Prime Day TV deals are already rolling in

Need guidance at a glance? These are our favorite Prime Day TV deals from Walmart, Best Buy, Dell, and Amazon as of Oct. 12:

• BEST DEAL FROM SAMSUNG: 85-inch Q70T Series 4K UHD Smart TV — save $500

• BEST DEAL FROM LG: 75-inch 4K UHD LED Smart TV — save $100

• BEST DEAL FROM SONY: Sony 77-inch OLED A9G Series 4K HDR Smart TV (XBR77A9G) — $3,499.99 (save $1,000)

Estimating the best time to buy a TV is a science at this point.

NerdWallet has tried to pin down the pattern: Black Friday, of course, sees some of the biggest TV discounts of the year. Other notable sales can be seen when consumers are preparing to watch a big event on TV (Super Bowl season) or when tech brands release their new TV line for the year.

But the 2020 shopping calendar isn't following the regular rules. Brands like Samsung announced the delay of some TV launches due to pandemic-related production issues. Sony and Disney pushed back countless movies slated to come out in theaters sometime in 2020, putting a spotlight on the consumer's reliance on streaming at home.

Fall sports and shows make this the best season to buy a TV, anyway — but a chilly season plagued with closed public spaces and canceled holiday events due to the coronavirus means that at-home entertainment could be a bigger deal this year than ever before. Retailers are likely expecting this heightened demand for TVs, and we don't think they'll wait until Black Friday to start the sales. With Amazon Prime Day's postponement from July to October, there's little reason for retailers to not simply use it as a kickoff for a month-and-a-half long Black Friday event. (We're already seeing bigger discounts now than what we saw over the weekend of Oct. 9.)

Here are our favorite Prime Day 2020 TV deals from Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, and Dell, organized by brand, then size, then price:

Samsung

OUR TOP PICK: Samsung 85-inch Q70T Series 4K UHD Smart TV (QN85Q70TAFXZA) — $2,599.99

TVs over 80 inches are expensive as it is. But cutting corners by opting for the cheapest 85-inch TV you can find isn't always the move — especially if detail-oriented entertainment like sports or gaming is part of the daily schedule. This 85-inch beauty uses AI upscaling to scan each scene and make it as crisp as possible, plus adaptive technology that adjusts brightness and blacks based on the bright sunlight (or lack thereof) in the room. Going with this model specifically gets you 20 more inches of screen compared to the 65-inch Q800T 8K model, which is on sale for the same price.

• Samsung 58-inch Q60T Series 4K HDR Smart TV (QN58Q60TAFXZA) — $799.99 (save $100)

• Samsung 55-inch Q70T QLED 4K UHD Smart TV (QN55Q70TAFXZA) — $897.99 (save $100)

• Samsung 65-inch Q800T Series 8K UHD Smart TV (QN765Q800TAFXZA) — $2,699.99 (save $800)

• Samsung 75-inch 7 Series 4K UHD Smart Tizen TV (UN75TU7000FXZA) — $849.99 (save $150)

• Samsung 75-inch Q800T Series 8K UHD Smart TV (QN75Q800TAFXZA) — $3,999.99 (save $1,000)

• Samsung 82-inch Q800T Series QLED 8K UHD Smart TV (QN82Q800TAFXZA) — $5,499.99 (save $1,500)

LG

OUR TOP PICK: LG 75-inch 4K UHD LED Smart TV (75UN7070PU) — $799.99

A 75-inch TV on sale for less than $800? We're sold on that alone — but LG didn't skimp on the quality, either. This webOS TV simplifies streaming service organization (and makes searching easy, even if you don't know which platform carries the show or movie you're looking for). Content is displayed on a 4K IPS display, plus an extra oomph from active HDR.

• LG 65-inch 4K UHD WebOS Smart TV (65UN8500PUI) — $699.99 (save $200 as a My Best Buy member)

• LG 77-inch C9 Series 4K OLED HDR Smart TV (OLED77C9PUB) — $3,699.99 (save $800)

• LG 77-inch CX Series 4K OLED HDR Smart TV (OLED77CXPUA) — $3,649.99 (save $1,350 as a My Best Buy member)

• LG 86-inch UN8500 Series LED 4K UHD Smart TV (86UN8570PUC) — $1,899.99 (save $400)

Sony

OUR TOP PICK: Sony 77-inch OLED A9G Series 4K HDR Smart TV (XBR77A9G) — $3,499

Down an extra $1,000 from the already-stellar sale price we saw the first weekend of October, the 77-inch version of Sony's 2019 A9G line has officially hit the 50% off mark. That massive discount doesn't exactly make it the cheapest 77-inch out there, but cinephiles who are wasting away due to their lack of movie theatre trips deserve this type of viewing quality in their living room. This OLED masterpiece is armed with what Sony calls its best processor ever and uses Acoustic Surface Audio+ sound (dual actuators and subwoofers) to bring concert hall-like sound to each scene.

• Sony 55-inch X750H Series 4K UHD LED Smart TV (KD55X750H) — $599.99 (save $200)

• Sony 65-inch X750H Series 4K UHD Smart TV (KD65X750H) — $669.99 (save $330 as a My Best Buy member)

• Sony 65-inch X900H Series 4K UHD LED Smart TV (XBR65X900H) — $969.99 (save $630 as a My Best Buy member)

• Sony 65-inch X950H Series 4K UHD LED TV Smart TV (XBR65X950H) — $1,499.99 (save $500)

• Sony 75-inch Z8H Series 8K UHD Smart TV (XBR75Z8H) — $5,999.99 (save $1,000)

• Sony 85-inch X900H Series 4K UHD Smart TV (XBR85X900H) — $2,769.99 (save $730 as a My Best Buy member)

Other great TV deals:

• Westinghouse 50-inch 4K LED Smart TV (WR50UX4019) — $229.99 (save $120)

• Vizio 65-inch P-Series Quantum 4K UHD Smart TV (P65Q9-H1) — $979.99 (save $220 as a My Best Buy member)