Early Black Friday Deals Worth Your Time: Memberships, iPad 11, AirPods Pro 3 and More

Black Friday lands on Nov. 27 this year, but the early sales are already moving. Target and Best Buy have started their early events, and Walmart is staggering discounts across several weeks. My read: the most useful deals right now aren't the flashy doorbusters. They're membership offers and discounts on things most households already buy, like tablets, earbuds and storage cards.

Warehouse club memberships come first

Costco has the most interesting offer on the board. Through Dec. 20, new members who sign up for a Costco Gold or Executive membership get a free $45 digital shop card. Gold costs $65 a year and Executive costs $120, so the card effectively drops the Gold price to about $20 for the first year. Executive works out to about $75.

There are conditions. You have to enroll in auto-renewal at sign-up, and the offer only covers people who haven't been a Costco member (Primary, Household or Affiliate) in the last 18 months. It's a first-year deal for nonmembers. If you were already on the fence about Costco, this is the easiest reason to test it.

BJ's is making a similar case. Ahead of Black Friday, its one-year Club membership is $15 with auto-renewal at sign-up, saving $45 against the standard price. You can cancel before the year is up if you don't want to keep it. BJ's early sale runs through Nov. 15.

Walmart's bundle is the most clear-cut value on the list. Pairing a Walmart+ membership with a Sam's Club Plus membership costs $120 a year. Walmart+ alone is $98 a year, and Sam's Club Plus typically runs $120 annually, so the bundle saves about $98 against buying both separately. Sam's Club Plus adds free delivery, a Paramount+ or Peacock subscription, and early access to Black Friday deals. If you already use Walmart for groceries and pickup, the math gets even friendlier.

Tablets: the iPad 11 and the Fire HD 10

The iPad 11 is down to $399.99 from $449.99, an 11 percent cut. It's the tablet ZDNET's reviewers pick as the best option for most people, covering both work and entertainment. It also appeared on the outlet's Gift of the Year list, so it's a straightforward choice if you're shopping for someone else. Eleven percent isn't a massive discount, but Apple tablets rarely see deep cuts, so I'd take this price without waiting for something bigger.

At the other end of the price range, Amazon's Fire HD 10 is $72.99, down from $154.99, a 53 percent discount. That's close to a record low for this tablet. It's built for basics: streaming, reading, browsing and video calls. Don't expect the software ecosystem or app depth of an iPad. But if the tablet is for a kid, a kitchen counter or a relative who only wants video and email, it's hard to argue with the price.

Audio and tracking

The AirPods Pro 3 are $199, down from $249, a 20 percent cut. They're the best price available right now, though not the lowest we've seen. That was $169 during June's Prime Day. The audio expert Jada Jones said the active noise cancellation is among the best she's tested in earbuds, and she says it now rivals over-ear headphones. The Pro 3 also brings design changes and iPhone-specific features compared with the Pro 2, including heart-rate monitoring. If you're on an older pair and mostly care about noise cancelling, this is the discount to watch.

The AirTag four-pack is $69.99, down from $99, and the write-up describes that as an all-time low. That works out to $17.50 per tag. The four-pack suits anyone who wants to keep track of luggage, keys, a wallet and a bag without buying them one at a time. Four tags for less than $70 is a sensible stocking-stuffer price.

TVs and storage for gamers

The TCL QM8L 65-inch QLED Smart TV is $1,197.99, down from $2,499.99. The main text puts that at 52 percent off. Reviewer Taylor Clemons found it has plenty of picture and sound modes for personalizing the image, and that it's priced competitively against high-end rivals from Samsung and Sony. In ZDNET's lab testing of seven TVs, it was a runner-up for color accuracy. Here's the thing, though: a half-price 65-inch QLED at this level is a rare sight. If you've been shopping in the $1,200 range, this is the set to compare against.

For Switch owners, the Samsung P9 microSDXC EX 512GB is $99, down from $149.99, a 34 percent cut. The card is designed for the Nintendo Switch 2 and comes with a three-year warranty. Storage is the first thing most Switch 2 owners run out of, so a 512GB card at this price is a practical buy rather than a nice-to-have.

The Nintendo Switch OLED Splatoon 3 Special Edition is $391.11, down from $479.99, a 19 percent discount. The second version of the original Switch has a larger OLED screen for better detail, contrast and color, plus more internal storage and longer battery life than its predecessor. Those are the differences to weigh if you're deciding between the OLED and the standard model.

Dates to keep in mind

Black Friday falls on Nov. 27 and Cyber Monday on Nov. 30. Walmart's Black Friday sale starts Nov. 12 and runs in three waves, with the first batch of early deals open to Walmart+ members before everyone else. Costco's early sale runs through Nov. 15, as does BJ's. Amazon hasn't confirmed any dates for its early Black Friday sales. Based on past patterns, I'd expect it to start matching Walmart's first wave around Nov. 12, but that's a guess until Amazon says otherwise.

My practical advice: lock in the memberships if you were already planning to join, because the Costco offer runs to Dec. 20 and the BJ's and Costco early sales end Nov. 15. For hardware, the iPad 11, AirPods Pro 3 and the 512GB Switch card are the discounts I'd act on, since their current prices are the best the reporting has seen for them recently. Sit on the TV and wait for Amazon, which could move the TCL price again once its own event opens.