Expected iPhone, PS4, HDTV deals

What is Black Friday without Walmart? 

Half of the Black Friday GIFs on Giphy (you know, the ones that let you watch someone get absolutely body checked on a loop) probably take place at Walmart, and that’s because its Black Friday sales are some of the best every year. According to a Cyber Week 2019 survey conducted by BlackFriday.com, Walmart’s Black Friday ad scan is the second-most anticipated ad scan losing only to Amazon. (Walmart also does free two-day and next-day shipping, BTW.)

Despite Walmart crowning itself “America’s Best Toy Shop,” its Black Friday deals will undoubtedly go far past Paw Patrol and that shark that, surprise, sings Baby Shark.

Our friends at BestBlackFriday.com live for comparing past Black Friday deals and predicting new ones, and they’ve been able to lay out a loose shopping game plan for you before even seeing a 2019 ad scan. This year, we’re expecting to see deals on Xbox and PS4 bundles with new games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Nintendo Switch bundles with new Pokémon games, $300 to $400 in free gift cards with iPhone 11 and Samsung Galaxy Note 10 purchases, 4K UHD TVs 65 inches or less, and Instant Pots.

To compare more potential deals for Black Friday 2019, look back at Walmart’s 2018 ad scan here. 

So, prediction time!

iPhone 11 and 11 Pro with free $300-$400 Walmart gift cards

Paying Apple Store prices for an iPhone? In this economy? Please. Walmart has been getting particularly competitive with trade-in deals and gift cards for the past few iPhones. With the iPhone 11 being hailed as the best iPhone value that Apple has ever offered, you can bet that Walmart wants to be the place that wins in your price comparison. 

Walmart has casually been offering $100 off the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro since pre-orders ended, so we can automatically assume that Black Friday deals will be more than $100 off. Savings are potentially as high as $300: Last year, Walmart dwarfed Best Buy with up to $400 in free gift cards on iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR purchases while Best Buy only offered a $150 direct discount. 

Starting Nov. 1, eligible Apple device purchases come with a free year-long Apple TV+ subscription.

Galaxy Note 10 also with free $300 Walmart gift cards

Walmart clearly has a pattern with gift cards instead of direct coupons. Like the iPhone, all Galaxy S8, 8+, S9, S9+, and Note 9 purchases came with free $300 Walmart gift cards last Black Friday. Samsung’s hot sellers of 2019 will be the Galaxy Note 10 and we expect a similar gift card situation.

Though Spider-Man had only been out for a few months before Black Friday 2018, Walmart had a Spider-Man PS4 console bundle at the wildly low price of $199.99 on Black Friday (the PS4 Slim console usually goes for $299.99 on its own). This year, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is the hot new fall release, so we can expect a pretty hefty deal on the Call of Duty and console bundle (possibly up to $150 off).

The PlayStation 5 isn’t expected to come out until somewhere between October and December 2020, and new PlayStation-exclusive games like the Final Fantasy VII remake are set to come out way ahead of that.

Walmart typically gives PlayStation and Xbox a pretty similar Black Friday treatment. If you already have one console but are dying to play the exclusive games on the other, Black Friday is probably your best bet on grabbing a console bundle at its cheapest.

Last year, the Xbox One X was $100 off and didn’t see any bundles. The more affordable Xbox One S saw some serious bundle deals, with a Minecraft bundle at $100 off and a Forza Horizon 4 bundle at $70 off. Walmart is already ahead of the Black Friday 2019 game and is offering the Xbox One S, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and a bonus controller for $249, and it could very well drop to $199 for Black Friday.

Nintendo Switch console and game bundles for $299

The end of 2019 brings the release of multiple long-awaited Switch games like Pokémon Sword and Shield, Luigi’s Mansion 3, and Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. We’re crossing our fingers for bundle deals on these games and a new Switch console for $299, which was last year’s deal on a Switch and Mario Kart Deluxe 8. It’s only really getting you a free game, but because the Nintendo Switch almost never goes on sale, we’ll take anything we can get.

Aside from the Nintendo Switch Lite, Nintendo also released an upgraded version of the classic Nintendo Switch with improved battery life. This will likely be the model in any bundles, but just make sure that the model number is HAC-001(-01). If this goes on sale by itself, we’ll flip.

HDTVs from Samsung, Vizio, TCL, and more

Oooh, the main event: If you’ve been considering splurging on a 4K TV once and for all, Walmart’s Black Friday deals will be the ones to push you over the edge. My dad, who is one of the most frugal, smart shoppers I know, finally committed to a Samsung 4K TV at Walmart last year because the price was too low to pass up. 

2018’s doorbusters included a 65-inch TCL Roku Smart TV for $398 and 60-inch Vizio 4K TV for $498. Major savings on high end models like Vizio’s P-Series Quantum X, Samsung’s Q80R, and Sony’s Bravia Series are also likely. (When Walmart offers up to $1,000 off Samsung, Vizio, and Sony year round, it’s hard to not have high expectations for Black Friday.)

However, if you’re looking to soup up a binge-watching rig with massive subwoofer sound bars or an 85-inch TV, Best Buy will likely have more sale options.

Other key Walmart deals for Black Friday 2019: Instant Pots

Instant Pots and the Instant Vortex Plus air fryer will hands-down be two of the most-purchased kitchen gadgets on Black Friday. (People are lucky these deals are online — because you know someone would trample a child IRL just to grab the last Instant Pot Ultra on the shelf.) 

Last year, Walmart’s Instant Pot doorbuster was the 8-quart Lux for $59.99. $40 off was the best Lux deal we saw last year, and we wouldn’t be surprised if Walmart shaved another $5 or $10 off this year to compete with other retailers. Walmart is also home to the Pioneer Woman floral Instant Pots.

New to the Instant Pot lineup this year are the Instant Vortex Plus and Instant Pot Viva rice cooker. Stores are definitely about to go HAM on Black Friday sales for these newbies, but because the Instant Vortex Plus was originally a Walmart exclusive, we expect Walmart to drop an extra sweet deal on it. (The cheapest it’s ever been was $99 at Walmart right before Prime Day.)