As a recent student and a tech writer, these are the 5 Best Buy Black Friday deals I'd buy
I know living on a student budget is tough, but these low prices should help.
If you're looking for some deals on student-friendly tech this Black Friday then you're in the right place. I graduated just over 2 years ago with my photography degree, and making the transition from my "university tech" to more "working professional" tech wasn't difficult at all. I already owned one of the best student laptops, which was excellent for gaming, studying, and intensive photo editing.
Not all student tech should have to compromise on performance to be considered budget-friendly. And I know from experience that deals pitched exclusively to students aren't always the ones to look out for. With this in mind, I've hand-picked several Black Friday deals from Best Buy that I think are perfect for students, and can stay with you after your university studies too.
If you're looking for something more specific, see our dedicated hub focussing on the best Black Friday laptop deals. I recommend also keeping tabs on our Samsung student discount and Apple student discount pages for top savings.
First up, we have the 14-inch Asus Vivobook which is the perfect size for carrying around campus, and has a generous amount of RAM for multitasking. I have the Vivobook Pro 15 model, and I love that ASUS really caters to creatives with this series.
For the price of only $220, I think it's an ideal (and super affordable) student laptop for those with lighter workloads. It can also handle gaming too, but the Intel 12th Gen i3 processor, while capable, is not as zippy as others on the market, so keep this in mind if you need something more performance-heavy.
Looking for a creative laptop with a bit more power under the hood? The Dell Inspiron is a great choice for students, and this Best Buy deal brings it down to just $650. It's a 2-in-1 model, which means it can be used flexibly thanks to a 360 hinge that lets it bend to your will, and has a touchscreen for tablet mode.
Let's talk specs. This model comes with a hefty 16GB of RAM, and a generous 1TB of internal memory which is great for storing files and software. You also get an Intel Core 7 Series 1 chip, which is top-tier for performance and multitasking.
If you're a student who tends to lose or misplace things fairly often (I definitely was) then owning an Apple Airtag is a great way of keeping tabs on your tech. Did you leave something behind in a lecture? Worried your dorm buddy might be stealing your stuff? An Apple Airtag will give you a quick location update whenever you need it.
You don't have to own Apple tech to use an Airtag, but you do need an Apple device to be able to set up the tag and register it. It also works a lot easier with Apple products, so if you're an Android user you might be better off with a Samsung Smart Tag instead.
Just like the iPad Pro, the latest Samsung Galaxy Tabs can be super expensive (around $1200+). But thankfully Samsung has a more affordable range of products with its FE range, which offers excellent performance minus a few top-spec features for a much more realistic and student-friendly price.
The Tab S9 FE is great for note-taking, sketching, browsing apps and emails, and streaming content (which is great if you're a student without a TV in your room). $120 off is also a great deal.
These Beats over-ear noise-cancelling headphones are a great choice if you're looking to zone out from your surroundings and really focus on your studies. While $250 is still a lot to pay, despite this Black Friday discount, owning noise-cancelling headphones is a student essential especially if you commute to class frequently or have online-based lectures.
The Beats Pro wireless has a built-in microphone for when you need to make a phone call and boasts an impressive 40-hour battery life.
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Beth is Creative Bloq’s Ecommerce Writer and has the fun job of finding you the very best prices and deals on creative tech. Beth kicked off her journalistic career writing for Digital Camera World, and has since earned bylines on TechRadar too. With a Masters degree in Photography, Beth loves getting to tinker with new cameras, especially camera phones, as the resident Samsung fan on the team. Her background working as a tester for CeX let her play around with all kinds of weird and wonderful products, including robots, and she’s recently gotten into 3D printing too. Outside of CB, you’ll find her gaming on her PS5, photographing local shows under the alias Bethshootsbands, and making TikToks of her dog, Tilly.