Every year, we take the time to check out all of the best deals you’ll be able to find on Black Friday, and 2021 is no different. While we’ve already taken a look at the best TV, PC gaming, and even Apple deals to watch out for, it’s now time to dive into the best streaming media player deals that’ll come out on Black Friday 2021. However, unlike previous roundups, many of the sale prices are already live at various retailers, and we break it all down after the jump.
Best Black Friday streaming media player deals
If you’re looking to upgrade a home theater this year, then adding a new streaming media player to the mix is a great way to do just that. New TVs and sound bars can be quite pricy these days, and honestly, even if you pick up a new television, we recommend having a dedicated streaming media player. Not only do they receive updates quicker, but services often support the dedicated players longer than TVs with a built-in smart operating system. There’s quite the selection of streaming media player deals this Black Friday season, so let’s take a look at what you can expect to find.
Fire TV lets you take control of your smart home and home theater
Fire TV is a fan favorite at gadgetnewsonline due to its budget-focused nature and smart home integration. Amazon’s smart TV platform leverages the company’s smart home assistant, Alexa, for its backend services. This means that you can control Fire TV devices with voice commands through your Alexa speakers, and on many models with the remote’s built-in microphone.
Fire TV comes in all shapes and sizes, many of which support 4K streaming. The best deal of the year, in our opinion, is the Fire TV Stick 4K Max, which is on sale for $35 from $55. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max is the company’s latest streamer and brings quite the feature set to the table. You’ll find Wi-Fi 6 support for near-Gigabit networking speeds as well as Dolby Vision support, a more powerful processor, and the Alexa Voice Remote. However, if you’re on a tighter budget (or have extra cash to spend), below we take a look at all of the Fire TV sales to expect this Black Friday.
Black Friday Fire TV deals:
- Fire TV Stick 4K Max: $35 (Reg. $55) | Amazon, Target, Kohl’s
- Fire TV Stick 4K: $25 (Reg. $50) | Amazon, Best Buy, Lowe’s, Target, Kohl’s
- Fire TV Stick 3rd Gen: $20 (Reg. $40) | Amazon, Best Buy, Lowe’s, Target, Kohl’s
- Fire TV Stick Lite: $18 (Reg. $30) | Amazon, Best Buy, Lowe’s, Target, Meijer
- Fire TV Cube 2nd Gen: $80 (Reg. $120) | Amazon, Best Buy, Lowe’s, Target, Kohl’s
- Fire TV Recast 500GB: $130 (Reg. $230) | Amazon, Best Buy
- Fire TV Recast 1TB: $180 (Reg. $280) | Amazon
Roku works with HomeKit and AirPlay 2 out of the box
While Fire TV is great for many, those who prefer a more unified experience within the Apple ecosystem will want to give Roku a look. I know, you were probably expecting to read “Apple TV” there, but we’ll take a closer look at Apple’s own streaming media player in a bit. Roku, on the other hand, is a great buy if you’re in the Apple ecosystem, as it supports HomeKit and AirPlay 2 natively, making it a fantastic choice all around.
Many of the Roku deals are great and quite budget-friendly this year, though our favorite will be the Premiere 4K at $20 from $40. That’s right, just $20 secures you a HomeKit- and AirPlay 2-enabled streaming media player that also delivers 4K HDR content to your home theater. It’s hard to beat the value here, as even Amazon’s lowest-cost 4K streamer is $25.
However, another Roku model that we’re excited to see this year is the LE 1080p which will be $15 at Walmart. This will likely be a quite limited sale, but it’s also the most budget-focused streaming media player available this year, beating Amazon’s own Fire TV Stick Lite by an additional $3. But if you want more processing power (or less) in you streaming setup, there are several other Roku players to choose from below.
Black Friday Roku deals:
- Roku Premiere 4K: $20 (Reg. $40) | Amazon, Best Buy, Lowe’s, Target, Meijer
- Roku Streaming Stick 4K: $30 (Reg. $50) | Amazon, Best Buy, Target
- Roku Streambar 4K: $80 (Reg. $130) | Amazon, Best Buy, Home Depot
- Roku Express 4K+: $30 (Reg. $40) | Staples
- Roku Streaming Stick+ 4K: $30 (Reg. $50) | Amazon, Lowe’s, Home Depot
- Roku Streaming Stick+ Headphone Edition 4K: $40 (Reg. $60) | Best Buy, Lowe’s, Home Depot
- Roku LE 1080p: $15 | Walmart
- Starts Black Friday
- Roku Ultra LT: $49 (Reg. $69) | Walmart
Google Chromecast and Android TV let you game without a console
While Fire TV and Roku are great for those in the Alexa or Apple households, Google’s Chromecast and Android TV streaming media players take the cake if you’re an Android user. However, they’re also great for any household, thanks to support for Google Stadia, the company’s game streaming platform.
Stadia, if you haven’t heard of it before, allows you to play many AAA titles all without having to own a single high-end console. Up to 4K gaming is supported, depending on what Chromecast you own, and all that’s required to play is a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi controller, of which Google offers its own if you want it. The Chromecast with Google TV 4K is our favorite model to choose this time around, as it offers a sleek experience and 4K gaming through Stadia, making it quite the versatile streaming media player for $40 from its normal $50 going rate. However, there are both higher- and lower-end options also on sale below, should you be in the market for that.
Black Friday Chromecast and Android TV deals:
- Chromecast: $20 (Reg. $30) | Best Buy, Amazon, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Target, Walmart
- Chromecast with Google TV 4K: $40 (Reg. $50) | Best Buy, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Target, Walmart
- NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV 4K: $130 (Reg. $150) | Amazon, Best Buy
- TiVo Stream 4K: $30 (Reg. $40) | Best Buy
Apple TV might finally see Black Friday discounts
Apple TV is the streaming media player that we see go on sale the least often. Sure, you can pick up the latest version for $9 off at most retailers right now, and both Best Buy and B&H have the previous-generation for $130 down from $160, but honestly those deals have been around for quite some time at this point.
If you’re in the market for the most premium streaming media player experience around, it’s hard to beat Apple TV at any price point. However, we are expecting better deals to come around next week, though no retailer has confirmed any discounts as of yet so the exact pricing is still yet to be determined. If you want an Apple TV, the deals we’re seeing now will likely be available even after Black Friday comes and goes, so there’s no real rush to pick up Apple’s streaming media player, and we recommend staying tuned to gadgetnewsonline for whenever it goes on a sale that’s worth jumping on.
More Best of Black Friday Guides
- Apple: AirPods Pro $159, Apple Watch Series 3 $109, much more
- Gaming: PS5, Xbox Series X, OLED Switch, game deals, more
- Amazon: Echo speakers from $15, Fire TV Lite $18, more
- Fashion: Ray-Ban, Carhartt, adidas, more
- LEGO: Freebies, 50% off sets, UCS AT-AT release, more
- Google: Pixel 6 $100 off, Nest gear from $25, more
- TVs: 65-inch Roku $300, 8K QLED $2,500, more from $128
- Headphones: all-new Bose, Beats Studio Buds, Sony ANC, more
- PC Gaming: GPU sales, pre-built PCs, 4K 120Hz monitors, more
- Smart Home: Nest, Nanoleaf, Philips Hue, ecobee, and more
Keep it locked to gadgetnewsonline for all the latest Black Friday news
We expect to see plenty of additional Black Friday news roll in throughout the coming weeks as retailers gear up for what’s certain to be a November to remember. As always, our Black Friday guide will be your place for all of the latest news and deals.
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