Amazon Prime Big Deal Days phone deals 2023: Best early deals and what to expect

Amazon's officially back on its deal tidal waves, preparing for Amazon Prime Big Deal Days, taking place October 10-11. This is the third year of this event, which was called “Prime Early Access Sale” in 2021 and 2022. While phone sales seem to never end throughout the year, Big Deal Days will serve as the unofficial kickoff of the two-month “Holiday Shopping Season” deal-a-palooza, and it will serve as the best time to buy a phone between now and the actual November 24 Black Friday.

From the latest flagship phones — except the Pixel 8, but we'll get there in a minute — to last year's budget beauties, we're here to help you approach these sales with a level head and the pricing history of a pro.

Best early Prime Big Deal Days phone deals

Samsung Galaxy S23+

$650 $1000 Save $350

There are a few different deals going on for the Galaxy S23+, the Goldilocks of Galaxies and one of the best phones of 2023. Best Buy’s offering $350 off if you can activate it today on AT&T, Verizon, or Google Fi. Meanwhile, Amazon is taking $200 off completely unlocked.

$800 at Amazon $650 at Best Buy

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Source: Samsung

Samsung Galaxy A54 5G

$350 $450 Save $100

One of the best budget phones on the market is back to its best price yet already at Amazon. Amazon’s knocking $100 off this bright 120Hz smartphone, while Best Buy is offering $75 off without having to deal with any carrier activation. If you need a reliable phone that won’t break your budget, this is the one to beat.

$350 at Amazon $375 at Best Buy

Source: OnePlus

OnePlus 11

$600 $700 Save $100

OnePlus didn’t release a T-model this year, but who needs one when the OnePlus 11 is $100 off the base model or $150 off the beefier 16GB/256GB configuration? OnePlus offers stellar battery life and even more impressive recharging speeds, and its screen is as crisp and smooth as a perfectly ripe apple.

$600 at Best Buy $650 at Amazon

Samsung Galaxy deals to watch

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Source: Samsung

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

$750 $1200 Save $450

While Amazon’s $200 off deal has been cycling on and off for weeks, Best Buy will more than double your discount if you can activate the phone during checkout. $750 is the lowest we’ve ever seen the Galaxy S23 Ultra without some kind of trade-in involved, and for the best Android phone on the market, it doesn’t get much better than this.

$1000 at Amazon $750 at Best Buy

Source: Samsung

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5

$920 $1120 Save $200

With a big, beautiful cover screen, all-day battery life, and a more solid hinge, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is the foldable phone that’s as fun as it is affordable.

$920 at Amazon

Samsung Galaxy S23

$550 $800 Save $250

After weeks of $50 discounts, Amazon has the Galaxy S23 back down to $700, so if you’ve been waiting for the baby S23, now’s probably as good as it gets between now and October 10. Best Buy will take $250 off if you can activate it today on AT&T, Google Fi, or Verizon.

$700 at Amazon $550 at Best Buy

Samsung's phones for the year have all debuted now — except the Galaxy S23 FE, which we might not see until January — and should see some kind of discount for Prime Big Deal Days. However, the deal of the moment to beat for the Samsung Galaxy S23 series is at Best Buy. If you have an activation to use on AT&T, Verizon, or Google Fi, you can take $250 off the base-model S23, $350 off the Galaxy S23+, and a whopping $450 off the S23 Ultra. Of course, this requires you to be on one of those three carriers and be eligible for an upgrade. For the rest of us plebeians, Amazon has been knocking $50-$100 off the S23 and $200 off both the S23+ and S23 Ultra, but we don't expect it to go much lower for Prime Big Deal Days.

Swapping from the S series to Z, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 should drop to $1,400 or less — and the Fold 4 will likely return to the $1,000 ballpark — while the Flip 5 is primed for $200-$250 price cuts. In fact, the 512GB version of the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is $920, $200 off right now.

Google Pixel deals to watch

The whole Pixel 7 was discounted last week, but those deals have expired. But don't worry; they'll be back!

Prime Big Deal Days will be taking place one week after the October 4 Made for Google hardware event, where the Google Pixel 8 will be debuting alongside the 8 Pro and Pixel Watch 2. This means the Pixel 8 series will likely be in the preorder twilight for this October Prime event, not on sale itself but sparking massive price cuts for the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro. The Pixel 7 Pro may be a year old now, but it's still the best Android phone for photography, and grabbing it for $200-$300 off while the Pixel 8 Pro sits at $900 (or higher) will be quite compelling to shutterbugs on a budget.

And, of course, with the Pixel 7 slated to hit $450 again, the Google Pixel 7a will need a discount to match and keep it competitive, hopefully taking it under $400 and closer to $350. The Pixel 6a hit $250 during Prime Day in July, and if it hasn't sold out forever, we hope to see it hit that price again on October 10.

Motorola deals to watch

Source: Motorola

Moto Razr+ (2023)

$900 $1000 Save $100

Still $100 off, we’re waiting to see if the Razr+ will see a deeper discount or an invite-only deal like it did in July. Regardless, the Moto Razr+ is still a worthy clamshell and a worthy smartphone for those wanting to try something new but sick of Samsung playing it safe.

$900 at Amazon

Motorola has had a fantastic 2023, launching two of our favorite smartphones from the brand in years. The Moto Razr+ has an easier-to-use cover screen, slightly easier UI, and a more fun feel to it compared to the Galaxy Z Flip 5, and it's $100 off right now. Granted, it's been $100 off since before Prime Day in July, but we'll take any foldable discount we can get. That said, I'm hopeful we see a $850 deal for all — it was an invite-only deal in July that sold out — or a return of the invite-only deal with a more heavily slashed price.

Moving back to traditional slab phones, Motorola's various mid-range and budget phones have had a revolving door of discounts over the last two months, but Prime Big Deal Days should hopefully bring us another price cut on the Moto Edge+ (2023), which like the Razr+ has had a $100 discount running since July. The Edge+ is a worthy phone, but $700 is too high when it has a $450 Pixel 7 and $700 Galaxy S23 to contend with.

OnePlus deals to watch

Source: OnePlus

OnePlus 11

$600 $700 Save $100

OnePlus didn’t release a T-model this year, but who needs one when the OnePlus 11 is $100 off the base model or $150 off the beefier 16GB/256GB configuration? OnePlus offers stellar battery life and even more impressive recharging speeds, and its screen is as crisp and smooth as a perfectly ripe apple.

$600 at Best Buy $650 at Amazon

After this summer's deals focused on the OnePlus 10T, which dropped all the way down to $380, but supply seems to be winding down for last fall's refresh. So, for Prime Big Deal Days, pay attention to the OnePlus 11 instead. The base model has been $100 off pretty consistently, but the 16GB/256GB configuration has dropped to $650 ($150 off) twice in the last few weeks, which gives me hope that we'll see a $200 drop come October 10.

The OnePlus Nord N30 has been half-off with activation at Best Buy for most of the last two months, but we still hold out hope for decent unlocked deals in the upcoming Prime event or on Black Friday. The OnePlus Nord N200 has also been seeing some discounts on both Amazon and Best Buy, but we're hoping to see more to help it compete against the inevitable deals on the Galaxy A series, Pixel A series, and Moto's budget legion.

Budget phone deals we're expecting

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Source: Samsung

Samsung Galaxy A54 5G

$350 $450 Save $100

One of the best budget phones on the market is back to its best price yet already at Amazon. Amazon’s knocking $100 off this bright 120Hz smartphone, while Best Buy is offering $75 off without having to deal with any carrier activation. If you need a reliable phone that won’t break your budget, this is the one to beat.

$350 at Amazon $375 at Best Buy

Budget phones tend to see deals whether there's a sales event or not, but we're expecting at least a few key models to come back to their lowest prices ever — or at least come close. Top of this list is the Google Pixel 6a, which went to $250 for Prime Day and should return to that price again for Prime Big Deal Days, so long as it hasn't sold out forever. Its successor, the Google Pixel 7a, should also see a discount to $375 or less as it'll have to stay competitive next to the Google Pixel 7, which will be on clearance following the Pixel 8 launch October 4.

Samsung's Galaxy A series hasn't seen quite as many deals as we'd hoped the last two months, but the Galaxy A54, A53, and A14 should all see $50-$100 discounts. The Galaxy A54 is especially the one to watch as one of the best budget Android phones, as it's $100 off right now and could hopefully drop as low as $300 on October 10, the same way the A53 did during Prime Early Access last October.

Finally, it's important to remember a couple of details you might want to keep in mind as you shop this holiday season. If cameras matter to you, and you're on a limited budget, the Pixel 6a is far and away your best bet, though the Pixel 7a can also be a compelling choice if/when it drops below $400. The Pixel 7a is also one of the precious few “cheap” Android phones with wireless charging, though it's becoming easier to find on certain smartphones, especially as prices on last year's flagships drop.

Will there be a second Prime Day in 2023?

Yes, Prime Day is back again October 10-11 with Amazon Prime Big Deal Days. Ever since Prime Day got pushed to October back in the dark pandemic days of 2020, Amazon's held a secondary Prime Day event in October. Previously, it was called Amazon Prime Early Access Sale, but it's now called Amazon Prime Big Deal Days, presumably to better convey the type of event this is: Prime Day Part 2: Electric dealaroo.

Prime Big Deal Days vs. Prime Day: What’s the difference?

Amazon Prime Big Deal Days doesn't get quite as much fanfare as the original event, but both are identical when it comes to deals: thousands upon thousands of deals spread out over two days. The timing of Prime Big Deal Days positions it at the kickoff of the fourth-quarter holiday shopping season and the end of the summer-fall phone release window. We've now got the latest phones from Samsung, Motorola, and Apple, and while the Pixel 8 will probably only be on preorder during this event, it will at least be announced with full, confirmed specs so we can judge it against the rest of the pack.

This means Prime Big Deal Days will be an opportune time to pick up a new smartphone, especially if you're willing to go with last year's model to save a few hundred extra dollars. I fully expect to see the Pixel 7 series at its lowest prices ever as Amazon makes room for the Pixel 8, and it'll be the first major deal event for the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Flip 5, both of which should see hundreds off without having to jump through carrier or trade-in hoops.

Do you need to be a Prime member to save on Prime Big Deals Day?

The event is called Amazon Prime Big Deal Days, and yes, it's only for Amazon Prime members. If you don't currently have a subscription, you can snag a 30-day tree trial to try out the service before Black Friday and Cyber Monday arrive at the end of November. If you're not willing to shell out for the cornucopia of benefits Amazon Prime provides, you'll need to wait for the early Black Friday sales to start, and last year, both Walmart and Best Buy did exactly that during Amazon's October event.

Source: Amazon

Amazon Prime

Amazon Prime Big Deal Days will undoubtedly have deals that take hundreds off the price of Samsung, Google, Motorola, and OnePlus phones. That would well be worth paying $15 for one month of Prime, but you won’t even have to do that with a free 30-day trial.

$15 a month at Amazon