The Best Black Friday Gaming & Tech Deals of 2020

What is Black Friday, even, in a time of COVID? It’s hard to say. Even with social distancing, it’s going to be hard to avoid crowds at the stores and malls that are actually still going to be open. And that’s assuming that people are trying to brave the elements (and the ’rona) to get their holiday season shopping underway. Maybe the lure of securing a PlayStation 5, iPhone 12 Pro, or new TV is enough to get turkeyed-up families out of the house.

Whether you’re masked up and ready to dive into these deals IRL or keeping it cozy at home with your laptop and whatever magic will help you snag these deals handy, you have to be up on the latest and greatest Black Friday deals. We’ve included as much info as we can regarding the (super-scarce) PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, as well as info on deals on TVs, smartphones, the new MacBooks, and much, much more.

Without a doubt, the biggest ticket this holiday season will be Sony’s PlayStation 5. Sony’s CEO recently said that everything was sold out. For many, if you didn’t pre-order it earlier this year, you’re SOL (unless you lucked into one of the many “giveaways” online). But it looks like you could be in luck this Black Friday season. It may depend on a few factors, namely a) do you plan on leaving your house? and b) if the talk of Black Friday PS5 restocks at stores like Kohl’s, Best Buy (which is promising limited stock on Black Friday in store), and Walmart going live on November 25 are in fact real. You might want to keep it locked to Amazon for any surprise drops, or just keep a tab open for Sony Direct. We’re also not seeing much in the way of bundles; the system just dropped two weeks ago, so that’s to be expected.

The Xbox Series X|S talk is...more of the same as the PS5. Not much in the way of bundles, and honestly, there might not be much in the way of units unless you get lucky. It could be a major problem, though, with Xbox CFO Tim Stuart recently saying that Xbox Series X|S consoles could be in limited supply through April 2021. Your best bet would be to scour the Internet for deals at places like Walmart, GameStop, and Best Buy for the most up-to-date drops and release information. Or you can hit eBay or StockX, but you will end up paying a grip if you choose to cop the next-gen console outside of the traditional retail market. When all else fails? Keep it locked to Microsoft’s Xbox site...and GOOD LUCK!

For the last couple of years, the Nintendo Switch has been the hottest ticket, primarily because there were no next-gen Sony or Microsoft consoles out. That’s not to say the Switch (and its attractive sibling the Switch Lite) won’t be a hot ticket this year; it was sold out for much of the early parts of this year’s quarantine due to the volume of people bored at home with nothing to do—and the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Wal-mart has a $300 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Nintendo Switch bundle advertised for this Black Friday, which is amazing considering that that particular title is three years old. You can grab the Turquoise Nintendo Switch Lite for $200 at Target as well. Oh and randomly, Best Buy has a 400GB microSD card available for $60—it was previously $180(!!), which is an insane deal for those of you with hella islands on Animal Crossing to keep track of. Happy hunting!

Aside from the aforementioned console wars deals, there are plenty of gaming deals out there for gamers with—and without—the PS5 or Xbox Series X|S. best Buy has recently-released titles like Watch Dogs: Legion for the PS5 for $30, or the PS4 version of NBA 2K21 and the Xbox One for $28. GameStop—which is said to be opening its doors at 7AM on Black Friday—will be running all kinds of deals, including $27 deals for Marvel’s Avengers on the PS4 and Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath Kollection on the Xbox One. As mentioned earlier, many of these gaming deals kick off on November 25, so if you play your cards right, you (or someone you love) will be able to keep up with the hottest games this holiday season.

The Premiere Edition of Google Stadia—which comes with a Chromecast Ultra and allows you to game or laptop with ease—normally retails for $99.99, but starting on November 25, will be available for $69.99, meaning you can get in with (most of) the latest games at a mere fraction of the cost if you make the wise decision to grab Stadia Pro as well.

If you’re looking for big-ticket items that likely will be in stock—or you wisely waited for Black Friday to upgrade your current phone—then you might want to look towards the iPhone 12 family of devices for the best Black Friday deals. If you cop (and activate) an iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro at Best Buy on Black Friday, you can save $900 if you have a “qualified trade-in” (see their site for more details). Also at Best Buy, the iPhone SE can be snagged starting at $200 if you bring in an iPhone 7 or better to trade and get it activated at the same time.

For those of you who might need AirPods to go with your new iPhone, Amazon has a few dope deals for you out there. You can grab the AirPods Pro for $199 (aka $50 off) and the AirPods with a wireless charging case for $149.99.

As per usual, the iPhone isn’t the only smartphone out there with dope Black Friday deals. Samsung has a slew of price reductions on their latest phones, including the Galaxy Z Fold2 5G going for as low as $924.99 (with trade-in; you also get $120 Samsung Credit). Not low enough? Their Galaxy Note20 5G can be bought for as low as $224.99(!), again with trade-in and get $120 Samsung Credit plus a $30 eCertificate credit! Samsung also has deals on their Galaxy Watch3, Galaxy Buds+ and more! Head over to samsung.com for more details.

Not to be outdone, and unlocked Google’s Pixel 5 will be available for $50 off, taking its price down to $649.99. Their equally-dope Pixel 4a 5G smartphone, while not having any discounts showing currently (even though at $349 is an amazing price), but you can cop their Barely Blue colorway while supplies last.

This is also a great time to get your other pieces of tech upgraded. There aren’t huge deals on the new MacBook Pros, but Amazon has the 256GB and 512GB editions available for $50 off retail. You can also get $20 off the Apple Watch SE at Best Buy. They also knocked off $250 from the HP Envy touchscreen laptop if you’re more of a Windows person.

Google’s impressive Nest Audio speaker can really light up a room...and this two-pack from Best Buy for $170 might be the perfect solution for your home audio needs.

If you got a new PS5 or Xbox Series X already, now might be the best time to upgrade that television of yours as well. You can’t go wrong with TCL, and their 50” 4 Series 4K UHD Smart Android TV is only $249.99 at Best Buy. TCL also has a 65” 4K UHD television with Roku built-in for $428, knocking $70 off of the original price. And if you are more of an LG fan, their 75” webOS 4K UHD TV could be yours for $649, which is a $200 price reduction.