When Is the Best Time to Buy a TV?

You don't have to wait until Black Friday to find a good deal!

Updated February 10, 2023

BY:
JULIE RAMHOLD

Senior Staff Writer/Consumer Analyst

Woman turns on flat-screen TV using remote.

When it comes to the best time to buy a new TV, certain periods of the year tend to have more discounts than others, such as Black Friday. Even so, TV deals overall are fairly easy to find at any time of year. But with savings happening every day, how can you know the very best time to buy a TV?

To help you out, we broke down all the best times to shop for a TV below. We also offer tips on how to get a better deal no matter when you buy.

Is Black Friday the Best Time to Buy a TV?

Year after year, the best time to buy a new TV continues to be Black Friday. And that's no surprise. We see a plethora of deals around the November shopping holiday. In 2022, we listed 26 TV deals during the week of Black Friday, compared to 15 the week before.

Additionally, the deals tend to be better. A huge 58% of the TV offers we listed during that Black Friday week last year were Staff Picks, which are our "best of the best" deals. The Staff Pick average for all TV deals in 2022 was 24%.

Black Friday continues to be the best time of year to buy a TV, as we see a plethora of deals around the November shopping holiday.

If those numbers for Black Friday 2022 seem a little low, remember that holiday sales have stretched out more than usual during the last few years. Because of the precedence set in 2020 and 2021, as well as lingering supply chain issues to some degree, many retailers once again started their Black Friday offers early. In fact, we saw early savings begin the first week of October last year, and Black Friday sales lasted all the way through November. So you may see lots of TV discounts during both months.

When Is the Best Time to Buy a TV the Rest of the Year?

Not everyone can — or wants to — wait until Black Friday to purchase a new TV. For anyone who isn't shopping around the holiday season, what's the best time of year to buy a TV? In those cases, you'll want to look for TVs to go on sale before the Super Bowl, in March, and during Amazon Prime Day.

Before the Super Bowl

Keep an eye out for a significant amount of notable TV offers this February, especially since in February 2022, we listed 62 deals total, 19% of which were Staff-Pick worthy.

It's a little soon for stores to be dropping their sets to rock-bottom prices again, what with Black Friday and the holidays having just passed. Still, at least a few notable deals tend to pop up ahead of the big game. If you need a new Super Bowl TV this year, you should be able to find a decent deal on a 55"-75" set.

SEE ALSO: Can You Still Buy a Non-Smart TV?

Prices might not be as low as what we see around Black Friday, but they could still be close. For instance, during Black Friday 2021, we saw 70" 4K TVs go as low as $398, but the savings also came from a very low-tier brand. That said, we also saw 70" models from highly rated brands such as Vizio drop as low as $498. So a good balance of reputable brand and affordability is always possible.

Then in February 2022, we saw 70" 4K sets from TV brands such as TCL drop down to $500. That's basically Black Friday prices less than three months later, and they appeared almost 10 days before the Super Bowl. So if you wanted that Super Bowl TV, you could buy it and still have plenty of time to try it out before the big game.

March

While February makes sense for TV deals because of the big game, some shoppers may be surprised that March can also be a good time to shop. For example, in March 2022, we listed 48 TV deals, with about 17% earning our Staff Pick badge. That wasn't as many as the month before, but still a notable number.

The lowest prices were on smaller sets — we saw an Insignia 32" TV for just $130 — though larger TVs received discounts, as well. Another TCL 70" set dropped to $500, similar to the deal from the month before. And a Samsung 70" set fell to just $600. We also saw offers like a Hisense 65" TV from Amazon bundled with a $100 gift card, which was one of our Staff Pick deals.

If you aren't sure what kind of TV to buy, watch for retailers like Best Buy to offer significant discounts. Last March, the retailer took up to $800 off more than 300 models, with prices starting at $300.

Amazon Prime Day

This holiday for Amazon Prime members happens every July for the most part. And inevitably, some of the deals with the most hype revolve around Amazon Fire TVs. For Prime Day 2022, which ran on July 12 and 13, we listed 16 TV deals, with about 38% of them earning our Staff Pick badge. Some of the best offers included the following:

Insignia F20 Series 42" Fire TV for $170
Amazon Fire TV 4-Series 50" TV for $260
Amazon Fire TV Omni Series 50" TV for $280
Insignia F30 Series 65" TV for $400
Samsung Q80A Series 55" TV for $798
LG B1 Series 65" OLED TV for $1,497

All of these offers were good enough to earn our Staff Pick designation. Many of them were at the best price we'd ever seen, all-time lows, or even deals that beat out previous Cyber Monday offers.

New Releases Bring Lower Prices on Older TV Models

While inflation over the last couple of years has caused prices on practically everything to go up, TV prices are still not as expensive as they could be. New TVs tend to be announced during the CES tech event in January, so older models begin to go on sale afterwards, as retailers make room on the shelves. It might not happen right away, but we've often seen an uptick of deals in February compared to January, with the potential for even more offers in March.

New tech hits the market frequently, and TV models without those features tend to drop in price.

The discounts are largely due to new TV technologies, which are typically announced at CES. These fresh releases happen pretty much every year and result in the previous year's models dropping in price, since they may lack these innovations. Often these improvements are designed to enhance the viewing experience. From higher resolutions to HDR, they're all meant to immerse viewers in the movies, TV shows, and sports they watch. But because the latest models are therefore in higher demand, the interest in those older models lacking the shiny new bells and whistles drops, as do the prices.

How to Save on a New TV

Only Get the Tech You Need

Older TVs almost always tend to have the better deals. And while it's tempting to own the latest and greatest tech, TVs are often more ahead technology-wise than the content you watch on them. When 4K TVs were rolling out, much of the content being made wasn't truly 4K — it could just be upscaled to 4K quality, which isn't the same. So while 8K may be getting attention right now, there's no reason to replace your 4K set with an 8K model yet.

Other features you might not need include HDR and smart capabilities. It's becoming hard to find non-smart TVs, but they're still out there. If you're fine not having these popular specs, you're bound to come across a decent price on a more basic model. The good news is that 4K and smart TVs are pretty much the norm now. As a result, those types of sets can cost the same — or almost the same — as 1080p TVs.

Do Your Research Ahead of Time

When you're ready to shop for a TV, do some research and make a list of the features you want. Try not to settle on one set — instead, find a few TVs that fit your wish list. Then spend a little time tracking their prices. Sign up for alerts with DealNews, and you'll receive notifications when we post deals relevant to your parameters.

If you're worried about the price changing on you, check for price match and adjustment policies at your favorite retailers. Sometimes there's a short window of time — think 14 days or so — where if the price drops, you can receive a refund for the difference.

Ready to buy a new TV? Check out all the best TV deals available right now!