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If you're at all familiar with Garmin's wearables, you know that GPS-equipped running watches have always been the company's primary strength. Garmin's fitness watches have been a staple among athletes due to their features that aren't found on Fitbits and Apple Watches. The Forerunner series is still where the company introduces some of its most innovative tracking and training features.

The Forerunner 955 continues that tradition. It sits atop the Forerunner series as the most feature-packed watch in the bunch, and this year it gains some modern touches like a touchscreen and daily exercise readiness assessments (à la Fitbit's Daily Readiness feature, but free to users), while introducing new features not present on any other Garmin watch. That includes the higher-end Fenix series of watches, from which the Forerunner 955 is also starting to steal some cues, like solar-charging options and multi-band GPS.

We trained with the Forerunner 955 for a few weeks to see how its newest features improve on a platform we already love and to determine just how afraid Garmin should be about Apple or Fitbit catching up.

Enlarge / Microsoft's Surface Pro 9. (credit: Andrew Cunningham)

If you're in the market for a Microsoft Surface computer or tablet, now's a good time to grab some deals on the lineup.

Microsoft Surface Pro 9 13-inch tablet PC with keyboard cover for $900 ($1,080) at Best Buy

The Surface Pro 9 is the best tablet-laptop on the market. It succeeds in mixing the best of the tablet and laptop experience, being a tablet PC that runs Windows 11, uses a backlit detachable keyboard cover, and is optimized for use with a digital pen (the Surface Pen). It's lightweight and has a smaller footprint than most 2-in-1 laptops while packing enough power to edit media and handle light gaming at higher configurations.

The entry-level Surface Pro 9 (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) is currently on sale for $900 at Best Buy, down from $1,000, and it comes with a free Surface Keyboard cover, which typically runs you an extra $180. That's $300 less than the entry point for Apple's 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which can't run full programs (only apps) and doesn't include its separately sold Magic Keyboard, which costs $350. This 13-inch Surface Pro model has an Intel i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB storage, which is great for those who simply want a device to edit documents and surf the web without sacrificing the ability to use full programs.

Enlarge (credit: Corey Gaskin)

It seems like every company makes a fitness tracker these days. Even Amazon has created one—and that’s in addition to the seemingly endless stream of no-name brands offered on its website. Aside from some major names like Fitbit and Garmin, though, most consumers are unaware of what all is out there.

Smaller names like Oura and Whoop have drummed up some buzz for themselves by eliminating screens entirely and focusing on very specific metrics, while the line between smartwatches and most other fitness trackers has become increasingly blurry.

I’ve strapped on just about every fitness tracker available, and I've sweated out at least my own weight-testing them. Below is the list of trackers worth your consideration, whether you’re just starting your fitness journey or you're well along your way.

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It's time for another end-of-the-week Dealmaster. In this week's roundup of the web's best tech deals, we have a $100 gift card offer for preordering the just-announced OnePlus 11 smartphone, record lows on Google Pixels, and a handful of Amazon tablets and e-readers matching their own record low prices.

The OnePlus 11, based on specs alone is a serious bargain. It outclasses the latest base model Samsung Galaxy S23 on the spec sheet at the same price, matching closer to the $1,200 Galaxy S23 Ultra. (Both of those phones are also on sale for preorder from Amazon with a free $100 gift card incentive, just like the OnePlus 11.) The OnePlus 11 totes a 6.7-inch screen, 5,000 mAh battery, a 50 MP main camera, and Wi-Fi 7 support.

It also has the fastest charging apparatus available for smartphones in the U.S., with an 80-watt charger that juices the phone from zero to 100 in a zippy 30 minutes. It's not a perfect spec sheet though, and we've yet to try one, but some compromises to note are a lack of wireless charging and IP64 water and dust resistance (meant mostly to protect from splashes) versus the industry standard IP68 which protects against submersion. OnePlus 11s will also receive security updates every other month, as opposed to monthly like on Google Pixels, for instance.

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Another weekend, another Dealmaster. In this week's roundup of the best tech deals on the web, we have deals on a range of Apple computers―desktops and laptops alike. Co-headlining the Apple computer sale are the just-released 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros and the 2021 iMac.

We recently reviewed the new MacBooks and dubbed them "the best laptop[s] you can buy today by almost any measure." Aimed at power users who demand muscular performance and easy, varied, built-in port selection, the 2023 MacBook Pros only improved on an already impressive pair of laptops in the previous generation. If you already have one of those, there's no pressing need to upgrade. However, if you were on the fence or waiting for the next generation, you can snag the new laptops for $50 off full retail price and gain even more improved M2-Pro-powered chips.

Also on sale is the 2021 iMac. Perhaps most easily thought of as a MacBook Air in all-in-one desktop form, it provides plenty power for most users. It's not the Mac you want if you're going to be gaming, editing video, or creating much beyond documents. Still, it's a good-looking, nostalgic, simple, albeit brightly-colored desktop computer that will absolutely crush Zoom calls with great audio and video capture, and look good doing it. With a $150 discount, the iMac is a bit more attractive at $1,099 than its typical $1,250 price.

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It's the weekend, and that means another Dealmaster. In this week's roundup of the best tech deals on the web, we have Fire HD and Kindle tablets from Amazon, some solidly-discounted computer peripherals, and even Apple's just-announced MacBook Pros have a price cut.

Amazon's Kindle Kids e-reader is down to a record-low of $85 (typically $120). It's the same device as the latest Kindle ($100), but it comes with a case, two-year warranty, and one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+. All of that typically costs $20 more than the regular Kindle device, but this sale price now makes the Kindle Kids version less expensive.

In our review, we mention that the latest Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite are neck-and-neck as two of Amazon's best low-end Kindles. They have few frills and do what they're meant to well: help you consume books textually or audibly. We also note that it's particularly great for kids even without the kids version perks because of it's size and ability to play audiobooks. The added value of the kids version makes it a great buy for all ages.