Skip to main content

Save up to $200 on select Garmin smartwatches at REI’s Gear Up and Get Out Sale

REI’s Gear Up and Get Out sale is underway, and there’s plenty of great deals to be had on a variety of hot outdoor products that are sure to make for great gifts for any outdoor enthusiast. Some of our favorite deals include price cuts on select Garmin fitness smartwatches, some as much as 33% off.

Depending on the model, you can save up to $200 off retail during the sale, which ends November 25. We’ve spotted deals on the Instinct, Forerunner, Fenix, and Descent lines, some of which are at the lowest prices we’ve seen yet at the retailer. Let’s take a look at the best deals.

Garmin Instinct

While many fitness smartwatches attempt to be all things for all types of activities, the Garmin Instinct takes a different approach. Purpose-built for hikers and outdoorsmen, the watch is built to have superior resistance to heat, cold, shocks, and water. Among the features that make it so suitable for hikers is the on-screen navigation and custom routing thanks to its built-in GPS (which utilizes not one but three different satellite systems), and a built-in three-axis compass. Of course, it’s got all the essential activity-tracking features that you would expect in a fitness smartwatch, including a reliable and accurate heart rate monitor.

The Garmin Instinct also easily earned a spot among our favorite hiking watches for its excellent price point of $300. However, during the sale, the price has been slashed by a third, allowing you to pick up this outstanding watch for just $200. That’s one of the best prices we’ve seen yet.

Buy at REI

Garmin Forerunner 945

Garmin Forerunner 945 review
Kelly Hodgkins/Digital Trends

The Garmin Forerunner 945 is the company’s successor to the popular Forerunner 935 smartwatch. The 935 was one of our favorite fitness tracking watches for its expansive feature set, including a bright color screen, built-in optical heart rate monitor, barometric altimeter, compass, gyroscope, accelerometer, and thermometer — and a host of built-in apps. The 945 builds on this, adding features like music storage, maps, training load focus, and updated VO2 max calculations. It’s pretty crazy that Garmin’s fit this much tech into such a small package (although it’s bigger than a good deal of the fitness watches out there).

All this tech comes with a pretty high price tag, though. At its full retail price, $600 is a lot to pay for a smartwatch. But for a fitness junkie looking for one of the best fitness smartwatches on the market — the 945 adds enough new functionality over its predecessor that it’s worth the upgrade. And during the sale, it’s $100 cheaper ($500).

Buy at REI

Garmin Fenix 5X Plus

Garmin calls the Fenix 5X Plus the “ultimate” multisport GPS smartwatch. And for a price that sets you back $750, it should be. You’ll get all the standard features of the Fenix 5, 5X, and 5 Plus, but the 5X Plus added Pulse Ox Acclimation in Garmin’s 51mm case and a scratch-resistant sapphire lens. The pulse oximetry sensor monitors blood oxygen saturation and provides reports on sleep quality and your acclimation level at the current altitude. We think this is an excellent feature for those that are frequently hiking/climbing to high altitude. If your adventure travel often includes ascents, the information available from this model’s location trackers and the pulse oximeter can prove invaluable.

We’re big fans of that sapphire lens. Testing proves that the claims of the scratch resistance and durability aren’t just hyped-up marketing. It is extraordinarily durable. For the type of fitness enthusiast that Garmin’s attempting to target with this particular smartwatch, we think it’s a smart move. Normally retailing for $750 at REI, the sale brings the price down to as low as $500 on select models.

Buy at REI

Garmin Descent MK1

The Descent Mk1 is a dive computer on your wrist, allowing you to plan your dive down to the smallest details. The GPS marks both your entry and exit points, while a dive log and color mapping help you track your route. It even has the functionality to ensure that you have sufficient air and warns you when you’re running low. But don’t think this is just a diving watch: On solid ground, it works much the same as the Fenix 5X smartwatch in terms of what it can do.

The biggest negative to this watch is undoubtedly its price. At $1,000, it’s one of the most expensive watches on the market today. But for its specialized nature and great reviews from those who own it, you should consider this one if you’re a diver — and the $800 sale price at REI is one of the lowest we’ve seen yet.

Buy at REI

Editors' Recommendations

HP 72-hour flash sale: save on laptops and gaming PCs
HP Spectre x360 13.5 front angled view showing display and keyboard deck.

HP has a huge 72-hour flash sale going on right now which means there are plenty of deep discounts on monitors, laptops, gaming PCs and laptops, and a heap more. With so many options out there, we've picked out some of the highlights so you can quickly find the right deal for you. Whatever your budget, there should be something here for you. Read on while we take you through what's on offer. And remember -- this sale only lasts for the next 72 hours so you haven't got long to make a decision.
HP 27-inch FHD monitor -- $190, was $290

If you're keen to expand your home office setup with a second monitor, this HP 27-inch FHD monitor is a good option. It's an ultra-slim design so it'll easily fit into your workspace. Thanks to it being full HD, you get a resolution of 1920 x 1080 to keep things clear while there's 300 nits of brightness and a contrast ratio of 1000:1. While it may not be one of the best monitors you can buy, it still offers useful extra features. These include a low blue light mode to take the edge off any potential eye strain plus it has dual speakers built-in if you need a simple solution for your audio needs. It connects via HDMI 1.4 or VGA so there are useful options here for your work situation. At this price, it's one of the better value monitor deals around too.

Read more
Lenovo Annual Sale 2023: Save on laptops and gaming PCs
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 2 front angled view showing display and keyboard deck.

Lenovo has started its annual sale which means this is the perfect time for you to save big on a laptop or gaming PC. Right now, there are plenty of amazing offers on some of the best budget laptops, 2-in-1 laptops, and gaming PCs or laptops. Whatever your plans or your budget, there's going to be something here for you. We're here to narrow things down to some of the highlights so read on while we take you through them. In no time, you'll find the right purchase for you.
Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 11e -- $269, was $999

One of the more appealing laptop deals for anyone on a budget, the Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 11e is basic but a good bet for someone looking for a robust system, perhaps for their child or simply because they need to keep costs down. It has an Intel Celeron processor along with 8GB of memory and 128GB of SSD storage. The amount of storage is a pleasant surprise given it means you shouldn't have to worry about relying on cloud storage, while it also gives plenty of room for Windows 11 Home that's installed on the system. An 11.6-inch HD display is pretty basic but it at least offers 250 nits of brightness and anti-glare properties. Military-grade levels of protection and the ability to use the screen as a touchscreen are the highlights here with the laptop also including a stylus for more accurate sketching.

Read more
Best smartwatch deals: Save on Apple, Samsung, and Fitbit
A woman receives a call on her Google Pixel Watch.

If you're looking for a new smartwatch, there's a seemingly limitless amount of choice out there. There's the likes of the Apple Watch range along with the Samsung Galaxy Watch range, but there's a heap more available too. With so many smartwatches to choose from, where do you begin? That's before you even get into the wealth of smartwatch deals and offers. That's why we're here to help with a look at the latest smartwatch deals going on right now, each sure to save you money while helping you be more active and achieve your goals. Read on while we take you through our hand-picked selection of great smartwatch deals.
Today's best smartwatch deals
Amazfit Bip 3 Pro -- $60, was $70

The Amazfit Bip 3 Pro reminds you that you don't have to spend a fortune on a great smartwatch. Cheap it may be, but it offers a stylish 1.69-inch color screen inside a slim and lightweight body. With four satellite positioning systems to help you track your moves outdoors, it also has over 60 sports modes along with a target pace function. You can even swim with it thanks to water-resistance of 5 ATM. Alongside that is heart rate monitoring, sleep analysis, stress detection, menstrual cycle tracking, and SpO2 measurements so it has most of the key features you could need.

Read more