need to upgrade your cellphone? Or have you been eyeing big-screen tablets? Amazon Prime Day is the perfect time as there are tons of devices seeing deep discounts right now. We’ve sorted all the deals, and these are our current favorites on smartphones and tablets. Be sure to check out our best Android phones, best budget phones, and best tablets guides for more details on our recommendations.
The WIRED Gear team tests products throughout the year. We hand curated hundreds of thousands of transactions to make these choices. The crossed out product is out of stock Or no more discounts. Our Amazon Prime Day coverage page features the latest stories, and our Prime Day shopping tips will help you avoid bad deals.You can also get a Subscribe to WIRED for 1 year for $5 here.
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Smartphone deals
This is an extraordinary price for an extraordinary phone (9/10, recommended by WIRED). Yes, it has a 6.8-inch screen, which is a pain to use, but the 10x optical zoom camera more than makes up for it. This zoom camera lets you take pictures from great distances with stunning image quality, a feature unmatched by any other phone sold in the US. The rest of it is equally top-notch, from the fast performance and good battery life to the bright screen and even the stylus for taking notes. This is the lowest price we have tracked.
It’s also the lowest price we’ve seen on a standard Galaxy S22 (9/10, recommended by WIRED). It doesn’t have a fancy 10x optical zoom camera, but it still has a respectable triple-camera system. Performance is just as good, with a 6.1-inch screen that’s more comfortable to hold and a refined AMOLED screen. Samsung also offers some of the best software support around: The S22 series will get four Android upgrades and five years of security updates.
Google’s latest flagship, the Pixel 6 Pro (9/10, recommended by WIRED), has great performance, a great triple-camera system, and a great 120-Hz AMOLED screen—it’s great. The fingerprint sensor doesn’t meet those criteria, but a $200 Prime Day deal might help ease the frustration there, keeping the phone well below traditional flagship prices.
The standard Google Pixel 6 (9/10, recommended by WIRED) is arguably the best phone on this list, especially at this price. If anything, it jeopardizes Google’s upcoming Pixel 6A. You get wireless charging, great 5G support, good battery life, and a 90-Hz AMOLED screen here. Google promised three Android upgrades and five years of security updates. You can learn more about Pixel phones in our Google Pixel buying guide.
The Galaxy A53 (8/10, recommended by WIRED) is a great alternative to Google’s A-series Pixel phones. It regularly drops to $350, but that’s the lowest price we’ve seen. You get a 120-Hz AMOLED display (almost unheard of at this price), more than a day of battery life, good performance, a MicroSD card slot, NFC for contactless payments, and 5 years of security updates.
This OnePlus phone (7/10, recommended by WIRED) has everything you’d expect from a flagship Android phone. It’s fast, with a screen refresh rate of up to 120-Hz, and the software support window is excellent. However, 5G support is lacking. If you’re on AT&T, you won’t be able to connect to 5G, only 4G LTE. Its camera is still not as good as the likes of the Pixel 6 or Galaxy S22. If you have a good history with a OnePlus phone, you’ll be happy with the 10 Pro.
Folding phones are cool, and the Flip3 (7/10, recommended by WIRED) is a great option for anyone who thinks most phones are too big. It lets you basically fold your phone in half, like a tiny mirror. It has great performance and a decent camera, although the battery life might struggle to last all day.
This phone (7/10, WIRED recommendation) takes a lot of the good stuff from last year’s Galaxy S21 line and puts them in a more affordable package…well, even more The deal is now affordable. You get good performance, wireless charging, 5G support, a bright 120-Hz AMOLED screen, and IP68 water resistance (not to mention lengthy software update cycles).
You should buy the Galaxy A53 5G above instead of this Moto G Stylus 5G 2022 unless you really want a stylus or lots of storage. It’s the perfect phone, with sub-6 5G connectivity, nearly two days of battery life, good performance, and 512 GB of storage (with a 256 GB MicroSD card). But the screen is lackluster, the camera is shoddy, and the Android OS can only be upgraded once (though it takes 3 years for security updates). Still, it’s the lowest price it’s ever had, and it’s a phone that’s perfectly serviceable.
Tablet deals
I’ve been using Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S8 for a few months now, and while it’s certainly a great Android tablet experience and has most of the high-end features you’d want, its MSRP is hard to recommend. This price makes more sense. The Tab S8 has an 11-inch LCD screen, which is neither small nor large. It comes with a stylus that sticks magnetically to the back, is powerful enough to handle any app and game, and has great speakers.
If you’re looking for a great Android tablet, Lenovo is the second best manufacturer after Samsung. This model does almost everything like Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S8, with its 2K LCD display, slim body and powerful MediaTek chip. Shortcomings? It will get Android 12 and no other OS upgrades (it will get another year of security updates).
When it comes to cheap tablets, few do better than Amazon. This Fire HD 10 (7/10, recommended by WIRED) is now half off, giving you easy access to Amazon’s ecosystem and the ability to do some basic productivity work. Battery life is good, and there’s even a MicroSD card slot for added storage. Read our Fire Tablet guide for more advice.
The T20 fixes the P11 Plus’s flaws: it will get two OS upgrades and three years of security updates. However, its performance is a bit slow, and its screen isn’t very good. Been using it as my everyday tablet for a few weeks and I still haven’t had any issues – browsing the web and watching shows. It has dropped to $175 before, but it’s still a good deal.
If Samsung’s flagship tablet costs a little more than you’d like to spend, the Tab S7 FE is a more wallet-friendly option. You get a roomy 12.4-inch LCD panel, one of the larger tablets available in this price range, and it even includes the S Pen stylus. The performance is ok, but it’s a nice place to hang out when you’re feeling lazy.
Amazon’s kid-friendly tablets are also parent-friendly in the price department. This tablet comes with a 2-year worry-free warranty, which means if your child breaks it, Amazon will replace it without a problem. You can also get a 1-year Amazon Kids+ subscription to keep them busy.
Wireless Charger Deals
Check out our guide to the best wireless chargers for more advice.
Photo: Google
The second-generation Pixel Stand is a solid and effective charger. Put your Pixel phone on it, and it will automatically turn your phone into a digital photo frame if you want, with easy access to Google Assistant and other smart home controls. Read more about it here.
It’s a nice dual wireless charging system that lets you charge your phone on the stand and a pair of wireless earbuds on the pad (or another phone). The phone can be charged in landscape or portrait orientation. It looks funky and includes a cable and charging adapter.
Love RGB lights? You’ll love this wireless charging pad. It has a ring of LEDs on the bottom that you can customize through Razer’s Synapse software. Plug it into your PC and have your charger match your gaming desktop setup.
