Garmin’s Fenix 8, Venu 4, and Forerunner Watches Just Got Rare Labor Day Discounts

We found the best Labor Day discounts on Garmin watches, wearables, and fitness tech.

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Labor Day is one of the best weeks of the year to buy a Garmin, and this year is no exception. The brand tends to mark down some of its best watches for the holiday, so if you’ve been putting off an upgrade, you might want to pull out your debit card.

If you want the top of the line, the Fenix 8 is Garmin’s flagship running watch, packed with all the brand’s best features such as a bright AMOLED screen, built-in flashlight, and dive rating—and it’s been dipping to some of its lowest prices ever. It comes in three sizes, so there’s a fit for most wrists. If you’d rather have something sleeker for everyday wear that still handles your training, the Venu 4 tracks sleep and stress and lets you take calls straight from your wrist (also my 15-year-old’s fave).

Here’s a pro tip, though: don’t overlook the recently discontinued models. When Garmin releases something new, the previous flagship often becomes the best choice. The Forerunner 965 looks as appealing now that the 970 has been shoved aside, and the 265 is still an excellent training watch with readiness scores and HRV status for a fraction of the flagship price. The newest model isn’t always the best one for you. Sometimes it’s just the newest.

The Fenix 8 is Garmin’s do-everything flagship, and we love it at RW. It’s the brand’s top-tier smartwatch, packed with all its best features, wrapped in a rugged build meant to survive whatever you throw at it. The AMOLED display is bright and sharp, and this generation adds a built-in speaker and microphone, so you can take calls and use voice commands right from your wrist. It’s also dive-rated, with a built-in flashlight that can come in clutch on early-morning or trail runs or when you lose something in your purse or backpack.

For runners, the appeal is the depth: full GPS, training readiness, recovery metrics, and mapping that works even when you leave your phone at home. Battery life stretches for days rather than hours. It comes in three sizes, so it fits a range of wrists comfortably.

The Forerunner 965 is one of Garmin’s best running watches, and even though it’s now been discontinued, that’s exactly why it’s worth a look right now. It has a bright, sharp AMOLED display, full-color built-in maps, and multi-band GPS for accurate tracking even in iffy conditions like dense city streets or tree cover. Battery life is amaze amaze amaze at around three weeks in smartwatch mode, so charging is not something to worry over.

Where it really shows its bona fides is in training depth metrics. You get the full suite of Garmin’s running metrics from training readiness, training status to recovery time, HRV status, and running dynamics, and a morning report plus race-day predictions to guide your block. It’s built for people trying to get that BQ or working through a structured training program.

Here’s why I like this sale: the 965 is looking real good now that the 970 sits above it. Because it’s been discontinued, this model has been dropped well below its original price while offering nearly all the same capability as the current flagship. Stock is limited and won’t last, so if you spot one at a Labor Day discount, it’s worth grabbing.

The Enduro 3 is Garmin’s ultra-endurance watch, and it’s made for a runner who’s out on rugged trails for hours at a time. The watch is best for ultrarunners, adventure racers, and thru-hikers, with a lightweight titanium build, a scratch-resistant sapphire lens, and a comfortable nylon band made for all-weather wear. Preloaded TopoActive maps, dynamic round-trip routing, and ClimbPro have you out there with nav for off-the-beaten-path routes without pulling out your phone.

But the real delight in my household is the battery. Thanks to solar charging, it delivers up to 320 hours in GPS mode and up to 90 days in smartwatch mode. On long, sunny days on the trail, the sun does a lot of the work, so charging becomes one less thing to worry about. My husband hikes and runs for long hours on some seriously backward trails, and this is the feature he raves about most—he barely ever has to charge it.

The Forerunner 265 was, for a long time, one of the finest Garmin running watches ever made, and honestly, we still think it is. It brought a gorgeous, bright AMOLED touchscreen to Garmin’s mid-range running line, paired with training depth once reserved for pricier ponies. If you’re training for any kind of race, the 265 has a ton of crap you want, like training readiness data, training status metrics, and HRV status, all of which help you understand when it’s a push day and when it’s a day to tell your Garmin to go to hell (IYKYK).

You also get multi-band GPS for accurate tracking, running dynamics, race predictions, and a battery that comfortably lasts a week or so between charges. It hits a rare sweet spot: serious enough for a marathon block, but easy to live with day to day.

It’s since been discontinued now that the Forerunner 570 replaced it, so get it now.

The Venu 4 is Garmin’s lifestyle smartwatch, so for runners it’s the pick if you want something that looks good off the trail but still logs a solid workout. It has a bright AMOLED display, 80+ preloaded sports apps, advanced sleep tracking, and a built-in flashlight, plus the health monitoring Garmin is known for—heart rate, stress, and recovery insights throughout the day. And yes, you can also take calls straight from your wrist, but it’s honestly not the easiest.

For running specifically, it covers the essentials: built-in GPS, pace and distance tracking, and training features to guide your efforts. What it doesn’t have is the deep, race-focused metrics of the Forerunner line or the Fenix.

If you want one watch that handles daily wear, sleep, and regular runs without much rigamarole, the Venu 4 is a strong, more affordable all-rounder.

The Vivoactive 5 is Garmin’s entry-level fitness smartwatch, and for runners on a budget it’s a surprisingly shiny pick. It has a bright 1.2-inch AMOLED touchscreen and up to 11 days of battery life, with 30+ built-in sport profiles, Body Battery, HRV status, on-device music, and Garmin Pay. For runs, you get built-in GPS that performs really well, with 21 hours of GPS recording —plenty for training and race day.

The trade-offs are worth noting: It drops the barometric altimeter and lacks the multi-band GPS, advanced running power metrics, and mapping you’d find higher up the line. But for new and everyday runners, it’s hard to beat. If you’re training for your first marathon, 10K, or trail race, it’s a great choice, with no subscription required.

The Venu X1 is Garmin’s answer to the Apple Watch, and it’s the easiest watch in the lineup to recommend to someone coming from one. It has a slim titanium design, a huge 2-inch square AMOLED display with sapphire glass, a built-in mic and speaker, an LED flashlight, and offline maps. It’s really slim at just 8mm thick, which is 6.4mm thinner than the Apple Watch Ultra 2, so it feels familiar on the wrist but noticeably lighter and sleeker.

If you’re used to an Apple Watch, this is the Garmin that will feel most like home: the square face, the big, bright screen, the everyday smartwatch style. But you also get what Garmin does better, such as its holistic tracking, high-end exercise features, and support for well over a hundred workout types, plus an eight-day battery life that leaves Apple in the dust. It bridges the gap between Garmin’s mainstream Venu series and its more serious Forerunner line.

Cat Bowen, senior editor of commerce; reviews, is a seasoned runner with more than 20 years of distance running experience, including dozens of marathons, half marathons, and even a few ultra marathons. For over a decade, she has tested parenting, fitness, home, and running gear and written in-depth guides to help readers with their next purchase. Holding multiple advanced degrees and currently studying kinesiology, Cat Bowen brings research-backed insight to all of her guides. Passionate about women’s health and neurodivergent inclusion, she advocates for closing research gaps and helping others—especially AudHD people—find joy in running and fitness.

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