- The Best Buy July sale drops new Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra models by $200 and select excellent open-box units by up to $430.
- Best Buy July sale pricing makes Samsung’s premium Android tablet more plausible, but buyers should inspect open-box return terms before ordering.
- TCL’s NXTPAPER 11 Gen 2 starts at $160, offering a more sensible option for readers who do not need Samsung’s flagship hardware.
- Pixel Watch 4 LTE clearance prices suggest retailers are making room before Google’s expected Pixel Watch 5 launch next month.
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Samsung’s biggest tablet finally enters the conversation
The Best Buy July sale is doing what summer sales are supposed to do: making last season’s expensive hardware look tempting right before the next wave arrives. The headline deal is Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra, discounted by $200 in new condition and by as much as $430 in Best Buy’s ‘excellent’ open-box inventory. That puts the entry 256GB model at $1,100 new, or roughly $893 open-box, against a $1,300 list price.
That’s still a lot of money for an Android tablet. Frankly, it should be. Samsung’s Ultra tablet is a massive, premium machine aimed at people who genuinely want a portable second screen, a digital sketchbook, or a laptop-adjacent device for travel. For reading recipes and browsing the web on the couch, it’s like buying a commercial refrigerator to chill six cans of seltzer.
But at $893, the calculation changes. The 256GB open-box configuration costs less than many high-end smartphones while bringing Samsung’s top-tier display, a large canvas for DeX multitasking, and a more credible productivity pitch than cheaper Android slates can manage. For shoppers comparing premium Android hardware, the Best Buy July sale makes that open-box price the one worth watching. The 512GB version is also listed around $1,070 open-box, versus $1,500 new.
The catch is right there in the phrase ‘open-box.’ Best Buy says excellent-condition units work and look like new, have been reset to factory settings, and include their parts and accessories, though packaging may differ or be missing. That’s generally a reasonable risk for a deep discount, especially with a retailer return policy behind it. Still, I’d inspect the display, USB-C port, cameras, keyboard contacts, and S Pen the moment it arrives. Large OLED panels are wonderful until they aren’t.
The new-device discounts are simpler: $1,100 for 256GB, $1,300 for 512GB, and $1,700 for the 1TB model. Samsung itself was still showing regular pricing when these deals appeared, and Amazon does not officially stock the Tab S11 Ultra. That leaves the Best Buy July sale as the clearest mainstream route to a meaningful discount on this particular tablet.
A bargain is only a bargain if the hardware fits your life
There’s a useful split in this week’s tablet offers. Samsung is selling ambition. TCL is selling practicality.
The TCL NXTPAPER 11 Gen 2 has dropped to $160 for the 64GB model, down from $230, while a bundle with the T-PEN stylus and flip case is $180. A 128GB edition, also bundled with the pen and case, is listed at $200. TCL’s NXTPAPER display treatment is meant to reduce glare and make the screen easier on the eyes than a conventional glossy tablet panel. It won’t replace an E Ink reader for somebody who spends hours with novels, but it’s a thoughtful middle ground for students and families.
The bigger TCL TAB A1 Plus is $220, down from $280. It has a 12.2-inch 2.4K, 120Hz screen and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 4 Gen 2, alongside productivity features such as split-screen apps and a PC-mirroring mode. It briefly hit $180 around Prime Day, so this isn’t its absolute floor. Still, the Best Buy July sale makes four-figure tablet prices harder to defend when the sub-$250 Android category is already this capable.
If your main job is lectures, streaming, casual note-taking, recipe videos, and a few browser tabs, TCL’s models may be the smarter purchase. The Best Buy July sale is especially useful for buyers who want a capable tablet without paying for Samsung’s biggest screen. Samsung’s Ultra is for the person who knows exactly why they need a large tablet and will use that space every week. Everybody else should resist treating screen size as a personality trait.
Pixel Watch 4 clearance points to what comes next
Wearables are also getting cleared out. Pixel Watch 4 LTE models are selling new from about $350 for the 41mm version and $400 for the 45mm version, each $100 below their usual $450 and $500 pricing. Best Buy’s excellent-condition units dip lower: $339 for the 41mm matte-black model, $325 for champagne gold, and $328 for the 45mm matte-black edition.
Those prices matter because Google is expected to introduce a Pixel Watch 5 next month. Buying a watch immediately before its successor is rarely the emotionally satisfying move, and no retailer discount can change that. Yet a $325 LTE Pixel Watch 4 is a considerably easier recommendation than a $450 one, assuming you’re comfortable owning a device likely to be superseded in a matter of weeks.
My read: choose the Pixel Watch 4 if you want LTE now and care more about price than owning Google’s freshest model. Wait if battery life, new sensors, or longer remaining software support matter more. The Best Buy July sale is a clearance event in all but name, which is useful information for shoppers rather than a reason to panic-buy.
Every deal comes with Samsung’s next launch in the background
Samsung is scheduled to unveil the Galaxy Z Fold 8 family and Galaxy Watch 9 series this week. The company is offering a $30 reservation credit for people who register an email address ahead of the event, with no stated purchase commitment. Samsung says the credit can stack with upcoming trade-in promotions; readers can register through Samsung’s official US site.
That offer won’t transform the price of a Fold, of course. Samsung’s foldables typically live or die by trade-in values, carrier incentives, and bundle credits, not a small reservation bonus. But it reinforces the timing here. Retailers are clearing inventory while manufacturers prepare their next pitch, and the best deals tend to appear when those two agendas collide.
Shop the Best Buy July sale with a plan rather than a cart full of impulse purchases. The Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra open-box offer is the standout for a buyer who needs a large Android workhorse today. TCL owns the value end. Google’s discounted watch is the familiar end-of-cycle proposition: a good device at a fair price, provided you can live with its replacement already waiting in the wings.
