'Tis the season to be jolly... and who wouldn't be, with all the savings you can get from Black Friday? We're already getting a taste of which Black Friday deals to expect from all of the major carriers and retailers on the latest iPhones, Samsung Galaxy phones, and phone accessories.
Methods for getting the best Black Friday deals include switching carriers, taking advantage of trade-in offers, and purchasing a slightly older model phone. If you don't want to switch carriers, check out our guide to the Best Black Friday Deals for Existing Customers. Keep reading for more on what Black Friday is, who offers Black Friday deals, and details on how to score the deepest discount.
How to get the best Black Friday deal
- Switch carriers—the best deals are almost always reserved for new customers.
- Check for deals tied to installment plans, which often unlock the best offers.
- Partner up to take advantage of BOGO deals.
- Consider older phone models to find massive discounts or even free-with-plan offers.
- Trade in your old phone for huge, stackable discounts on the year's top devices.
What is Black Friday?
Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year and is considered the kick-off of the holiday shopping season. Brands and retailers debut their stock of the most sought-after holiday products, typically at a steep discount, to encourage shoppers to grab their gifts early.
Black Friday is usually the best time of the year to make large, expensive purchases since many retailers offer deals on their most popular items or even on products that they typically don't discount at all. For that reason, many customers wait until Black Friday to shop, adding to the fanfare around the holiday.
While Black Friday has historically been a massive in-store event, with people lining up hours before stores open (who else remembers the 1996 Tickle Me Elmo stampede?), now retailers offer Black Friday deals online and in-store.
Are Black Friday deals worth it?
With prices climbing across the market and discounts getting smaller and smaller, it's reasonable to ask: Is shopping for Black Friday deals even worth the effort?
In short—yes, Black Friday is worth it... IF you go into it with a good plan and a willingness to do a little price tracking. (No hard math required, we promise.)
We've tracked Black Friday mobile and tech deals for over a decade. Here's why we think Black Friday mobile deals are still worth jumping on—as long as you're savvy enough to spot the scams.
Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday
Think of Black Friday and Cyber Monday as the two bookends of the post-Thanksgiving shopping window. Black Friday deals often extend through the weekend until Sunday; by then, many in-store discounts will end.
However, once Monday arrives, those same retailers may offer exclusive online savings for other products, or even deeper discounts on stock that didn't sell over the Black Friday weekend. For online-only brands without brick-and-mortar locations, Cyber Monday is their chance to cash in on the shopping frenzy (though most also offer online Black Friday deals).
Cyber Monday began in 2005 to encourage people to shop online, which was still a relatively new endeavor at the time. It is now considered the biggest online shopping day of the year.
When is Black Friday?
Black Friday 2026 is on Friday, November 27th, the day after Thanksgiving.
When will Black Friday deals be live?
Each year, Black Friday deals seem to come out earlier and earlier. In 2026, the holiday sale season kicked off in early October with Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days, Target Circle Deal Days, and Walmart Deals.
Early Black Friday deals typically start around Halloween and keep building through the first half of November. However, there is a small caveat to this. While many Black Friday deals are available well before Black Friday, many retailers save certain surprise deals exclusively for the actual day.
We're on the ball for you, tracking all of the latest Black Friday deals from carriers and phone brands as soon as they go live.
Who has Black Friday deals?
Practically every retailer, e-tailer, tech company, and small business has Black Friday deals. For phones and tech devices, you can expect significant savings from brands like Apple, Samsung, Google, and Motorola, as well as from major and smaller phone carriers. Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile all offer Black Friday deals, as do MVNOs like Mint Mobile, Visible, Metro by T-Mobile, and others. (We keep track of all of the carriers' Black Friday deals, so you don't have to.)
Black Friday 2026 sale calendar: Every retailer and carrier deal date
With Amazon, Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and the carriers all running their own sales on their own schedules, it’s easy to lose track of which deals are live on any given day. We put every major retailer and carrier sale on one calendar so you can see how the sales overlap and plan your shopping around the ones that matter for what’s on your list. Trust us, it’s a lot easier than juggling five browser tabs and a stack of weekly ads.
2026 Black Friday sale calendar
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Target weekly holiday deals begin | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5Target early Black Friday sale | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11Veterans Day | 12 | 13Walmart Black Friday event | 14 |
| 15Walmart event | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19Amazon and Best Buy Black Friday sales beginEarly carrier holiday deals | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26Carrier Black Friday dealsThanksgiving | 27Black Friday | 28Small Business Saturday |
| 29Carrier deals continue | 30Cyber Monday |
Expected dates are based on when each retailer and carrier ran the same sales in 2025. We'll update this calendar as official 2026 Black Friday schedules are announced.
Sales after Cyber Monday
The deals don’t completely dry up once Cyber Monday ends, and three December dates are worth keeping on your radar:
- Giving Tuesday (December 1): Many Cyber Monday deals carry over for one more day.
- Green Monday and Free Shipping Day (December 14): Participating stores offer free shipping, and it’s one of your last chances to order online and still get delivery by Christmas Eve.
- After-Christmas sales (starting December 26): These sales are a good time to spend any gift cards you got over the holidays.
Best holiday sale for each category
The best holiday sale for any purchase depends on the category. Phones, TVs, and laptops historically hit their lowest prices during Black Friday week, while toys, kitchen gear, and general gifts are often just as cheap in early October. Black Friday week wins on big-ticket tech because Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Target, and the phone carriers all compete on the same products at the same time.
Best holiday sale by category
| Category | Best sale | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Carrier phone deals | Black Friday week | Carriers save their biggest BOGO, trade-in, and switcher offers for Thanksgiving week. |
| Unlocked phones | Black Friday through Cyber Monday | Retailers and phone brands start matching each other's prices once Black Friday week begins. |
| TVs | Black Friday week | Big-screen and premium TVs typically hit their lowest prices of the year around Thanksgiving. |
| Laptops | Black Friday through Cyber Monday | Adobe's 2025 holiday forecast named Cyber Monday the best day to buy computers. |
| Amazon devices (Echo, Kindle, Fire TV, Ring) | Prime Big Deal Days or Black Friday | Amazon discounts its own hardware heavily at both events. |
| Toys | Early October | October prices regularly match Black Friday, and popular toys are easier to find before November. |
| Kitchen gear and small appliances | Early October | October headliners like air fryers and coffee makers rarely get cheaper on Black Friday. |
| General gifts (beauty sets, cozy apparel, home decor) | Early October | October sales are built around early gift shopping. |
If you missed the October sales, Target's and Walmart's early Black Friday events in November bring many of the same gifting deals back. For phone shoppers, Black Friday week is the time to buy unless you need a new phone right now, and that goes double if you're planning to switch carriers or add a line.
How to build a price baseline before Black Friday
A price baseline is what a product normally sells for, and knowing it ahead of time keeps you from falling for a “sale” price that got marked up in the weeks before Black Friday.
- Check Amazon’s price history: Click the price history link next to the price to see up to 365 days of data. A real deal sits at or near the lowest price on that chart, and Amazon’s crossed-out “Was” price only reflects the last 90 days. You can also use third-party apps and websites like CamelCamelCamel.
- Compare other retailers: A sale price only counts if Walmart, Best Buy, and Target aren’t already selling the same model for the same price or less.
- Do the math on carrier deals: A “free” phone that requires a plan costing $20/month more adds $720 to your bill over a 36-month installment plan.
How to get the best Black Friday deals
Really, the best way to get the best Black Friday deals is to keep your eyes open for them during the weeks leading up to the shopping event. The days of waiting in the wee hours of the morning for stores to open their doors are behind us, and most deals are either available before the actual day or online. Using a great shopping app for Black Friday can also help ensure you get the best deals.
As for phone plans, here are our top tips to get the best Black Friday deal in 2026:
- Switch carriers: The best deals are offered to new customers.
- Check out installment plans: Some of the best deals require that you buy the phone via monthly payments.
- Find a buddy: We're expecting plenty of BOGO deals this Black Friday.
- Consider older phones: Lots of older phones are going to go on sale (and even be free).
- Trade in your old phone: There'll be slews of trade-in deals offering huge discounts on some of the year's top devices.
Let's look at each of these Black Friday deal strategies in more detail.
Switch carriers
Many Black Friday deals offered through phone carriers provide the deepest savings to new customers. Fortunately, switching cell phone providers is simple, and you often don't even need to cancel your current plan yourself. Your new carrier will do it for you.
A lot of the fine print of these Black Friday deals includes wording such as:
- "Requires one new line"
- "Must port your current phone number"
- "Save when you add a line"
- "Get a discount when you switch"
This tactic is the best way for carriers to broaden their subscriber bases (and thus reduce their competitors' bases simultaneously). If your current carrier doesn't offer an attractive Black Friday deal to existing customers, and you know you have good coverage with a different provider, Black Friday is a great time to consider switching to someone else.
Important note about switching
If you're still paying off your phone when you switch to another carrier, you'll receive a final bill with the remaining balance on your phone. Keep this in mind when taking advantage of a Black Friday deal from another carrier—some will pay off the remainder that you owe as an incentive to switch!
Installment plans
Many Black Friday deals require you to sign up for an installment plan, where you'll purchase the phone through monthly payments over a set period (typically 24 to 36 months). Your Black Friday discount will then be divided over that period and applied as a monthly credit to your phone bill. Carriers often tie their best deals to installment plans to keep you on their network longer. If you leave their network early, you'll have to pay the remaining balance of the phone's full price, without benefiting from the rest of the credits.
If you plan on staying with your carrier for a few years, installment plans are a great way to take advantage of deep discounts. Plus, installment plans let you pay off your device in smaller amounts instead of spending hundreds (or thousands) upfront (as low as $10 or $20 per month for a brand-new Galaxy or iPhone).
BOGO deals
Black Friday is a great time to pick up a second device because buy-one-get-one (BOGO) free deals are rampant. These deals usually apply only to phones bought on monthly installments or through a leasing program, and typically require either adding at least one new line to the account or signing both phones up for a specific eligible plan (usually one of the carrier's premium unlimited plans).
What does this mean? You could potentially stay with your current carrier, grab two brand-new phones, and pay a fraction of the cost. For example, instead of paying $2,398 for two new iPhone 18 Pro phones, a BOGO deal could get you both for the price of one: just $1,199 total.
Older phone models
This Black Friday, if you really want to save, look for older phones that are going for cheap, or even free. Smaller MVNO carriers all stock older models and often basically give them away for a song.
There is a caveat, however: Most require that you switch from another carrier (again, many deals are for new customers only). Carriers will also lock these phones to their network for a while (even up to a year) to stop you from switching to another carrier right after you claim your free phone.
Trade-in discounts
Trade-in deals are the most common phone deals offered throughout the entire year, but Black Friday trade-in deals often up the ante significantly. You’re likely to see Black Friday trade-in deals such as a free iPhone 18 Pro when you swap your old phone, or $1,000 off a new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra (that’s nearly half off, by the way).
Your phone's actual trade-in value will depend on the model. Newer phones will garner a deeper trade-in discount than older phones, simply because they're still in demand and valued highly.
A huge benefit of this type of Black Friday deal is that existing customers often get the same discount as new subscribers, so there's no need to switch if you really love your current carrier. What you'll often see, though, is that the best trade-in deals require signing up for specific unlimited plans, requiring you to switch plans if you aren't already on that designated unlimited option. Otherwise, you can still trade in your phone, but for a lesser discount.
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Don't want to wait for Black Friday to get a bangin' deal on a new phone? Check our cell phone deals guide updated weekly for the most current opportunities to save.
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Lauren Hannula
Managing Editor
Thousands of cell phone plans unpacked. All the facts. No surprises.
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