One of the best smartwatch deals today is also on one of my personal favorite devices and one that has greatly encouraged me to run more throughout the last few months. Today, you can buy the Garmin Forerunner 265 smartwatch for $100 off at Best Buy — for $350 instead of $450. It’s effectively like having a personal trainer on your wrist, so it’s worth every cent. If you’re looking to enhance your runs and general performance, this is the watch for you. The deal is on until September 22, so let’s take a little look at what it has to offer.
When we reviewed the Garmin Forerunner 265, we called it “a new standard for fitness watches.” That is definitely how I felt when I spent time with it. One huge highlight is its great looking AMOLED panel, which offers deep blacks and vibrant colors. Having tried cheaper Garmin watches, it’s that screen that instantly makes the Garmin Forerunner 265 much classier to use.
Alongside that, this watch tops our look at the best Garmin watches for running. Each day, it will suggest a run that is personalized to you and your current abilities. It can also recommend a run to improve your VO2 max, sprint speed, or even a recovery run if you need more rest. Our reviewer found that it “helped [them] shake up [their] routine and attempt different types of runs,” which is what I found too. However you run, a vast amount of data is provided to you, with time, distance, pace, heart rate, and heart rate zone all on the main data screen, while lap time, lap distance, and lap pace are available on a separate screen. It’s big and easy to read, and there is a detailed post-run breakdown to help you feel good.
Like the best smartwatches, there are also extensive health and fitness features. After three days of use you’ll gain a Training Readiness score which shows you whether you can push your training schedule that day or not. In my experience it’s pretty accurate.
Packed with genuinely useful features, the Garmin Forerunner 265 normally costs $450, but right now you can buy it from Best Buy for $350. The deal is on until September 22, so you have a little time to decide. But if you’re an avid runner, you really just need to go straight to that buy button. You won’t regret it.
The OnePlus Buds Clip are a new pair of open-ear earbuds built around a simple convenience. They join Sony’s LinkBuds Clip in the growing ear-cuff category, but either OnePlus bud can go on either ear.
Sensors recognize how the earbuds are being worn and route the audio channels accordingly. There’s no label to check before putting them on, and the feature also works when only one bud is used.
We buy fitness bands and activity trackers to keep tabs on our exercise, but it is easy to forget to start tracking or switch modes when moving between different activities. For Fitbit and Pixel Watch users, that could soon become a lot less annoying, as Google is rolling out a major upgrade to automatic activity tracking that can recognize more than 100 types of exercise, up from just 10 before.
Google first showed off the improved tracking earlier this month alongside the Fitbit Edge. It is now coming to Fitbit Air and the Pixel Watch 3, 4, and 5, and Google claims the added context behind the system makes workout detection nearly twice as accurate while cutting missed activities by more than half. Fitbit Edge will support it too.