prime day is as good a time as any to drop money on Amazon devices. It’s when you can take advantage of the best deals. Whether you’ve been eyeing a Kindle e-reader, an Echo smart display, or a Fire tablet, Amazon has a wide variety of its own gadgets on sale during the annual two-day event. We’ve rounded up all of our WIRED-approved devices, below.
The WIRED Gear team tests products year-round. We sorted through hundreds of thousands of deals by hand to make these picks. Crossed out products are out of stock or no longer discounted. Our Amazon Prime Day coverage page has the latest stories, and our Prime Day Shopping Tips will help you avoid bad deals. You can also get a 1-year subscription to WIRED for $5 here.
Updated July 13: We’ve updated links and prices throughout.
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We’re big fans of Kindles at WIRED, for multiple reasons—they’re easy to use, they’re dependable, and they work as intended. They can hold thousands of books, a month’s worth of battery life, and more. If you want to explore more options than the ones listed below, be sure to check out our Best Amazon Kindles guide.
Amazon’s newest Kindle Paperwhite is our top suggestion for most people. It has a bright 6.8-inch screen with adjustable warm lighting, and it’s waterproof—making it a great option if you like to read by the pool, at the beach, or in the bathtub. It’s a great alternative to the pricier Kindle Oasis below.
If you have extra cash to spend, the Paperwhite Signature Edition (8/10, WIRED Recommends) comes with a few more features than the standard Paperwhite. The display can auto-adjust brightness based on the lighting in your environment, the page-turn rate is faster, and there’s more storage—the Signature version has 32 gigabytes ,while the standard has 8 gigabytes. We recommend this one if you listen to a lot of audiobooks.
The basic Kindle (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is the best option for those who want a super-simple ebook reader. It packs with a 6-inch E Ink touchscreen and a built-in front light for reading at night. You’ll also get 8 gigabytes of storage, which can hold around 5,000 books. This is the lowest price we’ve tracked for it.
For a luxurious experience, you’ll want to go with the Kindle Oasis. It has an aluminum body, a large 7-inch display with auto-adjust brightness, tactile page-turn buttons, and fast performance. It’s worth the steep price if you’re looking for a feature-packed Kindle.
If you want something more rugged than the Kids Edition, you’re better off with the Paperwhite because it’s waterproof. At 6.8 inches, you’ll also get a larger display than the 6-inch screen on the standard model.
We think the Kindle Kids Edition is a solid, affordable ebook reader for children—it’s also at the lowest price we’ve ever seen. Amazon will throw in a protective case, a free year of Amazon Kids+ (where parents can add books to their child’s library, set reading goals, add age filters, and more), and a two-year warranty with your purchase.
We’ve tested a wide range of speakers and smart displays, in addition to the ones below. You can read our Best Echo and Alexa Speakers guide for more Alexa-powered devices. If you want to go beyond Amazon’s very own, check out our Best Smart Speakers guide and Best Smart Displays guide.
The Amazon Echo Show 8 is our favorite Alexa-powered smart display. The 8-inch display is a great size for watching movies, reading recipes, making video calls (it has an auto-pan and zoom feature to keep you in-frame), checking your calendar, and more. Its compact size makes it a great addition to your kitchen counter or nightstand too. We’ve never seen it dip this low in price.
In our review of the Echo Show 5, we criticized the device for its small screen—because it’s slightly too small to navigate comfortably. But it’s still a good option if you want a smart display that’s compact enough to fit on a desk or nightstand. It also has a physical mute button and a camera shutter for privacy. But if you want a larger display, we recommend the Echo Show 8 instead. It often fluctuates in price, but this is the lowest we’ve seen.
We haven’t tested the Echo Show 15 yet, but we like most Echo Show models in Amazon’s lineup. It comes equipped with a 15.6-inch Full HD display, making it Amazon’s largest Echo with a screen to date. The home screen includes widgets for your to-do lists, shopping lists, and more—so, it’s a great option for those with big families and busy schedules. It’s also at the lowest price we’ve ever tracked.
We’ve crowned the Echo Dot (8/10, WIRED Recommends) as the Best Alexa Speaker in our buying guide. The spherical speaker fits anywhere in the house and fills the room with 360-degree sound. Thanks to Alexa, you’ll also stay updated on the weather and news, and you can set timers and alarm clocks. Worried about privacy? There’s a physical button that allows you to turn the microphones off too. It’s also $5 cheaper than its lowest sale price.
It’s hard not to smile at the panda and tiger prints on the Kids Edition of the Echo Dot. In addition to fun prints, the smart speaker comes with great sound quality, parental controls, and a free year of Amazon Kids+ with access to Audible books, Alexa skills, and games.
The Echo Buds (8/10, WIRED Recommends) pack a ton of features, including noise cancellation, wireless charging, and customizations via its connected app. But we particularly love these earbuds for the Alexa integration, allowing you to check the weather, set timers, and update your grocery list by voice commands—all while listening to your music. These earbuds dipped to $50 in April, but this is still a solid deal.
Interested in a Fire tablet? We don’t blame you. They’re affordable, capable, and practical slates—although the software could use some improvements. Make sure to also check out our Best Amazon Fire Tablets buying guide.
WIRED reviewer Scott Gilbertson says the Fire HD 8 is “one of the best values around for a tablet.” It has an updated processor for fast performance, an HD display, and 12 hours of battery life. If you want additional features like more RAM and wireless charging, the Fire HD 8 Plus is also on sale for $50 ($60 off).
The Fire HD 10 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is our favorite Fire tablet of them all. The latest version has a brighter screen, solid battery life, and extra RAM for smoother performance. We also recommend the HD 10 With Bluetooth Keyboard, which is also on sale for $160 ($35 off). It comes with a free year of Microsoft 365 and is an ideal setup for getting some light work done.
If you want a larger display, there’s also the Fire HD 10 Plus. The 10.1-inch screen, complete with 1080p resolution, is a great option if you’re planning to use it to watch movies, TV shows, and videos. It also has slightly more RAM than the standard version, at 4 gigabytes.
We think the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition is the best Fire Tablet for kids. It packs the same features as the standard Fire tablets, but also comes with a durable case and a two-year warranty—so, Amazon will replace it if your child accidentally breaks it. As with Amazon’s other devices aimed toward kids, this one comes with one year of Amazon Kids+.
For those with older children, we recommend the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro, since it’s bigger than the Fire HD 8. It is more expensive, but in addition to a larger display, children can also request to install apps from a Kids app store—which parents have to manually approve. It comes with a less bulky protective case too.
Don’t Buy Older Fire 7 Tablets
Amazon’s previous model Fire 7 tablet is on sale, but we don’t recommend it. The new Fire 7 isn’t terrible—it’s still awfully small, but it’s more powerful than previous models—but at this point, the 2019 model, which was never stellar, is next to useless.
If you love watching most of your content on Amazon Prime, then you’ll want to add a Fire TV Stick to your entertainment system. It prioritizes Amazon content over other popular streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, but it still offers access to all the major streaming services. Be sure to check out our Best TV Streaming Devices buying guide for more options too. It’s also worth noting that all three streaming sticks below are at the lowest prices we’ve ever tracked.
Photograph: Amazon
It streams in HD—not 4K—and has the same interface as the rest of Amazon’s smart devices. The remote also comes with power and volume buttons, along with Alexa Voice, which you can use to launch and search shows using your voice.
The Fire TV Stick 4K Max is our go-to option for Amazon loyalists, since the menus are targeted toward the company’s Prime Video app and purchasing content from its store. It also comes with a number of upgrades compared to its predecessor, including more memory (2 gigabytes versus 1.5), a picture-in-picture feature for pulling up your security camera feed, and support for Wi-Fi 6.
We suggest the Fire TV Stick Lite if you have a standard HDTV and don’t plan to upgrade to a 4K TV. The Lite version comes with access to all major streaming apps and a more basic version of the Alexa remote—sans dedicated buttons for Netflix, a button for TV power, or volume controls. But you can download another app for that.
Other Amazon Device Deals
Eero’s 6 Mesh System is super easy to set up and use. In our testing, we had solid coverage and stable connectivity. And since Eero is owned by Amazon, you’ll also get support for Alexa. It’s worth noting that it is one of the slower systems we’ve tried (it had trouble with long distances), but it should work just fine for most people.
We generally prefer Google Assistant for our smart home devices, but if you just prefer, Alexa, this smart plug will easily extend your smart home to “dumb” devices. The timers and schedules aren’t as easy to navigate as some systems. You have to set up a routine to turn the plug on or off, but if you use Alexa with other devices, this won’t be any different. Alexa Guard works like vacation or travel mode on the other plugs, where it turns off and on automatically to make it look like you’re home.
Amazon Glow is a great option for parents whose kids often video chat with family members that live far away. The device, which comes with a built-in 8-inch display, can project a 19-inch interactive puzzle, drawing activity, or story on a 22-inch mat in front of the child. Using the Glow app on their iOS or Android tablet, adults on the other end can play or read along in real-time. WIRED editor Adrienne So says there are two caveats, though—it’s huge (standing at 14-inches tall) and since you have to plug it in, you’ll have to make sure it’s always placed next to an outlet.
The Halo View received an honorable mention in our Best Fitness Trackers buying guide. It’s also at the lowest price we’ve seen. It’s affordable, is comfortable on the wrist, and has an easy-to-use companion app. However, WIRED editor Adrienne So doesn’t like how it pushes business partnerships or tells you to strip down to your underwear in order to measure your body fat composition.ƒ
The Blink Mini received an honorable mention in our Best Indoor Security Cameras buying guide. We like that it’s compact, affordable, and versatile. In terms of features, the Mini comes with solid video quality, accurate motion detection (although, it can’t tell the difference between pets and people), two-way audio, activity zones, and Alexa built-in. However, it requires a subscription to use it—which costs $3 per month.
