Every year, Black Friday gaming deals offer up some stunning price drops on everything from high-quality TVs to headphones, and sometimes even consoles. With so many offers hitting the shelves, then, it can be difficult to sift through the deals that aren't worth your time to find the real gems.
We've been tracking Black Friday sales for years now, and have picked up some handy tips and tricks along the way. There are a number of things we'll be doing so that you get the absolute best Black Friday deals this year. From knowing which products to watch to automatically finding the lowest prices on the web, whether it's Black Friday PS5 deals or Black Friday gaming laptop deals we work around the clock to make sure that the discounts you're taking to checkout offer the value for money that retailers say they do.
Here's exactly how we find the best offers in the annual holiday sales.
1. We automatically price check
Our price comparison system automatically brings you the lowest prices on a massive range of products and services from around the web. That means pitting top retailers against each other to bring you the very latest discounts, with results updated every 30 minutes. We use this software in all of our Black Friday coverage, surfacing the very lowest prices on our most recommended products across a range of price brackets. That means you'll always have an eye on the biggest discounts, even if other prices in our deals coverage change during the heat of the moment.
2. We consider value across all budgets
Once we've found a deal that looks good, we run the retailer, the price, and the product through a series of checks to make sure it's actually the best value for money.
When it comes to the product itself, we're always making sure that the specs and features on offer sit well within the deal's price. That means ensuring specs in the best Black Friday laptop deals are up to snuff and translating retailer jargon when finding the best Black Friday OLED TV deals. Over Black Friday, we highlight a massive range of devices across all budgets and use-cases, so we also take this a step further and consider each product within its category. You won't catch us only recommending the most expensive, top-tier gadgets on the market, then, but rather the discounts that provide the best value for money based on how the product was designed to be used.
3. We ensure the products themselves are worthy
We're finding the best gaming and tech products on the market year-round, which means, by the time Black Friday comes, we're clued up on the highest value gadgets. This means more than simply showing you the top-shelf devices, and the heavier price tags they often come with.
Instead, we work on value. A Black Friday gaming headset deal, for example, might be the pick of the litter if it's offering a particularly cheap price on a mid-range set of cups that we've tested and rated highly. On the flip side, if a $220 headset we've tested offers vastly better value for money than a $200 model we'll make sure you're aware of that.
From the best gaming laptops to the best TVs for PS5, however, we are always keeping a close eye on those market-leaders. If a top product is sitting at a particularly strong price, we'll always make sure we highlight where it stands in our own testing, while also providing a little extra guidance on whether or not you need the level of power or the features that high-end devices can pack. Just because a product is the best in its field, its deals may well not be. That's why we're tracking the best products across a variety of price brackets and use cases - so that we can highlight the best value discounts across the web.
You can find out more about how we test everything with our GamesRadar+ Hardware Policy.
4. We scour price histories
Once we're satisfied with your overall value for money, we make sure that the price is actually as good as the retailer suggests it is. That means going back through the product's price history to see if (or when) it was last available for less than the current price, how old the model is, and whether it's been on sale for a long time.
The best Black Friday deals come in the form of newer products seeing their first major discounts. However, if a product has already been on sale for a long time, we're always making sure that the Black Friday price on offer is actually a special discount, rather than an advertising label stuck on the product page. We use various tools like Camel Camel Camel, PriceSpy, and our own databases to follow a product's pricing history through time. If you'll be able to find this price again fairly quickly after Black Friday is over, we'll tell you. If a product has been regularly cheaper in the recent past, it won't be on our site.
Our final check is around the retailer. Of course, we will only highlight discounts from trusted stores - but beyond this, we're always making sure that the sites we're highlighting are the right stores for each deal. Retailers regularly price match one another over Black Friday, but many look to gain the edge over their competitors by offering fast, free shipping, extra free gifts, or rebate cards. We make sure you're getting the absolute best deal possible by linking to the retailer with the best overall value, including these extra perks.
We expect some of the most popular discounts this year to land with Black Friday Nintendo Switch deals and Black Friday Meta Quest deals. However, we're also rounding up all the latest Black Friday Xbox deals and Black Friday gaming PC deals as well.
