Latest news with #GarminFenix8
NBC News
a day ago
- Health
- NBC News
Deal of the Day: Garmin's top-tier (and rarely on sale) smartwatch is at its lowest price ever
Garmin is one of our favorite brands for tracking our workouts and fitness. It makes some of the best smartwatches and fitness trackers, especially for anyone focused on exercise, recovery and detailed workout stats. The brand has many different products, but one of its premium options is the Garmin Fenix. It rarely goes on sale, but it's at its lowest price ever right now at 20% off. Deal of the day: Garmin Fenix 8 The Fenix 8 is one of the brand's flagship watches, with every possible feature and spec packed in. It's made with more premium materials than lower-priced models, plus it has hardware like a speaker, microphone and flashlight built-in. It's dive proof up to 100 meters, and it has a battery life that lasts up to 16 days. It has a plethora of software features fit for outdoor adventure and multisport athletics. You can download any route with topographical maps onto the watch and use them even when you're offline. Trail runners, hikers and climbers should know the watch tracks elevation and grade changes, and adjusts pace accordingly. The Fenix 8 also has almost all of Garmin's race and training features, including automatic multisport transitions, detailed running dynamics, training readiness and race-day tools. Multiple versions of the Fenix 8 are on sale, but I've linked the 47 millimeter AMOLED version above, one of the more affordable versions available. Why trust NBC Select? I'm a reporter at NBC Select who covers technology and fitness including recent stories on smartwatches, headphones, cameras and more. For this piece, I checked Garmin Fenix 8 prices and price history across multiple retailers to find the best deal.
Forbes
a day ago
- Business
- Forbes
Garmin Slashes Fenix 8, Forerunner Watch Prices In Major Sale
Garmin watches Garmin has dropped prices across several of its key watch lines as part of its Father's Day sale. Among the discounts are some of the watches I tend to recommend the most often, including the brilliant Forerunner 165 for $199.99, or $249.99 for the Music Edition with on-board storage for downloaded tunes. Deals are not limited to the lower-end lines either. The Garmin Fenix 8 is on sale at $200 off across the board, meaning the Fenix E now costs $599.99, while the highly recommended 47mm edition of the AMOLED Fenix 8 costs $899.99. The Garmin Instinct 3 is also worth a look, selling at $50 off. This means the range now starts at $249.99 for the non-OLED Instinct E, while the 45mm AMOLED version is $399.99. None of these three quite fit the bill? You'll also find discounts on the smartwatch—like Garmin Venu 3 family, the super-long-lasting Garmin Enduro 3, the Forerunner 265. And 2023's best all-round running watch from Garmin, the Forerunner 965. There are also discounts on the golf-specific Approach S70 and S12 watch lines. Those in the UK should also check out Garmin's discounts for Global Running Day, although most of these are roundly comparable with what we see for Father's Day in the US, with a few little additions. For example, the basic Garmin Forerunner 55 is on sale for £119 in the UK, where those in the US still have to pay $199.99. One factor to bear in mind here is older-generation Garmin watches frequently go on sale during other sales periods, such as Black Friday and Amazon's various Prime sales events. However, plenty of the watches in this sale remain the newest of their particular type, notably the Fenix 8, Instinct 3, Enduro 3 and — a personal favourite of mine as a sound buy — the Forerunner 165. And some, like the Instinct 3, are only a few months old.
Tom's Guide
a day ago
- Business
- Tom's Guide
Polar launches the Grit X2 sports watch — an affordable Garmin Fenix rival that's built for adventure
Polar has launched the Grit X2 sports watch, which is a smaller and more affordable alternative to the Polar Grit X2 Pro. According to Polar the Grit X2 will address a gap in the market, in that almost all of the best sports watches designed for adventurous activities are very large and bulky. The Grit X2 will work better for those with smaller wrists, and the fact it packs impressive features like offline maps into its smaller design means it could be an interesting rival to top models like the Garmin Fenix 8, despite costing half as much. The Polar Grit X2 will be available in the U.K. and Europe on 4 June 2025 and it costs £399 / €479.90. A U.S. launched is planned for later in the year, but the date and price have not been confirmed yet. It will be available in two colors at launch — night black and brown copper — and comes with a silicone band, which can be swapped out for any standard 22mm watch strap. The Grit X2 is significantly cheaper than the Grit X2 Pro, which is $749 / £649, and costs less than half as much as the Garmin Fenix 8, which starts at $999 / £879. The Polar Grit X2 has a durable design with a steel bezel that's built to meet the latest military 810H standard, so it can withstand extreme temperatures and shocks, and is waterproof (WR50). Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. It has a 1.28in AMOLED display protected by sapphire crystal, and the Grit X2 comes preloaded with color topographic maps that you can use offline. Although the battery life is shorter than on larger models like the Grit X2 Pro, the Grit X2 can track 90 hours of activity in Eco mode, which is ideal for hiking, or 30 hours in performance mode, which offers the best accuracy for runs and bike rides. It will also last up to a week in smartwatch mode, though in my testing of other Polar AMOLED watches like the Polar Vantage M3 and Grit X2 Pro I find they usually fall a little short of Polar's estimates. It's certainly true to say that most adventure watches opt for chunky designs, so a rugged adventure watch that can fit slimmer wrists is a good idea. Garmin has smaller models of the Fenix 8 and Garmin Instinct 3 watches, but the Grit X2 might be a good affordable alternative for those who want a smaller device. 'Outdoor sports are thriving like never before – and it's women who are leading that growth," says Sander Werring, CEO of Polar Electro. "Yet the market still lacks well-designed outdoor watches that truly cater to those seeking a more compact fit. Too often, designs are bulky or lack essential features." The Grit X2 aims to address that gap by putting top-of-the-range features like maps into a smaller device that 12mm thick and weighs 62g, and it also runs the same software as the Grit X2 Pro, so it should get the same access to updates in the future. It all looks promising on paper, but we'll be putting the Polar Grit X2 to the test soon for our full review to see if it lives up to that promise.
Tom's Guide
3 days ago
- Tom's Guide
I wore the Garmin Forerunner 970 for over a week — here's 5 things I like and 3 things I don't
Ever since the Garmin Forerunner 935 converted me to using the best sports watches instead of a smartwatch, I've been a fan of the Garmin 9XX series. This line of watches usually offers all the features you get on the flagship Fenix models in a lightweight, mostly-plastic design that's smaller and also cheaper. As a keen runner the Garmin Forerunner 965 was often the watch I turned to when not testing something new. The Garmin Forerunner 970 is an impressive update to the line and adds some key features from the Garmin Fenix 8 as well as some completely new ones. I'm testing the watch now for our full review, which will take a few weeks to make sure every new feature is fully explored. But there are already some positives and negatives that have stood out to me after just over a week of use. Garmin promised a brighter display on the Forerunner 970 compared with the Forerunner 965, but didn't give details in terms of nits. Since the 965 was always bright enough for me, I didn't expect too much. In testing, however, the upgrade in brightness is very noticeable, especially during activities when the white stats on a black background are clearer on the Forerunner 970. It's also a clear upgrade when using the watch in bright sunlight. The Forerunner 965's screen is still bright enough, but the Forerunner 970's display has exceeded my expectations. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. One of the big new sports features on the Forerunner 970 is running tolerance, which estimates how many miles or kilometers you can/should run in a week based on your training history, with the aim of avoiding injury. This ties into established ideas about building your load gradually rather than suddenly doing a lot more running than your body might be able to handle. What I like about the feature is that it takes into account the type of runs you're doing. Instead of simply saying you ran 10 miles, it looks at those miles, and if you've been running quickly or on challenging, hilly terrain, it increases the load factor of that run, so it will get logged as 11 or 12 miles of "impact load." The Forerunner 970 will show the actual distance you've run, along with the impact load of those runs, and you can check this against your estimated tolerance to see if you're overdoing it. This is a useful feature for runners of all levels to ensure they're adding a safe amount of mileage each week if building, and also considering the impact of the harder runs on their plan correctly. One major reason to upgrade to the Garmin Fenix line from the Forerunner 965 is the sapphire crystal display available on the Fenix, which is more durable than the glass one used on the Forerunner. I scratched the Forerunner 965 without even realizing it during my testing. But having a sapphire screen on the Forerunner 970 gives peace of mind that you don't need to use a screen protector. Another big reason to upgrade to the Garmin Fenix 8 has been eliminated by the Forerunner 970 getting a built-in flashlight. That feature is just incredibly handy to have on your wrist. During the time I've been testing the watch I've had two sick kids to get up and see to during the night, so the flashlight has been in regular use. I've yet to unlock the running economy stats on the Forerunner 970, but you can see the new step speed loss measurement during each run if you pair the watch with the Garmin HRM600 chest strap. This measures how much you slow down when your foot hits the ground when running, with a lower value being better — lower braking force on each stride means you have to put less effort into speeding up again. I've been looking at this stat during runs and you can see how it changes when running at faster speeds — my step speed loss improves when I hit my marathon pace compared to easy run paces, for example. These step speed loss measurements feed into Garmin's running economy stats, but are interesting in their own right. The Forerunner 970 is not a cheap watch, and to unlock some of its most interesting new features like step speed loss and running economy measurements, you also need to buy the Garmin HRM600 chest strap, which is $169. This is a great, rechargeable chest strap, but incredibly expensive for a heart rate monitor — the Wahoo TRACKR heart rate monitor is $89, for comparison. It's a significant extra outlay just to get these running technique stats, especially as the Forerunner 970 has Garmin's Elevate Gen5 optical heart rate sensor, which has always been pretty accurate for me when testing it on various watches. The cost of the bright display on the Forerunner 970 is short battery life. It lasted me just over four days on my first charge with the screen always-on; the Forerunner 965 lasts me seven days reliably. You can increase the battery life considerably using the screen in raise-to-wake mode, but if you're regularly logging workouts using GPS and the always-on screen, the Forerunner 970 will still need regular charging. A small dislike this, but it would be great if there were more size options of the Forerunner 970, like there are with both the Forerunner 570 and Fenix 8. Some people with small wrists still want the greater sports tracking capabilities of the Forerunner 970, so if there was a 42mm or 43mm model along with the 47mm watch I'm sure it would be a success.
Tom's Guide
26-05-2025
- Business
- Tom's Guide
Memorial Day smartwatch sales — 9 deals I'd shop from Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy and more
Memorial Day sales are a great time to save. And while there's plenty of deals on laptops and TVs, there are also a handful of great Memorial Day smartwatch sales. One of my favorite deals right now is the Garmin Fenix 8 for just $789 at Amazon. It's not the cheapest deal out there, but it's an excellent investment on what we called Garmin's top sports watch. Or, if you're strictly looking for a fitness tracker, you can secure the Fitbit Inspire 3 for $89 at Walmart. These are some excellent deals today — but they won't be sticking around much longer. Below you'll find the 9 best Memorial Day smartwatch sales I recommend at Walmart, Best Buy and Amazon. Once you're done, be sure to check out our full guide to the best Memorial Day sales live blog. The Amazfit Band 7 is an excellent fitness tracker for first-time buyers. Why? Well it's simple, easy-to-wear and comes with an easy-to-use interface. We already praised it in our four-and-half star review for being under $50, giving it a spot in our best fitness trackers guide, and now it's sporting even more discount. The Fitbit Inspire 3 is another incredibly reasonably priced fitness tracker. If you're not quite ready to commit to a full-blown smartwatch, then it's a top pick for those on a budget. You get 10 days of battery life, a bright screen and eye-catching strap, as well as sleep and heart rate monitoring. You can't ask for much more for $89. Save $100 on the four-star Google Pixel Watch 2 and you'll get a feature-packed, lightweight model with a 24-hour always on screen. It leans into safety features with emergency SOS, fall detection and even a Safety Check that'll alert your loved ones if you don't arrive or finish an activity in an allotted time. It'a smart bit of kit that bridges between fitness tracker and smartwatch. In this limited time deal for Memorial Day weekend, you can get 20% off one of Garmin's best smartwatches, the Forerunner 165. It's one of the best GPS models we've ever tested, boasting 19 hours of battery life with GPS or 11 days without, five tactile buttons as well as touchscreen and unique insights into training and recovery. It's also a great entry-level pick for an impressive AMOLED screen, especially at this price. I absolutely love a bundle deal and with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 at Amazon, the huge retailer are throwing in a SmartTag2 for free. Better yet, it's over $100 off its usual price. This is one of the best smartwatches on the market and doubles as a competent workout tracker, too. It's lightweight, comfy and full of features. Plus, we voted it the top pick for sleep tracking. For Amazon's #1 bestseller, a surprising discount. It's not often you'll see the Apple Watch Series 10 reduced, but right now you can save $100. It leads the pack in our best smartwatches guide for its new and improved display, fast charging, familiar user interface and compatibility with a wide range of useful apps. You'll need to be an iPhone user, but it's absolutely the pick if you are. This is the watch to get if you're into running. The Garmin Forerunner 265 comes in two different sizes, boasting an accurate GPS as well as advanced training and recovery metrics – all displayed on a bright and beautiful AMOLED screen. The 165 is a great alternative on our list for a budget, but if you want to stretch, with $100 off right now it feels like the perfect time to strike. The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is one of the toughest-built, sportiest and longest-lasting smartwatches from the tech brand. Similar in specs to the Galaxy Watch 7, the Ultra comes with a larger screen and rugged design. So, if you're thinking of spending a little extra money, you won't have to part with as much during this excellent Memorial Day weekend sale. The priciest Garmin in my recommendations, but arguably you get exactly what you pay for. The Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED is an adventure lovers dream and if you're sporty, this is the watch for you. And if this year's marathons have already inspired you, you'll also want to pick this up for your own training. It's hands down one of the best sports watches for outdoor workouts, now with 21% off.
