Mega Garmin Memorial Day sale is live — 9 deals on sports watches I’d shop now

This is the Garmin to get if you're buying a running watch for the first time. It offers a bright screen, easy to read stats, and long battery life. You'll also have access to PacePro suggested workouts, which is like having a running coach on your wrist. In our Garmin Forerunner 55 review, we said this watch was like having an expert coach on your wrist.

The Forerunner 165 is the entry-level AMOLED running watch in Garmin's range, but has enough tracking features to satisfy runners of all levels. It's an attractive, lightweight watch and the Music version can link up with streaming services to store your playlists to listen to without your phone.

The new Garmin Forerunner 570 now supersedes the Forerunner 265 in the Garmin range and has a bigger, brighter screen plus a mic and speaker, but the Forerunner 265 is $200 cheaper thanks to this deal and matches the Forerunner 570 well on sports tracking features. I ran a half marathon wearing both the 570 and 265 recently, and there’s still a lot to like about the Forerunner 265 as a lightweight, attractive AMOLED sports watch.

This discount on the Garmin Venu 3 equals the lowest price it’s ever gone for, with both the standard Venu 3 and smaller Venu 3S reduced by $100 at multiple retailers. It’s a sleek AMOLED smartwatch with features like NFC payments and music storage on top of Garmin’s reliably excellent sports tracking.

This is the first time the Garmin Instinct 3 has been widely-discounted, and all the watches in the range are reduced by $50. My pick would be the Instinct 3 AMOLED thanks to its bright screen, but if you value battery life above all then opting for the Instinct 3 Solar is the better call since it can last indefinitely on a charge in sunny conditions.

The Garmin Epix 2 is currently on sale for 45% off The watch comes in three different colorways, but it’s the white titanium design on the silver band that is the cheapest. The black titanium and slate steel models are also on sale but are more expensive.

The Garmin Forerunner 970 has just launched, meaning now’s the time to look for discounts on its predecessor the Garmin Forerunner 965, and this $100 saving doesn’t disappoint. The Forerunner 965 is an incredible AMOLED sports watch with offline maps and a wealth of sports tracking and training analysis features all packed into a lightweight design. The Forerunner 970 has a brighter screen and some new features like a built-in flashlight, but will set you back $749 right now.

The Fenix 8 is the top dog in Garmin’s smartwatch range, and a watch I’ve used to run two marathons this year myself. The Garmin Fenix 8 only came out last August so to see the entire range reduced by $200 is remarkable. I’ve used the Fenix 8 47mm and Fenix 8 51mm watches myself, and prefer the smaller watch for comfort, but you do get a lot more battery life by opting for a 51mm device. I prefer the AMOLED screen, but the Garmin Fenix 8 Solar is also reduced and offers incredible battery life.

If you prefer big batteries to AMOLED screens then the Enduro 3 is the watch for you. It lasts up to 90 days on a charge in sunny conditions, and even with my heavy use it lasted me 18-19 days. The Enduro 3 has almost all the sports and navigation features you get on the Fenix 8, only lacking the latter's diveproof design and mic/speaker.

One of the biggest Garmin discounts this Memorial Day weekend is the Fenix 8 47mm, sliced by $200. The Fenix Solar 8 offers the best battery life of any Fenix 8, with the solar panels on its watch face helping it to last up to 48 days in watch mode in sunny conditions. Alternatively, the Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED model is also down to $899 at Amazon, you lose the solar panels but get a slick AMOLED display, so the choice is yours.