Amazon Prime Day 2024: What To Expect

When you think of July, what comes to mind? Fireworks on the fourth. Family vacations. Rising temperatures. Cookouts. Swimming. All classics. For us, it's Amazon Prime Day, those special two weekdays smack dab in the middle of July that signal sales prices on, well, just about everything from A to Z. And unlike the holiday-centric shopping done during Black Friday/Cyber Monday, you don't have to buy gifts for anyone. Prime Day is all about your shopping list.

At PCMag, we're laser-focused on finding the best prices on the best electronics all year round, but especially on Prime Day. We are grizzled Prime Day veterans, and today, we're here to talk to you about the types of sales, deals and steals you're sure to encounter. Remember these two things: Prime Day starts on July 16 at 12:01 a.m. PDT and runs through July 17 and you need to be an Amazon Prime member to get in on all of the deals.

Sales

Not everything on sale is a deal. For example, during Prime Day, you'll see plenty of discounted Amazon products, such as Fire tablets, FireSticks for streaming, Ring video doorbells, Blink security cameras, or Fire TVs. Looking back at the last two years of pricing data, many of the same prices (or at least within a 10% margin) tend to resurface during sales.

The 2022 release of the Amazon Kindle 16GB eReader didn’t go on sale last year, but that was when the 2019 release was still in stock. Now that Amazon has moved through their stock, we’re hoping the more up to date one will see at least 20% off of the $99.99 retail price. Our reviewer applauded the sharper screen and long battery life of the 2022 Amazon Kindle over the 2019 iteration. Readers will love having their library at the tip of their fingers and the Kindle even makes recommendations based on your reading habits.

Similarly, the Fire TV Stick 4K has been refreshed since last year’s Prime Day. It went down to $24.99 around October of last year, and we have our doubts it will do so again so soon. The current sale price of $34.99 isn’t too shabby if you’re on the lookout for a streaming device—a 30% discount on $49.99. Our expert gave the Fire TV Stick 4K  the Editor’s Choice award as one of the best 4K media streamers out there.

Deals 

We like to think we know a good deal when we see one. Usually, we're looking for at least a 30% discount, slightly less if it's a purchase over a thousand dollars, like a top-of-the-line laptop or a massive television. Specific brands like Apple might not even crack the 20% discount threshold, but we know that's as low as they will go.

During the previous Prime Day, deals were available on headphones and earbuds from top brands like Bose, Samsung, and Sony. We also saw significant price drops on home security cameras and smartwatches. 

The Apple AirPods Pro saw an upgrade last fall as well, adding in USB-C connectivity to the charging case to keep pace with recent MacBooks and iPhones, and earning PCMag’s Editors’ Choice award. Those with Apple devices will want to add these fantastic earbuds to their Apple ecosystem for its ease of connection and superb sound quality and ANC. The lowest price we’ve seen for the Apple AirPods Pro 2nd Gen With MagSafe USB-C Charging Case has been $179.99, but maybe we’ll see them drop another $10-$20 bucks for Prime Day 2024.

Laptops don’t usually see too much action on Amazon when compared to dedicated PC retailers, but there are a few exceptions if you know where to look. The MSI Katana 15 Intel i7 RTX 4070 1TB SSD 16GB RAM 15.6" Laptop was discounted down to $1,119.99 from its $1,599.99 price tag, which was a great price for an RTX 4070 at the time. Technology has gotten even better, pushing the limits of your GPU’s performance, so we expect to see the same or greater discount this Prime Day. Our expert reviewed this MSI Katana 15 configuration and rated it an “excellent” for fast and stable performance.

Recommended by Our Editors

Amazon Prime Day 2024: Everything You Need To Know

Don't Get Duped! Watch Out for These Amazon Prime Day Scams

Amazon Prime vs. Walmart+: What's the Difference?

Steals

When we talk about steals, we're talking about saving a significant amount of money. Usually more than a hundred dollars on some of the more high-end items. Last Prime Day we saw big savings on Samsung tablets like the Galaxy Tab A8, Galaxy Tab S7, and the Galaxy Tab S7+. We also saw drastic price drops on various models of robot vacuums from brands like iRobot, Shark, and Roborock. 

The iRobot Roomba j6+ Self-Empty Robot Vacuum, for example, dipped as low as $399.99 last year—the lowest price we’ve ever seen. With a $799.99 retail price, that’s a 50% savings on this popular brand. Great for homes with pets, this device will make your life a little easier by taking care of day to day messes.

The massive, curved gaming monitor, the Samsung Odyssey G9, was $899.99 last Prime Day, down from $1,399. Now, that’s not the lowest price we’ve seen, but it is a pretty good price for a stupendous monitor that our expert rated “excellent” due to the G9’s brightness and strong color performance. Gamers–particularly ones who enjoy simulation games–shouldn’t sleep on this monitor. We don’t think it will drop any lower than $699.99, but have seen $799.99 a few times, which is a much needed improvement over the $1,399.99 sticker price.

What to Buy

If there's something you want or need, waiting for it to be at its absolute lowest price deprives you of enjoying it now. As long as you're not paying the full retail price, you can rest soundly knowing you got yourself a deal. So before this Prime Day, read up on some of our shopping tips, start scouting and when those two days in July come, and the price is right. Well, you know what to do!