings on the newest Apple devices.

• 48-Hour Flash Sale: On Oct. 8 and 9, Best Buy’s annual Flash Sale will offer big deals on TVs, gaming gear, laptops, monitors, and more tech. Again, this is the unofficial Prime Big Deal Days competition, and we’re seeing nothing about a paid membership being required to participate in this one.

• Prep for the Holidays Event: Starting on Oct. 21, even more pre-holiday deals will start popping up.

• Three-day Gaming Event: Starting on Oct. 25, Best Buy’s gaming selection will be getting the special sale treatment in honor of the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Expect deals on gaming software, major consoles, controllers, and other accessories.

By the end of October, expect Best Buy to be in full Black Friday mode. The retailer didn’t mention this in certain terms, but context clues tell us everything: Last year, Best Buy’s Black Friday sale began with early access for paid members on Oct. 27, then opened up to everyone on Oct. 30.

Here are some of the best deals you can shop right now:

Best Buy fall deals

Best TV deal

Why we like it

If you’re still riding with Baby’s First 4K TV from 2018, you’re probably putting up with the laggiest interface ever. Rather than throwing it out the window once and for all, recycle it at a Best Buy location and then finally make that upgrade to a nice, new QLED. This 65-inch model from TCL isn’t the intimidating investment a lot of us associate with QLED — it’s on sale for under $400 — but still provides significantly boosted brightness and color compared to a regular LED TV, plus HDR compatibility.

More TV deals at Best Buy

• TCL 55-inch QM7 Series QLED 4K Fire TV — $499.99 $799.99 (save $300)

• LG 65-inch UT70 Series 4K TV — $429.99 $599.99 (save $170)

• Sony 77-inch Bravia 8 OLED 4K TV — $2,699.99 $3,899.99 (save $1,200)

• TCL 98-inch Q6 Series QLED 4K TV — $1,799.99 $2,999.99 (save $1,200)

Best Apple deal

Why we like it

Read Mashable’s full review of the 14-inch Apple MacBook Pro (M3).

“The latest 14-inch MacBook Pro features an M3 chip that supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing for rendering lifelike lighting, plus a bright 120Hz mini-LED display, tons of ports (including an SDXC card slot), and a battery that lasted over 16 hours per charge in our testing. It’s a Mashable Choice Award winner and our favorite laptop for video editing.

All configurations of the 14-inch M3 Pro are now on sale at all-time lows on Amazon (including the base model, which is now just $1,299). However, we’re partial to the bumped-up version with 16GB of memory and 1TB of SSD storage: That extra RAM is necessary if you’re going to be using it for multitasking and/or creative work. Normally $1,999, it’s now just $1,699 — a 15% savings. Best Buy was matching that offer when we last checked.” — Haley Henschel, Senior Shopping Reporter

Best Buy is matching Amazon’s pre-Prime Day price on the 1TB model, but for My Best Buy Plus members, that price is knocked down by an extra $100.

More Apple deals at Best Buy

iPads

• 10.2-inch iPad (6th generation, WiFi, 64GB) — $199.99 $329.99 (save $130)

• 10.2-inch iPad (latest generation, WiFi, 64GB) — $299 $349 (save $50)

• 12.9-inch Apple iPad Pro (M2, WiFi + Cellular, 1TB) — $1,299 $1,999 (save $700)

• 12.9-inch Apple iPad Pro (M2, WiFi + Cellular, 2TB) — $1,399 $2,399 (save $1,000)

MacBooks

• MacBook Air 13.6-inch (M2, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $749 $999 (save $250)

• MacBook Air 13-inch (M3, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $849 $1,099 (save $250)

• MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3, 36GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $2,999 $3,499 (save $500)

Best laptop deal

Why we like it

A 2-in-1 touchscreen laptop that was once a steep $879.99 is now less than $550 — need we say more? Past the clutch flexibility to go into tablet or tent mode, the 14-inch HP Envy 2 is also armed with some impressive interior specs, like an AMD Ryzen 5 processor, built-in AI with CoPilot for Windows, and a 2K display.

More laptop deals

• Lenovo Ideapad 1i (Intel Core i3-1215U, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $259.99 $499.99 (save $240)

• Dell Inspiron 15 with touch screen (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $399.99 $629.99 (save $230)

• Samsung Galaxy Book4 (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $599.99 $899.99 (save $300)

• HP Envy 2-in-1 (AMD Ryzen 7, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $649.99 $1,049.99 (save $400)

• Dell XPS 13 Copilot+ (Snapdragon X Elite, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $999.99 $1,499.99 (save $500)

Best Dyson deal

Why we like it

The refurbished route is definitely the way to go if you’ve been eyeing (but not making a move on) a Dyson hair tool for a while. A participant in Best Buy’s current Outlet Event, you can snag the Airwrap aimed toward long hair for $399.99 — $200 cheaper than buying a brand new one, and $100 cheaper than Dyson’s own refurb price on its website. This version comes with a handful of attachments, including two barrel lengths and the iconic flyaway attachment.

More Dyson deals

• Dyson Cool Tower Fan AM07 — $249.99 $369.99 (save $120)

• Refurbished Dyson Supersonic hair dryer — $279.99 $429.99 (save $150)

• Refurbished Dyson Airwrap — $399.99 $599.99 (save $200)

• Dyson Hot+Cool Gen1 HP10 Purifier — $429.99 $529.99 (save $100)