I review wearables — these are the 7 best smartwatch Black Friday deals worth shopping now

Here's a secret: The Apple Watch SE 3 is my favorite model in the current series. Though it lacks some of the higher-end health tracking features of its big bros, it covers all the basics, with comprehensive sleep insights, lots of fitness training features/modes, useful safety tools, and no shortage of apps. I also find it comfier than the Series 11, even though it's a bit thicker.

The Apple Watch Series 11 lasts longer than the SE 3, up to 24 hours per charge versus 18 hours. It also has a brighter screen and some potentially life-saving wellness tools, including hypertension alerts. All this adds up to the best Apple Watch for most people in 2025.

I realize that the Fitbit Charge 6 is neither new (it launched in 2023) nor technically a smartwatch. However, I felt compelled to include it in this list because 1. It remains the best fitness tracker money can buy, and 2. It is rarely discounted this much. Extremely comfortable, with up to a week of battery and plenty of fitness tracking modes, the Charge 6 also sports a small but bright AMOLED screen and access to handy smart apps like Google Maps and Google Wallet.

The Garmin Instinct 3 is my favorite smartwatch for tracking hikes and other adventures in the great outdoors. This deal, specifically, is on the smaller (45mm) model with solar-powered charging. While the AMOLED Instinct 3 is also discounted, it doesn't have solar and isn't as long-lasting. More importantly, the Instinct 3 offers rock-solid location and elevation data, supports an enormous range of activity types, and is jam-packed with training tools. Plus, it's got a shockproof design with 100 meters of water resistance and a useful LED flashlight built into the case.

The Google Pixel Watch 4 is my favorite smartwatch for Android in 2025, specifically, the 45mm model linked here. With a slightly larger screen than the 41mm model (which is also on sale), the biggest advantage of the 45mm option is superior battery life. In my testing, it lasts for up to 60 hours per charge. It also offers loads of holistic tools and features Google's excellent Gemini AI voice assistant built right in. Best of all, you can 'awake' simply by raising your wrist thanks to a new gesture control.

Samsung's latest Galaxy Watch 8 smartwatch is on sale for a respectable 20% off ahead of the holiday season, it's deepest discount yet. Sporting an updated 'cushion' style case, ultra-bright AMOLED screen, and seriously impressive AI-powered wellness tools, it's no wonder we chose it as one of the best smartwatch models of the year.

Much to my delight, Samsung brought back the 'Classic' edition of its flagship smartwatch for 2025, which incorporates a bi-directional bezel into the design that can be used for navigating the watch's settings. While the guts are essentially the same as the standard Galaxy Watch 8, the Classic edition is significantly longer lasting and features an additional, customizable button along the side of the case.