Prime Day 2021 is live! $100 AirPods, $279 Apple Watch Series 6, $80 Fire HD 10 tablet and more

This story is part of Amazon Prime Day 2021, CNET’s guide on everything you need to know and how to make sure you get the best deal.

Amazon Prime Day has arrived — and the deals are going fast. It’s barely 9 a.m. ET and one of the most celebrated items, the Apple Watch Series 6 for $279, is already sold out. So if there’s something you’ve been thinking about buying, don’t wait: Grab it now. Some notable items still available: AirPods for $100, the lowest prices on record for the Echo Auto and Echo Buds and some exclusive deals for those who voice-shop with their Alexa devices. (“Alexa, give me your Prime Day deals.”) Note that you’ll need to be an Amazon Prime member to take advantage of most of these exclusive deals.

Before we dive into the best Prime Day deals available right now, take note that other retailer sites, including Walmart, Best Buy and Target, have competing sales:

In addition to the Amazon deals listed below, check out these other incentives: 

Looking for more? Check our guide on how to win at Prime Day to prepare for all the ways to save. (Hint: if you don’t already have it, it’s time to sign up for Prime membership.) And make sure to check out Amazon’s own Prime Day page for updates.  

Early Prime Day deals available right now Sarah Tew/CNET

This pretty much ties the lowest price on record for Apple’s venerated earbuds, a great pick for anyone who doesn’t like the in-ear feel of noise-canceling earbuds (namely the AirPods Pro, which are currently on sale for $190).

And if you pay using your Amazon Prime Rewards Visa, you’ll score 6% cash back, effectively dropping your price to an all-time-low $94. Read our Apple AirPods review to learn more.

CalmDo

This is the lowest price to date for this highly versatile oven, which my daughter has been using in her apartment for about three months. Her unsolicited verdict: “This is the greatest thing ever.” 

The machine is not only large enough to roast a whole chicken (and it comes with a spit for that very purpose), it also has modes for baking, dehydrating, reheating and, of course, air-frying. Mighty attractive at this price.

Vanessa Hand Orellana/CNET

The latest Apple Watch is on sale with a $120 discount at Best Buy and Amazon on the 40mm Product Red model, and up to $70 off on other models. In addition to an always-on display and ECG, the Series 6 monitors blood-oxygen levels (though you shouldn’t expect medical-grade results there). Read our Apple Watch Series 6 review.

This is the lowest price on record for Kasa’s popular plug, which drops 50% when you clip the on-page coupon. And it’s literally CNET’s favorite smart plug, period. So if you have a lamp, coffee maker or the like that would benefit from timers, voice commands and remote control, look no further.

David Carnoy/CNET

Amazon’s second-generation true-wireless earbuds are just a couple of months old, and now they’re marked down to their lowest price to date: $80 for the standard model, or $100 for the step-up version with the wireless charging case. Either one is a $40 discount off the earlier price. Read our Echo Buds 2 review.

Sarah Tew/CNET

At its $40 retail price, the new-for-2021 Roku Express 4K Plus was already dirt cheap. But now our new favorite streamer — which gets every streaming service you can think of in luscious 4K HDR quality, along with a ton of free ad-supported content — is even 25% less expensive.

Chris Monroe/CNET

The Echo Dot’s full price is $50 (though it often sells for less, right now it’s going for $45). Now, however, just enter the code PDDOT2PK at checkout, and save $40 — getting you two of Amazon’s basic smart speakers for a little more than the price of one.

Amazon

The “Amazon Halo fitness tracker sounds awesome, but also like a Black Mirror episode.” That was our original take on Amazon’s health band when it was first announced last year, and it still feels more invasive than other wearable health products, thanks to its ability to monitor your tone of voice and body fat (with, of course, an add-on service). But at 30% off — within $5 of its all-time low — maybe you’ll want to take the plunge. Read the Amazon Halo review on ZDNet.

David Carnoy/CNET

Don’t call Amazon’s Echo Frames “smart glasses” — there’s no AR or VR present here. These are, instead, “audio glasses” that double as headphone replacements (thanks to small speakers in the stems). And, of course, Alexa is on board for the ride. We didn’t love the original version of this product, but this is the second generation hardware, which offers better battery life, auto shutoff (when the frames are set down) and auto-adjusting volume. This is also the lowest price to date. 

Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Android users already have Google Assistant, and iPhone users have Siri at the ready. But if you want to bring Alexa into your car, you’ll need this little gadget for the dashboard. It lists for $50 (though often sells for closer to $25). However, the Echo Auto is now down to its lowest price ever: Just $15, with six free months of Amazon Music Unlimited thrown in for good measure. Read our Echo Auto hands-on.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Roku’s flagship streaming box offers all the bells and whistles, including a remote finder, an Ethernet port and support for Dolby Vision 4K HDR. I remain a big fan of the remote’s wired headphone jack, which is just less of a hassle than wireless audio via the Roku app (which doesn’t always work well, in my experience). It has two programmable shortcut buttons, too.

This deal has been live a few weeks already. Will it get even better on Prime Day proper? It’s possible, as Roku usually tries to compete with Amazon’s own Fire TV deals. 

Expired deals, may return soon Vanessa Hand Orellana/CNET

The Watch SE is the step-down model in Apple’s 2020 smartwatch line. It’s similar to the 2019 Series 5, but without the always-on screen and ECG function. The Watch SE also boasts a more powerful processor and a Retina display that’s 30% larger than the much older Series 3. The best deal we’re seeing right now is $40 off at Amazon on some colors of the 40mm version. Read our Apple Watch SE review.

Lori Grunin/CNET

Along with Xbox Cloud and Google Stadia, Amazon’s Luna is one of a high-powered trio trying to make cloud-based gaming more mainstream. In the case of Luna — which is still in beta — you can fire up streamable sessions in browsers or dedicated apps on everything from PCs and Macs to iPhones and Android devices, as well as Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K. Of course, you’ll need to pay a monthly fee of $6 to $15, but you’ll be able to game anywhere you have a superfast internet connection.

For this early Prime Day sale, the controller hits its lowest price to date, while the Luna phone clip bundle ($82) and Fire TV Stick 4K bundle ($74) also get nice price cuts. Read our Luna Controller hands-on.

Ry Crist/CNET

You can have my Eero when you pry it out of my cold, dead house. And I have an older model, not this new-fangled, up-to-date Eero 6. Plug one of the stations into your modem and enjoy blissfully simple, super-strong Wi-Fi throughout your dwelling. (Mine has been a particular good match with T-Mobile Home Internet.)

This price is the lowest on record. There’s always a chance it could get lower still on Prime Day, but I’d be surprised to see it dip by more than another $5-$10.

Amazon

At this price (which, like a lot of Prime Day deals, is available only to Amazon Prime subscribers), the Blink Mini indoor camera rivals the CNET-favorite Wyze Cam. In fact, the newest version of the latter now costs $33, so this is actually a better deal. Maybe much better, if you don’t care about free cloud storage.

Read CNET’s Blink Mini review to learn more.

Everything to know about Prime Day 2021

When is Amazon Prime Day 2021?

Isn’t it time to start calling it “Prime Days”? Because it hasn’t been just a single day for years. Once again, it’s a 48-hour event that runs as follows.

A batch of early discounts leading up to the main event are already live.

What will be on sale during Amazon Prime Day 2021?

As always, anything and everything. But this is definitely the time of year to look for deep discounts on Amazon gear, including:

Granted, that stuff goes on sale all the time — a recent Mother’s Day sale revealed savings rivaling Prime Day on a lot of these devices — but the absolute lowest prices are usually reserved for Prime Day and Black Friday.

We also typically see better-than-usual deals on things like Instant Pots, Apple AirPods, Bose headphones and Roku streamers. Make no mistake: This might be Amazon’s party, but plenty of other stores and sellers will be getting in on the action.

What other stores will participate in Prime Day 2021?

This may be an Amazon event, but that won’t stop other stores from getting in on the action. Walmart has already announced a Deals for Days event running from June 21 to 23. Similarly, Target’s recently announced Deal Days event will run from June 20 to 22. Expect Best Buy, Kohl’s and other stores to roll out big sales of their own. Best Buy, for example, is likely to compete heavily on TV deals. We’ll update this when more events are announced. 

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What are the best deals so far?

As we get closer to the main event, there will be loads of Prime Day deals to prepare for. For now, these are the best things we’ve been able to find. 

Amazon and its partners will be making a ton of announcements over the next two weeks.

What Amazon Prime Day deals can I get right now?

At a certain point, an “early Prime Day deal” becomes a matter of semantics. For instance, Amazon is pitching its discounted Fire TV models as early Prime Day deals — but trust me when I say there are deals to be had all day, every day. You can check my Cheapskate page for the latest and greatest, sign up for the Cheapskate newsletter (see that “Sign Me Up” box just below), get deal texts sent right to your phone and so on. 

You can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter. And check out Amazon’s Daily Deals page, where the retailer markets its limited-time and semipermanent offers. Spoiler alert: Deal quality varies widely from day to day.

What is the Amazon Prime Day concert?

This year Amazon is busting out some new tricks to promote the massive event. The retail giant has announced a three-part concert series called The Prime Day Show, featuring performances from Kid Cudi, H.E.R. and Billie Eilish. Each concert is expected to have its own unique theme and will start livestreaming on Thursday, June 17. If you aren’t able to tune in on launch day, the streams will be available for 30 days. 

Stay tuned for more!

Read more: The Cheapskate’s 6 ways to win Prime Day

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CNET’s Cheapskate scours the web for great deals on tech products and much more. For the latest deals and updates, follow him on Facebook and Twitter. You can also sign up for deal texts delivered right to your phone. Find more great buys on the CNET Deals page and check out our CNET Coupons page for the latest Walmart discount codes, eBay coupons, Samsung promo codes and even more from hundreds of other online stores. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Answers live on our FAQ page.