As former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos once said, “Good things happen when you least expect it.” I can neither confirm nor deny that he actually said that, but the point stands.
Also: Last chance to grab the 25 best early Prime Day deals
If you have your shopping list ready for this week’s Amazon Prime Day extravaganza, set that aside for a moment, because you won’t find any of the usuals on this buying guide. Instead, I’ve sifted through the digital aisles of the e-commerce platform, from A to Z, to scout the very best deals on tech gadgets and gizmos you didn’t know you needed.
You won’t expect what’s coming — unless you’ve already peeked at the list of items above — but I’m hopeful that each one will bring added value and practicality to your everyday life. More importantly, they’ll cost less than what you’d usually pay for them.
Best weird tech deals for Amazon Prime Day 2023
- Current price: $42
- Original price: $70
If your summer itinerary includes building furniture, assembling computer parts, or just tightening some nuts and bolts, then an electric screwdriver is a sound investment. This one from Hoto was recently featured by ZDNET’s tools expert, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, and left a positive impression with its utility and value. It’s as handy as a traditional screwdriver and is on sale right now for nearly half off (with the clip-on coupon).
- Current price: $55
- Original price: $200
Smart glasses haven’t taken off like wireless earbuds and smartwatches, but they offer notable benefits that you may not be aware of. For one, this pair from Razer doesn’t just play music out of its side-firing speakers; it also doubles as blue light filters to reduce eye strain and fatigue if you spend your work days staring at a screen.
The Razer Anzu also supports touch and voice controls, so you can play and pause your audio source, take phone calls, and even ask your phone or computer’s voice assistant questions.
- Current price: $17
- Original price: $20
When was the last time you cleaned your phone, tablet, or laptop screen? And by that, I mean using a liquid solution to spray down any icky residue and post-meal fingerprint smudges, followed by a light brushing with a microfiber cloth. Whoosh is an all-in-one cleaning solution that I’ve been using with all of the gadgets that I test. It’s alcohol-free, so the liquid won’t damage the oleophobic coating on your screens. And, here’s a secret: Apple stores use Whoosh to clean its demo devices.
- Current price: $89
- Original price: $129
A flip toaster was not on my bingo board when venturing into the deepest, darkest corners of Amazon, but this one is both thoughtful and on sale, so I’m giving it the feature. The Foodi 2-in-1 Flip Toaster is not only great for toasting up bagels and bread, but it can lay flat to become an oven for baking chicken wings and other snacks.
There’s even a touch interface for you to preheat and achieve the optimal cooking settings for different types of foods.
- Current price: $30
- Original price: $44
A traditional vacuum cleaner is great, but the heavy yet never long enough cords and noisiness make it unviable for casual cleaning. That’s why mini vacuum cleaners exist. They’re rechargeable (read: cordless), and are great for dust-busting office desks, sucking up fallen crumbs, and cleansing the nooks and crannies of your car seats, among other places. This one from Beyond is on sale right now for 32% off.
- Current price: $74
- Original price: $160
Whether you have a summer vacation planned or take plenty of photos and videos daily, a portable SSD is your best bet for safe and secure storage. With it, you can store terabytes worth of memories and save yourself the hassle of trying to remember the username and password to your cloud storage account.
This one from Samsung, in particular, is built to withstand splashes and dust, meaning you can pack it up for beach parties and more rugged environments.
More Prime Day 2023 weird tech deals
Amazon Prime Day 2023 is happening Tuesday, July 11, and Wednesday, July 12.
The exclusive deals for Prime members officially launch on July 11 at 3 a.m. EDT, and new deals will drop as often as every 30 minutes during the two-day event.
ZDNET only writes about deals we want to buy — devices and products we desire, need, or would recommend. Our experts looked for deals that were at least 20% off (or are hardly ever on sale), using established price comparison tools and trackers to determine whether the deal is actually on sale and how frequently it drops.
We also looked over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the deals we’re recommending. Our recommendations may also be based on our own testing — in addition to extensive research and comparison shopping. The goal is to deliver the most accurate advice to help you shop smarter.
ZDNET will be scouring the sale to find the best deals by category. For now, find the best early deals here:
Our top Prime Day deals
