Why You Can Trust CNET 7 Deals We Didn't See During Prime Day That We Hope Show up at the Next One
Prime Day 2022 didn't bring us all the deals we wanted to see, but a second event later this year may give us another shot.
Amazon Prime Day 2022 is in the rear view mirror but rumors abound of a second Prime-exclusive sale later in the year to kick off the fall shopping season. While Prime Day 2022 was Amazon's most successful sale to date with 300 million items sold worldwide, we didn't see rock-bottom prices for everything on our lists this year.
Though unconfirmed, a second Prime Day sale could give shoppers an opportunity to snag some items that didn't go on sale for Prime Day this July. Here's what we're hoping to see during Amazon's rumored fall sale.
Amazon Fire 7 tablet
Though it's not on sale currently, Amazon's entry-level Fire 7 tablet is still one of the most affordable tablets on the market and one of the only options you should consider in this sort of price bracket. While it won't compare to a top-tier iPad, it will be useful for browsing, light gaming, streaming video and, yes, shopping on Amazon.
It wouldn't be Prime Day without a ton of deals on Amazon's first-party hardware, and the 2022 sale certainly met expectations with discounts across everything from Echo devices and Fire TV streaming sticks to Eero routers, Ring security products and even Alexa-enabled eyeglasses. One product that was conspicuous in its absence, though, was the entry-level Fire tablet.
One of the best cheap tablets, Amazon's Fire 7 is a terrific starter device for those new to touchscreens as well as a handy gadget to have around for occupying the kids. In previous years, we've seen Amazon's smallest slate go for under $30 -- and its previous-gen model did just that this year -- but deals on the current 7-inch device were nowhere to be seen.
The main reason for this, in all likelihood, is that the Fire 7 line was only just updated in May of this year. Perhaps production isn't fully up to speed just yet, or Amazon wanted to hold off on any discounts for one of its newest products for a little while longer. Either way, let's hope we see some movement in price for the new Fire 7 tablet this fall.
New M2 MacBook models
Newly released products are rarely discounted for Prime Day and Apple devices are renowned for remaining at full price for most of their lifespan, so it's hardly surprising that we didn't see deals on either the M2 MacBook Pro or M2 MacBook Air. The former has only been available to buy for a few weeks and models of the latter only just started shipping, so it was a pipe dream to expect any sales over the last few days.
That being said, we saw some solid savings on 2021 MacBook Pro models, which are still relatively new. It's possible then that, come fall, we might see some wiggle room in the price for Apple's latest laptops as supply catches up with demand.
Apple iPad
Though we didn't see a steep discount for Prime Day 2022, Apple's entry-level iPad is available for $299, which is still a great value. With its 10.2-inch display, 32GB storage and Apple Pencil support, it's a solid starter device.
One device that is not newly-released but has held its price as if it were is the 10.2-inch iPad. Apple's most affordable tablet retails for $329 and the lowest we've seen it go since its fall 2021 launch is $299. While a discount of close to 10% is not to be sniffed at on an Apple product, we were hoping to see it drop a little further this month.
Once the fall sale season comes around, the device will have been on the market for about a year, which may mean some deeper price cuts. That being said, it's already the best tablet around for those wanting a cheap iPad and a good value, even at its full price.
Sonos
Outside of big sales events, Sonos products so rarely see any sort of discount, which means that Sonos deals are never easy to come by. Prime Day is one of the few opportunities each year to snag a set of Sonos speakers for less than retail prices, but this year's event went by without any major deals to speak of.
If you were hoping to upgrade your home entertainment system or even pick up a portable Sonos speaker, you'll have to hope your luck is a little better when fall rolls around.
Reputable indoor bikes
This year's Prime Day offered a good amount of health and fitness deals, but there weren't many promotions from reputable indoor bike makers, which left us slightly disappointed. We saw some decent deals from Echelon during the event, but we'd love to see more from the likes of Bowflex, Peloton and BeachBody to give us more options. More brands are likely to participate in Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, so we'll hold out hope that there will be greater choice in a few months' time.
Next-gen consoles
Console gamers looking to score some savings on their next upgrade will have been disappointed with the Prime Day gaming deals on display earlier this week. Though we saw a lot of sales on games and accessories, outside of one short-lived deal bundling a SteelSeries headset with the Xbox Series S there were virtually no discounts on the current crop of consoles themselves.
We know that PS5 stock has been constrained since it launched -- and even getting one at its regular retail price has been no mean feat -- but it would have been nice to see hardware deals outside of PS5 accessories. It had been a similar story for the Xbox Series X up until recent months, so a dearth of deals is not all that surprising.
One console that hasn't been too difficult to pick up is the Nintendo Switch OLED model but, in classic Nintendo style, its price held firm throughout Prime Day 2022, so those looking to snag that bigger, brighter display could not do so at a discounted rate.
Given the relative newness of the current-gen consoles from each manufacturer and ongoing production issues, perhaps it is wishful thinking to expect a fall Prime Day or Black Friday sales to offer anything more than we just saw, but we can live in hope.
Bedding and mattresses
Prime Day's mattress deals didn't quite compete with those from Fourth of July sales, but you can still save as much as 15% on select Casper models and sizes while these deals last. We're hoping fall sales will bring some bigger savings, though.
Given the close proximity of Fourth of July sales and Prime Day this year, we expected many sales would simply span both weeks. Fourth of July sales are always some of the best for home purchases, but a surprising amount of the best mattress deals expired before Prime Day kicked off with lesser deals taking their places. The same goes for pillows, bedding, bed frames and other related purchases. We're expecting fall sales to bring back the top-tier bedroom deals and give shoppers another chance to save.