Black Friday and Cyber Monday: here’s what’s going down

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and so are two of the biggest shopping days of the year. Black Friday and Cyber Monday will be overflowing with sales, discounts, and promos that will try to relieve you of the holiday tension. But what to get and where to get it? If you haven’t made up your mind what to buy this holiday yet, here are some of the options available to you. Welcome to Android Community’s mini shopping guide.

NVIDIA SHIELD

The holidays are usually gaming season as well, so why not try to hit two birds with one stone? NVIDIA will be offering the 32 GB LTE version of its SHIELD Tablet, together with some goodies, at a discounted price. These include a free SHIELD Controller, a virtual box of Valve’s games, and free use of GRID on-demand gaming until June 30, 2015. All for only $399. This deal is good only for one day, on November 28 from 12:01 AM to 11:59 PST, so better get a move on if you want this gaming tablet to be yours.

HTC RE Camera

If you have more of a photographic bent, or at the very least a sports-action calling, then HTC’s odd camera might be for you instead. The periscope-like RE action camera, which might go nicely with your HTC smartphone, will be available for only $99 instead of the usual $199. The discount applies Black Friday to Cyber Monday but only while supplies last. And you know during these days, supplies never last.

The New Moto X

Motorola will be staying a bit clear of the weekend madness and will instead be doling out discounts on Cyber Monday. Starting 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. CST in the US on December 1, those interested to get their hands on the 2nd generation Moto X can register for the promo and receive a coupon. For that, they will be able to get the smartphone, the 16 GB model to be exact, for only $359 instead of the usual $499. Again, the offer stands only while supplies last.

Amazon Fire Phone

Amazon is also getting into the spirit, knocking down the price of their Fire Phone to help keep your hands warm (get it?). For the first time ever, the retailer is offering the smartphone in an unlocked, contract-free version. And the price for it? Only $199. Quite a deal considering the full price of the device goes for $449. This one runs from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, but better keep on your toes lest inventories dry up quickly.

OnePlus One Accessories

Although half a world away, Chinese startup OnePlus is also game, but if you’re expecting the OnePlus One itself to be on sale, you’d be dead wrong. Instead, only the accessories are up for grabs with price cuts. But there’s an even bigger catch. The amount of savings the items will get depends on how much social media shares it gets. There’s still around 24 hours to push those meters to the full. OnePlus really knows how to exploit social media and word of mouth advertising to its advantage.

Carriers

Naturally, US carriers won’t be left behind in the holiday rush (and monies). To here are a few too follow if you’re interested in getting new devices from your favorite network:

T-Mobile will be offering some of Sammy’s latest. The Galaxy S5‘s full price will temporarily be $509.52, a $150 savings from the original $660. The Galaxy Note 3, yes the older one, goes for $416.88, $100 down from $517.

Verizon has a few schemes running this Black Friday, so best check their website for updates. For example, the Galaxy Note 4, yes finally the latest, will be only $199 with a contract, instead of $299. The Galaxy S5, on the other hand, will be free, but only after rebates. The rather odd Sony Xperia Z3v, the variant exclusive to the carrier, will also be free after a $200 cut from the previous $199.

AT&T, sadly, only has smartwatches up for grabs for Black Friday, but that shouldn’t be a downer for those interested in wearables. the LG G Watch will get a $129 discount from $229 to just $99. Pebble, on the other hand, goes down by $50, from $150 to $99 also.

Apps

Of course, apps and games will see some action this weekend as well, and you can expect app stores to offer bundles of joy for free or for discounted prices. Google Play Store will be offering a Black Friday special, so be sure to check that out when it lands. Verizon, through Amazon, is already flaunting some wares ahead of the holiday for its “Connection Day” promo.

Needless to say, like any other year, there will be a lot of stuff to go around for the holiday season. But with mobile devices and wearables steadily growing in both number and adoption, do expect more and more of these things to come our away this year and in the years ahead.

Happy Thanksgiving from your Android Community!