Black Friday very well may have started life as a single, deals-heavy shopping day, but it's not just about the main event and Cyber Monday now. With some offers starting more than a month ahead of time back in 2019, it's about time we started rounding up the top offers on technology, video games, entertainment and more.
After Amazon Prime Day but before Father Christmas sneaks down innumerable chimneys in late December, big companies and crafty parents attempt to pip him to the post by taking part in this enormous annual Q4 sale-off, with more purchases expected online this year due to various lockdown measures in place across the UK.
If you haven't heard of Black Friday, well, you've probably been sequestered at the North Pole. Here's what you need to know.
Black Friday deals UK 2020: What offers are available already?
Here's our pick of the best Black Friday deals of 2020 (so far) in the UK and beyond. The likes of AO, Currys PC World, eBay, O2, Samsung, Sky, TalkTalk, Very and Virgin Media have already launched early bird deals, or started their Black Friday offers early.
Amazon has confirmed an entire Black Friday Week of deals running from November 20 to November 30 (which looks bit longer than a week to us, but, y'know). However, we'd recommend you sign up to Amazon Prime to get the most out of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Prime gives you free next-day delivery and will unlock exclusive deals and offers across the sale to make sure you get the best prices on the gadgets you want to buy.
Sign Up Amazon Prime
In 2019, we also got Black Friday tech sales from the likes of Three, Nintendo, Vodafone, LEGO, GAME, giffgaff, Boots, EE, John Lewis and a host of other retailers. Some other big names that took part in 2019 include Tesco, Debenhams, Firebox, ASOS, Proporta, Carphone Warehouse, M&S and House of Fraser.
Watch this space between now and November 27 for regular updates.
Best Black Friday smartwatch and fitness tracker deals
Best Black Friday Garmin running watch deals
Garmin Venu (Black/Slate Grey) Was £329, now £229 SAVE £100
Garmin Venu (Sand/Rose Gold) Was £329, now £229 SAVE £100
Best Black Friday headphones and earbuds deals
Best Apple AirPods deals
Apple AirPods (2019) with charging case Was £159, now £124.99 SAVE £34.01
Best Beats deals
Beats by Dr Dre Powerbeats Pro Totally Wireless Earphones Was £219, now £179 SAVE £40
Beats by Dr Dre Studio 3 Wireless Over Ear Headphones Was from £269.99, now £199 SAVE UP TO £71
Beats Solo 3 Wireless Bluetooth Headphones - Black Was £179, now £125 SAVE £54
urBeats3 with Lightning Connector In-ear Wired Headphones - Satin Silver Was £59, now £39 SAVE £20
Best other headphones and earbuds deals
JBL Tune 120TWS Wireless Bluetooth Earphones - Black Was £89.99, now £44.99 SAVE £45
Best Black Friday soundbar and speaker deals
Samsung HW-T420 Bluetooth 2.1 Soundbar with Wired Subwoofer - Black Was £199, now £119 SAVE £80
LG SN7CY Bluetooth 3.0.2 Soundbar with Built-in Subwoofer - Black Was £399, now £289 SAVE £110
JBL Xtreme 2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker with Rechargeable Battery Was £279, now £168 SAVE £111
Best Black Friday 4K and HD TV deals
75"
Samsung UE75TU7020KXXU, 75 inch, Crystal UHD, 4K HDR, Smart TV Was £999, now £799 SAVE £200
65"
Hisense 65AE7400FTUK 65" Smart 4K Ultra HD TV Was £899, now £599 SAVE £300
Toshiba 65UL2063DB 65" Smart 4K Ultra HD TV Was £549, now £429 SAVE £120
55"
Sony Bravia KD55X7052PBU 55" Smart 4K Ultra HD TV With TRILUMINOS Display and Clear Audio+ Was £749, now £586 SAVE £163
Sony Bravia KD55XH8196BU 55" Smart 4K Ultra HD Android TV Was £899, now £699 SAVE £200
Hisense 55AE7400FTUK 55" Smart 4K Ultra HD TV Was £599, now £429 SAVE £170
50"
LG 50NANO796NE 50 inch, 4K Ultra HD NanoCell, HDR, Smart TV Was £599, now £479 SAVE £120
49"
Samsung UE49RU7300KXXU (2019) 49 inch, Curved Ultra HD, 4K Certified HDR Smart TV Was £449, now £379 SAVE £70
43"
JVC LT-43C700 43" Full HD TV Was £319, now £219 SAVE £100
32"
JVC LT-32C600 32" TV Was £219.99, now £169 SAVE £50.99
Best Black Friday OLED and QLED TV deals (4K and 8K)
75"
Samsung QE75Q80TA 75" Smart 4K Ultra HD QLED TV Was £2,499, now £1,999 SAVE £500
Samsung QE75Q70TA 75" Smart 4K Ultra HD QLED TV Was £1,799, now £1,499 SAVE £300
65"
Philips 65OLED805 65" Smart Ambilight 4K Ultra HD Android OLED TV Was £2,199, now £1,899 SAVE £300
Sony KD65AG8BU 65" Smart 4K Ultra HD Android OLED TV Was £1,999, now £1,799 SAVE £200
55"
Philips 55OLED805 55" Smart Ambilight 4K Ultra HD Android OLED TV Was £1,499, now £1,199 SAVE £300
Sony Bravia KD55AG8 55 inch OLED 4K Ultra HD Android TV Was £1,499, now £1,299 SAVE £200
Samsung QE55Q700T 2020 55 inch Q700T QLED 8K HDR 1000 Smart TV Was £2,499, now £1,499 SAVE £1,000
LG OLED55CX6 LA 55" 4K TV Was £1,599, now £1,299 SAVE £300
LG OLED55BX6 LB 55" 4K Ultra HD TV Was £1,199, now £1,098 SAVE £101
SONY KD55A85BU 55" 4K TV Was £1,699, now £1,399 SAVE £300
Samsung QE55Q85TA TXXU 55" 4K Ultra HD TV Was £1,299, now £999 SAVE £300
49"
Samsung QE49Q80T 49 inch, QLED, 4K Ultra HD, Quantam Processor, Object Tracking Sound, HDR 1000, Smart TV Was £1,399, now £799 SAVE £600
SamsungS QE49Q80TA TXXU 49" Smart 4K Ultra HD HDR QLED TV with Bixby, Alexa & Google Assistant Was £1,099, now £799 SAVE £300
Best Black Friday streaming stick and device deals
Best Roku deals
Roku Express Was £29.99, now £17.99 SAVE £12
Roku Premiere Was £39.99, now £27.99 SAVE £12
Roku Streaming Stick+ Was £49.99, now £34.99 SAVE £15
Best Black Friday smart home deals
Best Black Friday smart light and smart bulb deals
TP Link KL130 Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Bulb - Multicolour (screw fit) Was £29.99, now £17.99 SAVE £12
TP Link KL130 Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Bulb - Multicolour, B22 (bayonet fit) Was £29.99, now £17.99 SAVE £12
Best Black Friday smartphone deals
Best deals by network: Three | O2 | Sky | mobiles.co.uk
Best Apple iPhone deals
Apple iPhone 12 (64GB): 3 years, Sky Mobile. 30GB of data £43/month
Apple iPhone 12 mini (64GB): 3 years, Sky Mobile, 30GB of data £39/month
Apple iPhone SE 2020 (64GB): 2 years, Three, 30GB of data £19 upfront, £30/month
Best Samsung Galaxy deals
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G (128GB) 3 years, Sky Mobile, 30GB data £37/month
Samsung Galaxy A71 (128GB), 2 years, Three, UNLIMITED data £49 upfront, £29/month
Best Black Friday SIM-only and PAYG deals
Three Unlimited Data SIM - 12-month or 24-month deal Was £19 per month, now £17 per month
Sky 25GB data SIM Was £25/month, now £15/month SAVE £10/month
Best Black Friday laptop and desktop deals
Best Apple Mac deals
Apple MacBook Air (2020) 13 inch, 1.2GHz Quad Core 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7 Processor, 256Gb SSD with Optional Microsoft 365 Family (1 Year) - Space Grey Was from £1,399, now from £1,249 SAVE UP TO £170
Best PC laptop and desktop deals
Huawei Matebook D14 14" Laptop - Grey Was £699, now £499 SAVE £200
HP 14s-dq1505sa 14" Laptop - Intel® Core i7, 512 GB SSD, Silver Was £699, now £599 SAVE £100
DELL Inspiron 15 3000 15.6" Laptop - AMD Ryzen 5, 256 GB SSD, Black Was £599, now £479 SAVE £120
LENOVO IdeaPad 3 15.6" Laptop - AMD 3020e, 128 GB SSD, Black Was £379, now £229 SAVE £100
Alienware Area 51M R2, Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 1TB Hard Drive & 512GB SSD, 8GB GeForce RTX 2070 Super Graphics, 17.3 inch Full HD Laptop Was £2,799.99, now £2,399.99 SAVE £400
Best Black Friday iPad, Kindle and tablet deals
Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 on O2 - 1GB data £12.50/month and no upfront fee SAVE £180
Samsung Tab S6 10.5" 256GB Wifi Tablet - Rose Blush Was £689, now £569 SAVE £120
Best Black Friday camera deals
Nikon Z50 Mirrorless Digital Camera with Nikkor Z DX 50-250mm f/4.5-6.3 VR & Nikkor Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR Lenses Was £1,199.99, now £1,049.99 SAVE £150
Best Black Friday broadband deals
Best of the rest Black Friday deals
Shark Steam Mop & Handheld Steam Cleaner - S6005UK Was £179, now £129 SAVE £50
Shark Anti-Hair Wrap Bagless Vacuum with DuoClean Was £379, now £229 SAVE £150
Miele Triflex HX1 Cordless Vacuum Cleaner with up to 60 Minutes Run Time Was £479, now £429 SAVE £50
KitchenAid KSM125BQG Artisan Stand Mixer - Liquid Graphite Was £399.99, now £349.99 SAVE £50
Kenwood Chef Stand Mixer with 4.6 Litre Bowl - White Was £349, now £289 SAVE £60
Game of Thrones seasons 1-8 DVD boxset Was £129.99, now £89.99 SAVE £40
Black Friday date: When is it – and when is Cyber Monday?
The big sale has historically taken place the day after Thanksgiving in the US. In 2019, Black Friday officially fell on 29 November, and 2020's event will be just a few days earlier on 27 November.
The deals continue over Saturday and Sunday before Cyber Monday comes just three days later, on 30 November this year. This makes it perilously close to Christmas, so grab a bargain ahead of time to make the festive period a bit easier on the bank balance.
This is particularly important when you think about the restricted shopping experience you're likely to have if you head out onto the high street for Christmas, particularly with current COVID-19 safety measures.
With England under lockdown until at least December 2 and a number of retailers classed as 'non-essential' therefore closed to shoppers, it's likely that even more transactions will take place online this Black Friday and Cyber Monday – and while you can grab decent deals in stores, we've always preferred shopping online, in the warm, ourselves.
What are Black Friday and Cyber Monday?
Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year, and has long been thought of as the start of the Christmas shopping period in the US.
The sale – which lasts all weekend (although some companies now launch deals weeks before Black Friday even begins) and heads into Cyber Monday – gives early shoppers the chance to enjoy discounts on their Christmas shopping, as retailers reduce the prices on huge amounts of their stock.
There is next to no difference between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but some discounts are vaguely more impressive on the Friday compared to the Monday. So keep that in mind when heading into the sales period.
It used to be that they were two distinct sales, where Black Friday was a pre-internet opportunity to spend some well-earned money. Cyber Monday breathed new life into the weekend sale thanks to everyone owning a computer, and now we have a bloated sales week bonanza to get all those juicy offers.
Brits spent a whopping £2.4 billion on online sales on Black Friday 2018 – almost doubling the total spend from 2017, which is staggering when you think about it. The £1.27 billion spent in 2017 was itself a 12% increase on 2016.
Interestingly, just under half (48%) of the deals were snagged on people's mobile phones, with most shoppers sticking to the comfort of their own sofa rather than venturing out. Gone are the days where bargain hunters would scrap it out over a half-price TV, thankfully.
2019 was only marginally wilder, with an estimated £2.5 billion being spent across the UK.
However, for various reasons we are sure we don't need to explain, 2020's Black Friday looks set to be drastically less frugal. According to recent research, an estimated £6 billion s due to be spent on Black Friday and Cyber Monday purchases this year.
