Black Friday is a tricky beast, especially for audio and home cinema fans. The event has evolved from a frenzied day when people descended on physical stores and committed crimes against humanity to grab one of the limited number of electronics on sale, into a whole month-long, largely digital, sales bonanza.
Everything from knowing when the event has actually started, to which products to keep an eye on, has become incredibly difficult – unless, like our team, you’re glued to your desk tracking prices, as a result.
One of the biggest mistakes I see many of my friends make during Black Friday is to go in with an, “I need to buy something,” attitude. This is usually because they have been waiting all year to pull the trigger on a specific purchase. But, whether it’s a TV, turntable or something else, the attitude is a mistake. Just because it’s Black Friday and cheap doesn’t mean it’s worth your time or money.
Affordable turntables are a good example. Every Black Friday I see a sea of deals flood Amazon’s vinyl section for cheap turntable systems – the sort of products we frequently award two stars. Meanwhile, the one we recommend all year round, the five-star Pro-ject Primary E, belligerently refuses to go down more than a few bucks, even during Black Friday.
Our buying advice, though, doesn’t change. Even if the decks on deal are cheaper and claim to have equivalent RRPs at full price, the Pro-Ject is the best budget turntable we have tested and remains our recommendation.
If you can’t afford it now, you’ll almost certainly be better off saving up for a while and buying one over one of the no-name options flooding Amazon. So my advice is simple: don’t be afraid to walk away from Amazon’s homepage and wait until you can afford the thing you actually want.
When you’re looking to make a new addition to any hi-fi (or home cinema) system during Black Friday, don’t forgo balance in favour of a bargain.
You still need to make sure what you buy will complement your set-up and pull in the same direction, not work against it. We talk a lot about system matching, and this should still apply, even when you’re trawling through all those potential savings.
Hopefully, our reviews give you a feeling of the sonic characteristics of a product and the flavour of sound you can expect; but there’s no substitute for getting it in your own system and listening for yourself. To this end, don’t be afraid to send anything back if you’re not completely happy with how it’s making your system sound.
I would also look on Black Friday as a way to potentially get one foot on the upgrade ladder. Instead of making a sideways step, use it as an opportunity to make a tactical purchase with one eye on the future.
It makes all kinds of sense to make a shortlist of products you’re hunting for on Black Friday – but make sure it isn’t a list of one.
You may have identified the ‘perfect’ component; but if it isn’t discounted and an also-excellent rival is, that rival shouldn’t be ruled out.
This is especially good advice (if I do say so myself) when looking at TVs – particularly premium models. The quality is so high here, and the performance margins so fine, that price should absolutely be the deciding factor.
For example, while the Sony Bravia 8 II is my favourite TV of 2025 and the model I recommend aiming for during Black Friday 2025, if the Samsung S95F, Panasonic Z95B or LG G5 become available for a couple of hundred less, I wouldn’t hesitate to go for one of those instead.
It can be easy to focus on new products or ones with five-star ratings when looking for a Black Friday deal. We often find, however, that some of the biggest savings and lowest prices are on previous generations, or on products that have been around for a while. That doesn’t mean that they’re old old. Unlike TVs and wireless earbuds, the world of hi-fi moves at a slower pace, which means there is oftern a good few years’ gap between generations.
That means that, even if products such as stereo speakers, turntables and stereo amplifiers are a few years old, they are still perfectly functional. If a product delivered a great performance back in the day, chances are it still sounds pretty good now. It’s why we still flag older speakers from Dali, Q Acoustics and Elac, for instance, as well as products such as the Naim Mu-so 2, Wharfedale Evo 4.4 and the first-generation Arcam Radia amplifiers. They remain great value for their asking price (and even better on a deal price), even if newer successors of these models exist.
Equally, products that got four stars from us shouldn’t be ignored either – especially if they are available for a massive discount. Products such as the Audiolab Omnia and JBL SA550 can have their prices slashed in half, making them significantly better value than before – and certain elements that we may have found wanting at their original, launch price might be forgiven at such heavily discounted prices. As ever, it’s worth shopping around to see who is offering the best price – and read reviews to make sure your new purchase’s performance and specifications match your listening preferences and current system’s needs.
Black Friday isn’t just about getting a great price on a piece of kit that’s actually worth your while; it’s about checking that what you’re buying fits your specific needs. I covet the large Fyne Audio F502S floorstanders, but there’s no way they’d fit into my modest listening space. I’m a big proponent of the Austrian Audio Hi-X25BT wireless headphones, but I realise that, even on a discount, the stellar Award-winners will be nigh on useless to users who need noise-cancelling capabilities for their busy commute.
If you’re planning on making a purchase this Black Friday, make sure you do a bit of proper research. That can mean checking out our product reviews, best buys and/or advice pages to see if what you’re buying fits your budget, listening space and personal requirements. Something might look outstanding on paper, but if it lacks the proper connectivity or file support, say, that you require, it might end up being as good as useless.
There are bound to be some significant savings on some top-notch AV equipment coming in the next few weeks. And one might inspire you to make an impulse purchase on a new OLED TV or 4K projector.
My biggest piece of advice this Black Friday is to make sure what you're buying fits your space; measure up now to avoid a faux pas. This advice comes from experience: not so long ago, I was setting up my 65-inch Sony TV, only to find that my current TV stand wasn’t wide enough; nor was it big enough in width to accommodate my Sennheiser Ambeo Plus soundbar.
After some dicey moves that almost ended in disaster, and having to adjust the stand multiple times, I eventually found a solution – but I spent most of my time wishing I had double-checked the measurements.
If you’ve got your eye on an OLED TV, take a moment to check the manufacturer’s website and find the specifications; most brands include stand dimensions here, which you can compare to your media unit to ensure it fits. If not, there are always third-party stands to consider, which we recommend ordering with the TV so you’re not left waiting to enjoy your new purchase.
This extends into the more hardcore home cinema categories. Looking at a beefy 4K projector such as the Sony Bravia Projector 8? Or perhaps a substantial home cinema amplifier such as the Marantz Cinema 30? Be sure to check that you have ample space to allow for plenty of ventilation to avoid overheating; and make sure that your rack or stand can handle these heavier units.
Furthermore, we recommend taking the measurements of your viewing space to ensure the throw ratio of your desired projector suits your room. Image adjustment tools have improved leaps and bounds in recent years, but there is an upper and lower limit to image scaling – so smaller rooms might not be quite as suitable for some projectors.
It’s tricky enough choosing a new product to buy, so once you’ve made a decision, it can be hard to come back from. But wait. If you’re after a new type of device, I urge you not to get too obsessed with one particular model. You’d be better off seeing what deals are around before pulling the trigger.
If you’re after some sub-£200 wireless earbuds, for example, you are spoiled for choice. Yes, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds are our current Award winners, but the Sony WF-1000XM5 are currently around the same price. True the Sonys are older, but they’re still a stellar pair with plenty of features to boot.
And now that the AirPods Pro 3 have launched, the AirPods Pro 2 have fallen in price to clear stock, bringing them under the £200 mark too.
Think about which features you want rather than a brand or model number, read our reviews, and go in with an open mind. And good luck!
It’s very easy to get sucked into the Black Friday mentality of buying a whole bunch of products just because they are cheap. But, as you will have gathered by now from our sage advice, that is not often the best way to go about getting the biggest bang for your buck.
An extremely cheap soundbar may seem like a quick purchase that will be used immediately. It's quite possible, though, that it will end up being switched on just once or twice then swapped in favour of a model that offers a better overall audio experience.
A bundle deal of films on 4K Blu-ray that you don’t really rate that highly? It may seem like a bargain at the time, but those discs will end up gathering dust on your shelves.
We know how tempting it can be, but saving your money for something genuinely worthwhile is really worth it. Make sure everything in your TV and AV collection is a good performer.
Black Friday can be a stressful time, with deal countdowns, stock shortages and internet slowdowns all adding to the pressure, and making a panic buy all the more likely. My advice? Prepare as much as possible in advance, so on the big day (well, big week) you can make decisions with a cool head and focus on getting a genuinely good deal.
This can include the obvious research, such as choosing a product, noting down pre-Black Friday prices and having a few alternatives ready. But the little things can make a big difference too – making sure you know your passwords and are signed in to any likely retailers could save you from a last-minute disaster at checkout.
It’s easy to be sucked in by some of the savings on offer with Black Friday deals, but these headline figures may not necessarily be the best price available for a particular product.
For instance, a set of speakers, turntable or amplifier may drop from £1500 to £1000 at one retailer, which looks a great saving, but another might have had them on sale for £950 for some time. Checking directly with multiple retailers can ensure you get the best price rather than the best saving from one outlet.
Sometimes, retailers have special discount codes at the checkout, or they throw in some speaker cable or a pair of headphones ‘for free’ as part of the deal too. Check directly with a number of retailers to give yourself the best chance to receive any extra goodies. You could turn an already good deal into an absolute bargain.
- Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
- B&W speakers: save £200
- Bluetooth speaker: 48% off five-star JBL
- Bose QC Ultra Earbuds: save £100
- Bravia 8 TV: save 34% on 55in Sony TV
- Denon AV receiver: save £500
- Dolby Atmos soundbar: down to £299
- ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £199
- Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum 4 now £169
- John Lewis: £500 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
- Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
- Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
- TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals
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