Best Deals on Fitness Equipment and Accessories

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch7 is a sleek-looking and high-performing pick, particularly if you own a Galaxy phone, and its stylish design means you can feel comfortable wearing it just about anywhere. The Watch7 offers some of Samsung’s latest health, fitness, and safety features—including sleep apnea detection, swimming stroke analysis, and daily AI-enabled Sleep and Energy scores, which make it easier to keep tabs on basic health metrics. It also has more standard features, like automatic workout-tracking, heart rate and blood oxygen level monitoring, and heart rate variability tracking.

The watch typically sells for around $300 at Amazon, so the savings are really closer to $30 than $80.

This rugged-looking (and high-performing) Samsung smartwatch is aimed at outdoors enthusiasts—and anyone who wants the latest premium health- and fitness-tracking features. Just note that Galaxy Watches work only with Android devices. The price has been falling steadily since the summer.

The Fitbit Charge line has always featured great general-purpose trackers, and the Charge 6 is no exception. It’s sleek, with a 1.1-inch full-color display, making it suitable for the gym and the office. And some of its health-tracking features—like stress monitoring and an ECG (electrocardiogram) function that can alert you to irregular heart rhythms—are more on a par with a smartwatch. The Charge 6 earns excellent test scores in key categories and has more precise heart rate monitoring than its predecessor, the Charge 5. Claimed battery life for the Fitbit Charge 6 is seven days.

Amazfit’s fitness trackers are some of the most affordable options CR has tested, and the Band 7 earns a spot among CR’s recommended models. It has an impressive 18-day claimed battery life and pairs easily with recent versions of both iPhone and Android phones. That said, our testers found it wasn’t quite as accurate at step tracking as other models, but its heart rate accuracy was adequate.

The Garmin Vivomove Trend might look like a watch, but it’s actually a fitness tracker—one with a lot of great features. It lacks all the features of a smartwatch, but it can still track steps and heart rate, it alerts you to texts, calls, and other notifications, and it has a touchscreen and a claimed 5-day battery life. In our tests, it gets above average scores in everything except readability in bright light.

This portable ice bath from Pod Company is a great option if you’re thinking of investing in something like this for your morning routine or post-workout recovery. In our evaluations, it was easy to set up and take apart. It is smaller than the comparable Cold Pod XL (which costs a bit more), but otherwise, the two are very similar. So it may be better suited for smaller individuals. For example, one of our evaluators was around 6 feet tall and about 200 pounds and found this one to be a bit cramped compared to the other model. That said, if you don’t mind close quarters and like the price to test out ice baths at home, this could be just what you’re looking for.

The Heybike Cityrun performed well in our range, acceleration, braking, hill climb, and unassisted cruising tests. It’s at a decent discount right now, including free front basket and large basket attachments—plus CR members can save even more (see below for details). Even without battery power, it still managed to perform capably when climbing a hill at the lowest gear setting. It also has hydraulic disc brakes and a hub-drive motor, as well as front LED lights and a seven-speed Shimano shifter. The Cityrun is available in three colors: black, green, and orange. At 64 pounds, it’s a bit heavier than some other models, which can make it more difficult to move if you need to put it away or load it into a car.

Digital and All-Access members can save an extra $100 using the code HBCR100. This brings the price down to the best we’ve seen for this e-bike.

Big power gets this Class 2 electric bike moving quickly on flat ground and also up steep hills. Although the bike’s joints sound a bit rattly going over bumps, the ride is smooth and stable, and the seat and riding position are comfortable. Big tires and a front suspension help absorb bumps. At 65 pounds, the XP 3.0 is objectively heavy, so despite its convenient carry handle, it will most likely be a chore (if not impossible) for many riders to carry. It’s bulky as well, folding into a 37x18x28-inch package that’s larger than some of the other folding bikes we tested.

The high-end Hydrow Rower uses a quiet electromagnetic resistance system and tracks all standard metrics that rowers use to measure progress—from stroke rate to split time. This machine earns top marks across all CR’s tests. It also has a 22-inch high-definition screen that can be used to access Hydrow’s live and on-demand fitness classes. As with other high-end machines, those are subscription based—$44 per month—and include access to many types of workouts, not just rowing.

The Sunny Health & Fitness Magnetic Rowing Machine is budget-friendly and performs quite well in our tests, especially those for construction and user safety, largely due to a solid build quality. However, users should know that while you can use this model to perform the mechanics of rowing, it does not display stroke rate, time per 500 meters, split time, or the distance that you’ve rowed, making time on the machine the only metric you can use to track your workouts.

The price for this rower fluctuates pretty frequently, but this is the best we’ve seen this year.

This top-rated Bowflex VeloCore Bike 16" provides the option to ride in leaning mode—which means users can tilt the bike from side to side to more realistically duplicate the feeling of bike riding. This connected bike earned excellent ratings for adjustability, data interface, features, noise, and capacity. It natively integrates with the JRNY on-demand exercise app. You’ll have access to a library of free workouts, as well as the option to sign up for the JRNY on-demand workout subscription, starting at $20 per month.

If you want a way to do cardio at home, exercising on an elliptical gets you an aerobic workout without the impact that comes with running. The Air Glide 14i is at a decent discount right now, and it’s CR Recommended for its above-average performance in our lab tests. This model got exemplary scores in our tests for construction, ease of use, and user safety. It’s also above average when it comes to ergonomics. It did fall short in terms of heart rate accuracy, but you can always wear a smartwatch or fitness tracker for more accurate readings if you want to track that.

This massage gun is pretty much always this price. It rarely goes on sale for less and almost never costs more, but it’s a great value so I keep it on this list if you’re looking for a low-cost massage gun (I own one and it’s perfect for an occasional user). It offers a weaker massage than other devices we evaluated, though it may still be enough for some users—and it’s pretty quiet as a result. The interface on this device can be cumbersome. While it comes with 10 attachments and a case, the attachments often get jumbled up inside the case, making it annoying to fit the massage gun in. This device charges via USB-C.

The Renpho R3 massage gun is almost always available on sale for this price, but it’s still a good offer. This 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 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.

At 30.2 pounds, this Schwinn folding bike is heavier than other models we’ve tested and doesn’t fold as easily or as compactly. And the lock that holds the folding handlebar stem upright while you’re riding had some play in it on our tested bike, which can make the Loop feel a little wobbly over bumps. But it’s also relatively inexpensive and comes with a handy carrying bag that keeps folded parts that aren’t secured—such as the handlebar stem and frame half—from swinging around while you’re carrying it. Most models we tested didn’t have a way to secure folding parts that could swing back and forth while moving the bike and could have used a carrying bag.

There’s no question that Allen Sports’ Deluxe 4-Bike hitch-mounted hanging rack is priced right. At just 20 pounds, it’s also pretty light, making it easy for one person to take the rack on and off a vehicle. We like that the rack can handily tilt down and out of the way so you can access your vehicle’s cargo area. The “hanging” portion of the rack that holds the bicycles can also be flipped down so that the rack barely sticks off the back of your vehicle when you’re not carrying bikes. But for all its good points, this is still a hanging rack and isn’t one you’d want to use on a regular basis. Due to the close proximity of the bicycles to each other, if you’re carrying more than two bikes, parts are going to rub. 

If you’re looking for a new swim cap to keep your hair dry in the pool, the Arena swim cap could be a great option, especially for under $10. Our evaluators found it easy to put on and take off thanks to the stretchy silicone material. It wasn’t fully waterproof, though none of the caps we tried were. This swim cap was the most comfortable of those evaluated and managed to keep a good amount of water out, thus earning the distinction of Most Comfortable swim cap.

If weight tracking is part of your plan, it’s often easier to have a scale at home than rely on one at the gym or doctor’s office. This digital scale is a good lower-cost option. It aces CR’s tests for accuracy, consistency, and unbalanced weighing. The only place it fell just a little shy of perfect was in ease of use, which accounts for display visibility and batteries (it uses four AAAs). It’s rated for up to 400 pounds.