Best Labor Day smartwatch deals: Apple Watch, Fitbit and more

Smartwatches are great for a variety of reasons, from being able to track your health to letting you interact with your phone without having to pull it out constantly, and while Labor Day is officially over, there are still some solid deals floating around. The past few years have really seen the smartwatch market boom, so there are an absolute ton of options to pick, from the fairly budget-oriented fitness trackers to the truly high-end smartwatches that can do almost anything. To that end, we’ve gone out and collected some of our favorite smartwatch deals out there to save you the hassle, but do make sure to check back regularly as we update this list with newer and better deals.

Best Labor Day smartwatch deals to shop right now

Garmin Forerunner 55 — $170, was $200

If you’re an active person and particularly enjoy running or swimming, you need one of the best Garmin watches. The Garmin Forerunner 55 is highly affordable while still boasting up to two weeks of battery life and Daily Suggested Workouts to help guide you on your fitness journey. GPS-based pace guidance is also provided while you run and you can easily figure out your race time predictions, all while keeping an eye on how intense your workouts are and what your fitness age is. Think of it as like a personal trainer on your wrist. I swear by all things Garmin when going for runs, as its insight is unparalleled and far better than a general smartwatch.

Fitbit Sense — $177, was $250

The Fitbit Sense is an attractive looking smartwatch that is also pretty smart, even if recent times have seen the launch of the Fitbit Sense 2. It tracks things like your heart rate and your skin temperature, but it also has an EDA scan app which detects electrodermal activity, aka your body’s response to stress. The built-in GPS is great for tracking all your journeys, and there’s battery life of over six days, which is very useful during a busy week of activity. The Fitbit ecosystem is an appealing way of seeing how you’re progressing, and you can even set up competitions with buddies. Best of all, like Garmin watches, the Fitbit Sense and the best Fitbits works just as well with your Android phone as it does iPhones.

Apple Watch SE 2 — $189, was $249

When we reviewed the Apple Watch SE 2, we loved how it was “simple, cheap, and brilliant.” It’s even cheaper now and is an ideal smartwatch entry point for iPhone users. It tracks all your workouts along with how many steps you take each day, how many calories you burn, and how your heart rate is doing. As well as that, you can use it to take calls, send texts, or receive other notifications from your phone. There’s also Fall Detection, Crash Detection, and Emergency SOS so it keeps you safe at all times.

SAMSUNG Galaxy Watch 6 — $200, was $300

If you’re in the Samsung ecosystem and are looking for a great smartwatch, then the Galaxy Watch 6 is an excellent option, even though it’s not the latest version to come out. It’s possibly one of the most comfortable generations of the watch, and the screen is vibrant and bright, so it’s easy to see even in bright daylight. The battery is also very much improved, giving you about two full days of use before needing recharging, although that will decrease a bit if you’re using stuff like having the always-on display running. The Galaxy Watch 6 also has the latest tracking sensors, with everything from heart rate to the Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis, which gives you several different stats about your body.

Apple Watch Series 9 — $329, was $429

The Apple Watch Series 9 is a must-have for iPhone owners keen to be fitter. It’s the watch I spend my days with and I’m consistently pleased. It looks great and pairs well with the iPhone. It provides encouragement via its Activity Rings system and how it motivates you with monthly challenge badges. It tracks all your steps, along with your heart rate and all the essentials, and you can also take an ECG any time you need to. It’s that sweet combo of useful and simple, which means you can’t miss here.

Garmin epix Pro (Gen 2) — $1,000, was $1,100

If you want a smartwatch that’s specifically made to be rugged and nearly indestructible, the Garmin epix Pro 2 comes pretty close. It has a titanium body and a scratch-resistant sapphire AMOLED display which makes it stand up to the elements really well. It also comes with a host of features, such as the ECG that can detect atrial fibrillation, a VO2 sensor that can help give you an overall fitness score over time, as well as the daily report you can get on your fitness level for that day. The battery can also last up to 31 one day, which is pretty impressive, and if you put it in GPS mode, that gets bumped up to 58 hours.

Apple Watch vs. Fitbit vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch vs. Garmin Watch

If you’re having trouble deciding what to buy for Labor Day among the best smartwatches, one of the most important factors is the smartphone that you’re going to pair it with. If you’re using an iPhone, then any model of the Apple Watch is a no-brainer, and if you’re on a Samsung Galaxy smartphone, then you should go for a Samsung Galaxy Watch. There are workarounds to make the Apple Watch work with a Samsung Galaxy smartphone, and you can pair the Samsung Galaxy Watch with an iPhone, but it just makes sense to keep investing in the ecosystem of devices that you’re used to, as you’ll be unlocking synergies that won’t be possible if you go cross-platform.

The Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch, however, lean more towards being wearable devices. If you want a simpler smartwatch that’s designed for fitness tracking, we highly recommend going for either a Fitbit or a Garmin Watch. Fitbit smartwatches favor the casual crowd with a more general focus on health and wellness, while a Garmin Watch is for hardcore athletes and fitness enthusiasts who want to drill down on their statistics as they aim for constant progress in their sport.

When do Labor Day smartwatch sales start?

Labor Day smartwatch deals will officially start on the weekend before Labor Day — so that’s Aug. 30, stretching towards the actual holiday on Sept. 2, which was yesterday. That’s when all the popular retailers will roll out huge discounts on smartwatches from the top manufacturers. As such, if you’ve been waiting patiently to snag yourself some deals, now is the perfect time to do so.

That said, we’re also expecting to see more deals during the next few days after Labor Day as retailers wind down and try to eliminate any additional stock. That may mean that we see a few more steep deals, but for the most part, if you see something you like today, then be sure to grab it.

Should you shop Labor Day smartwatch deals or wait until Black Friday?

Some shoppers are going to skip the Labor Day smartwatch deals as they’re looking ahead to the potentially larger discounts on Black Friday for the wearable device that they want to buy. There’s certainly a chance that prices will get lower on Black Friday, as history suggests, but there are also a few reasons why you’d want to take advantage of Labor Day smartwatch sales instead.

First and foremost, there’s no telling what’s going to be offered on Black Friday, while the discounts that you can enjoy for Labor Day are already a real thing that you can pounce on right now if you shop the early deals. You may end up only saving a few more dollars if you wait for Black Friday, which wouldn’t feel too nice after months of waiting. There’s also the fact that getting a smartwatch now will feel much better as you can already start using it, so an extra discount on Black Friday may not matter much as you’ve already had good mileage on your wearable device by then. Feel free to wait for Black Friday if you can bear it, but buying from Labor Day smartwatch deals certainly has more merits than most people realize.