If you’ve been thinking about buying a smartwatch, this year’s best Black Friday deals will provide you with the best opportunities for significant savings for your planned purchase. There’s no shortage of Black Friday smartwatch deals, so you’ll surely find the perfect offer if you take the time to check out all the retailers that are participating in the shopping holiday.
There are different brands to consider when thinking about buying a smartwatch, including Apple, Samsung, Fitbit, and Garmin, among others. The devices also cater to different purposes, such as monitoring your health, recording your workout data, and enabling access to a paired smartphone without having to take it out of your pocket. Whichever brand and purpose you have in mind, there’s a smartwatch deal that’s waiting for you this Black Friday.
Best Black Friday Smartwatch deals 2021
Fitbit Versa 2 — $120, was $180
Why buy
Fitbit is known for its fitness-focused features, which is why it’s a mainstay in ’ best fitness trackers. That trend continues with the Fitbit Versa 2, which offers 24/7 heart-rate tracking to help optimize your effort during workouts, all-day activity tracking for metrics like steps and calories burned, and sleep monitoring to study the quality of your sleep every night. The smartwatch also offers on-screen workouts, which will coach you through each exercise and provide you with real-time stats to understand your fitness level.
The Fitbit Versa 2, however, isn’t just about its health features. It’s also a perfectly capable smartwatch that provides all the conveniences of a wearable device on your wrist. With Amazon’s Alexa built-in, you will be able to use voice commands to search for information, check the weather, set alarms, control your smart-home devices, and so much more. You can also use the Fitbit Versa 2 to control playback on music streaming apps such as Spotify, and to alert you when you’ve received notifications on your phone. The always-on display, meanwhile, makes sure that the time and your workout data are always visible when you look at the Fitbit Versa 2. If you want an affordable fitness-focused smartwatch, you shouldn’t miss this year’s Black Friday Fitbit deals, which includes Best Buy’s offer for the Fitbit Versa 2.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 (40mm, Bluetooth) — $200, was $250
Why buy
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, the spiritual successor of the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 and the svelte sibling of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, is powered by Wear OS 3, a version of Google’s Android operating system. This enables access to your favorite Google Play apps, including Spotify for your music, Google Maps for navigation, and Samsung Pay for contactless payments, among many others. The operating system also supports a variety of fitness-tracking features for monitoring metrics such as blood oxygen, heart rate, and BMI. With Wear OS 3, you’ll be able to maximize the capabilities of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4. Meanwhile, the AMOLED screen features a resolution of 450 x 450 for a clear view of what’s on the screen at all times, even when you’re in the sunny outdoors.
The IP68 rating of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 keeps it safe from damage caused by water and dust, so it’s fine to keep the smartwatch on your wrist at all times. That’s possible because it’s comfortable to wear with its silicone strap. You don’t even have to charge the wearable device much, as its battery is capable of lasting two days on a single charge with average usage. Lastly, the smartwatch looks fashionable on your wrist with its sleek and customizable design, as you can get different bands to use with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4.
Fitbit Sense — $200, was $300
Why buy
Fitbit aimed for the most comprehensive fitness tracker and smartwatch in one wearable device with the Fitbit Sense, and it doesn’t disappoint. It offers you the choice between Google Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa, to enable voice commands for a variety of functions like searching for information and controlling your smart-home devices. With its built-in GPS, you’ll also be able to check on your pace and distance when you go out to run or ride your bike. Fitbit promises a battery life of more than six days, so it’s rarely going to be off your wrist, and when it needs to recharge, its fast-charging feature refills the battery with a full day’s charge in only 12 minutes.
When comparing the Fitbit Versa 3 and Fitbit Sense, the Fitbit Sense holds the advantage in its fitness-tracking features with the introduction of the electrocardiogram, or ECG, monitor, which will measure your heart rhythm and checks for conditions such as atrial fibrillation; an electrodermal activity, or EDA, monitor, that will measure your stress level; and an on-wrist temperature sensor that will alert you of any signs of fever. Every purchase of the Fitbit Sense also comes with a six-month membership to Fitbit Premium, which will help with your personal development by suggesting customized goals and providing guidance. You can also collect all the data that the Fitbit Sense accumulates over time and take it to a doctor for a better understanding of your fitness level.
Apple Watch Series 6 (40mm, GPS) — $319, was $374
Why buy
The Apple Watch Series 6, the previous flagship wearable device of Apple, is now available in Black Friday Apple Watch deals, featuring an always-on screen that was introduced on the Apple Watch Series 5. Instead of the screen turning fully black when the device goes to sleep after being idle for a few minutes, the watch face will instead slightly change its design and dims most of the components, for a visually striking smartwatch on your wrist. The sharp and detailed display of the Apple Watch Series 6 looks amazing, with enough brightness to still be viewable even when you’re outside. Apple also promises up to 18 hours of battery life on a single charge for the Apple Watch Series 6.
The device comes with the usual fitness-tracking features found in smartwatches, including measuring your workouts such as running, swimming, yoga, dancing, and more. It’s also water resistant up to 50 meters, so you can keep wearing the Apple Watch Series 6 while in the pool, and it has the ability to detect if the wearer takes a hard fall, then contacts emergency services immediately. The smartwatch also comes with a blood-oxygen monitor and electrocardiogram, for additional information on your health. All the while, the device’s quick performance is due to the dual-core S6 processor, which is 20% faster than its predecessor, the S5 chip.
Apple Watch Series 7 (41mm, GPS) — $380, was $390
Why buy
The Apple Watch Series 7 took over the top spot in ’ best smartwatches, and it’s easy to see why. It maintains key features from its predecessor, including blood-oxygen monitoring, ECG, and daily activity tracking, but makes improvements that includes nearly 20% more screen area that makes everything easier to see, and the most crack-resistant front crystal on any model of the Apple Watch. The wearable device also comes with IP6X dust resistance, to protect it from damage, and a swim-proof design with WR50 water resistance so you don’t need to take off the smartwatch while you’re in the pool.
For those who love to customize their belongings, you’ll love the Apple Watch Series 7 because you can mix and match between different straps and cases, depending on your mood for the day. In terms of battery life, it’s possible to reach two days and more on a single charge if you switch it off overnight, though you don’t need to worry about drained batteries because the device’s fast-charging feature restores an 80% charge in about 45 minutes. Bringing all of this together is Apple’s WatchOS 8, which improves sleep tracking with the addition of respiratory rate data, introduces AssistiveTouch for interactions without needing to touch the device’s screen, and adds a Notify When Left Behind option so you’ll be alerted when your chosen device gets too far away from you.
Should you shop Black Friday smartwatch deals now?
It’s no secret that there’s a global microchip shortage happening right now that’s affecting all kinds of electronic devices, including smartwatches. That means the supply for the best Black Friday smartwatch deals might not be able to keep up with the demand during the shopping holiday. If you see an offer you like that’s available, you should take advantage of it right away because it might not be there by the time you get back to it.
Some shoppers may also be thinking of holding out in case the prices of the best Black Friday smartwatch deals drop further. While the possibility is certainly there, it’s more likely that the price you see doesn’t change, or it shifts just by a few dollars. There’s no sense in waiting for bigger discounts when you can already afford the deal that you find, as you’ll be opening yourself up to the risk of depleted stocks. If you come across a deal that fits your budget, you should go for it right away.