You probably saw that Best Buy's gone early for Black Friday, but what about Amazon — any decent Black Friday deals around there?

Actually, yes, and this one's a biggie. Right now, you can get the superb Sony WH-1000XM6 noise-canceling over-ear headphones for just $378 (was $459) at Amazon!

• Shop Amazon's full list of deals live today

A quick note on the deal: this time last year, we saw these excellent class-leading headphones drop to $398, which was pretty special at the time. But this? This is next-level good and it's not even Black Friday week (or weekend!) yet.

Will the price drop even further? I doubt it, honestly — if anything, retailers have in the past been known to actually boost prices a touch, just before discounting them on Black Friday. To me, it seems more likely that retailers are simply following suit with this particular discount because, as you'll see below, the deal is also live at a big competing online store… 

(Not in the US? See today's best deals in your region below)

Today's best Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones early Black Friday deal

Or, the same deal is live at Walmart… 

You only need a quick glance over our Sony WH-1000XM6 review to see how highly we rate these Sony flagship headphones.

That being said, if you really need more fully-fledged odes and comparison pieces for these excellent headphones, there's plenty you can sift through. You can, for instance, check out how the Sony WH-1000XM6 stack up against the Apple AirPods Max 2. Or, read up on what they're like against the Sony WH-1000XM5, or perhaps how they compare to the excellent Sonos Ace Ultra.

In fact, my colleague Harry Padoan has made it his mission to even pit these Sonys against five top-tier rivals from heavy-hitters such as Bose and Bowers & Wilkins. But if that's all a bit TLDR, know this: the Sony cans you came here to read about come off very well indeed, across the board.

Personally, I adore the little things about the design here. Despite being lovely large over-ears, the XM6 fold up for easier transport in their hard-shell case — it's a small thing, but the XM5 didn't do it and these do. For me, it matters.

Sony's ambient sound mode also doesn't get the recognition it deserves, but if you suddenly need to hear noises around you, no cans I've tried do better. Finally, we need to talk about Sony's ANC. It's very, very good indeed and never colors your music unnecessarily. Oh, and by all means, here's our Sony WH-1000XM6 review again, if you need to know more on any of this.

After all, there's a bit of time before Black Friday, so these cans probably won't sell out at this super-low price. Not much time, you understand. But some… 

Shop more of today's best Black Friday sales

• Amazon: savings on TVs, AirPods, air fryers & vacuums
• Apple: iPads, AirPods & MacBooks seeing early discounts
• Best Buy: early deals on TVs, laptops & headphones
• Dell: laptop deals and more
• Home Depot: savings on appliances, furniture, grills & tools
• Lenovo: early price cuts on laptops & tablets
• Lowe's: check for savings on appliances, holiday decor & tools
• Samsung: some discounts on appliances, TVs & phones
• Target: Christmas decor, clothing & furniture early savings
• T-Mobile: price cuts on iPhone and more
• Walmart: furniture, cheap TVs & vacs

Black Friday is almost upon us, unofficially heralding the start of the festive season — and before you know it, all the gifts will have been wrapped and given, and another year will have flown by!

The good news is that, simply by being here, you're already ahead of the Black Friday deals curve, especially if you're looking for noise-cancelling headphones and earbuds (and why wouldn't you be? With prices starting at just £19, they're excellent stocking fillers).

This roundup isn't like the others. Why? Because, unlike other publications, I've linked a full, no-holds-barred TechRadar review of each pick in the product description box, along with a rating of the deal, and whether it's a new lowest-seen offer, a return to its lowest-ever price, or merely close to it.

So, you know exactly what you're getting, and you know about the price you're paying — that's why you stick with me.

Top of the pile for me? I adored the CMF Headphone Pro when I reviewed them, and now they're just £49 (was £79). However, if you really need to save that extra tenner, the slightly older but beautifully teardrop-shaped JLab JBuds Lux ANC have absolutely no business being £39 (was £79) and they'll look and sound so much pricier than that.

Came here for buds? Simple: JLab's Pop ANC are literally £19.99 (was £24.99) in one of the best colourways I've ever seen — or there's the Nothing Ear (3), Nothing's flagship buds that landed just over a year ago, not to be confused with the newer, in-call recording Ear (3a). I loved the 'Super Mic' function there and only knocked the audio quality for the money, although of course, that's not nearly so much of an issue now…

Want the newest of the new in this roundup? That would be the Nothing Headphone (1) Pro, launched on September 28, 2026 and reviewed by yours truly. This is also their first ever discount — to clarify, the also-featured Nothing Headphone (1) are the company's inaugural model, launched on July 15, 2025.

Which pair is the best of the two? Oh, the newer pair without a doubt — apart from the case, which sadly is bulky, plastic and more of a fashion statement. If taking care of your listening gear is of paramount importance, I might still pick the originals, which is why I've listed them here.

Want something from a trusted name in audio? You can't get much more tried and true than Sennheiser's Accentum True Wireless, although these are also the oldest earbuds pick in the roundup, having arrived in May 2024. That said, they're oh-so-tiny and stuffed with features. And if you want a cheap set of buds with a nifty dial for volume on the case, the CMF Buds 2 are a great shout for this money.

Lastly, don't sleep on the Anker Soundcore Space One, despite their 2023 release date. We called them a "bargain Beats alternative with ANC" under intense review, and at this new-low price, there's an awful lot there for £64 (was £89)…

The best early Black Friday headphones and earbuds deals

• Sony has launched MDR-3R, an update on its 1979 'Walkman headphones'
• The aesthetic is virtually unchanged — even down to the packaging
• Two key upgrades: USB-C (not 3.5mm termination) plus an in-line remote
• Oh, and for $20 / £20 / AU$10 more, there's a Stranger Things edition… 

Well now. 'Newtro' (a portmanteau of 'new retro') audio kit is trending, and doesn't Sony know it? The company says it sees people embracing wired, physical music products for "both functional and cultural perspectives", and it is seizing the day — just as Bose has, with its new, affordable, wired noise-canceling earbuds.

I am fortunate enough to have lived through the introduction of Sony's original Walkman in 1979, to have seen Julia Roberts singing Prince in a bath tub in Pretty Woman and to have fallen in love with Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, skateboarding with an Aiwa CassetteBoy clipped to his denim jacket pocket in Back to the Future.

Cut to around 40 years later, and the kids are watching Max fight Vecna using Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill and a Sony Walkman WM-8 as her only weapon in Stranger Things. And who could forget Peter Quill's Walkman (a Sony TPS-L2 Walkman and Headset, complete with alternate orange ear pads) given to him by his mom long before he became one of the Guardians of the Galaxy?

Want a bit of that? Yearning for a simpler time, when your copy of a musical recording actually belonged to you and Bluetooth connectivity didn't open the door to sign-ups, account creations and data capture? You're not alone — and that's why Sony has just released the MDR-3R.

You can't spell America without Erica, and you can't get this sound without wires

It's not hard to see the new 2026 Sony MDR-3R's resemblance to the Sony 1979 MDR-3 — in fact, it's incredibly difficult to tell the difference between them (and I know because I attended a briefing and saw the old and new products side by side).

It's a significant moment. Nearly half a century after the originals launched (Sony says it went back to work on the drivers using Sony's hand-drawn diagrams from the 70s), the new set is in, and one of the only real differences is that they end in a USB-C termination.

So no more 3.5mm jack, but the iconic silhouette and signature aluminium frame, look, hinges and so on are all virtually identical. There’s the trademark cheeky bend (or kink) in the aluminium frame just above the earpiece, the Sony logo, that soft plastic ‘flexible adjuster’ piece across the top of the crown, square slider hinges and the ‘sound holes’ (no, those aren’t just design flourishes). At 38g, the MDR-3R is also by far the lightest pair of overhead headphones in Sony’s lineup.

What of the sonic chops? Sony says the original MDR-3’s sound quality was "surprisingly good", but nevertheless Sony's audio engineers have taken the classic analog warmth and built on it with a few tweaks. The MDR-3R's 23mm driver is still based upon original hand drawings for the 1979 model, but Sony claims to have eked a wider frequency range out of it, particularly in the bass registers. Also, you now you get an in-line controller with a mic for hands-free calls along with the updated cable and plug.

Wondering how you’ll choose between those Guardians of the Galaxy -style orange foam pads or the MDR-3's original blue pads? Don’t stress, you get both in the box!

The in-line remote also has volume up, volume down, plus a play/stop button that can be double-pressed to skip forward or triple-pressed to skip back. You can hold it to activate your phone's voice assistant, or press it to answer and end calls. So three buttons in total, but lots of added functionality.

Things can get even Stranger…

While the packaging of the 'basic' MDR-3R is very similar to the original 1979 box (think light blue and geometric, but with modern 2026 techniques and nods to sustainability), there is another option as well.

There’s a special Stranger Things-themed edition, complete with red ear pads (you also get black in the box) and a moody black top headband. The box is black, and there’s a Stranger Things logo on the headband too.

You may want to go full Upside Down with the themed set. For me, the choice of blue or orange ear pads and a true 1979 aesthetic is the one.

Either way, for $59 / £49 / €59 / AU$89.95 for the Sony MDR-3R, or $79 / £59 / €69 / AU$99.95 for the Sony MDR-3R Stranger Things variant, someone's Christmas present just got sorted — and I wouldn't be surprised to see them in our best wired headphones guide, if I can only put them through their paces for a full review…