Best Prime Day Headphone Deals: Turn Up the Savings With Deals on AirPods, Bose, Sony and More [CNET]

October 5, 2024 Aashna Gheewalla

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Take advantage of early Prime Day deals on earbuds and headphones ahead of the big event.

Aashna Gheewalla Associate Writer

Aashna Gheewalla is an Associate Writer at CNET. She previously worked as a Deals Writer at Wirecutter and a Health Advocacy Writer at GoodRx. She spends her free time teaching and practicing Pilates and trying out different restaurants.

When not writing up the best deals for CNET readers, Amber Guetebier writes about plants, gardening, folklore and pirates. She is the author of several books and currently writing several more.

Sony Wh-1000XM5 headphones and Apple AirPods Pro 2 on a green background — Sony/Apple/CNET

Amazon’s October Prime Day event is just around the corner. It’s officially dubbed “Prime Big Deal Days,” and you’ll find spectacular bargains on everything Amazon sells (which is everything). Though the main days are Oct. 8 and 9, CNET’s deal bounty hunters are already finding some really sweet early Prime Day deals, particularly on headphones and earbuds that are worth checking out.

Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.

If you want to share the gift of great sound this upcoming holiday season, scroll down to check out the best deals we could find. Check back if you don’t see anything you like right now, though, since we’ll be updating this roundup frequently. Want to save even more this Prime Day? You could earn a $150 Amazon gift card instantly upon approval of a Prime Visa card, and Prime members will earn up to 5% cash back on purchases through Amazon.

Watch this: How to Hack Amazon Prime Day: Shopping and Deals Advice

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Prime Day earbud deals

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The AirPods Pro 2 are a fan favorite for good reason. They sport excellent sound quality, with active noise canceling, an adaptive transparency mode and spatial audio — all powered by Apple’s H2 chip.

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Some of our favorite budget wireless earbuds can be yours with a big discount right now, but make sure to enter the discount code EAP3CNET and clip the on-page coupon when checking out to get the best price. This deal is exclusive to Prime members. Non-Prime members can snag this for $6 more.

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Apple’s just-released AirPods 4 are already seeing savings at Amazon, albeit a slight discount of $10. Still, it’s nice to save on such a new Apple product. Note that the ANC-equipped version is currently at full price.

More earbud deals:

Amazon Echo Buds (2nd gen): $35 (save $85). Not the latest model but for 70% off, it’s a great option.
Soundcore by Anker P20i: $25 (save $15). These Anker earbuds are affordable at full price but for only $25, they become even more of a bargain buy.
Jabra Elite 10: $196 (save $54). Dolby Atmos Sound gives you an immersive audio experience with solid noise cancellation and useful physical buttons to control volume and play/pause.
Skullcandy Indy ANC wireless earbuds: $40 (save $80). Active noise cancellation helps you tune out the rest of the world with ease.
Amazon Echo Buds (2023): $25 (save $25). A newer version of the earbuds at an impressive 50% off.
Skullcandy EcoBuds: $25 (save $15). A simple, budget-friendly option that will get the job done.
Monster wireless earbuds: $30 (save $50). Both water and sweat-proof, these monsters are great for any adventure.
Nothing CMF Buds: $35 (save $4). Nothing’s sub-brand CMF’s new earbuds are already cheap at $39, but this extra discount drops them into true budget territory. The case features a unique, scrollable volume wheel.
Yamaha TW-E7B True Wireless earbuds: $99 (save $181). Yamaha’s earbuds have an IPX5 rating for outdoor use, immersive True Sound technology, a 6-hour battery life (16 hours with the case) and a unique Fast Pair feature.

Prime Day headphone deals

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Apple AirPods Max are usually more expensive, but now you can save $120 on these cream-of-the-crop headphones. Best paired with an Apple device because of the spatial audio virtual surround for iPhones and iPads and multipoint Bluetooth, allowing you to automatically switch between iOS devices. The best discount applies to the pink model, pictured, although other colors are $100 off. Note that these are the Lightning-equipped model, not the just-released USB-C model (but other than that connector and some new hues, they are the exact same).

This is one of the only proper over-ear Beats headphones currently on sale. The Beats Studio3, despite being a little dated, is one of our favorite headphones because of its fast charging, Apple compatibility, and beautifully simple design.

More headphone deals:

Sony WH-CH520L wireless bluetooth headphones: $50 (save $5). Provides greater comfort with an adjustable headband, soft ear pads and a lightweight design.
Skullcandy Crusher Evo wireless headphones: $152 (save $47). With a 40-hour battery life, you’ll never worry about battery life again. With rapid charge technology, you can charge them for 4 hours in just 10 minutes.
Ozeino 2.4Ghz wireless gaming headset: $30 (save $20). Play across PlayStation and PC with real-time gaming audio, Bluetooth and a 30-hour battery.
Bowers & Wilkins Px8: $530 (save $169). Adjustable microphones help enhance voice clarity, greatly improving call quality.
Dyson Zone noise-canceling headphones: $400 (save $300). Cream-of-the-crop headphones with activated carbon filters that absorb fumes such as nitrogen dioxide and even reduce odors.
Soundcore Anker Life Q20 headphones: $44 (save $16). Features exclusive BassUp technology that instantly strengthens the bass output.
Beats Solo3 Wireless On-Ear Headphones: $99 (save $100). The Solo3’s Apple W1 chip allows it to pair seamlessly with your devices, maximizing its 40-hour battery life.

Prime Day workout headphone deals

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A decent price on our favorite bone-conduction headphones for running. Our testing found them to be lightweight and sound great, while still leaving your ears free to hear the outside world.

More workout headphone deals:

Beats Powerbeats Pro wireless earbuds: $160 (save $90). For 20% off, you can listen to your favorite tunes all day for up to 9 hours and over 24 hours with a charging case.
Bose Ultra Open Earbuds: $249 (save $50). These clip-on open earbuds from Bose are designed to provide rich, private audio for runners. They come with IPX4 water resistance, have 7 hours of playtime and can last an impressive 48 hours with the included case.
Boean Bluetooth headphones: $20 (save $9). Made with a flexible ear-hook design for all sports.
Bone conduction headphones: $27 (save $13). They are best used for running but can be used during any physical activity.

What is Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days sale?

Amazon’s October Prime Day event is officially called “Prime Big Deal Days,” but the shopping extravaganza essentially functions as a second Amazon Prime Day event ahead of the holiday season. If you’ve never shopped during a Prime Day sale before, you might be wondering exactly what it entails, so here’s a brief explainer. It’s a two-day Amazon sale that will offer exclusive savings to Amazon Prime subscribers with limited-time offers, flash deals and rock-bottom prices. It’s a rare chance to score Black Friday-level pricing outside of November, so it’s usually well worth shopping.

When is Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days event?

Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days are Oct. 8 and Oct. 9 this year. Although the sale event is still around four days away, you can take advantage of some early deals right now. Generally speaking, the deals will end at midnight on Oct. 9. Some deals may linger beyond the set times of the sale event.

How do Prime Big Deal Days compare to July Prime Day?

There are lots of similarities between the two sales. Many of the same deals return during the October sale, especially on Amazon’s own devices, such as Blink and Ring home security devices, Fire TVs and tablets, Echo devices and more.

The main difference is related to the timing of the sale. Since July Prime Day is in the summer, there’s more focus on back-to-school and outdoor deals. This includes school supplies, grills, lawnmowers and more. During October Prime Day, we see more deals geared toward the upcoming holiday season, such as kitchenware for a Thanksgiving meal or toys and games for kids for Christmas.

Are headphone deals available before Prime Day?

Amazon’s October Prime Day officially kicks off on Oct. 8, but you don’t have to wait until then to score a stellar deal on headphones and earbuds. As you’ll see above, plenty of big-name brands like Apple, Bose, Sony and Anker are discounting their audio gear ahead of the event itself.

How we choose the best Prime Day headphone deals

Many of us here at CNET have covered shopping events for over five years, including Black Friday, Prime Day, Memorial Day and countless other shopping events. In that time, we’ve learned how to spot the best deals among a sea of thousands of superficial offers and scams, and we surface only the best offers from trusted retailers. We look for real discounts, quality reviews and remaining sale time when choosing headphone deals to show you.

Real discounts mean genuine savings. We check pricing history for products listed as on sale, so we know when it’s a case of an inflated list price rather than an actual discount.
Quality reviews and testing are super important for any product. A discount isn’t worthwhile if it results in a subpar product experience, no matter how much you saved.
Remaining sale time is important, too. Some deals are around for only a short time or may be limited in supply. If that’s the case, we’ll let you know upfront so you don’t come back to the deal later only to be disappointed.