Best Deals on Beauty, Fitness, and Health Products

This latest version of Samsung’s smartwatch is an incremental update of the Galaxy Watch4 aimed squarely at consumers who use Samsung’s smartphones. The Galaxy Watch5 has a bright display and also features a mic and speaker for handling phone calls. From a features point of view, the Galaxy Watch5 offers a robust suite of health and fitness options, including a blood oxygen sensor, ECG monitoring (that could detect irregularities in heart rhythm), and even a sensor claimed to measure body fat. You will, however, need a Samsung Android phone to tap the watch’s full capability, including an array of fitness features under the Samsung Health umbrella.

This is a big discount for the latest Samsung smartwatch.

Think of the elegant Pixel Watch as the Apple Watch of the Android world. It’s designed to integrate smoothly with Google’s devices, like the Pixel phone and earbuds, as well as those Google-owned services that dominate the internet. The watch sits near the top of our ratings, with strong scores for ease of use, readability in bright and low light, and heart rate accuracy. Battery life is a bit of an issue at only 24 hours.

This is a great price right now, especially for the matte black version.

The Apple Watch Series 8 isn’t much different from the previous Series 7 version. The Series 8 features new body temperature sensors for retrospective estimates of ovulation and a high-speed g-force sensor for car crash detection. It also has a function designed to detect unusual heart rhythms. There’s no change in battery size, though the latest version of the Watch operating system adds a new function that can double the life per charge, Apple says, albeit at the expense of some functionality. In our ratings, the Series 8 falls just a bit short of the Ultra, performing less well in the scratch test. But the Series 8 still ranks toward the top of our smartwatch ratings.

This model has been on sale for months, but the price just dropped $10, marking a new low and making it a great time to buy.

The Renpho R3 massage gun might be the best all-around device for most average users because it’s small, lightweight, and quieter than other devices. But it’s not the ideal choice for people who want the most intense massage or the best model to massage areas on the back. 

The pistol grip could add some more postural stress than the other devices, though its light weight and small form could help alleviate stress for some. As a bonus, this can be charged with a standard USB-C charging cable.

The on-page coupon puts this massage gun at just $10 more than the best price we’ve seen. It may be available for $50 during the next big sale if you’d rather wait and possibly save another $10.

The Deep4s comes with an adjustable arm and a triangle-shaped handle, though it’s not as ergonomically friendly as the Theragun devices when it comes to finding an optimal grip. By experimenting with its adjustable arm, users may be able to reach their back better with this device than with some others. But the display and control buttons may make this device harder to use than some others. While this isn’t the most effective of the triangle-shaped handles, it’s nice to have a lower-priced option with an adjustable arm.

This is the best price we’ve seen for this massage gun, especially with the on-page coupon.

This is the loudest and by far the priciest massage gun we evaluated, but it also has one of the best ergonomic handles and is one of the best at reaching areas on the back. It has an adjustable arm, and the attachments lock onto the arm in a satisfying way that helps you know they’re well attached. 

The Echelon EX-5S has a 22-inch touchscreen display (AC-powered) for connected classes and browsing session data. Its screen rotates for off-bike exercises, with many different exercise programs available through its subscription service, Echelon Connect, which costs $40 per month or $400 per year. You can adjust the bike’s resistance by turning a knob. This bike uses SPD pedal clips for use with bike shoes and has toe cages for use with other shoes. It has dual bottle holders.

This is a hefty discount for one of the highest-ranking exercise bikes among those CR has tested. In fact, it’s about $100 less than the sale price we’ve seen for months, the best deal we’ve ever seen.

The Nautilus E616 elliptical packs a lot of features into a small package. It includes a motorized incline, four user profiles, and achievement tracking for each profile. The pedaling cycle is comfortable with a supportive flywheel effect, although the path feels a bit steep at the front transition. 

This is a significant discount from the original price.

The GHD Helios, while not as fast as a Drybar model or the popular Dyson dryer, still scored well in our dry-speed tests. It’s one of the loudest we tried, but it gave our testers loads of volume. The Helios has two heat settings plus a cool shot, two speed settings, and a concentrator attachment. It also features a brushless motor, which could mean that this dryer will last longer than those without one. 

This is a big discount off the regular price, and Walmart’s price is a bit better than GHD’s.

The Conair Double Ceramic Flat Iron is a great lower-cost option if you’re in the market for a new flat iron. It has five temperature settings, a rare find at this price, and it heats up in about 30 seconds, but the temperatures vary by about 6° F from whatever you set it to. Our evaluator found it to be a bit clunky to use, but it’s small, light, and easy to maneuver, thanks to pivoting plates and a swivel cord.

This is already a bargain at full price, but with this discount, you can save a few extra dollars.

The Hot Tools 24k Gold Professional Curling Iron is one of the lowest-priced curling irons CR tried and liked, and our testers found that it resulted in looser curls. It has temperature control and heats up faster than the recommended wait time of about a minute.

This is the best price we’ve seen for this curling iron, which usually doesn’t dip below $40.

The GHD Platinum+ flat iron delivered great results for all three evaluators who tried it. It only has one heat setting of 365° F, but only takes 21 seconds to heat up and then keeps that heat consistent. It comes with a silicone holder so you can store it before it’s all the way cooled down, and the swivel cord and pivoting plates make it easy to handle. Best of all, the On button is on the inside of the handle, so you won’t accidentally switch it off mid-use.

This foam exercise mat is very quick to dry and has a high level of cushioning. It offers a fair amount of bottom grip and a good amount of grip against hands and feet while dry. It’s a modest discount, but we haven’t seen it sell for less since early 2023.

This mat dries quickly but offers minimal cushioning. It has only a fair amount of grip on the floor and on its dry top surface. Instead of rolling up, it folds into a 10x12-inch rectangle, which could be nice if you like to pack up quickly after your practice.

This is a modest discount, but the yoga mat is already one of the most budget-friendly options we’ve tried, and the extra few dollars in savings make it even more appealing.

The CamelBak Mini M.U.L.E. Kids Hydration Backpack has two quick-release straps that allow you to attach a rain slicker or another light outer garment, and its rear pocket has decent internal organization, where you can store an energy bar, other snacks, and a multitool. Keep in mind that its reservoir—smaller than some others on backpacks we tried—is harder to dry out, and sometimes its drinking tube kinks. Otherwise, it’s a great pared-down pack for a young person.

With lighter loads, this Osprey Daylite hydration backpack is a very comfy carry, especially for shorter jaunts under 2 hours. The longish back panel and adjustable sternum strap make this pack easy to fit long or short torsos, and two stretchy side pockets are large enough for carrying a water bottle or two if you want to ditch the reservoir during the week. The Daylite’s interior is large enough to accommodate both a paperback and an iPad Mini. The main hold is roomy enough for spare clothes and more, and has a reservoir sleeve that’s padded, so it can double as a laptop slot (for up to 15-inch models). The HydraPak Shape-Shift 2L reservoir worked seamlessly with this pack. 

According to CR’s tests, this arm monitor has excellent accuracy and also earned high marks for convenience and comfort. It features an irregular heartbeat detector, a blood pressure risk category indicator, a data averaging function, a one-size-fits-most cuff, and the ability to sync via Bluetooth to the iHealth MyVitals app.

The on-page coupon puts the sale price for this device at just $2 more than we saw during Prime Day on October.