It’s been a great year for tech so far.
As you can tell from our round-up of the best hi-fi and home cinema products of 2026, there has been something for everyone, including some rather excellent soundbars, wireless earbuds and OLED TVs.
But these new releases very much have the prices of 2026 products too – while we have seen some discounts trickle in, particularly over Prime Day, most have not dipped their toes too far below full price.
And that’s where the previous-generation models come in. They may lack some of the newer features and innovations of this year’s releases, but they can also offer much better value due to their reduced price.
So we have rounded up a few of our favourite five-star products that, while they may have been superseded, are still excellent purchases in our eyes. We’ll list their current prices, and it’s well worth keeping an eye on them in case they drop further, especially since some may be discontinued soon.
We will caveat all this by saying that some of these prices may fall even further on Black Friday – and their 2026 counterparts may well get discounts that make them a more viable purchase – but if you just can’t wait or need a replacement right now, then it is an excellent time to look at buying one of the below:
TCL’s 2025 TV Range
The TCL C7K and TCL Q6C are two of the best budget TVs we have tested in the past 18 months. The C7K in particular won a 2025 What Hi-Fi? Award, and sits on our best TV buying guide as our best budget large TV option.
The only problem? The two TVs are not available any more, at least not in the 65-inch sizes we reviewed. With TCL’s 2026 range now out in the wild, it seems that last year’s models are starting to be phased out already, despite still holding up well a year later.
The C7K and Q6C are still available in other sizes, while the five-star TCL C8K is still available in 65 inches. We recommend keeping an eye on these models if you’re after a big-screen budget bargain – they may well start disappearing, and there could be some last-minute savings beforehand.
JBL Xtreme 4 & Go 4
With the excellent JBL Go 5 and Xtreme 5 now out in the wild and in our best Bluetooth speakers buying guide, the previous models will inevitably start winding down.
The JBL Xtreme 4 has already seen some significant discounts – the rugged Award winner can quite often be found at £179 now, a whopping 46 per cent saving and the lowest price we saw the Xtreme 3 drop to.
It is possible that the Xtreme 4 may go even lower come Black Friday, but it’s a product worth keeping an eye on. The Xtreme 5 is still hanging around the £279 mark at the time of writing, so £179 is a very reasonable price.
The JBL Go 4 is also available at a rock-bottom £27 at Amazon. It was already cheap as chips to begin with, but if you’re determined to get the best price possible, there still might be a few more pounds shaved off – we saw the Go 3 hit £25.
Samsung HW-Q990F
The Samsung HW-Q990F has already hit an incredible low of £695 over Prime Day. That’s a whopping 59 per cent discount.
Its successor, the Samsung HW-Q990H, is currently hovering around the £1200 mark. We anticipate a healthy discount on Black Friday, however, as the Q990F hit £819 during the sales event last year.
If you’re determined to make the biggest saving right now, and don’t mind missing out on the touch more nuance, detail and scale that the Q990H offers, the Q990F is well worth snapping up if you spot it around the £700 mark.
The Q990F offers a crisp, engaging and dynamic sound, with an especially impressive bass performance courtesy of the compact cube subwoofer. We gave it five stars at full price; now it’s more than 50 per cent off that, it’s an absolute bargain.
LG C5
Once we hit Black Friday, the discounts are quite likely to come in hard for the LG C6 and it may well be worth the extra cost over the C5.
If you absolutely can’t wait until November, then the LG C5 is available with some excellent discounts right now. It hit some rock-bottom prices over Prime Day, and it’s not too far off now – the 55-inch model can be picked up for just under a grand, an awesome price for an accomplished, multi-Award-winning OLED.
Whatever size you go for, however, the C5 offers some of the best value in the OLED market, and indeed the TV market as a whole, right now. With a rich, solid and engaging picture, excellent contrast, and an excellent feature set that gamers especially will love, the C5 won’t feel outdated for quite some time.
Sony WF-1000XM5
The wireless earbuds market has moved on quite a bit since the Sony WF-1000XM5 made an Award-winning splash in 2023. These buds, though, are no slouch in the audio department – especially if you can grab them at a good discount.
With top-notch musicality and timing, and a comfortable, discreet design, the Sony WF-1000XM5 are fantastic all-rounders. It’s hard to go wrong with the Sony WF-1000XM series, even if it is an older model.
We saw the WF-1000XM5 drop to a low of £160 in April this year, and they are still a great buy at this price – though it’s worth keeping an eye on the Sony WF-1000XM6 also, which offer improvements to sound and noise cancelling and hit an only slightly more expensive £199 over Prime Day.
Marantz CD6007
The Marantz CD6007 is a bit of a legend in What Hi-Fi?'s hallowed halls, having won a coveted What Hi-Fi? Award every year for the past five years thanks to its clear, insightful sound, tight bass and solid build.
However, its status as our go-to recommendation at this level has just been reduced by the newly arrived Marantz CD 70, which offers a step up in terms of clarity, punch and solidity.
Still, the CD6007 is currently available for a good £150 cheaper, and may well drop further once the CD 70 has had a bit of time in the sun. Worth considering before stock inevitably dries up!
MORE:
Our pick of the best wireless headphones you can buy
And the best TVs for all budgets
Interested in the bigger picture? Here are the best projectors we have tested
