Target is launching hard-charging early Circle Week deals in an attempt to dull the Prime Day buzz this fall from Amazon. The best early deals so far favor robot vacuums, smart home security, midrange TVs, mainstream tablets and popular headphones — the categories on which shoppers do most of their price checks and that retailers are willing to cut margin to win the basket.
A free Target Circle account is necessary for access to the steepest markdowns. Joining requires only basic information and opens up member-exclusive pricing, bonus rewards and stackable promos that regularly make good deals great with honest best-of-season lows.
Smart home and security steals to watch before Prime Day
The standout early purchase is the Roborock Qrevo Pro robot vacuum and mop at around the mid-$500s after a significant price cut of about $450. That pricing usually comes out only during large retail events. It’s an all-in-one base that can vacuum and mop in a single pass, and it’s competitive with similar specced models from iRobot and Ecovacs which rarely drop this low.
For beginner-level indoor monitoring, a Blink Mini 2 two-pack is discounted to around $35 — effectively a buy-one-get-one in this price range. It’s an easy way to blanket a few rooms without investing in a more expensive hard-wired infrastructure.
If you’re looking to add a smart doorbell with no wiring, the Google Nest Doorbell (battery) is resting around $140. The value is highest for households that are already using Nest or Google Assistant. Nest’s detection accuracy tends to be the differentiator at this price. Another difference maker has been Nest’s ability to accurately detect unsafe conditions, a feature that Consumer Reports has consistently noted as positive.
TVs and screens for less: budget picks worth a look
Target is offering a variety of impulse-friendly screen sizes and basic streaming. A 32-inch smart TV for around $130 is a good dorm, kitchen or guest room purchase; you’re shelling out for the convenience of the platform rather than premium picture quality.
For an extended set for the living room on a budget, Samsung’s Crystal UHD 4K 50-inch is around $300. This range isn’t a QLED performer, but you know what it offers: reliable upscaling and low-lag gaming for just-out-of-the-box value. RTINGS’ multiyear testing on the series has shown it to get brighter and better at motion handling.
If you’ve had your eye on wall display frames, the TCL Nxtvision Smart Frame is on sale for about $900, a significant slice — some $500. It’s niche, but the price drop gets it into range for design-conscious households that don’t want to pay prestige-brand premiums for art mode.
Tablets and e‑readers you can actually grab
The regular iPad with an A16 chip and 128GB of storage comes in at just under $300 after rotating discounts of around the same amount, making it a strong fit for students, casual creators and families. Here you are receiving years of software support, and the most plentiful app ecosystem.
Android shoppers might consider the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ at around $270 for 128GB. It’s not a flagship, but the larger screen, expandable storage and DeX-lite multitasking make it an excellent streaming and light productivity slate for the money.
Amazon’s Kindle Scribe 16GB at around $300 is a tempting option for heavy readers and note-takers. Why not add a stylus? That price typically matches the device’s historically lowest price points during major sales, and the bundled pen experience has evolved thanks to software updates centered around templates and notebooks.
Headphones and audio value plays worth grabbing now
Beats Solo 4 on-ears are a solid buy for commuters who need iOS-friendly connection, long battery life and folding design at around $150. Review labs have raved about the tuning for pop and hip-hop, but they’re not the most neutral set, either.
If you want to hear the world around you while shopping, consider the Shokz OpenDots One (around $160). Hybrid bone-conduction and air-conduction versions have exploded in popularity among runners and cyclists because they keep users aware of their surroundings — an underappreciated safety gain compared with plugging your ears with sealed earbuds.
Apple’s newest AirPods with active noise cancellation are landing near $150 in these early drops. And if you’re in the iPhone ecosystem, you’ll have that smooth switching and a feature usually absent from budget ANC earbuds: Find My support.
How these deals stack up against Prime Day
According to historical pricing information compiled by firms cited by retailers and analysts — such as Adobe’s Digital Price Index, Camelcamelcamel and Keepa — these discounts are at or near common all-time lows for their respective categories during major seasonal events. Electronics have been one of the most deflationary categories online, in the broad view of quantity compared with price — which means a “25% off” tag can conceal an even bigger steal when layered atop already-lowered baseline prices.
Shopper panel data from Numerator indicates that cross‑shopping between Target and Amazon at major sales windows is quite high; households are splitting the cart to chase the best individual item price. That back and forth is why you’ll see loss‑leader doorbusters on a few SKUs at Target: the idea is to rope you in on high‑velocity items, then keep you for accessories and essentials.
Pro tips for maximizing Circle Week savings
Sign up for Target Circle before you start shopping, and search for member‑only badges; then stack with a store card’s 5% everyday savings if it is available. Same‑day pickup and drive‑up frequently yield extra perks too, and they shield you from shipping delays as inventory gets tight.
Look up price match and holiday price adjustment policies; among other perks, Target generally matches select competitors’ prices on identical items within a short time period. Save screenshots of cart prices and promos — customer service will often honor them if a glitch arises at checkout.
For tech, establish real value with a brief historical check by consulting a reliable price tracker or browsing past deal roundups from independent testing organizations. Cross‑reference with lab reviews from RTINGS for TVs and headphones, or reliability or owner‑satisfaction data from Consumer Reports for appliances and smart home gear.
Bottom line: these early Circle Week discounts are worth purchasing now if the item is already on your list. If all else fails — and you can wait a little while for your goods to arrive — just track some items you’re flexible about when they eventually go on sale, and then be prepared to buy at once; competition with Prime Day has already precipitated brief flash lows that likely won’t return until the next peak shopping wave.