AirPods Pro Black Friday deals will save your sanity in lockdown – they did for me

Update: The AirPods Black Friday deal at Amazon is sold out, however, we still found a discount for $199 (normally $250) at Staples. You can find it below.

A little over a year ago, I picked up a pair of AirPods Pro and was amazed to discover their noise cancelling worked so well that I could stroll the New York City streets without all the stressful overstimulation of one of the busiest cities in the world. And then, of course, 2020 happened, keeping me indoors instead of out. I found the AirPods Pro saved me again – and these Black Friday AirPods deals can get you the same sanity-saving silence for even cheaper.

Noise-cancelling headphones are popular for a reason: they really do work, isolating you from the outside world to varying degrees based on the quality of the earbuds or headphones. And yet, the AirPods Pro consistently rank near the top of our best noise-cancelling headphones list.

That’s partially due to their made-for-everywhere design: I could walk through NYC streets sporting the diminutive AirPods Pro earbuds with ease compared to clunkier over-ear headphones. They also cancelled a ton of high-decibel city noise, and their consistent auto-connection to iPhones and iPads makes them effortless to use.

Which, surprisingly, made them extremely valuable during the quarantine lockdowns that have eclipsed most of 2020. 

Apple AirPods Pro: $249.99 $199 at Staples
Not sure about buying from Woot? You can still save a lot of money on the AirPods Pro at Staples (they're sold out at Amazon right now), which has cut the price of the earbuds to $199 ahead of Black Friday. While this deal isn't quite as impressive as the $169 we've seen in the last 24 hours, it's still a decent saving, and you have the added peace of mind that comes with shopping from a trusted retailer.
View Deal

Yes, I have the privilege of living in New York City – and to do so with a media job, I’ve lived with two roommates. Given our different schedules, we typically pass like ships in the night, and there’s plenty of apartment to go around. With the city shut down and us lucky enough to work from home, however, our snug living space has felt downright cramped. For the last ten months, we’ve collided when working, cooking, eating, cleaning, showering, and so on. It’s hard to remain focused when three people are living on top of each other, clanging around or on video calls.

And yet, the AirPods Pro helped that go away. Not entirely, of course, but just removing sounds from the equation gave me a little more control over the ruckus happening around me. I could focus through raucous work calls on the other side of the wall, and jam out to my own tunes to get into a writing rhythm. When I needed a break, I took a (mask on) walk around the neighborhood, and the AirPods Pro blocked out the street, too. If you’ve never worked near an ice cream truck’s daily stop, count yourself lucky.

The downside of the AirPods Pro? Price, of course. These Black Friday AirPods deals make it easier to pick up a pair, and they’re at some of the lowest prices we’ve seen all year. 

In fact, the AirPods Pro sold me on noise cancelling as a concept – so much that last week I picked up a pair of Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones on the advice of another TechRadar editor (thank you, Nick!). I wanted to see if over-ear headphones had more to offer, and the XM4’s deliver, especially if I’m in a situation where the AirPods aren’t ideal – like, say, right out of the shower when earbuds are stymied by wet ears.

Sony WH-1000XM4: $349.99 $278 at Amazon
Amazon has dropped the price of TechRadar's top-rated headphones by $72. That's $20 lower than the Lightning deal found during Prime Day 2020, but you'll need to be quick if you want to grab the noise-cancelling cans at this price. You may find cheaper headphones on Black Friday, but you won't find any better than the WH-1000XM4.View Deal

I bought the XM4’s at the same sale price that they’re at right now, which is also the best price they’ve been at all year. While they aren’t as quick on the draw to auto-connect as the AirPods Pro (if that’s a dealbreaker, opt for the Apple-owned Beats Solo3, also on sale), but Sony’s over-ear XM4’s offer such a fantastic combination of reliable connectivity, audio quality, and battery life (up to 30 hours with noise-cancelling on, or 38 hours without), they top our best headphones list.

Thankfully, noise cancelling tech has come far enough along that you’ve got great options no matter how you like to listen. Here’s what you do: 

1.  Check our best noise-cancelling headphones rankings to find your ideal headphones or earbuds
2. See if they’re on sale among all the Black Friday headphones deals we’ve collected.
3. Order, wait ‘til they arrive, turn them on, and enjoy the silence 

Trust me – your roommates, family, pets, and neighbors will appreciate the more relaxed you that emerges once you’ve found five minutes’ peace with a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. Even in a lockdown.

UK AirPods Pro deal

Apple AirPods Pro: £249 £198 at Laptops Direct
This Laptops Direct deal offers the lowest price we've seen for the AirPods Pro in the UK, cutting the price by a whopping £51. For your money you're getting noise cancellation, a nifty transparency mode, and a wireless charging case capable of topping up your AirPods to 24-hours of battery life, alongside great sound and Apple connectivity.View Deal

Apple AirPods deals in your region

Here are Apple AirPods Pro deals in your area:

TechRadar is rounding up all the top deals leading up to Black Friday, and we’ve put all the best early Black Friday deals in an easy-to-navigate article to help you find the bargains you’re looking for.

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