Amazon is about to close the books on this year’s Prime Day deals extravaganza, and since this sale attracts a horde of shoppers in search of Black Friday-level discounts, it’s no surprise to see other retailers getting in on the action too. Walmart’s Prime Day sale, dubbed the “Deals for Days” event, is one such blowout, and one of the hottest bargains on offer right now is this deep $80 price cut on the superb Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2. If you’ve been looking to join the smartwatch revolution and want a classically styled piece that’s as smart as it looks, keep reading.
Despite the early hype surrounding the concept of “a smartphone for your wrist,” most people were understandably skeptical of smartwatches when they first came onto the scene. That changed with the Apple Watch, which not only became the most popular smartwatch in existence but made Apple one of the largest watchmakers in the world almost overnight. It was a good while, however, before Android users got anything comparable to Apple’s offering, and not for lack of companies trying (and failing) to match that success.
It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that Samsung, as the king of the Android smartphone world, would be the one to finally crack that nut with its line of Galaxy smartwatches. In fact, in our Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 review, our team all but declared that this is the Apple Watch for non-iPhone users owing to its sleek design, sturdy build quality, great set of features, always-on display, and generous battery life. The Galaxy Watch Active 2 (as its name suggests) is marketed as a fitness wearable, and while it packs an excellent suite of health- and activity-tracking functions, its classically inspired 40mm case and a great selection of apps also make it a superb all-around smartwatch that you can wear all day.
It’s priced pretty reasonably, too — quite a bit cheaper than the flagship Apple Watch Series 6 — with a sticker cost of $279. But for the Walmart Deals for Days sale, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 can be yours for just $199, saving you 80 bucks. That’s a pretty sweet bargain and one of the lowest prices we’ve ever seen for what might be our favorite flagship smart wearable that’s not an Apple Watch (and one that’s much more affordable).
Looking for something a bit different? There are plenty of other Prime Day smartwatch deals happening right now. We’ve cataloged some of the best below.
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.