Now's a good time to get a smartwatch.Amazon is selling my favorite smartwatch for Android users, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8, for $218 as part of its Prime Day 2026 sale—that's about $140 off the official price, and an easy decision.Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 $290 $350 Save $60 Brand Samsung Operating System Wear OS $290 at Amazon Expand Collapse You'll see similarly steep discounts regardless of case size and connectivity.
That brings the starting price down to $218 if you're happy with a 40mm Bluetooth model, and even the 46mm Classic with LTE is reasonable at $385.A smartwatch that covers all the bases Fitness tracking and apps are well-supported The Galaxy Watch 8 is a significant redesign with a polarizing but more comfortable "squircle" case—I find it very comfortable, whether it's for around-the-house use or during runs.While the larger battery is partly offset by the outdoor-friendly brighter screen, I still love that it can easily last a full day with room to spare.
It's also been a good companion as I strive to improve my health.A Running Coach tells me how well I'm moving, and more advanced sleep tracking helps gauge my baseline stress.Multi-info tiles also make it easier to get much-needed info at a glance.
This is on top of robust monitoring that includes heart rate, blood oxygen levels, ECG measurements, and sleep apnea detection.Related After two years with a Pixel Watch, I realized Samsung's smartwatch approach is still unbeatable But the gap is closing...for the wrong reasons.Posts 11 By Joe Fedewa And yes, Gemini has been useful.
While it can be talkative, the AI is great for going beyond basic tasks or simply responding to more natural commands.Although there are times I miss the simplicity of Google Assistant, I wouldn't go back.The best part is that it's about to get better.
Samsung is revamping its Health app with simpler, more actionable guidance with additional AI training help, such as suggestions for goals and rest days.While Samsung will initially bring these features to the Watch 9, I'd expect the Watch 8 to get them next.Best with a Samsung phone Just remember that, as usual, the Galaxy Watch 8 works best with Samsung phones like the Galaxy S26.
You'll lose some health tracking features (such as ECG readings) and otherwise won't have the ideal experience.If you're in the Samsung ecosystem or don't mind a few tradeoffs, though, the Watch 8 is hard to top at its Prime Day 2026 price even knowing that its sequel is coming soon.
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