The 8 ultimate Black Friday deals that YOU can’t afford to miss today

Black Friday is finally here. The blockbuster sales event has seen huge discounts from some of the biggest brands, including Apple, Samsung, Amazon, Currys, Argos, EE, Sky, Virgin Media and dozens more. Whether you’re looking to cut your monthly broadband or telly bills, upgrade to faster download speeds to ensure you never see a buffering symbol again, or grab the latest iPhone 13 at half price… there are some incredible deals out there. Of course, it can be tough to find the gems amongst the mind-boggling number of price cuts available today. Express.co.uk has combed through thousands of discounts and deals to find the ultimate Black Friday savings. If you’re looking to bag a bargain today, this list is where you need to start…

1/ Get an Amazon Echo Dot or Fire TV for under £5

If you’re looking to buy some of Amazon’s most popular gadgets, there are some amazing Black Friday discounts available. Amazon has slashed £21 off the cost of its third-generation Echo Dot, plunging the price from £39.99 to £18.99. Meanwhile, the Fire TV with Alexa Voice Remote has crashed from £39.99 down to £19.99. Those are already some stellar discounts …but there’s a sneaky Black Friday hack to take even more money off that price tag. Yes, really. When all is said and done, you’ll walk away with either a brand-new Echo Dot for £3.99 or a Fire TV Stick to stream Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and more for £4.99. It’s all thanks to popular cashback website, TopCashback, which has a Black Friday of its own.

Here’s how the nifty trick works… TopCashback operates all-year and offers cash incentives to shop through its website. TopCashback receives a small commission for directing its readers to thousands of retail websites that it has partnered with, but instead of keeping that cash, TopCashback will pass on “100 percent” of its commission to you. This is where the cashback comes from.

For Black Friday, TopCashback has secured a bumper deal with Amazon UK that offers more cashback on Echo and Fire TV devices, as well as Kindle eReaders and Amazon Fire tablets. A representative for the website confirmed to Express.co.uk that all new TopCashback members will receive a one-off £15 reward when buying any of the Fire TV Stick, Amazon Echo, Kindle or Fire tablet deals currently available in Amazon’s early Black Friday bonanza. To qualify for the bumper cashback, you’ll need to spend a minimum of £15.

For example, the Echo Dot costs £18.99 and you’ll get £15 transferred straight back from TopCashback – meaning you’ll be able to bag this clever smart speaker for £3.99. That’s the lowest we’ve ever seen. And it’s a deal that’s unlikely to ever be beaten, to be honest.

2/ Get a brand-new iPhone 13 for half price

Apple only revealed the new iPhone on-stage in September, but amazingly, there are already some incredible deals available. iPhone 13 arrives with a completely re-engineered camera system with better results in gloomy, low-light situations and new Cinematic Mode – that blurs the background behind your subject in videos. Not only that, but Apple has added stronger Ceramic Shield protective glass to survive drops, longer battery life, and a selection of new colours. 

iPhone 13, which costs £779 when bought from the Apple Store, is available on all of the UK’s biggest mobile networks. There is a wide range of deals available – but our favourite has to be this blockbuster discount from Three, which drops your monthly bills down to £31 a month for the first six months. That’s half price compared to what it usually charges for the latest iPhone model with unlimited superfast 5G data, unlimited calls and text messages. Be aware, there’s an upfront fee of £49 to consider.

3/ Sky Q drops to its best-ever price

If you’ve been considering upgrading your television viewing with the award-winning Sky Q box, there’s never been a better time. This Black Friday has seen Sky Q crash to its “best ever price” – down to just £32 a month. For that, you’ll get the Sky Q hardware and Sky’s Superfast Broadband plan, which includes average download speeds of 59Mbps. There’s also a landline included too.

Bundled with the package are over 200 free channels to watch. And you’ll be able to take advantage of all of the best features of the Sky Q box, which lets you pause and rewind live television, can record up to 6 shows simultaneously, and boasts built-in apps for the biggest streaming services, from Disney+, Netflix, Prime Video, and coming soon, Apple TV+. Sky will recommend boxsets and movies from these services based on your viewing habits – so you’ll always be ahead of the next must-binge series! During the checkout process, Sky lets you add a number of extras to this bundle, including its exclusive Sky Atlantic channel, which is where you’ll find the most talked-about US dramas, like Succession, Mare Of Easttown, The Undoing, Little Big Lies, and the upcoming Game Of Thrones prequel series and Sex And The City continuation.

4/ Virgin Media offers £342 in savings on full-fibre broadband 

Virgin Media isn’t yet available in every street in the UK, with a little over 15 million homes able to connect to its full-fibre network. That’s a real shame because Virgin Media has some of the best Black Friday discounts available. It has dropped some of its most popular broadband plans by £19 a month – saving you a total of £342 over the course of your 18-month contract. Since the savings are the same across its full-fibre plans, the only thing you need to decide is what speed you need.

Virgin Media’s most affordable broadband plan is M100, which offers download speeds of 108Mbps. That’s still more than 38Mbps faster than the average UK home broadband connection, which was measured at 70Mbps earlier this year. At those speeds, you’ll have no trouble streaming 4K Ultra HD boxsets and blockbusters from Prime Video, Netflix and Disney+ …you could even stream all three in different rooms around the house and not see a drop in quality.

If you’re looking for the ultimate broadband boost, Virgin Media’s top-tier M500 plan, which offers download speeds of 516Mbps, has dropped from £62 a month down to £43. For that, you’ll get a connection that’s over 7x faster than the average UK home. At those speeds, you’ll be able to download a feature-length film in less than two minutes – perfect for those who aren’t great at planning ahead and downloading films the night before a longhaul flight or weekly commute.

5/ BT offers FREE broadband until next year

While Virgin Media’s full-fibre network might not be available nationwide, BT almost certainly is available in your street. And that’s good news because the company has launched a seriously competitive Black Friday deal. Rather than slashing the costs of its monthly plans, the firm has decided to ditch monthly bills altogether until next year. Yes, anyone who signs up for BT’s Black Friday broadband deals will get free internet to their home for 3-months. The deal applies to any of BT’s fibre broadband offering, from its entry-level Fibre Essential up to the gigabit-capable Full Fibre 900 plan.

Unlike Virgin Media, BT has also ditched all set-up fees and postage costs, so there really is nothing to pay until the fourth month rolls around. Virgin Media still offers lower prices for similar speeds, so it’s still the best option (if you’re one of the 15 million or so homes in the UK that can connect to its fibre network) if you’re looking to save cash. But with Christmas shopping and New Years Eve parties on the horizon, those looking to save the most money until next year are better off opting for BT, which won’t take any money from your account until around March 2022.

6/ Apple AirPods drop to lowest ever price

If you’ve been thinking about buying some AirPods, there has never been a better time. Just a few weeks ago, these second-generation AirPods cost £159 from the Apple Store – today, you can pick up a pair for just £99. For those who don’t know, AirPods, which launched back in 2017, are wireless earbuds that connect effortlessly to your iPhone and can seamlessly switch between other Apple-branded gadgets as you pick them up. The built-in beam-forming microphones mean AirPods work brilliantly for hands-free phone calls, and you can summon Siri with a simple voice command.

AirPods use Apple’s custom-designed H1 to instantly connect to your iPhone. Flipping open the case for the first will summon a pop-up that pairs the ‘buds with your iPhone – no need to dig through the Bluetooth settings menu on your handset. Any other Apple-branded gadgets signed in with the same iCloud account will be paired during this process too, so your AirPods will seamlessly switch to your iPad, Mac or Apple TV as you put down and pick up your devices. AirPods boast a five-hour battery life, while the carry case holds enough juice to top-up both ‘buds for a total of 24-hours of listening time. The case is charged via Lighting cable – the same one used to top-up your iPhone.

If you’re a Prime member, it makes sense to opt for Amazon as you’ll get next-day delivery for free. However, shoppers with an Argos on their high street might be able to pick up these popular ‘buds on the same day – so it’s worth checking stock nearby. And finally, John Lewis doubles the warranty period compared to Amazon, Argos and even Apple itself! With any luck, these earbuds will last a lot longer than two years, but John Lewis means you’ll have an extra 12 months without worry.

And don’t forget, for those who have noisy commutes, the costlier AirPods Pro, which improve on the standard AirPods with active noise-cancellation to drone out all outside sounds, have dropped in price too. Usually priced at £239, Amazon has plunged the price down to £185. 

7/ Sonos’ newest addition gets its first price cut

Sonos surprised us all by cutting the price of one of its newest – and most affordable – speakers. With Black Friday finally here, the company has already slashed £20 off the Sonos Roam. This waterproof speaker works like any other Sonos speaker at home – allowing you to synchronise playback across multiple speakers and rooms, and use AirPlay 2 to beam lossless tracks from your iPhone or iPad with a tap. But pop the Sonos Roam in your backpack and it transforms into a rugged Bluetooth speaker that can fill your next beach trip, BBQ or pool party with sound. With 10-hours of battery life and voice capabilities, the Roam is easily the most versatile speaker in the Sonos lineup.

Sonos Roam launched back in March 2021, so it’s surprising to see a £20 discount so early in its lifecycle. Buying direct from Sonos, you’ll get the choice between both the Shadow Black and Lunar White colour options. As mentioned above, the US company has already dropped 20% off all of its accessories and chargers, so you can also bag the wireless charging dock for the Sonos Roam, which allows cradles and charges the speaker when you’re using it at home and allows you to grab the Roam and walk out without unplugging anything, for £35.20 instead of the usual £44 price tag.

Unfortunately, those are the only Black Friday discounts available from Sonos right now. Ahead of the bumper sales event, Sonos did warn customers about low stock, so it’s possible the company doesn’t want to disappoint fans by selling out its limited stock in minutes, thanks to some huge discounts. But don’t fear – there is a way to get a serious price cut on award-winning Sonos speakers today. 

It’s all thanks to Sonos offering customers the chance to bag a number of certified refurbished products on its online store.

These speakers have all been revived by the technicians at Sonos and arrive in the same packaging as brand-new speakers. According to Sonos, its certified refurbished products “are thoroughly tested to ensure standard Sonos quality”. They even ship with the same one-year warranty as the new models.

But the difference is the price. While a new Sonos One SL from Sonos will set you back £179, the same speaker can be bought as certified refurbished for just £129. That’s a £50 saving. Even during the limited Black Friday sales last year, Sonos only reduced the price of its Sonos One speakers down by £40. So you’re getting a better deal than its Black Friday discounts – and no worries about limited stock as everyone rushes to order on the same day.

When bought refurbished from Sonos, the Sonos Move drops from £399 to £289 and the Sonos Beam (first generation) costs £289 compared to £449 for a brand-new, second-generation Sonos Beam soundbar. There’s also £100 off the price of the all-singing, all-dancing Sonos Arc too.

8/ Save £100 on Dyson vacuum cleaners

Dyson is well known for its stylish design and powerful suction… but it’s definitely not known for affordable price tags. That’s where the Black Friday sales come in. Bagging one of the company’s cordless vacuum cleaners will usually set you back £300, but Currys has slashed £100 off the cost of the V8 Animal cordless cleaner. That’s better than Dyson itself, which had reduced the price of its V7 (an earlier model with less battery life) down to the same £199 price point. And while the deal from Dyson has already sold out, the £100 discount on the newer model from Currys is still available. It won’t be around for long though – so get moving!