Black Friday is right around the corner and, with coronavirus keeping many shoppers at home this year, we’re expecting huge discounts online. To save you time and money, we’ll be powering through waves of Black Friday deals to uncover the best of the best.
Some retailers have launched their deals already – you’ll see our pick of the best early Black Friday deals, below.
While we wait for the rest of your favourite retailers to unleash this year’s best Black Friday deals, our product experts have also taken the time to examine how the coronavirus pandemic could affect our shopping habits.
Plus we’ll keep you posted on what to expect from Amazon, Apple, Argos, Currys PC World and John Lewis this Black Friday.
Keep scrolling for more information.
Make sure you bookmark this page – we’ll be updating it regularly as retailers share their best Black Friday deals. We’ll highlight genuinely good deals on products that perform well in our tough, independent tests, so you can buy with confidence.
Which? experts uncover the best Black Friday deals
Black Friday 2020 officially lands on 27 November, so expect to see a whole host of retailers slashing prices on tech products and home appliances, big and small.
As the Black Friday bargains roll in, our team of product experts will be adding the best Black Friday deals to this page. Last year, we picked out hidden gems covering televisions, laptops, washing machines, blenders and more.
All of the best Black Friday deals we spotlight here will cover products we’ve gone hands-on with in the Which? test lab.
In previous years, we’ve seen retailers cut prices on below-average products in an effort to shift stock. By checking in with our expert reviews, you can ensure you’re getting a genuinely good deal on a product that won’t disappoint.
We’ve spotted that some retailers have already started slashing prices weeks before the big day, including Currys and Richer Sounds. Here is our expert pick of these early bird deals:
The Emma Original mattress – was £529, now £343.85 (35% off, according to Emma)
Same price at: John Lewis
We liked: exceptionally durable
We didn’t like: only available online
This bed-in-a-box foam mattress from Emma is only available online and is delivered vacuum-packed in a box to your doorstep. Delivery is free and, if you decide you don’t like it after sleeping on it for up to 100 nights, Emma will collect the mattress for free and issue a full refund. We’ve seen slightly lower price drops for this product during the last 12 months but this is still a decent discount if you’re in the market for a new mattress. Will it offer you enough support for your sleeping style, though?
Read our expert Emma Original mattress review, or buy it now at Emma or John Lewis.
Shark Anti Hair Wrap with Flexology and TruePet IZ251UKTDB – was £549, now £349 (36% off, according to Currys PC World)
We liked: easy to use, superb battery life
We didn’t like: poor carpet cleaning
The Shark Anti Hair Wrap with Flexology and TruePet IZ251UKTDB has been reduced to just £349 in Currys Black Friday sale. It comes with three lithium-ion batteries included, which means that using the charging dock, you can have two charging while you use the other. But is it any good at picking up pet hair?
Read our expert Shark Anti Hair Wrap with Flexology and TruePet IZ251UKTDB review, or buy it now at Currys PC World.
LG OLED55CX5LB television- was £1,399, now £1,299 (8% off, according to Currys PC World)
Same price at: Richer Sounds
We liked: incredible picture quality
We didn’t like: voice control doesn’t work with every app, which is a shame
This OLED 55-inch is a premium product and one of the most popular series for OLED. We’ve seen its price gradually drop since it launched, but this is the cheapest we’ve seen it yet. However, at £1,299 it’s still pretty pricey. If you’re in the market for a high-end TV, it could be for you – check our independent review to make sure.
Read our expert LG OLED55CX5LB review, or buy it now at Currys PC World or Richer Sounds.
LG 49NANO816NA television – was £599, now £479 (20% off, according to Currys PC World)
We liked: crisp picture, great remote
We didn’t like: narrow viewing angle
The NANO81 series is exclusive to Currys. At £479, its 49-inch offering is the best price we’ve ever seen. We found it really easy to set up and use during our lab tests and LG is also known for making good TVs. So is this one to add to your shortlist?
Read our expert LG 49NANO816NA review, or buy it now at Currys PC World.
TVs are always a popular purchase on Black Friday – see our round-up of Black Friday TV deals.
How will Black Friday 2020 be different from previous years?
The world is still dealing with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, which means Black Friday will look very different this year. You won’t be seeing hordes of shoppers on the high-street clambering over each other to grab a big-screen TV – we expect most of the action to be taking place online.
The Coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on the way we shop. We can expect much more shopping to be done online this Black Friday, as footfall on the high street has dropped dramatically.
Shops on the high street that do remain open for business this year should be enforcing strict social distancing policies and customer limits. In England, while still under lockdown, this means essential businesses only – although non-essential businesses are open for click-and-collect customers and deliveries.
With many household budgets looking tighter than usual, it’s possible we’ll see less spending during Black Friday. There may also be deeper discounts than usual on certain items to help retailers clear backlogs of stock accumulated during lockdown.
But not all deals are worth jumping on. Even if a retailer brags about listing a product at its ‘cheapest ever price’, you could still find it on offer for less if you shop around. Taking advantage of a good deal for a bad product could cost you more in the long run, too, considering you may have to pay to get the flawed item repaired or replaced entirely.
Deliveries may also take longer, due to the need for social distancing in the warehouses which send the packages out.
Best Black Friday deals to look out for
Although Black Friday is meant to run on 27 November, lots of retailers will jump the gun and list their deals ahead of the big day. In fact, based on our pricing research, we expect most sales will start the week before Black Friday.
Amazon Black Friday deals
Before it turned its attention to Black Friday, Amazon run its Prime Day exclusively for its members, which took place on 13-14 October this year.
It will now start to open up early bird deals to buyers that aren’t signed up with Amazon Prime. Once Black Friday rolls around, Amazon will then refresh its hefty list of deals.
You can also get your hands on some early bird offers – here’s our round-up of the best Amazon Black Friday deals.
Apple Black Friday deals
Apple doesn’t hold its own Black Friday sale, so don’t expect to see huge savings on iPhones, iPads and Macs directly from the tech giant. Other retailers that stock Apple gadgets may be feeling more generous, though.
If you’re shopping for a new smartphone this Black Friday, keep your eyes peeled for discounts on old iPhone models that are getting fazed out to make way for the new designs.
Argos Black Friday deals
Argos has already started to make changes to its website ahead of 27 November. On its ‘Black Friday deals 2020’ page, the retailer has revealed that the website had a whopping 44.5 million page views last year.
Unsurprisingly, shoppers that tackle the in-store Black Friday sales this year will need to wear a face covering and follow social distancing guidelines. Argos notes that using its Click & Collect service may make things easier on the day.
The group’s website also suggests collecting your products ‘whilst picking up essential shopping’.
Currys PC World Black Friday deals
In previous years, Currys PC World has promoted its ‘Black tag’ deals for Black Friday. Last year, we saw discounts on OLED TVs, streaming sticks, laptops, washing machines, vacuum cleaners and more.
A message displayed on the Currys PC World website teases: ‘Black Friday typically kicks off at midnight and lasts for 24 hours, with Black Friday deals running throughout the day. If you keep your eyes peeled, you might even spot a few deals in advance of this window!’
However, we’ve spotted that Curry’s has already started slashing prices weeks before the big day and have put our pick of the best Black Friday deals we’ve spotted on this page – scroll up to see or head straight to our round-up of the best Currys PC World Black Friday deals.
John Lewis Black Friday deals
Ahead of Black Friday, John Lewis is urging shoppers to create an online wishlist and download the official John Lewis smartphone app for shopping on the move.
During Black Friday 2019, our products experts uncovered deals on the Apple iPad 10.2″, Dualit Domus kettle, Nest Hello Video Doorbell and Emma Original Mattress.
Best deals of 2020: click to discover…
What did we learn from Amazon Prime Day?
During Amazon Prime Day we saw impressive deals on smartphones, headphones, kitchen appliances, vacuum cleaners and more.
The Samsung Galaxy S10 5G dropped by 37%, from £1,099 to £689.49 making it the cheapest price we’ve ever seen on Amazon. You could also get your hands on the Bose SoundSport Free headphones for £110.99 (38% off).
If it was household appliances you were looking for Amazon also dropped the price of the Gtech AirRam MK2 from £199.99 to £129.99 (35% off) and the Ninja AF100UK Air Fryer from £119.99 to £99 (17% off).
If you like the look of any of the deals above, but you missed out on Prime Day, don’t panic – we’re expecting to see similar products on sale for Black Friday.
Prime Day also reinforced the importance of not assuming every deal is a good one. We tracked the price of all the deals we recommended so you could feel confident that you were actually getting a bargain. And we also flagged products that were either unsafe, not up to scratch in our tests or weren’t the cheapest you could get it for at other times of the year.
Always run a quick web search to see if the product you’re considering is available elsewhere for less and read our reviews to avoid buying a dud.
Black Friday is a couple of weeks away, but Amazon has already started discounting thousands of products since before this years Prime Day event. See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day deals.
How will the second coronavirus lockdown affect Black Friday 2020?
The UK will enter a second national lockdown on Thursday 5 November and it will run until at least 2 December. This means that all non-essential shops will be closed over Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2020.
For some online-only retailers, like Amazon, plans can still go ahead. But for retailers that do most of their business in-store, it won’t be so easy.
You should be aware that while you will still be able to get deals online, stock might sell out more quickly, websites may be slower because more people will be shopping virtually and deliveries may also take longer.
Try to be as prepared as possible before the big day so you don’t miss out – keep checking in with us to find the great deals we’ve handpicked for you.
How did the last lockdown affect what people wanted to buy?
The last lockdown wasn’t all about buying toilet roll and pasta – we noticed a distinct difference in the types of products people were searching for on which.co.uk.
As everyone was at home most of the time, it’s no wonder that traffic to our TV reviews soared. More virtual home offices, plus schools being closed and kids having to switch to working online, meant that our laptop reviews and printer reviews were also very popular.
It wasn’t all about tech products, though. Spending more time at home, particularly with children, inevitably means more mess. So our expert pick of the best five vacuum cleaners racked up a lot of visits.
It was also nice to see that flour and yeast shortages didn’t dampen people’s quest for fresh bread, judging by the number of people who checked out our breadmaker reviews.
If you’re looking for the best Black Friday deals to get you through lockdown, bookmark this page and we’ll help you get a genuine bargain.
Amazon Prime Black Friday scam to watch out for
As we gear up to one of the busiest times of year for shopping and online transactions, consumers should be on high alert for any potential scams.
One that’s been doing the rounds for a while now is the Amazon Prime renewal scam, where an automated call impersonates Amazon Prime, telling victims their subscription will be ‘renewed’ for £39.99. You’ll then be asked to ‘press 1’ to connect with a fraudulent ‘account manager’ where it’s highly likely scammers will attempt to extort bank details and/or personal data from you.
If you receive this call, hang up immediately. Amazon will never contact you in this way.
If you do think you may have given sensitive information to scammers, contact your bank straight away.
Here’s everything you need to know about how to deal with phone scams.
More on Black Friday
This story was originally published on 13 October 2020. We’ll keep updating it whenever we spot new Black Friday deals that our experts believe are worth buying.
