Sorry, day one Fenix 8 buyers: The best Garmin watch has NEVER been this cheap

The Garmin Fenix 8 is a fantastic smartwatch, but man, is it expensive, starting at $1,000 and climbing up to $1,200 for the best titanium material and battery life. Garmin only discounted it $25 during Black Friday and kept it full price otherwise. To see the Fenix 8 at $799 and up, or $200 off, is truly a rare opportunity and an all-time low.

Among the excellent Memorial Day Garmin deals on Venu, Forerunner, Instinct, and Lily models, the Fenix 8 is still quite expensive at this deal price. But my Garmin Fenix 8 review breaks down how it takes all of the best features from Garmin's running, lifestyle, and battery watches and squeezes them into one epic package.

All of the Fenix 8 AMOLED models (43mm, 47mm, and 51mm) are $200 off, but many of them are starting to sell out on Amazon. I'd either move quickly or look at other retailers like Best Buy and REI, which have the same deal pricing.

Garmin Fenix 8 43mm AMOLED titanium: was $999 now $799 at Amazon

Is any smartwatch worth a grand? The Garmin Fenix 8 makes a serious case for it, and at $200 off for Memorial Day, it's a slightly easier decision.

Depending on the model, the Fenix 8 AMOLED has up to 29 days of battery life or 62 multi-band GPS hours, crushing the competition. It has built-in city, trail, golf, and ski maps so you can navigate without pre-downloading a course, and a mic & speaker for Bluetooth calling and an offline assistant for commands like "Start a Trail Run workout."

It's dive-certified with 10ATM resistance to handle extreme water sports, with a built-in flashlight for nighttime runs to signal your presence to cyclists. And it has the full range of Garmin software that the company price-locks from cheaper watches.

Other sites: REI - $899 | Best Buy - $899 | Garmin - $899

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The cheaper models use stainless steel, but you can pay $100 extra for a lighter titanium case and sapphire crystal. You can also choose the Fenix 8 Solar for months of sunlight-boosted battery life, but we recommend the AMOLED for the best visuals.

The Fenix E is even more affordable at $599 ($200 off), but be warned that this model cuts most of the core features like the flashlight, mic & speaker, new gen5 HR sensor with ECG and skin temperature, multi-band GPS, and diving protection.

Among the best Garmin watches, the Fenix 8 has no equal, and we're not likely to see a Fenix 9 for years. And since Garmin watch prices are going up to combat tariffs, the Fenix 8 at this price is a rare commodity.

Case in point, the new Forerunner 970 costs $749, and while we're excited to test it out, the Fenix 8 at $799 barely costs more while giving you much better battery life and a more durable design.

It can be hard to recommend the Fenix 8 at full price, but thanks to Memorial Day, it's fallen into more reasonable territory, in the same range as the $799 Apple Watch Ultra 2 or $650 Galaxy Watch Ultra. So if you've been biding your time waiting for the right Garmin watch, and you have some money to spare, now's the time to snag a Fenix 8 before it's $1,000+ again!

Otherwise, I'll point you back to our Memorial Day Garmin deal guide, including $100 off the excellent Venu 3 or Forerunner 965 and $50 off the affordable Forerunner 165 and Lily 2.

• Fitness tracker deals: Best Buy | Walmart | Amazon | Dell