Australia’s Boxing Day sales are go, and we’re rounding them up, looking at technology at retailers to find where you might go for a deal or two.
If you didn’t end up getting what you wanted, it might be time to just get it for yourself. It’s Boxing Day, and while that means some will tune in for the boat race, others are letting the food coma overtake, you might be tuned into the world of sales, hoping to pick up something made a little less expensive because of the sales.
Across Australia, retailers both online and offline are embracing the year-end sale, as Boxing Day kicks off Australia’s proper answer to Black Friday, and the end of year sales get into full swing.
You don’t need to line up at a store, and can typically browse from your computer, but at least if you know what’s coming, you’ll know what you’re shopping for.
Boxing Day sales run into the remainder of the year, and even a bit into the new year, so while the gadgets may well be properly on sale in that week between Boxing Day and New Year’s, you might still find some of these prices a little ways after, as well.
TVs
One of the big ticket items, if you’ve waited all year to buy a TV at a discount, you might be a little happy about now.
Bing Lee sent word that it will be offering a 65 inch RU7100 4K TV at $990 (down from $1495), while the Samsung QLED variety would start in the 55 inch Q75 models from $1465 (down from $2295).
JB HiFi appears to be nearing some of these prices, cutting two bucks from the RU7100 with $988 at JB, while the Samsung 55 inch Q75 is $30 more at $1495.
At Bing Lee, the LG OLED screens start in the B9 series, but the saving is only a good $200, and you can probably do better. JB HiFi has the 55 inch B9 OLED for $1795, a good $500 off the $2295 RRP, while the 65 inch model is $2795 down from $3495. Those prices appear to be spot on with what Harvey Norman and The Good Guys are doing, and is a little bit better than the $2498 B8, last year’s model which for some reason costs more. If you want other retailers to match, you might want to mention that plenty of stores appear to be hitting better prices.
Sales appear to be a big deal for Hisense, too, which has a 65 inch 4K R6 screen going for $895 at Bing Lee, while the huge 85 inch R7 Hisense sits at $2995 down from $3495.
If you’re not keen to spend anywhere near that amount, Big W has a few brands that might be a little less known, with a 65 inch Eko 4K TV down from $749 to $561, while a JVC 39 inch TV is down from $399 to $199.
It seems as though TVs are a big deal at the Boxing Day sales this year, so if you want a bargain, you only need to look around.
Tablets & Computers
In the computer world, Microsoft Store is talking up a few discounts, with up to $900 saved on select gaming PCs including the Razer Blade 15, while the maker of the Surface is shedding some dollars and cents on its Surface Pro 3, Surface Book 2, and Surface Laptop 3.
Harvey Norman is also getting in on the action, with some cut-cost computers from brands you might know, and then some you probably won’t.
In time for the back to school season, Harvey Norman has the rather unknown brand Ollie going for as low as $198 for an 11.6 inch laptop, while slightly more reputable models from Acer and Asus both hit at under $400.
Apple’s iPad gets a minor price drop on the already good value that is the 10.2 inch standard model, seeing a good $50 drop on the 32GB models, while it’s closer to $90 off the 128GB variants, a deal JB HiFi is offering and that Harvey Norman appears to be beating by a few bucks, too.
The other iPad models don’t seem affected by the sale, and neither do the few competitors it has, so if you wanted the Apple iPad 7th gen with its new keyboard dock, this might be the time to grab one.
Phones
While phones can benefit from end of year sales, you may not see huge movement on some of the year’s best. Certainly the iPhone should be included there, and Apple rarely applies discounts, but if either the Samsung Galaxy Note or Google Pixel grabbed you throughout the year, you may well be in luck.
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10+ was a great phone, and it’s one that is coming for some pretty interesting price drops across the country. Microsoft Store has it from $1349, while JB HiFi is doing it from $1399.
Google’s own store is getting in on the action, too, dropping the Google Pixel 4 from $1049 to $899, which Officeworks is beating at $844 and JB HiFi at $849.
It’s not just phones that see some price shifts, but also phone cases. Tech21 chimed in with news that it would be running 30 percent off across its online store from Boxing Day (December 26) to December 31, making it possible to pick up a phone or laptop case for a little less than you would on other days.
Headphones, Soundbars & Speakers
You’ll find a few price cuts here and there for sound equipment, mostly over in headphones, smart speakers, and soundbars. Depending on where you look, you can expect the savings to be pretty massive, and you might want to take a gander at Amazon.
The company that makes the Alexa speakers is taking the dollars off its own Echo speakers, including the new Echo, which is $99 down from $129, while the 10 inch Echo Show smart display is $249 down from $299.
Not a fan of the Amazon speakers? Over at JB HiFi, we’ve seen the tiny Lenovo Smart Clock for $69, while the large Google Nest Hub Max drops slightly to $288 at Harvey Norman.
Quite a few Bose options are falling in price, too, with drops at Amazon on the SoundLink Micro Bluetooth speaker to $85, while Microsoft Store cuts as much as 33 percent from speakers, including $100 from the Bose SoundLink Revolve speaker, while the Revolve+ is down $145 from $439 to $294.
Sonos also cuts the price of its excellent Beam soundbar to $475, while the Sonos Playbar sheds $130 to $745 and the Sonos Subwoofer goes down $90 to $755.
Last year’s thoroughly excellent Jabra Elite 65t is down to $179 at JB HiFi — a price Officeworks and Harvey Norman are both matching — while the same store has cut the Sennheiser Momentum truly wireless variety from $499 to $369.
Over at Harvey Norman, Beats’ totally wireless option in the Powerbeats Pro is down to $261.75, while Sony’s XB900N wireless noise cancelling extra bass headphones are sitting at $260 each.
And at sound specialist Addicted to Audio, the fantastic in-ear Sony WF-1000XM3 are down from $399 to $333, while the over-ear variety in the WH-1000XM3 are $346.
The Sony WH-1000XM3 is a great pair of headphones that has long been tracked over at OzBargain, and is an easy recommendation for some of the best headphones you can find, but you may only see it below the $300 mark temporarily, with Allphones appearing to get the lowest with an eBay store, while retailers sit closer to the $340 mark. If you’re in the market for these headphones, we’re not sure you’re going to see much lower, at least until Sony announces its awaited WH-1000XM4 headphones, which could be at CES in January or could be at IFA in September 2020.
Video games
Finally, there’s video games, and unsurprisingly, Microsoft Store is cutting the cost of its Xbox consoles, with the digital-only Xbox One S (the one without the disc drive) costing $239, while the Xbox One S with the drive and three games will cost $289. Meanwhile, the more powerful Xbox One X will see a price of $479.
Those prices might seem good, but they’re actually beaten by Amazon, which has the Xbox One S digital edition for $199, while the Xbox One S with a disc drive is $249, though may lack the games on that last one.
Not to be left out, Sony will have the PlayStation consoles on a bit of a sale, with the PS4 Pro tumbling in price down to $389 at JB HiFi while JB HiFi is offering it for $369.
More sales about, but beware of false savings
This is only a sampling of the Boxing Day 2019 tech sales, and there’s plenty more to be found about. Practically every retailer online and offline has marked down products, but not everything is seeing that price change, so be aware.
It’s worth realising that just because it has a yellow and black sticker, or even a red mark, doesn’t necessarily mean what you’re looking at is a saving. Instead, head online to see how much that item you want could cost you somewhere else, and also how it reviews.
