8 Great Deals on Wireless Earbuds, Smartwatches, and More
Squeeze in some outdoor workouts with a nice pair of buds and a wearable to follow your metrics….
The fall season is great for a variety of outdoor activities. The most underrated of them all, however, is working out. Nothing beats that cool breeze when you’re sweating your butt off. But we all know a workout sesh isn’t complete without the right accessories—like a pair of wireless earbuds and a smartwatch or fitness tracker to accurately track your stats. Below, we’ve rounded up an assortment of deals for all three.
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Wireless Earbuds Deals
The Galaxy Buds2 (9/10 WIRED Recommends) are the latest addition to Samsung’s line of wireless buds, and in our Best Wireless Earbuds roundup, WIRED reviews editor Parker Hall also says these are his favorite headphones for Android. (It’s important to know that iPhone users won’t have access to the Buds2 companion app.) They’re lightweight, boast an IPX2 water-resistance rating, and pack active noise cancellation, getting up to five hours of battery life with the feature turned on. They even come with a wireless charging case.
These hold the title of Best Overall in our roundup of the best earbuds for working out. In addition to a durable build and long battery life, the the Vista 2 buds offer a more comfortable fit than the first-generation model (8/10 WIRED Recommends), along with the ability to find your lost earbuds or switch from noise-canceling mode to ambient mode via the companion app.
Bang & Olufsen’s earbuds are stunning to look at and water-resistant, and the size is ideal for those with small ears, who often struggle to find buds that fit. Their excellent sound quality is super customizable, too, with the option to adjust audio transparency and choose from different listening profiles. As for battery life, you’ll get up to seven hours as stand-alone buds, and 30 hours including the case.
The second-generation earbuds from JBL and Under Armour feel really secure during workouts, thanks to the large, winged ear tips. And rather than pesky touch controls, physical buttons on the outside of each bud make everything less frustrating. While pricey, you get premium features like up to 10 hours of battery life and fast connectivity via Bluetooth 5.0.
If you couldn’t tell by the name, Ultimate Ears’ Fits (7/10 WIRED Recommends) are great for all types of ears, thanks to custom-molded tips. Other features include great sound quality and battery life (up to eight hours without the case and 20 with it), as well as good microphones. It’s worth noting that these buds dip to this price often, but it’s still a good deal, since these are pretty expensive in general.
Smartwatches and Fitness Tracker Deals
Garmin’s Venu Sq (8/10 WIRED Recommends) is a great entry-level fitness tracker. It’s equipped with an always-on LCD touchscreen that’s both bright and responsive, and it comes in an assortment of charming colors. Under the hood, the Venu Sq offers high-end features like blood oxygen monitoring, sleep tracking, and energy level monitoring. It also tracks more common data like workouts, step count, calories, and more.
The Galaxy Watch4 (7/10 WIRED Recommends) is our favorite fitness tracker for Android users. It’s the first smartwatch to run Wear OS 3 (Google’s latest watch operating system, created with the help of Samsung and Fitbit), and it tracks a variety of health and fitness metrics, including ECG, SPO2, heart rate, and sleep. All of this is packed into a sleek, comfortable case. Sadly, iPhone users are out of luck with this one, since the Galaxy Watch4 only works with Android phones. In fact, some features, like ECG tracking, are reserved for Samsung devices.
Casio’s PRT-B50 smartwatch has a tendency to fluctuate in price, but it’s a great choice if you’re looking for a rugged smartwatch for the outdoors. The digital display doesn’t show notifications—it’s not listed as the “Best Barely Smart Watch” in our buying guide of the best smartwatches for nothing—but it does pack other smart features, including a built-in compass, connected GPS (with altitude), and the ability to check temperature and barometric pressure.
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