Yahoo News Black Friday laptop deals 2021: Best early discounts on MacBooks, Huawei, Windows and gaming laptops
With just over a week left until kick-off, retailers are preparing for the biggest sales event on the commercial calendar. This year’s Black Friday falls on 26 November and will see prices cut on everything from laptops, gadgets and TVs to beauty, toys and clothing. We’re already seeing some great early deals roll in from Very, AO and Currys, and this week Amazon joined the mix, with all of them offering huge early discounts across technology, televisions and laptops.
Here, we’re focusing on the best Black Friday 2021 laptop deals in the UK. For more tech offers you can browse our main Black Friday tech guide, and be sure to bookmark this page and check back as the big day approaches, as we’ll be featuring early laptop deals as they continue to appear.
Follow live: The best early Black Friday deals to shop now
It’s not uncommon to see discounts on the very latest laptops, but in our experience we’re more likely to see premium laptops from 2020 falling in price over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend. With the launch of the new Apple MacBook pro in October, and the Huawei matebook 14s, we’re hoping to see some enticing savings on older models of popular and powerful laptops.
Of course, this isn’t our first rodeo at IndyBest. Like every year, we’ll be tracking the best deals across tech, gaming, home appliances and fashion, to cut through the noise and bring you expert shopping advice and discounts that are actually worth your time. We can spot a good offer a mile away, so stick with us as we’ll be adding more deals as we find them.
Read more:
Black Friday 2021: Date for the sale and the best deals to expect
The offers we’re expecting from Currys this Black Friday 2021
Best early Black Friday 2021 laptop deals
Huawei matebook D 15 (Core i3, 8GB RAM, 256GB, SSD, 15in): Was £529.99, now £399.99, Huawei.com
A beautifully designed Windows laptop, the matebook D 15 is an entry-range Huawei styled after the MacBook air. We featured the premium version in our round-up of the best laptops for students. The D series is more budget-friendly, but is similar in design and doesn’t skimp on style. This is the ideal device for anyone who needs to take their work with them, and because it runs on a moderately powerful Core i3 processor it can handily be used for low-end gaming and streaming entertainment too.
Huawei matebook 14 (Core i5, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 14in): Was £1,169.98, now £999.99, Huawei.com
The Huawei matebook 14 is a powerhouse laptop with a modern chassis, and right now it can be picked up with a £169.99 discount and a free pair of Huawei freebuds pro (the brand’s take on the AirPods pro), a mouse and a 23.8in monitor. The matebook is one of the best Windows 11 laptops around, with a taller 3:2 ratio display that’s perfect for productivity. Our reviewer loved the Matebook’s performance, calling it “sturdy and strong – albeit a little heavy compared to its very sleek design.”
Asus vivobook 15 (Core i5, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD 15.6in): Was £699.97, now £579.97, Box.co.uk
A mid-to-high end Asus vivobook, this 15in laptop is a smart-looking machine with an ultrathin design and an HD screen that’s perfect for everyday professional tasks. The colour-blocked enter key adds a bit of pizazz to the austere world of ordinary looking laptops, while powerful specs such at the Core i5 processor ensure there’s more to this vivobook than just looks.
Honor magicbook pro AMD (Ryzen 5, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 16.1in): Was £849.99, now £649.99, Hihonor.com
There’s £200 off this powerful Honor laptop until Friday. The spin-off sub-brand of Huawei was best known for developing smartphones, but in recent years has shifted its focus towards building smart, minimalist, Macbook-style portable PCs. Our in-house expert reviewed the Honor magicbook pro, stating that it “combines excellent performance with a host of features and is an all-round good looking machine.” Two laptops are currently discounted for Honor’s Black Friday sale, this 16.1in powerhouse and the smaller magicbook 14 below.
Apple MacBook air, M1, 2020, 16GB RAM, 256GB storage: Was £1,279, now £1,149, Very.co.uk
Very has slashed the price of the 2020 M1 MacBook air with 16GB of RAM by £50 in its early Black Friday sale. The laptop featured in our round-up of the best high-end laptops for great performance, with our tester saying that it was “remarkably lightweight and slim, an effect made all the more appealing thanks to a tapered design – at its thinnest point, it’s 0.41cm thick”. And the new version is the first to use Apple’s own M1 chip instead of an Intel processor, meaning it’s breathtakingly fast too.
Honor magicbook 14 (Core i5, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 14in): Was £799.99, now £599.99, Hihonor.com
The magicbook 14 is a rebranded version of Huawei’s matebook 14 and is functionally identical to the mode we featured in our round up of the best high-end laptops of 2021. There are a few differences, though: this discounted laptop runs on the newest Intel processor rather than the rival AMD chip, and has half the RAM. However, 8GB is plenty for everyday use, and helps keep down the price of this stylish portable machine.
Asus zenbook UX425EA 14in laptop: Was £699, now £499, Currys.co.uk
If you don’t need the touchscreen display of the higher-spec zenbook UX534FAC (£899, Currys.co.uk), then this cheaper model will still see you bag a £200 saving. The UX425EA ships with an i3 processor and provides more than enough speed and storage space for everyday use, photo editing and web browsing. The frameless display helps keep size and bulk down to a minimum, and the battery lasts an impressive 22 hours. The Asus zenbook range has often featured highly in our laptop guides, including our best laptops for 2021 round-up.
Asus zenbook 15 UX534FAC (Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 15.6in): Was £1,099, now £899, Currys.co.uk
This 15.6in laptop features a clever trackpad display that functions like a smartphone touchscreen, meaning you can run apps and helpful tools at your fingertips. This is a top-of-the-range Asus zenbook powered by a class-leading Core i7 processor and a generous 16GB of memory, giving it desktop-style performance in a portable and stylish form factor.
Asus zenbook flip UX363EA-HP242T (Core i5 , 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 13in): Was £1,099, now £799, Very.co.uk
This is a super-slim and lightweight laptop with a folding design, a OLED screen and a magnesium alloy case for maximum protection. With 16-hour battery life, 8GB of memory and a fast Core i5 processor powering things, the Asus zenbook flip a great all-round laptop. There’s a mighty £300 off at Very right now.
Asus Chromebook flip C234MA 11.6in laptop: Was £329.99, now £199.99, Amazon.co.uk
Chromebooks have a reputation for being underpowered, but the Asus flip C234 turns that stereotype on its head. This is a slim and stylish convertible laptop running Google’s own operating system. That means you can’t install Windows or Mac OS software, but if you just need a browser-style Android device to work on and easily carry around with you, the C234 is an unbeatable proposition at this price.
Asus TUF gaming laptop (GeForce RTX 3050, Core i5, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 15in): Was £899, now £799, Very.co.uk
Gaming laptops are quickly catching up with their desktop rivals, providing a more compact way to play PC games wherever you are. The Asus TUF range sports a 144hz screen for silky smooth framerates, while this particular model comes equipped with a high-performance GTX 3050 graphics card that can handle even the latest releases.
Samsung Galaxy book pro 360: Was £1,199, now £999, Amazon.co.uk
This model of the Galaxy Book Pro 360 by Samsung is powered by an Intel Core i5 processor with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The laptop runs Windows 10 and has a 13.3in, AMOLED display that rotates through 360 degrees, turning the computer into a touch-sensitive tablet, with support for Samsung’s S Pen stylus. Our reviewer said of the Samsung: “This laptop is perfect for content creators, students, home-workers and even businesses who want to have a little fun with their machines.”
Acer Chromebook spin 513 CP513-1H: Was £399.99, now £298.99, Amazon.co.uk
This Chromebook by Acer has a 360-degree hinge and touchscreen display for turning the laptop into a tablet. It’s powered by a Qualcomm SC7180 processor with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, runs Google’s Chrome OS, and has a claimed battery life of 14 hours. The 13.3in screen uses IPS technology and has a Full HD resolution. Our reviewer praises a similar model of Acer Spin in our roundup of the eight best Chromebooks.
Asus vivobook X513EA: Was £599, now £399, Currys.co.uk
This Windows laptop has a large 15.6in display, is powered by an Intel Core i5 processor, and currently has a sizeable £200 off. There’s a generous 256GB of fast, solid-state storage, USB-C and HDMI connectivity for attaching to a TV or monitor, and there’s even a handy MicroSD card slot for easily transferring photos and videos from your smartphone and camera.
Tips for Black Friday shopping online
When shopping Black Friday deals, check the item’s RRP so you can be certain that the discount is legitimate. Some unscrupulous retailers like to increase the price of popular products before Black Friday to make their discounts seem bigger.
Sign into your accounts at shops like Argos and Amazon for a faster checkout. Some deals don’t last long, and the precious seconds wasted entering payment details and addresses might mean you miss out on that half-price blender you had your eye on. If you’re after next-day delivery, sign up for Amazon Prime or start a free 30-day trial.
You can also sign up for newsletters to receive all the latest updates from retailers, so you’ll be the first to know when the sales start and have access to any discount codes.
We’d also recommend reading the retailer’s returns policy if you’ve not shopped there before. And finally, ensure your anti-malware software is up to date. Read our review of the best solutions here.
What were the best Black Friday laptop deals last year?
Though it’s now been superseded by the 2021 model, the 2020 version of the Huawei matebook X pro (£769.99, Laptopoutlet.co.uk) was discounted by £420 at Currys PC World during last year’s Black Friday sale. The laptop is a powerful ultralight and featured in our round-up of the best laptops of 2021, until it was replaced by its successor.
There was £200 off the Microsoft surface laptop 3 (£999, Argos.co.uk) at Argos, which landed a spot in our review of the best high-end laptops. It’s a sharp-looking machine with a suede-like Alcantara finish and a comfortable, stylish keyboard.
If you were in the market for a powerful and portable two-in-one laptop, last year’s Black Friday deals had you well covered. The 13in Asus zenbook flip (£649.99, Argos.co.uk) dropped to £799 in the sale at Amazon, while the Google-powered Asus chromebook C436 (£799.99, Argos.co.uk) shed £200 at John Lewis & Partners.
What were the best Cyber Monday laptop deals last year?
The closing sale of the Black Friday weekend brought even greater savings on laptops from big name brands, including Apple. The 2020 Apple MacBook air (£929, Very.co.uk) fell to £879 at John Lewis & Partners – not an enormous saving, but a significant one for a rarely discounted brand.
Gamers with bags of cash to spare could pick up the Alienware area 51M R2 (£1,754, Dell.com) in last years sale for £2,999 at Very. You might baulk at that price, but in 2020 the powerful gaming laptop retailed at a dizzying £3,499, making this deal one of the biggest price cuts of Cyber Monday. However, it’s now retailing at under £1,500 – the perils of investing in cutting edge tech is that you can’t stay at the cutting edge for very long.
At the other end of the scale, shoppers could find the Lenovo ideapad 3i (£378.98, Currys.co.uk) with a £130 discount at Currys PC World. It’s a lightweight, practical little laptop with plenty of battery life and decent build quality.
Where can I find the best Black Friday 2021 deals?
Make sure you bookmark this page so you don’t miss the best laptop deals on Black Friday and in the run up to the sales event. IndyBest will be devoting all of our attention to getting you the best prices on the best products.
For all the information on the best discounts across all the participating retailers, read our guide to the Black Friday sale and what to expect from the 2021 sale weekend.
What is Black Friday?
Black Friday is an annual sales event taking place in November, the day after Thanksgiving. Originally lasting a single day, Black Friday now spans the entire weekend and ends with an even bigger sales event, Cyber Monday.
This year, Black Friday falls on 26 November, though many retailers begin discounting products in the weeks leading up to the event.
What’s the history of Black Friday?
The day after Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season in the United States, when stores would lower their prices to entice customers.
The exact origin of the term “Black Friday” isn’t known. Apocryphally, it’s said to mark the point in the year when retailers would start turning a profit – coming out of the red and into the black – though it’s more likely to refer to the dense crowds and chaotic traffic jams following the Thanksgiving holiday.
Black Friday became a modern retail phenomenon in the mid-2000s, when footage of impatient shoppers falling over one another to grab discounted electronics went viral. Since 2005, Black Friday has consistently been the busiest shopping day in the United States.
Amazon brought the fun to British shores in 2010, and since then Black Friday has become just as hyped in the UK as it is in the US.
When is Black Friday 2021?
Black Friday starts on 26 November and continues until Cyber Monday on 29 November. Last year Amazon started discounting products as early as 24 October, a month ahead of the main event, and we expect the online retailer to do the same again in 2021.
Once Amazon kicks off its Black Friday event, other retailers tend to get involved too. Watch out for early deals from your favourite online retailers, and check back here for updates and new discounts in the weeks running up to Black Friday.
What is Cyber Monday?
Cyber Monday is an online sales event taking place on the Monday after American Thanksgiving, and marks the end of the Black Friday weekend. This year, that’s 29 November.
The name Cyber Monday was first used in 2005 – back when people still said “cyber” – and when stores noticed a huge spike in online sales after Black Friday. In 2020, Cyber Monday was the largest online shopping day in US history, generating $10.7bn (£7.7bn) in sales.
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For the latest discounts on laptops, appliances, toys and more, try the links below:
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Best Amazon Black Friday deals – our pick of the best bargains from the millions out there
Best Apple Black Friday deals – discover rare offers on the brand’s bestsellers, from AirPods to iPhones
Best Argos Black Friday deals – find discounts on everything from kids to homeware, fitness and DIY
Best Boots Black Friday deals – there’s no better time to save on beauty, skincare, electric toothbrushes and more
Best Currys Black Friday deals – for everything from TVs and laptops to kettles and coffee machines
Best Black Friday Dyson deals – bag a bargain on the brand’s corded, cordless and handheld vacuum cleaners
Best John Lewis & Partners Black Friday deals – the high street stalwart will have great prices on fashion, beauty, tech, kids and homeware
