Best Amazon Prime Day Deals Under $150
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You don't need to look far to find Amazon Prime Day deals priced at less than $150. But it's difficult to know whether that $25 blender is a bona fide steal or a candidate for the Return Label Express.
That's why we went searching through low-cost options looking for the most promising deals on items from headphones to smart speakers to kitchen gadgets.
We'll continue updating all our Amazon Prime Day coverage as more deals become available. Keep in mind, these prices are accurate at the time of publication, but some deals may sell out and prices can change throughout the day.
Full Coverage: Amazon Prime Day
Amazon Devices
Amazon Echo (2nd Generation)
Sale price: $70
Is it a good deal? The Echo is the smart speaker that started it all, but our testers placed the second generation Echo in the middle of the ratings pack, largely because its sound quality is significantly worse than newer competitors' like the Sonos One and Google Home Max. But if you’re not that concerned about sound quality, this is a good deal. The Echo lists for $100 and it's not discounted often.
Shop for the Amazon Echo (2nd Generation) at Amazon
Other options: If you don't care much about sound quality, or plan to pair your Echo device with another wireless speaker, consider the Echo Dot, below.
Shop for the Echo Dot (Black) at Amazon
Shop for the Echo Dot (White) at Amazon
Amazon Echo Dot
Sale price: $30
Is it a good deal? The inexpensive Echo Dot is one of the cheapest ways to get started in the world of smart speakers. And when it comes to smarts, it performs just as well as pricier products that access Amazon's Alexa voice-activated digital assistant. Our testers found the Dot’s sound to be lacking when playing music, but you can pair it to a non-smart Bluetooth speaker for better audio quality. The Dot normally retails for $50, but is frequently discounted to $35 at retailers including Best Buy and Bed Bath and Beyond. This Prime Day deal essentially saves you an additional five bucks.
Shop for the Echo Dot (Black) at Amazon
Shop for the Echo Dot (White) at Amazon
Other options: The Google Home Mini is the Dot’s logical competitor, also listing at $50 and routinely discounted at other retailers. It's currently $34 at Best Buy.
Shop for the Google Home Mini at Best Buy
Amazon Echo Show
Sale price: $130
Is it a good deal? During this event, the Echo Show is being discounted by $100. The product is innovative, adding a 7-inch touchscreen to an Alexa-powered smart speaker and earning a Best Buy rating from our testers. However, the Show is still primarily a voice-powered product. Its screen is best suited to secondary uses like showing the steps of recipe in addition to narrating them, although you can use it to stream video if you’re so inclined.
Shop for the Echo Show (Black) at Amazon
Shop for the Echo Show (White) at Amazon
Amazon Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote
Sale price: $20
Is it a good deal? Basically, this basic stick-style streaming player is half off its usual price, so it’s a decent choice for anyone looking to add access to streaming services to any non-smart TV. It’s also a good choice for Prime members looking to get free streaming movies and TV shows from Amazon’s own services. One thing to note: It’s a 1080p model, so it doesn’t support 4K or HDR—but at this price it’s the least expensive streaming device you can buy.
Shop for the Fire TV Stick at Amazon
Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8
Sale price: $50
Is it a good deal? All three of Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets are on sale for Prime Day, but you might get the best bang for your buck by going with the Kindle Fire HD 8, which is priced at $50—that's a $30 discount. You get an 8-inch tablet that can be used for things like watching Netflix and YouTube in HD, reading Kindle e-books and digital magazines, and browsing the web and checking your email. The 15-hour battery life and feathery weight (less than a pound) make this tablet it a handy accessory for a nightstand or handbag.
Shop for the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8 at Amazon
Headphones
Bose QuietComfort 25
Sale price: $125
Is it a good deal? Definitely. The Bose QuietComfort 25 is among the top-scoring wired, noise-canceling headphones in our tests, and it’s a steal at $125. In recent months it's been running $180 or more both at Amazon and other retailers. The QuietComfort 25 has superb audio quality, and the noise-canceling is best in class.
Shop for the Bose QuietComfort 25 on Amazon
Samsung Gear IconX 2018
Sale price: $150
Is it a good deal? The Samsung Gear IconX 2018 is one of the best true wireless earphones in our tests, and it’s a solid option if you’re looking to pick up a pair of your own. They usually don’t dip below $170, so this price represents a legitimate, if modest, discount. The IconX has great sound—significantly better than the Apple AirPods'—and it comes with features that some similar models lack, such as touch controls for calls, playback, and volume, and a built-in fitness tracker and digital music player. True wireless earphones usually have a fairly short battery life, and the IconX is no exception. It’s rated for 5 hours of playback, and the carrying case will power the headset for one extra charge.
Shop for the Samsung Gear IconX 2018 on Amazon
Sennheiser HD 4.50 Special Edition BTNC
Sale price: $100
Is it a good deal? We haven’t tested the “Special Edition” of the Sennheiser HD 4.50 Bluetooth Noise Canceling Headphones, but these seem to be essentially the same as the regular model, which we recommend. These headphones are a bargain even when they aren’t on sale. The HD 4.50 BTNC has great sound and even better noise-canceling capability. The typical price is around $200. And while they aren’t the best noise-canceling headphone in our tests, models that scored higher cost as much as $350.
Shop for the Sennheiser HD 4.50 Special Edition BTNC on Amazon
Kitchen Countertop Appliances
Instant Pot DUO60 7-in-1
Sale price: $65
Is it a good deal? Absolutely. This internet darling of a multi-cooker typically sells for $100, from Amazon and retailers such as Target and Walmart, so the Prime Day offer represents a hefty 35 percent discount. Consumer Reports tested all seven of the countertop cooker’s functions (pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, yogurt maker, steamer, warmer, sauteing) and found that it lives up to its promise of cooking healthy food fast. Our testers’ only knock on the Instant Pot is that it lacks the power to sear particularly well. That may be a small price to pay for being able to reclaim cabinet and countertop space that all those other appliances eat up.
Shop Instant Pot DUO60 7-in-1 at Amazon
Cleaning Machines
Sun Joe Pressure Washers
Sale price: $109
Is it a good deal? Yes and no. One hundred dollars and change may not seem like a lot to spend on a pressure washer, but the Sun Joe SPX3000 only ranks middle-of-the-pack among the electric pressure washers in our ratings—and the electrics we test didn't perform as well as their counterparts powered by gasoline engines. So it depends on what you need it to do. This model earned a rating of Very Good for cleaning, but it doesn’t have a lot of power. That makes it fine for washing a deck but not so much for deep-cleaning concrete. And though Amazon calls this a 45 percent discount, the sale price is only slightly less than the lowest price over the last year on Amazon, and about a dollar less than the lowest price we found at other retailers.
Shop for the Sun Joe SPX3000 Pressure Washer at Amazon
Other options For only $30 more, the Craftsman 99016, $140, is an electric pressure washer that cleans better and is slightly more powerful. It also comes without a zero-degree nozzle, a move to reduce the risk of injury, which we like to see.
Strollers and Car Seats
Graco Highback Turbobooster Car Seat (in Go Green Pattern) and Graco Affix Car Seat (in Pierce Pattern)
Sale price: $28.34 for the Highback Turbobooster, $40.31 for the Affix Car Seat
Is it a good deal? Yes. When your little one outgrows a car seat, a booster seat is the tool you want to let them ride safely. Both of these boosters earn scores of Very Good, when installed with the high back, and the Turbobooster is a CR Best Buy. The Turbobooster normally sells for $50, while the Affix goes for $70, making either a good deal, while it lasts.
Shop Graco Highback Turbobooster Car Seat on Amazon
Shop Graco Affix Car Seat on Amazon
Graco Milestone Convertible Car Seat
Sale price: $114.56
Is it a good deal? You bet. The Graco Milestone is the top-rated all-in-one car seat in our ratings. It earns solid scores across the board, including a rating of Excellent for booster fit. Like other all-in-one car seats, it starts as an infant car seat, then converts to grow with your child, right up through a booster seat that can hold a 65-pound child. At $126, it’s less than half its regular price, $230.
Shop Graco Milestone Convertible Car Seat on Amazon
Printers
Brother HL L2300D Monochrome Laser Printer
Sale price: $60
Is it a good deal? If you want a laser printer to handle black-and-white text and nothing more, it's hard to find anything less expensive. This Brother typically has hovered around $100 at both Amazon and many brick-and-mortar stores over the past three months, according to data from research firm GAP Intelligence. We haven’t tested this model, but we think it’ll perform similarly to the Brother HL L2350DW, one of the best black-and-white printers in CR’s ratings. And you won't be spending much on toner as the years roll by. Each page of text will cost only about 2 cents to print, less than half as much as pages produced by many inkjets.
Shop for the Brother HL L2300D Monochrome at Amazon
Canon imageCLASS MF247dw Wireless Multifunction
Sale price: $130
Is it a good deal? This black-and-white laser printer has been averaging about $240 over the past three months at retailers tracked by GAP Intelligence, making today’s price a $110 savings. Like most laser printers in CR ratings, this all-in-one produces text with excellent quality and speed. And because toner is cheap and doesn’t dry out like inkjet cartridges, the Canon imageCLASS MF247dw won’t cost you much to operate. Unlike the Brother listed above, this model can also copy, scan, and fax documents.
Shop for the Canon imageCLASS MF247dw at Amazon
HP Officejet 3833
Sale price: $40
Is it a good deal? Yes and no. This CR-recommended model has averaged $60 at Amazon in recent months, and twice as much at other retailers, so you're getting a sizable discount—and $40 for a printer is about as cheap a price as you can find. But this model has a couple of knocks against it. The same ink cartridge supplies all three colors, so you need to replace the cartridge when just one of them runs out. (Black comes in a separate cartridge.) And printing text costs about 8 cents per page, twice what many other printers will run you. However, HP says you can reduce ink costs by signing up for the company's automatic replenishment subscription service: The printer will send a message to HP when you're low on ink
Shop for the HP OfficeJet 3833
Wi-Fi Routers
Google WiFi Router AC1900
Sale price: $90
Is it a good deal? This model was introduced a few years ago as one of the first of a new generation of easy-to-use, attractive routers. If you have multiple units, they can talk to each other, creating a mesh network that spreads Wi-Fi access into every corner of even large homes. This router did well in our testing and typically sells for $120, making this a worthwhile deal. One disadvantage compared to many routers is that there’s only one ethernet port for plugging in devices such as gaming consoles and 4K streaming boxes. On the plus side, if you already own other Google WiFi routers, you can add this unit to extend the network.
Shop for the Google WiFi Router AC1900 at Amazon
Netgear Nighthawk with Parental Controls
Sale price: $112
Is it a good deal? While we haven’t tested this particular model, we expect it to perform similarly to the Netgear AC1900 Nighthawk (R7000), which did well in our ratings. New to this model are parental controls from Circle and support for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. You get five ethernet ports, two USB 2.0 ports, and a discount of around $50 off the typical price.
Shop for the Netgear Nighthawk with Parental Controls at Amazon
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