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In the same way that Black Friday has become more of a season than a singular day, the entire month of July could aptly be called Prime Day season at this point. Past the sheer deal count at the behemoth that started it all, it's become tradition for other huge retailers like Best Buy respond to Amazon with a major sale event of their own — lining up on or near Prime Day, of course.

Hot on the heels of Best Buy's 4th of July sale, Best Buy is surely set to release dates for another summer sale any day now. We can use context clues like the official dates for Amazon's Prime Day, which runs July 16 and 17, to predict the dates Best Buy is eyeing. For instance, during the fall version of Prime Day in 2023, Best Buy ran a 48-hour Flash Sale on Oct. 11 and 12 — the same days Amazon chose.

Where Best Buy beats Amazon

It's true that there are a ton of overlapping deals at both Best Buy and Amazon during these events. But both stores also have their own unique strong points, and there are also plenty of opportunities to shop strategically within certain product categories.

While Amazon's discounts typically extend to a wider variety of product categories from a huge crop of stores and sellers, Best Buy has a history of beating Amazon's deals in several major tech categories. Best Buy tends to have a much more reliable slew of TVs and laptops on sale, compared to Amazon's shorter lists composed of a smaller variety of brands (and which are also more likely to be bogged down by iffy third-party sellers). Meanwhile, Amazon typically wins when it comes to home stuff, like robot vacuum deals and kitchen deals.

Best Buy doesn't gatekeep its deals quite like Amazon does, generally leaving most discounts available to the public and reserving a handful of exclusive discounts on premium brands like Samsung or Dyson for paid My Best Buy Plus or My Best Buy Total members. Amazon does, however, surprise some shoppers with access to invite-only deals, which features some pretty jaw-dropping price cuts on items like headphones or Fire TVs that you definitely won't find anywhere else.

Throughout the entire year, Best Buy also does this thing called Best Buy Drops: a feature found only on the Best Buy mobile app that gives shoppers a heads-up about upcoming "drops" of high-profile items and deals in categories like gaming, cheap TVs, fan-favorite pop culture merch, high-profile hair tools, kitchen gadgets, and more. As long as you have the Best Buy mobile app, you can preview what's coming on what day that week so that you're ready to click "add to cart" when the item or deal goes live.

Similar to many Prime deals, only a certain number of Drop items can be claimed while the offer is live, and then they sell out. Unlike Prime deals, Best Buy does drops about three times a week throughout the entire year.

For a more granular assessment of the best deals between the two, check out our favorite Best Buy deals below and our running list of the best Prime Day deals in every category.

Best TV deal at Best Buy

Why we like it

If you're eyeing a Fire TV this Prime Day season, don't automatically opt for the Omni on name recognition alone. While Amazon's own in-house Fire TVs areon sale, you definitely won't be seeing one of those 75-inch bad boys go on sale for less than $500. Toshiba's well-reviewed C35- Fire TV, however, is a different story. The C350 admittedly is a basic 4K TV that's definitely decent enough for casual living room watching or light gaming, especially if you care more about getting the biggest screen for your buck over specs.

• Prime Day Chromebook deals are already going strong — check out our top picks
• The best outdoor deals already live ahead of Prime Day
• Live Apple deals help you save on iPads, MacBooks, and more ahead of Prime Day

More TVs on sale at Best Buy

• Insignia 50-inch F30 4K Fire TV — $189.99$299.99(save $110)

• TCL 55-inch Q5 QLED 4K TV — $299.99$449.99(save $150)

• LG 55-inch 85 Series QNED 4K TV — $699.99$1,099.99(save $400)

• Pioneer 65-inch 4K TV — $329.99$499.99(save $170)

• Sony 65-inch Bravia 8 OLED 4K TV — $2,299.99$2,799.99(save $500)

• Insignia 70-inch F30 4K Fire TV — $399.99$499.99(save $100)

• Samsung 77-inch S90D OLED 4K TV — $3,299.99$3,699.99(save $400)

Best Apple deal

Why we like it

The iPad Air from 2022 was the first Air to wield the snappy M1 chip that powers several MacBooks and iPad Pros. With it, the 5th generation Air performs about 60 percent faster than the older Airs, making undertakings like 4K video editing, 3D designing, or graphics-heavy gaming a breeze on the most portable iPad. The 5th gen Air also sees upgrades like an Ultra Wide 12MP front camera and faster wireless connectivity.

More Apple deals at Best Buy

• Apple iPad Air, 10.9-inch (M1, 256GB, WiFi) — $649.99$749.99(save $100)

• Apple iPad Pro, 11-inch (M2, 128GB, WiFi + Cellular) — $799$999(save $200)

• Apple iPad Pro, 12.9-inch (M2, 256GB, WiFi) — $999.99$1,199(save $200)

• Apple MacBook Air, 15-inch (M2, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,599$1,899(save $300)

• Apple MacBook Pro, 14-inch (M3, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $1,449$1,599(save $150)

Best laptop deal at Best Buy

Why we like it

For $150 lessthan the 14-inch MacBook Pro, you can bump up to a 16-inch display with OLED backlighting by snagging the Asus Vivobook Pro during Best Buy's 4th of July sale. That beast of a display comes with a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card and runs a 120Hz refresh rate, making it one of your best bets for securing a high-powered work laptop that's just as upstanding for gaming.

More laptops on sale at Best Buy

• Lenovo Yoga 7 2-in-1, 14-inch (AMD Ryzen 5, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $499.99 $749.99(save $250)

• Samsung Galaxy Book4 (Intel Core 7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $649.99 $899.99(save $250)

• Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3 (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $649.99 $799.99(save $150)

• Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge Copilot+ PC (Snapdragon X Elite,16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $1,099.99 $1,449.99(save $350)

• Alienware m18 FHD+ Gaming Laptop (AMD Ryzen 9, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,749.99 $2,549.99(save $800)

Best headphones deal at Best Buy

Why we like it

If you don't care to wait for other premium pairs like the Sony WH-1000XM5 to drop below $300, Sennheiser's Momentum 4 headphones would be a stellar choice. While the vibrant audio and effective ANC is all well and good, the standout feature for the Momentum 4 is easily the battery life — you can listen for 60 hours on a single charge. That beats the 24 hour max of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra.

More headphones on sale at Best Buy

• JVC Wireless Deep Bass Headphones — $39.99 $49.99(save $100)

• Sennheiser Momentum 3 True Wireless Earbuds —  $179.99 $279.99(save $100)

• Beats Studio Pro — $299.99 $349.99(save $50)

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