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The big shopping outlets are gearing up for another Black Friday sale season, and we’ll be on top of all those deals as they become available. Garmin announced several early Black Friday deals that are already live, and Google and Coros have now confirmed discounts on some of their wearables, too. In Google’s case, it’s a sale on Pixel Watch 4 and Fitbit devices, and Coros has announced a price drop on watches in its popular Pace line.
To keep an eye on prices yourself, consider using these deal-tracking tools that can alert you as soon as the price drops, and that can show you the history of price changes when you think you’ve found a deal. (Our deals writer Daniel Oropeza, who compiled that list, considers CamelCamelCamel one of the best. My personal favorite is Keepa.)
As Black Friday approaches, I’ll keep looking out for deals on fitness gear including fitness trackers and smartwatches, so let me give you a preview of what I’m expecting—and hoping—to see, plus the deals that are already live.
Fitness trackers already on sale for Black Friday
Black Friday is still a couple weeks away, but the following devices are already discounted in early Black Friday deals.
Coros Pace 3
Coros doesn’t usually participate in big sale events, but the company just launched the Pace 4, which costs $249 and which performed excellently in my review. That means the Pace 3 gets a price drop—as of November 14, the Pace 3 is $199 instead of $229.
I like the Pace 3 a lot as a simple but powerful running watch. Another watch to pay attention to is the Pace Pro, a big sister to the 3 and 4 with a larger screen and built-in maps. No other big-name watch gives you maps on a watch at this price point, and the Pace Pro is also dropping in price, to $299, instead of the previous price of $349. Note that Coros seems to be dropping these prices permanently, so this isn’t just a Black Friday deal.
Garmin Forerunner 165
The 165 is Garmin’s modern entry-level watch. No offense to the 55, but it feels like a holdover from the past, as evidenced by the fact it’s four years old and has had to sit out two generations of newer models from the company. The 165 doesn’t feel outdated yet, though, and our resident marathoner Meredith Dietz loved the 165 Music. Its sibling, the 165 (same thing, just no offline music storage), made my list of the best affordable running watches.
Because it comes in those two versions, you’ll want to pay attention to the differences. The music edition typically costs $50 more. Normally the version without music storage is $249, and the version with is $299. Earlier, I wrote that I’d keep an eye out for another drop to $199.99 like last year’s Black Friday sale. Well, it’s here! The Forerunner 165 is $199, and the Forerunner 165 Music is $249.99.
Garmin Forerunner 265 (a surprise!)
If I’m confusing you with all these model numbers, I have an explainer here that will help you follow along. In any case, the 265 and 965 are still good watches, and I wrote earlier that this year we might be able to expect more than $100 off for those two. It looks like my wish has come true—the 265 is now going for $299.99 ($150 off) and the 965 is $449.99 (also $150 off).
The Black Friday deals I’m still hoping to see
Most of my predictions here are based on the sales I’ve seen from these models in the past. For devices that are new this year, I’m looking at last year’s prices on the models that were new at the time. Most of the companies on my list have both newer and older models available. Here are the prices I’ll be looking for to know when I’ve found a great deal.
Apple Watch Series 11: $329 or lower
Last year’s Series 10 watch dropped as low as $329 for Black Friday. This year, the Series 11 is the newest model (see our associate tech editor Michelle Ehrhardt’s take on it here). The base model has the same regular retail price of $399 as the Series 10 did last year, so a repeat of that discount seems likely. Apple’s “series” watches come in two sizes and two connectivity options, so I’m focusing on the smaller model without cellular. Expect larger sizes to cost $20 more and cellular to cost $100 more.
So if all is equal, this year’s Black Friday should bring Series 11 deals of $329 or so. Lower would be great! It’s harder to know what to expect from the Series 10, since it’s older. But last year the older model (the Series 9) was available for $219 as a Black Friday deal, so I’d keep an eye out for similarly steep discounts on the 10 this year.
Pixel Watch 4: $279 or lower
The newest version of Google’s Pixel Watch is the 4, which I reviewed here. Google has confirmed that a sale will begin Nov. 20 that will let buyers “save up to $100 on Pixel Watch 4.” This watch sells for prices from $349.99 to $499.99 so that suggests sale prices of $249.99 to $399.99 depending on whether you opt for the larger or smaller size, with cellular connectivity or without.
While we wait for the exact prices, I’ll tell you what I expect based on past sales. In 2024, the Pixel Watch 3 dipped down to $279 for Black Friday, from a regular price of $349, so I would expect something similar for the 4 this year. The Pixel Watch 4 is currently at the same starting point of $349 and up. As with the Apple Watch, I’m quoting numbers for the smaller, non-cellular model. The larger size costs $50 more and cellular capabilities cost $100 more.
If you’re interested in buying the older model, you’re already in luck. As I write this, the some colors of the Pixel Watch 3 are on sale for $199.99, $100 off the usual price. If last year’s sales on the Pixel Watch 2 are any indication, the 3 might drop as low as $145.
Garmin Forerunner 970: $699 or lower
Garmin’s 970 and 570 have never been on a real sale yet; both were launched earlier this year. The 970, with maps and an LED flashlight, has a retail price of $749. The 570, which is missing those two features but is still an excellent higher-end running watch, sits at $549. Will Black Friday bring the first sales for these watches? I think there’s a good chance of it, but I’m not expecting a huge discount. Last year, the previous models—the 265 and 965—were both $100 off, but they were a year and a half old at that point. Go back two years, to when they were newer, and the discount was more like $50.
Garmin Forerunner 55: $149 or lower
Garmin’s Forerunner 55 is its most basic running watch, which I have mixed feelings about. It’s missing a lot of features that other entry-level Garmin Forerunners, like the 165, have as a matter of course. But it does great at the basic job of tracking your runs, and I’ve always felt that if Garmin could get it closer to $99, I’d sing its praises from the rooftops. It’s never dropped quite that low, though.
The original sticker price was $199.99, and it’s often sitting somewhere around $169.99. As of today, it’s equaling the lowest price I’ve seen in the past, $149.99. This watch isn’t getting any younger, and I think if Garmin’s smart, it’ll consider a steeper price drop this Black Friday.
Fitbit Charge 6: $99 or lower
Google has confirmed that the Fitbit Charge 6 will be available for $99.95 starting Nov. 20. This device has a sticker price of $159.95, but often sells for a good bit less, and occasionally drops down near $100. When I first wrote up my predictions earlier this month, the Charge 6 was already down to $99.95—but that seems to have been a temporary drop, since it’s back up to $128.95 as I write this.
With this low price coming so early in November, I wondered whether a Black Friday deal might drop it even further—but it seems Google is hinting that $99.95 is as low as it’s going to get. The Charge 6 isn’t the best one out there, but it fits the bill of an “I don’t want to think about it” basic tracker. If you just want to track your steps without overthinking which model to get, this is a fine pick.
