18 Best Deals: Electric Bikes, Outdoor Gear, and Camera Bags
Step into spring with these discounted outdoorsy gadgets….
Winter is finally behind us here in the US, so you might be itching to spend more time outdoors—whether it’s going for a run or a bike ride, spending time in the backyard, or planning a trip. Regardless of how you plan to shake off cabin fever, we’ve found a variety of gear on sale to make it even more enjoyable. Below, you’ll find great deals on electric bikes, smartwatches, luggage, portable chargers, and more. Looking for more deals? Earlier this week we rounded up some nice discounts on phones, headphones, and video games.
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Electric Bike and Electric Scooter Deals
Read our Best Ebikes and Best Electric Scooters guides for more.
The Ride1Up Cafe Cruiser is currently our top utility bike, and it ships directly to you, no dealer required. We like the Shimano shifters and hydraulic brakes. The assistance is a bit bumpy and unpredictable, so we recommend using the throttle for the best maneuverability. If you opt for the passenger kit, it’s worth noting the rear rack can only hold up to 150 pounds.
The Freedom X (7/10, WIRED Review) received an honorable mention in our Best Electric Bikes buying guide. It packs powerful acceleration, a built-in headlight and taillight, seven speeds on the shifter, and five levels of pedal assist. At 39 pounds, it’s also lightweight for an ebike—making this a good choice if you live in an apartment building.
This electric scooter (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is ideal for anyone who lives in an area with steep hills. It has a 1,000-watt dual motor that goes up to 34 miles per hour, the choice between disc or hydraulic brakes, and LEDs built all around for visibility in the dark. And, although it’s a bit hard to read in sunny conditions, there’s a display that shows ride data like speed, battery life, and the speed mode you’re in.
It’s a small discount, but we really liked riding this powerful electric scooter (7/10, WIRED Recommends). It’s heavy at 53 pounds, but it’s easy to fold up and easy to carry with the grab handle. There’s a front light and taillight, not to mention visibility lights along the deck, and with dual motors it’s plenty powerful.
Outdoor Gear and Fitness Tracker Deals
If you need to upgrade your helmet this spring, we recommend the Nutcase Vio (8/10, WIRED Recommends). It has LED lights built in around the entire helmet and a front light with 200 lumens for better visibility. That way, you don’t have to install separate headlights and taillights on your bike. It comes with the Multi-Directional Impact Protection System (MIPS) too—in the event of a crash, the helmet will rotate slightly to dissipate the impact. We have more in our Best Bike Accessories guide.
This bike lock is pricey, but it offers great security—important if your bike is your main form of transportation. Each end of the U-bar locks into the cylinder on both sides of the 13-millimeter-thick bars, making it tough for a thief to quickly grind through. It fluctuates in price often, but this is still a good deal. Read our Best Bike Locks guide for more.
Depending on where you live, the temperature might be hot enough to ditch the jacket but still chilly enough for a long-sleeve shirt. Made of merino wool, this one is super comfortable and has a tight weave that will keep you warm without making you feel like you’re overheating. Our only gripe is that it doesn’t come with a hood. You can find more base layers in our guide.
The Apple Watch Series 8 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is our favorite Apple Watch of them all. It packs an ECG reader, a heart rate monitor, a blood oxygen level sensor, a wrist-based temperature sensing feature that tracks your skin temperature, and Crash Detection, in addition to basic fitness tracking. It has dipped to this price before.
The Galaxy Watch5 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is our top pick for Android users. It tracks a variety of health and fitness metrics, including heart rate, sleep, and SpO2—just as accurately as the Apple Watch. If you have a Samsung phone, you can use it to take electrocardiogram measurements too. Those with bigger wrists will want to look into the 44-mm version, which is also on sale for $279 ($30 off).
We like the Polar Ignite for its low profile and extremely specific data collection. For example, you can use it to check how metrics like heart rate, heart-rate variability, and breathing rate collectively increase during exercise. It’s a good option for those who want a fitness tracker that calculates your data instead of simply highlighting it.
Camera Bags and Luggage Deals
Check out our Best Luggage and Best Camera Bags guides for other picks.
The Claremont Crossbody is a great camera bag for anyone who doesn’t want to sacrifice fashion for functionality. It’s spacious enough for a mirrorless camera, a few lenses, and other essentials like memory cards and batteries, but it also has a sleek look that pairs well with stylish outfits.
As you can probably tell by the design, this backpack is meant for nature walks on the trail. It can fit a small DSLR or mirrorless camera in the removable cube (attached to the side), but there’s also room for hiking gear and snacks. It’s made of 75 percent recycled fabrics, too.
Photograph: Amazon
Travelpro’s Maxlite 5 is our top budget suitcase pick. It has an exterior toiletry pocket, strong zippers that don’t get stuck (a common problem with cheap suitcases), and wheels that roll nicely. The aluminum extension for the handle does stick sometimes, and the handle isn’t the most durable, but it’s still better quality than most suitcases at this price.
This is our favorite soft-shell bag. It has a variety of different compartments, including modules for dirty laundry, suits and shirts (to keep them wrinkle-free), and other small compartments. There’s also a clear plastic pocket for toiletries you can remove when going through security and a pocket for a battery bank with a pass-through for a charging cable.
Portable Charger Deals
Read our Best Portable Battery Packs guide for more recommendations.
If you’re planning a vacation for spring break, a portable charger is essential, and the SuperTank Pro is our go-to option for air travel. It has a 26,800-mAh capacity (the maximum-sized power bank you can take on a flight), four USB-C ports (two of which can issue 100 watts and two that output 20 watts each), and a tiny OLED display that shows the remaining power as a percentage and in watt-hours. It comes with a zip-up case with room for cables too.
The PowerCore Slim is lightweight and tiny, and it will juice up your device quickly. It comes equipped with one USB-A port and one USB-C port, and it can charge most phones up to two to three times. We’ve also used it to power up a Fire HD 8 tablet (twice) and camera batteries. As with all of Anker’s chargers, this one comes with a nice pouch that’s perfect for storing cords.
We gave this power bank an honorable mention in our Best Portable Chargers buying guide. It has a 20,800-mAh battery, two USB-C ports (100 watts and 45 watts), a USB-A (18 watts), and a wireless charging top (10 watts) with support for Apple’s MagSafe. It also has a unique green skin—a nice change from the bland aesthetic of most power banks—and a built-in display that shows the remaining power percentage. Our only complaints are that it’s on the larger side and it drains slowly when not in use.
We tested the Sherpa 100 AC, which has a 100-watt AC port for gadgets that need a pronged plug. If you don’t need that, the Sherpa 100 PD is a great alternative, and it’s cheaper too. This model comes with one USB-C port, two USB-A ports, and a spot to wirelessly charge your Qi-compatible devices on top.
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