The Black Friday sales season is here! The best deals are often not on Amazon. The prices shown below are the best available now, though you may need to buy quickly as some deals will sell out.
Smartwatches are getting better every year. They can now last for more than a day on a single charge, track your workouts, take calls, play music and more.
Some dish out notifications and tell you when it’s going to rain, while others can function untethered from your phone completely.
Best Smartwatch Deals
Here are the very best deals we’ve come across. For more smartwatch deals, see our dedicated deals page
What smartwatch should you buy?
There are two types of smartwatch frameworks you can find right now. One, like the Apple Watch, features a colour touchscreen with apps, while the other combines an analogue watch with smart features. These are semi-smart (also known as “hybrids”) and typically use less battery since they’re not required to power a full-face display. You can find in-depth buying advice on smartwatches in our round-up of the best smartwatches of 2020.
The Apple Watch is still the dominant force in the smartwatch market but many smartwatches from the likes of Motorola and Fossil run Wear OS, while Samsung’s run its own Tizen UI.
Make sure you consider whether or not your phone is compatible with the smartwatch you’re after – the Apple Watch only plays nice with iPhones and most Wear OS watches require your phone to be of a certain age and running a certain version or later of iOS/Android.
There are also designer smartwatches that often run Wear OS from brands like Diesel, Armani and Tag Heuer. They are often very expensive, so if you have your eye on one it’s a good idea to look out for discounts.
Smartwatch Deals: Is pay monthly worth it?
Seeing as smartwatches work hand-in-hand with your smartphone, many phone retailers and network carriers let you split the cost of a cellular-capable smartwatch over your pay monthly phone plan. Of course, these deals work to finance the device, so it’s worth weighing the long-term costs against the upfront costs.
Alternatively, while some plans let you share your phone’s network and contract, there are still other plans which get you separate unlimited data allowances for your Apple Watch.
EE and Vodafone are the two networks that carry the likes of the Apple Watch and Samsung’s latest smartwatches on cellular. You can often get the device for £0 upfront. See Vodafone’s Apple Watch plans here and EE’s plans here.
Similar to buying a new phone on a monthly plan, however, you do end up paying more at the end of the contract but if you prefer to pay in small increments instead of all at once, this may be a better option.
Where to find smartwatch deals
Amazon often has some of the biggest discounts on smartwatches and other tech but it’s always worth shopping around if you don’t see something you like in our selection here.
If you find that you’re missing out on Amazon’s Lightning deals, which run for just a few hours and offer limited stock, we’d recommend signing up for Amazon’s 30-day free trial of Prime, which will get you access to deals 30 minutes before everyone else. Plus, you’ll get free next-day delivery with the Prime trial, as well as access to Prime Instant Video and more.
Sign up for Prime now to make sure you’re ready.
Beyond Amazon, here are a few of the best places to check for bargains:
Smartwatch accessories
Of course, the smartwatch itself is only part of the equation. You may also want to use a different strap from the one provided or freshen the look if you’ve been using the same strap for a while.
This might be especially relevant to Apple Watch users with the plethora of band choices available (here’s how to change your Apple Watch band). Though the Apple store may be an obvious place to find straps for your Apple Watch, you would be hard-pressed to find any bands for less than £49/$49.
You can find alternatives on Amazon for less than £10/$10, though make sure you’re buying it for the right watch casing size. Gearbest is another place where you can find Watch bands of various designs but at affordable prices.
Best smartwatch deals today
1. Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 (45mm)
Now: £375 (£44 off)
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Samsung’s latest smartwatch may have only just launched but the Galaxy Watch 3 is already seeing price cuts online, including this reduction on Amazon.
2. Huawei Watch GT 2 (46mm)
From: Amazon
Was: £199.99
Now: £119 (£80.99 off)
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Huawei’s capable Watch GT 2, which arrived at the tail end of 2019, can be had with over £80 off, courtesy of this latest Amazon price cut.
3. Fossil Gen 5
Now: £189 (£90 off)
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Fossil’s Gen 5 smartwatch line is easily one of the best ways to experience Google’s Wear OS nowadays. It comes complete with fitness tracking, water resistance, contactless payment support, onboard GPS and Google Assistant integration.
This Amazon deal on sees £90 taken off the RRP of the Julianna body type.
4. Samsung Galaxy Watch (46mm)
Now: £179 (£120 off)
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Knock a whopping £120 off the larger 46mm casing variant of Samsung’s still-excellent Galaxy Watch wearable in this latest Amazon deal.
5. Honor Magic Watch 2 (46mm)
From: Amazon
Was: £159.99
Now: £127.89 (£32.10 off)
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Shave over £30 off Honor’s brilliant Magic Watch 2 with this Amazon discount. This is for the 46mm model but reductions can also be found on the smaller 42mm SKU too.
6. Amazfit GTR
Now: £118.26 (£40.74 off)
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Save over £40 on the already affordable-yet-stylish Amazfit GTR in this great Amazon offer. Note: Price reduction varies by finish/colour, so make sure to double-check the pricing on the version you want before buying. Read our Amazfit GTR review for more.
7. Samsung Galaxy Watch Active (40mm)
Now: £129 (£100 off)
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Pick up the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active from Amazon with £100 knocked off the RRP. Read our full Samsung Galaxy Watch Active review for more.
Note: Different colours may enjoy different reductions, so double-check pricing before you purchase.
8. Samsung Galaxy Watch (42mm)
From: Amazon
Was: £279.99
Now: £159 (£120.99 off)
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The small and stylish 42mm variant of the Samsung Galaxy Watch is up for grabs with over £120 taken off the asking price on Amazon. Check out our review for more insight into why it’s such a great smartwatch.
Note: Different finishes come with different reductions in price, make sure to check before buying the finish you most like.
9. Fitbit Versa 2
From: Amazon
Was: £199.99
Now: £159 (£40.99 off)
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Get over £40 off the Alexa voice assistant-toting Versa 2.
10. Apple Watch Series 3 (38mm)
Now: £195 (£84 off)
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Apple’s most affordable Apple Watch is now even cheaper, thanks to this Amazon deal on the 38mm casing size of the Series 3.
When is Black Friday 2020?
Black Friday takes place on Friday 27 November, immediately followed by Cyber Monday on 30 November. That said, the sale period looks to have been extended this year and is already in play from a lot of retailers.
Traditionally the biggest sales event of the year, but with so much uncertainty around finance and retail, we advise you not to wait: if you see a deal you like, on a product you need, and you can afford the outlay, buy it today.
If you want to see what’s on offer right now, we have a constantly-updated rundown of the Best Black Friday Deals in tech worth your time.