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As CNET’s mobile audio expert, I’m always asked to identify headphones and earbuds deals for Prime Day. My initial response to our deals editors usually is, “Well, I’m not really seeing much in the way of actual deals.” Companies tend to bump up the price of their headphones and earbuds ahead of Prime Day, then discount them to around their previous sale prices from a month earlier, maybe adding an extra $10 or $20 in savings for certain premium models. Often, I’ll also see some older models nicely discounted as companies try to clear out inventory.
To a large degree, that’s the case again for Amazon’s October Prime Day sales event. However, I did track down a few legitimate deals on earbuds, namely for three buds that are on my list of the best earbuds of 2026. All of them won CNET Editors’ Choice awards, and all have matched or hit their lowest prices to date on Amazon.
Anker Liberty 5 Pro: $136 (save $34)
Let’s start with the newest and most affordable of the three: the Anker Liberty 5 Pro buds. They list for $170 and have never been on sale, according to CamelCamelCamel. For Prime Day, they’re 20% off and now cost $136 ($34 off). Note that the buds come in two versions, with the step-up Anker Liberty 5 Pro Max ($230) having a more advanced charging case with a larger touchscreen (the buds themselves are the same). The Liberty 5 Pro Max are not on sale.
Both models have very good sound and noise canceling and stellar voice-calling performance. In my full review of the Liberty 5 Pro, I say, “Yes, they’re pricier than Anker’s more midrange and budget earbuds offerings, but the combination of very good sound, strong noise-canceling, a robust feature set and superb voice-calling performance puts them in the same league as many of the top true-wireless earbuds out there right now.”
Apple AirPods Pro 3: $179 (save $70)
The AirPods Pro 3 are down to their lowest price to date.
David Carnoy/CNET
The $249 AirPods Pro 3 have been out for more than a year, and they’re often discounted on Amazon to around $200. But for Prime Day they’re down to $170 ($79 off), which is right around their lowest price to date. It’s possible that we see them dip to $169 for Black Friday, but if you’ve had your eyes on a new pair of AirPods, this is about as good a deal as you’ll get on Apple’s flagship noise-canceling earbuds. Apple recently released the impressive new AirPods 5 with upgraded noise canceling — I awarded them a CNET Editors’ Choice as well — but those are open earbuds and don’t have as effective noise canceling as the AirPods Pro 3.
“While I didn’t get a new H3 chip and I was hoping that the charging case would be able to convert into a Bluetooth transceiver to use the buds on a plane with an in-flight entertainment system, I did get most of what I was looking for in the AirPods Pro 3.” I said in my full review of the AirPods Pro 3. “The changes may seem incremental to some folks, but all the key elements such as fit, sound quality and noise cancellation have been noticeably leveled up along with single-charge battery. Not everybody will care that much about heart-rate monitoring, but for some, it’ll be a welcome add.”
Sony WF-1000XM6: $258 (save $72)
Sony’s WF-1000XM6 are easily among my favorite earbuds, and for Prime Day, they match their lowest price to date at $258 or $72 off their list price of $330. Not only do they feature excellent sound and top-notch noise canceling, but they also have very good voice-calling performance. The only issue I had with them was the design of their foam eartips, which just don’t work that well for my ears and didn’t allow me to get a truly tight seal (this also seems to be a problem for some people reviewing the earbuds on Amazon). Since I test a lot of earbuds and have a lot of eartips lying around, I swapped in a different set of tips that not only optimized the buds’ fit for me but also the performance.
In my full review of the WF-1000XM6 I wrote:
“The one thing I can’t tell you is just how well they’ll fit your ears. While the AirPods Pro 3 don’t offer quite as good sound quality, they’re less expensive and, in some ways, a safer pick for Apple users, as their lightweight stem design tends to fit a wide range of ears comfortably. They also have more features overall, including a Hearing Aid mode, Apple’s new Live Translation feature and personalized spatial audio (Sony’s spatial audio features are Android-only). That said, if you’re able to get a good fit with a comfortable seal, the XM6s are truly impressive earbuds. They may just be the best out there at the moment.”
Honorable mentions
Beats recently released its new 360 headphones, which aren’t on sale yet but may be closer to Black Friday. However, its Studio Pro headphones, released in 2023, are on sale for $119 or 60% off (its Solo 4 on-ear headphones, which don’t have noise canceling, are also 50% off at $100). Meanwhile, on the Beats earbuds front, the Powerbeats Pro 2 are down to $180 or $70 off, which matches their low price on Amazon.
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