A device’s sound can be a bit of an afterthought, from the subpar speakers in your TV to those mediocre speakers in your laptop. If you’re in the market for an upgrade, Amazon Prime Day is a good time to snag a discount. Don’t worry! We’ve scoured the web to find the best Prime Day headphone deals so you can relax and enjoy your day.
Updated July 11: Sound Labs BT2200 Plus Volume Limited Kids Headphones, Roku Streambar, Platin Monaco 5.1 Speaker, and Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar Plus.
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Check out our Best Wireless Earbuds guide for more picks.
These are our favorite earbuds for (almost) everyone. The Pixel Buds A-Series (8/10, WIRED Recommends) provide AirPods-matching audio and five hours of listening time, and they pair instantly with Android devices. They’re even compatible with iPhones, but you won’t be able to use Google Assistant there. Their typical sales price is $79.
A step up from the A-Series buds (for Android users), the Pixel Buds Pro (9/10, WIRED Recommends) are super comfortable, get up to seven hours of playtime, and come with a stylish wireless charging case. They’ve alternated in price between $159 and $199 for the past few months.
Another great pick for Android users, the Samsung Galaxy Buds2 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) produce great sound and come with noise canceling built in. If you use the noise canceling, you can get five hours of battery life, but that jumps up to 7.5 hours if you turn the feature off. The more expensive Galaxy Buds2 Pro are also on sale for $180 ($20 off), though we mainly recommend these for Samsung owners.
If you have a tendency to work up a sweat while wearing your earbuds, these are the ones for you. The Jabra Elite 7 Active fit a wide variety of ears without falling out, and they get up to a whopping eight hours of battery life before dying. Outside of their $99 price at Christmas, this is the cheapest we’ve seen them.
The Beats Fit Pro (9/10, WIRED Recommends) are excellent wireless earbuds for their comfortable fit, great sound, and seamless integration with both iOS and Android. They also feature active noise canceling and decent mics. Equipped with Apple’s proprietary H1 headphone chip, they work like AirPods when used with an iPhone. These work great on Android too—complete with an app that allows you to perform a fit test and customize the controls.
We don’t have a formal review of these buds, but WIRED associate editor Parker Hall says they fit better than most buds he’s ever tried. He also likes that they stay put in your ears (even when breaking a sweat), sound easily as good as Apple’s AirPods Pro, and have super useful physical buttons on the outside to play and pause audio as well as control noise cancelation.
Some people (myself included) can’t keep earbuds in, no matter how well-made they are. For us, the Beats Powerbeats Pro (8/10, WIRED Recommends) provide security. They come with over-ear hooks, so they’ll stay in place no matter how much you move around. Plus, they get up to nine hours of battery life on a single charge. This deal is $10 cheaper than we’ve seen them lately during sale periods.
Read our Best Wireless Headphones guide for more.
These are our top overall wireless headphones recommendation. Sony has been making excellent headphones for years and the WH-1000XM5 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) are no exception, even if the name is a mouthful. They have good mics, a sleek design, comfy earcups, and stunning sound. This is the lowest price we’ve ever tracked.
It can be tough to find headphones that are cheap and durable enough to last, but the Audio-Technica ATH-M20xBT (9/10, WIRED Recommends) pull it off. They have a classic design, are super comfortable to wear for long periods, and can get up to 60 hours of battery life on a single charge.
These are expensive, even on sale, but they’re the best premium wireless headphones you can buy (9/10, WIRED Recommends). They look pretty, sound fantastic with clear sound, and feature noise-canceling tech too. There’s a high-quality digital-to-analog (DAC) converter when you don’t want to listen wirelessly.
These ooze luxury (9/10, WIRED Recommends). Seriously, they have memory foam-filled leather earcups that are super comfy. They are made of plastic, but it feels high quality, and it makes the headphones lightweight on your head. The audio is remarkable, though it doesn’t cancel out noise as well as the above options.
These are the top pick in our Best Kids’ Headphones guide. If you’re going to give your child headphones, they need to be volume limited so as to prevent hearing damage. These Belkin headphones do the job, with 30 hours of battery life and a sturdy build.
Our Best Gaming Headsets guide has more details.
The Nova Pro is our choice for the best upgrade gaming headset, and this is the wired version of the wireless one we loved (8/10, WIRED Recommends). This still comes with the same DAC that lets you swap between devices, tweak EQ, and adjust mic volumes. Plus these headphones are super comfy to wear.
The SteelSeries 9X are our favorite headphones for Xbox. They have comfortable ear cups that you can wear for hours, a retractable mic for talking to your team in online games, and up to 20 hours of battery life. The PS5/PC-compatible version are also on sale.
The Arctis Nova 1X is our top pick for a gaming headset under $100. Since it’s a corded headset, it’s compatible with any platform—PC, PS5, Xbox, Switch, you name it. It feels as sturdy as other top SteelSeries headsets, with great audio for its price.
Photograph: HyperX
The Cloud Alpha Wireless earned a rare and prestigious 10/10 score in our review. Yes, they’re comfy, sound great, and have a handy mic, but it’s the battery life that will blow you away. Most wireless headsets have 30 to 40 hours of battery life, but the Cloud Alpha has a whopping three hundred. Our reviewer actually was able to get even more listening time out of the thing.
Despite its looks, the JBL Quantum One is one of our most clever headset picks. We like these headphones for their excellent 3D audio, but the included JBL software can even detect your head’s position to turn the volume down when you turn away from your monitor. This headset was also discounted to $150 for nearly a month in May and June, so this deal is not a Prime Day exclusive.
We have a pair of Puro Sound cans in our best kids’ headphones guide as “The Best Headphones for Tiny Heads” and this is the new version. WIRED contributor Simon Hill has been testing these with the help of his daughter and she loves them. They’re not only stylish, but also sound great and the volume is limited for safety. They haven’t been out for very long. so this is the first time we’ve seen them on sale.
Read our Best Bluetooth Speakers guide for more options.
Small as a hockey puck, you can take the Clip 4 practically anywhere. Just use the carabiner clip to attach it to your day hiking pack, bicycle handlebars, or folding chair on your way to the beach. It’s waterproof too, so you don’t have to sweat about pool water, rain, or, well, sweat.
This Sony speaker’s three up-firing drivers shoot sound all around your room rather than shooting audio straight at your ears, like most Bluetooth speakers. It also comes with Google Assistant and Alexa, plus Wi-Fi support, so you can shout your commands to it too.
The Platin Audio (8/10, WIRED Recommends), with WiSA technology, is an attractive, 5-channel sound system that allows you to stream and sync audio via a puck placed near your TV. The five small speakers and compact, under-couch subwoofer are made of beautifully woven cones and modern cases that look sleek. It’s also extremely easy to set up—all you need is a power source for each speaker and an HDMI cable that plugs into the streaming puck.
The Nest Audio (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is our favorite Google Assistant-powered speaker. It has a great sound that will easily fill both small and medium-sized rooms along with a compact shape fit for a shelf or nightstand. We like using two Nests as a stereo pair, giving off the best audio quality you can get in a smart speaker for $200 (it’s also easy to set up using the Google Home app). Plus, you can also ask Google Assistant to set timers, tell you the weather, play music, and more.
Our Best Soundbars guide has plenty more product recommendations.
Soundbars are an excellent way to get better audio from your TV without a hassle, and the Vizio M-Series 2.1 is one of the most affordable ways to do it. It comes with an HDMI ARC connection so your TV remote can control the volume, and you can even pair your phone to it via Bluetooth to stream music.
Vizio makes some of the best affordable soundbar systems on the market, and we’re big fans of this model (9/10, WIRED Recommends). You get a subwoofer, surround speakers, and a soundbar that bounces sound off your ceiling for Dolby Atmos height channels. It’s a shockingly immersive system for such a low price and one that will really take your viewing to the next level if you’ve yet to spring for a soundbar.
If you’re looking for an excellent way to upgrade your sound system from the typically-tinny TV speakers, this basic soundbar system from Vizio is a great choice. It comes complete with a wireless subwoofer, making it easy to place anywhere in your space.
This is our favorite soundbar for small spaces. It’s compact but offers true stereo sound and comes complete with a built-in Roku streaming player (our favorite streaming service that allows you to stream almost any channel). It’s a great choice for your kitchen, office, or any room with a TV and limited space in your home.
Sennheiser’s AMBEO Soundbar MAX is the best-sounding soundbar we’ve ever heard. The Plus is its more affordable version. It has less bass and lacks the built-in voice assistant, but it packs the same 3D audio processing that allows it to fill up a room with rich, detailed sound in Dolby Atmos immersion.
Read our Best Speakers guide for more ideas.
SteelSeries’ first foray into desktop speakers were enough to get me to finally replace the speakers I’ve been using for nearly 20 years. The Arena 7 comes with two desktop speakers that have RGB LEDs you can integrate into your other gaming peripherals, plus a powerful subwoofer under the desk.
The SteelSeries Arena 3 system is a little simpler than the Arena 7, and a lot cheaper. It lacks the RGB LEDs or the separate subwoofer of the Arena 7 speakers. However, it’s 4-inch drivers are more than capable of providing solid sound, and with this deal it’s an excellent package under $100.
On the flip side, the SteelSeries Arena 9 system extends the speakers from the Arena 7 into a full surround sound system. The front speakers and subwoofer are identical, and the Arena 9 adds two rear speakers and a center speaker that use the same drivers, but lack the RGB LEDs.
