The LTE-enabled Apple Watch Series 8 is nearly half off

The Apple Watch Series 8 offers similar health and fitness features to its successor.

We’re officially one month away from spring. For a lot of us, that means the weather will finally be nice enough that we can exercise outside. If you want to continue to keep a close on eye on fitness and health metrics while away from indoor gym equipment, right now Walmart is selling the LTE-enabled Apple Watch Series 8 for $299.99 ($200 off) in select colors with a small / medium-sized band.

Apple’s last-gen flagship wearable isn’t dramatically different from the newer Apple Watch Series 9. You’ll miss out on the Series 9’s double-tap feature and on-device Siri. However, you’ll still be able to take advantage of many of the same health features, including EKGs, menstrual cycle tracking, irregular heartbeat alerts, fall detection, and emergency calling. Plus, the wearable sports the same large, always-on display as the Series 9.

Read our review of the Apple Watch Series 8.

If you want to add some smarts to a regular device, right now you can buy a couple of Meross smart plugs at some of their best prices to date. All you need to do is clip the on-page coupon at Amazon, and you’ll get a pair of the Meross Smart Wi-Fi Plug Minis — our favorite cheap smart plugs — for just $18.99 ($10 off), or four with support for Apple Home for $29.99 ($23 off). If you want Matter support, the Meross Matter Smart Wi-Fi Plug Mini is available on its own for $11.99 ($6 off) or in a two-pack for $20.99 ($14 off).

If you own a compatible smart home hub, Meross’ simple plugs can add basic smarts to lamps, TVs, fans, coffee makers, and other indoor gadgets so you can control them with your smartphone or voice via Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Apple Home. You can also add various automations, from setting schedules for your lights to programming your fan to turn on when it gets too hot.

The main difference between the two products is that the Matter-ready plug is more futureproof, with support for a wider range of smart home ecosystems. It also offers a different design that makes it challenging to fit two in one duplex outlet. Nevertheless, both are good options if you’re looking for simple, inexpensive smart plugs and don’t need extras like energy monitoring.

Other discounted gadgets we’ve tried and tested

• The second-gen Apple Pencil is $79 ($50 off) at Amazon and Walmart, which matches its all-time low. Compatible with Apple’s latest iPad Pro, iPad Air, and iPad Mini models, the pressure-sensitive stylus recharges while magnetically attached to the side of your tablet, unlike its Lightning-based predecessor. Plus, if you own one of the M2-equipped iPad Pros, you’ll get support for tap gestures and the hover feature, which shows where your stylus is before you touch the screen.
• Amazon’s fourth-gen Echo is on sale for $54.99 ($55 off) at Amazon. The orb-like fourth-gen Amazon Echo is bigger and delivers better sound than the newer fifth-gen Echo Dot, while also functioning as a smart hub. Like the newer smart speaker, it also acts as a Wi-Fi extender for Eero mesh networks and is capable of carrying out a range of Alexa-enabled tasks. Read our review.
• Anker’s 30-watt single USB-C 511 Charger is down to $15.99 ($7 off) at Amazon and Walmart, which is one of its best prices to date. The charger can quickly juice up a wide range of electronics, from smartphones to tablets and laptops.
• The Famicom-inspired Fami Edition of 8BitDo’s Retro Mechanical Keyboard is down to an all-time low of $79.99 ($20 off) at Woot with a 90-day warranty. Inspired by the Japanese version of NES, the wireless mechanical board offers a retro look and two programmable “Super Buttons,” along with hot-swappable clicky switches and a standard tenkeyless layout.
• Three Blink Mini home security cameras are $69.99 ($30 off) at Amazon, which is one of the better prices we’ve seen. Along with recording in 1080p, the wired camera easily mounts to the wall and supports Amazon Alexa. Just bear in mind you’ll have to pay extra for cloud storage if you don’t have a Blink subscription.