Smartwatches are popular holiday gifts because they are one of the easiest things to buy for other people. You don’t have to worry about sleeve lengths, shoe sizes, or color schemes. Smartwatches are also a no-brainer for anybody who’s a techie, and if you know a person’s favorite sport, then you can choose between fitness-centric watches, running watches, hiking watches, and even smartwatches for golfing. You really can’t lose.
Today’s smartwatches are more than just great-looking timepieces. Modern wearables include smart features like GPS tracking, heart-rate monitoring, music playback, and notifications for everything you want to stay connected to. Many are even waterproof and can track swimming and other water-based activities. And with the holiday sale season starting, a number of these high-tech devices are going to be discounted for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which are now only weeks away.
If you’re already preparing to shop these Black Friday smartwatch deals, then read on to find out what to expect from this year’s sales.
What Black Friday smartwatch deals to expect
We’re expecting that Black Friday sales will be home to a ton of great smartwatch deals with discounts on all kinds of wearables, from the venerable Apple Watch to top-tier fitness trackers from brands like Fitbit and Garmin.
The Apple Watch in particular is a hot commodity right now and will be a highly sought-after item for Black Friday. The Apple Watch SE and Series 6 were just released; these new launches right ahead of big holiday sales mean that we expect to see plenty of discounts on various Apple Watch models — especially last-gen units like the Apple Watch Series 3 and the recently discontinued Series 5. Retailers that still have Apple Watch Series 5 units will use Black Friday smartwatch deals as an excuse to clear the shelves of old stock, and we’ll see even better offers on the Apple Watch Series 3. The newer Apple Watch SE and Series 6 will likely get some price cuts, too, though probably not as deep.
Other smartwatches will almost certainly get discounts, too. For example, the new Samsung Galaxy Watch has been out for a couple months now and is therefore likely to get some nice deals, as will many of Fossil’s excellent Wear OS smartwatches. We can be pretty certain of worthy Black Friday smartwatch deals on wearables from these brands given that some of them are already available — which you can see for yourself below.
What Black Friday smartwatch deals we saw last year
We saw some excellent smartwatch deals on Black Friday last year. Perhaps the best was the Apple Watch Series 3, although that’s not a surprise considering how in-demand this device still is despite being a few years old. Some retailers had the device marked down to as low as $160-$170 which is an incredible value for an Apple wearable — and it’s likely the same will happen again this year. We saw a few smaller deals on the then-new Apple Watch Series 5, too, so this year some retailers may discount the newer Series 6. Given that the Series 5 is no longer being made as of September, expect to see that one offered for the lowest prices yet as retailers get rid of old inventory.
Fossil discounted many of its Wear OS smartwatches last year, too, with some of its watches seeing discounts of up to a whopping 50% off. The same was true of many of Samsung’s excellent Tizen-powered wearables (including the fitness-focused Galaxy Watch Active 2) which were heavily marked down on both Amazon and Walmart.
Should you buy a Smartwatch on Black Friday or Cyber Monday?
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are increasingly being blended together as retailers compete with each other to draw in holiday bargain-hunters, and it seems like we have more and more time to shop the deals each year. That said, you shouldn’t piddle around if you see a discounted wearable you’ve been eye-balling among those Black Friday smartwatch deals — don’t assume that you’ll see it marked down again during Cyber Week or that it will be on sale again for the same price.
That’s doubly true for recently discontinued models like the Apple Watch Series 5. Black Friday and Cyber Monday will likely offer these wearables on sale for the lowest prices ever, but since they’re not being made any more, once they’re gone, they’re gone. Cyber Monday deals are also rarely better than Black Friday sales, so there’s really no reason to wait if that special smartwatch you’ve been wanting (or one that would be the perfect gift for a techie you know) comes up early at a sweet discount.
The best Black Friday smartwatch deals happening now
Black Friday may not be here just yet, but the holiday sale season has already begun. You can find some sweet Black Friday Apple Watch Deals as well as wearables from other brands like Ticwatch and Samsung pretty much year-round, so you may find a real steal right here. Below is a rundown of some of the best bargains you can score now if you can’t wait for the Black Friday smartwatch deals. You should also get ready to shop those Black Friday smartphone deals if you’re after a new handset to pair with your smartwatch.
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