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Received — 8 October 2026 ⏭

What does Amazon know about you? The answer is buried in your account info

✇PCWorld
8 October 2026 at 09:53

We all know companies profile us. But understanding that abstractly is one thing. Reading the words “has flat buttocks” in your Amazon account is very much another.

If you’re not on Threads, this discovery is one of the latest viral posts. A woman stumbled upon this assumption while in her Amazon settings, buried among other, less inflammatory ones within the Your Shopping preferences section.

Of course, having read that post myself while doomscrolling before bed, I resolved to look at my own profile in the morning. (I have a vested interested in privacy as a topic, after all.) Turns out, Amazon has little incendiary commentary about me. You might even say I’m boring.

Here’s how you look it up. On a desktop PC, head to Account. Under Ordering and shopping preferences, click on Your shopping preferences. Then look for Manage your information at the bottom of the page. You should then see a page titled About You, listing details that Amazon says it uses to “personalize your experience for you and everyone you shop for.”

Amazon account page with Shopping preferences link highlighted

Amazon / PCWorld

For me, Amazon believes I like technology and photography. And I prefer Command strips for mounting hardware. That’s about it.

As you might guess, these assumptions are based on your shopping habits—and surprisingly upfront. (Finding the equivalent information on Facebook feels like a labyrinth of clicks, and the details aren’t as blunt as “has flat buttocks.”)

As disappointed as I am Amazon’s spiciest commentary on me was “prefers white networking cables,” I got a good lesson from looking up my profile. One, it confirms that where and how you shop affects the data that businesses collect. Two, it’s a good reminder that I should keep looking up these details on different websites and services. And three, this will only get more complicated as agentic AI services pull in and collate data about us through friends, family, and associates.

Received — 7 October 2026 ⏭

Last chance: 8 Amazon gadgets hit their lowest prices ever for Prime Day

✇PCWorld
7 October 2026 at 11:17

October Prime Day ends today, which means this is your last opportunity to grab Amazon’s marked-down products, including Blink, Ring, Echo, Fire TV, and Eero devices. Not sure which ones are worth pulling the trigger on? I’ll guide you to the best discounts going on right now.

I didn’t just go through Amazon’s search results and pluck out what look like good deals. Every product on this list fits two criteria: it’s at a significant discount compared to its “street price,” and I would actually buy this product at this price over same-class items from other brands. If I wouldn’t seriously consider it for my own cart, it doesn’t qualify for this list.

Prime caveat: While some of these deals can be had without an active Prime subscription, others can’t. But don’t fret if you don’t have Prime. See our article on how to get Amazon Prime for free to score the following discounts—and others—without paying for a sub.

Deals at a glance

Blink Outdoor 4 Cam and Battery Doorbell 2K+ (Bundle)

Blink Outdoor 4 and Battery Doorbell 2K+ Bundle

Blink

Now $65.99 (lowest price ever — 75% off, was $259.98)

You could get the Blink Outdoor 4 for $65.99, which is already a solid discount off its usual $99.99… or you could get this Blink Outdoor 4 + Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+ bundle for the exact same price. Do I need to spell it out for you? This bundle effectively gives you a free Battery Doorbell 2K+, allowing you to watch your doorstep and your backyard with these two outdoor cameras. Check in on your feeds via the Blink app on your phone and you’ll always have peace of mind—even while on vacation.

Get this Blink Bundle at Amazon

Ring Indoor Cam

Ring Indoor Cam

Ring

Now $24.99 (lowest price ever — 50% off, was $49.99)

The Ring Indoor Cam gives you vantage over any room in your house. Mount it on top of a table, or screw it higher up into a wall—its swivel design lets you point it at wherever you want it looking over. It’s pretty basic with 1080p resolution, but it has color night vision and a live feed that you can tune into via the Ring app on your phone. If all you need is straightforward interior surveillance at home, this one’s a solid pick at $24.99.

Get the Ring Indoor Cam at Amazon

Ember 4K Smart TV (55-Inch)

Amazon Ember 4K Smart TV model 4K55N402

Amazon

Now $279.99 (lowest price ever — 39% off, was $459.99)

Yup, Amazon makes its own line of big smart TVs. This Ember 4-Series has a 55-inch diagonal, perfect for living rooms and spacious bedrooms, and it comes with an Alexa Remote for convenient control. 4K resolution, HDR10+ support, and Dolby Audio for just $279.99 make it a strong budget-friendly pick if you’re mainly streaming shows and films in 4K. It also has something called Ambient Experience, which displays artwork or a smart interactive hub when in standby mode (and only when it detects people nearby).

Get the 55-inch Ember 4K TV at Amazon

Luna Wireless Gaming Controller

Luna Wireless Gaming Controller

Amazon

Now $39.99 (lowest price ever — 43% off, was $69.99)

Though it was designed for use with Amazon’s Luna cloud gaming platform, the Luna controller works with anything. Connect it via Bluetooth to your PC, gaming console, or even your phone. It also supports USB wired, but only with Windows and macOS devices. Neither budget nor premium, it’s a good middle-of-the-road option with a comfortable, standard layout (offset thumbsticks), bumpers, triggers, and a directional pad. At $39.99, it’s a step up from most other wireless controllers in this range.

Get the Luna Gaming Controller at Amazon

Fire TV Stick 4K Plus

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Plus

Amazon

Now $37.99 (46% off, was $69.99)

Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K Plus is great for two reasons. It plugs into any device that supports HDMI input (e.g., TVs, monitors, projectors) and lets you stream from dozens of services like Netflix, Hulu, and Prime Video. But your accounts are logged on the stick itself, so if you take it with you to a hotel, Airbnb, or friend’s house, you just plug in and resume your shows and movies from wherever you left off.

The 4K Plus is the balanced option in Amazon’s Fire TV Stick lineup. While the 4K Select is cheaper, it runs on a different OS that’s slower and doesn’t allow for sideloading apps. Meanwhile, the more expensive 4K Max is faster and has twice the storage. If you’re only going to be streaming shows and movies—meaning you won’t be downloading many apps, games, or files—then the 4K Plus is the way to go.

Get the Fire TV Stick 4K Plus at Amazon

Fire TV Cube

Fire TV Cube

Amazon

Now $89.99 (lowest price ever — 55% off, was $199.99)

Whereas the Fire TV Stick 4K Plus is more than fine for basic streaming, the Fire TV Cube is what you want if you have a decked-out home media setup. The Cube is much faster with its upgraded octa-core processor and extra RAM, so apps launch more quickly, navigation is more responsive, and gaming performance feels better. It has Super Resolution, which upscales HD content so it looks better on 4K displays. If you’re going to cloud-stream Xbox games or if on-screen lag really bothers you, get the Cube.

Get the Fire TV Cube at Amazon

Fire TV Soundbar

Fire TV Soundbar

Amazon

Now $79.99 (lowest price ever — 33% off, was $119.99)

No matter how much you spend on a TV, the built-in speakers are almost guaranteed to suck—and there’s no easier upgrade than to add in a soundbar. You don’t have to spend a lot either. At $79.99, Amazon’s Fire TV Soundbar is as good as it gets in this price range, punching up bass for a fuller experience while improving voice clarity so you can actually understand what characters are saying on screen.

Amazon also has a stepped-up model called the Fire TV Soundbar Plus. Whereas the regular Soundbar is 24 inches, the Soundbar Plus is 37 inches—a better acoustic and aesthetic fit for larger TVs (55-inch and bigger). It can also pair with a wireless subwoofer and satellite speakers for true surround sound. If that’s important to you, you’ll want the Soundbar Plus instead.

Get the Fire TV Soundbar at Amazon

Get the Fire TV Soundbar Plus at Amazon

Fire HD 10 Tablet

Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet

Amazon

Now $72.99 (lowest price ever — 53% off, was $154.99)

Amazon sells several tablet models, with the most popular ones being the Fire HD 10 and Fire HD 8. I have the Fire HD 8 and I regret it, mainly because it’s too sluggish for anything but extremely basic uses. The Fire HD 10 is what I now recommend for a budget tablet. It has a faster octa-core processor and extra RAM, resulting in better responsiveness that doesn’t slow you down. The larger 10.1-inch display is the cherry on top.

Get the Fire HD 10 Tablet at Amazon

Echo Show 11

Amazon Echo Show 11 smart display

Amazon

Now $149.99 (lowest price ever — 40% off, was $249.99)

If you’re going to get an Echo in 2026, ask yourself: How deep into the Alexa ecosystem are you willing to go? If you think you’ll ever add more Alexa-compatible gadgets to your home—like any of the other stuff on this list—then you’ll want the Echo Show 11.

At first glance, it just looks like a tablet-plus-speaker; it’s actually a smart home hub that makes it easy to control various smart home devices. Sure, you can play music and browse the web on it, but it shines as a central command for controlling your smart thermostat, viewing your camera feeds, changing your smart lights, locking your door, playing media on your TV, and more. Today’s the day to grab one now that it’s at its lowest price.

Get the Echo Show 11 at Amazon

Eero 6+ Mesh Wi-Fi System

Eero 6+ Mesh Wi-Fi System

Amazon

Now $214.99 (28% off, was $299.99)

If you live in a large home—I’m talking 2,000+ square feet—then you’ve probably run into spotty Wi-Fi. Maybe your connection drops while walking around, or certain rooms get terrible signal. If so, you’d benefit from a mesh Wi-Fi system. Unlike a traditional router, mesh Wi-Fi uses multiple “nodes” around the home to expand and strengthen coverage.

The Eero 6+ Mesh Wi-Fi System is what most households need. It supports up to 1Gbps internet plans, and it supports Wi-Fi 6 with wider 160MHz channels (faster and more reliable than standard 80MHz channels). You should only consider the newer Eero 7 system if you’re paying for a multi-gigabit internet plan, as it goes up to 2.5Gbps, or if you have 100+ smart devices congesting your network. If neither apply, you’re better off saving money with the Eero 6+ instead.

Get the Eero 6+ Mesh Wi-Fi System at Amazon

Get the Eero 7 Mesh Wi-Fi System at Amazon

Received — 5 October 2026 ⏭

How to get Amazon Prime for free

✇PCWorld
5 October 2026 at 09:22

Amazon Prime membership includes loads of benefits—including the ability to shop Amazon’s best deals during big sales periods, like Prime Day and Black Friday. But here’s a secret: You don’t have to pay to take advantage of the benefits. At least, not at first.

Before you pay Amazon’s $139-per-year (or $14.99-per-month) subscription fee, you can sign up for a free trial. You get all the benefits of membership, including free two-day shipping on all orders, access to the Kindle lending library, Prime Video streaming, and much more. See our rundown of the top Amazon Prime benefits for the full list.

Here are a few ways to score a short-term Prime membership.

Method 1: The standard 30-day free trial

If you’ve never tried Amazon Prime before, or if it’s been a long time since you last tried it, then you may be eligible for a free 30-day trial. After the 30 days, Amazon will charge you for the membership—either $14.99 per month or $139 per year—so don’t forget to cancel before the trial is up. (Set a calendar reminder if you have to!)

Figuring out if you’re eligible is simple. Just sign in to your Amazon account and visit the Prime membership landing page. If you see a button that says Start your free 30-day trial, click it to sign up. If the button says Join Prime, then you’ve been to the well one too many times recently and you’ll have to wait longer to become eligible again.

Method 2: The “Prime for Young Adults” free trial

Amazon used to have a program called Prime Students for—you guessed it—students enrolled in higher education. That program was discontinued and replaced with Prime for Young Adults, a special version of Prime geared towards those who are 18 to 24 years old.

Prime for Young Adults offers two big benefits over regular Prime: first, you score a 6-month free trial instead of the standard 30 days, and second, the post-trial subscription price comes with a whopping 50% discount. And yes, you get all the same perks as regular Prime!

Go to the Prime for Young Adults page and click Try Prime for Young Adults to start your 6-month free trial. After your trial is up, Prime for Young Adults will cost $7.49 per month or $69 per year. Make sure to cancel before it ends if you don’t want to pay. (Your Prime perks will continue to the end of the trial period even if you cancel early.)

Other ways to get free Amazon Prime

Some other ways to get Prime for free exist, but they’re not as straightforward or easy. You can, for example, open a new account with a different email address and then try Prime on that new account. Keep in mind, however, that means you’ll have to keep yet another account secure to protect all your payment information and personal details.

If someone in your house is already subscribed to Prime, they can share it with your account. Amazon allows you to share a Prime membership with other members of your household, which means one other adult and up to four children. However, only the adult gets to share in Prime-exclusive deals, and both adults in the household must agree to share payment methods, so this is only an option for family (or trusted friends).

You can also apply for the Prime Visa credit card, which gives you 5 percent cash back on Amazon and Whole Foods purchases with an active Prime membership. If you’re spending at least $2,400 per year between Amazon and Whole Foods, this is an easy way to have your credit card rewards pay for your entire Prime membership.

How to cancel an Amazon Prime free trial

You might end up loving Prime (or Prime for Young Adults) so much that you stick with it to take advantage of the free shipping and other perks. But if you’re a hardcore deal hunter who wants to bail from Prime as soon as Black Friday or Prime Day is over, here’s what to do.

The standard way to dump Prime is to hover over your account name in the upper-right corner of any Amazon page, and then select Memberships & Subscriptions from the drop-down menu. On the next page, under the Amazon Prime item, click the Cancel button.

An easier way, however, is to go straight to this Amazon help page and click Cancel Your Prime Membership.

Regardless of how you begin the cancellation process, the process itself is straightforward—you’re free and clear once you’re through.

The best October Prime Day deals

The PCWorld team is sifting through October Prime Day deals to identify the best deals on products that are actually worth your cash. If you’re looking to supercharge your home setup with the juiciest tech sales, hit these links for the best expert-curated picks we’ve found.

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