Lightweight · $700–$780

Grills, Smokers, and Pizza showdown

Traeger Westwood vs Pit Boss Navigator 850: The Lightweight Pellet Grill Showdown (2026)

By The Smith Family, reviewed by Brad Smith · Independent, no paid placement · Updated October 14, 2026Prices checked October 2026

Some links here are affiliate links — if you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you (sometimes with a discount for you). It never changes which products we recommend — and we name the SKIPs to prove it.

Two budget pellet grills that both connect to your phone and both hold a smoking temperature for you. One has been cooked on and measured by two testers; the other gives you more grill and a real sear. So which one belongs on your patio?

This is the Lightweight class: entry-level money, first-pellet-grill buyer. A head-to-head, two grills, one winner, and a ruling the Amazon stars could not make for us. Here’s who wins, and for whom.

Quick comparison

Model	Best for	Max temp	Cook area	Hopper	WiFi app	Warranty	Price
Traeger Westwood	Best budget	450°F	653 sq in	18 lb	Yes (WiFIRE)	7 years body, legs and shelf (rust-through); 3 years controller, auger, fan, grates and casters; 1 year igniter, sensors and meat probe; authorized seller only; parts only, labor and freight at the owner's expense	Check price →
Pit Boss Navigator 850	Best for more space & searing	500°F	932 sq in	30 lb	Yes (Pit Boss Grills app)	5 years all parts and 5 years electrical (wood pellet grills, brand policy); original purchaser, residential use only; parts only, no labor or freight; no performance warranty; authorized retailer or reseller only (unauthorized marketplaces may be refused)	Check price →

Prices move constantly — any Amazon price shown is as of the date noted and subject to change; tap through for today's number.

Best budget: Traeger Westwood

If you mostly smoke and want the budget grill a tester has actually cooked on, this is the one.

Bon Appétit’s Noah Kaufman ran the Westwood through the same tests as grills costing far more: a timed heat-up, an hour at 250°F against an air probe, and ribs and chicken on every grill. Bon Appétit named it the best budget pellet smoker. “During a 3-hour smoke at 250℉, it held temperatures very steady,” and each time he checked, it read within about 10 degrees of the set temperature. Food & Wine’s Greg Baker tested the base Westwood on his own and found it performs much the same as the bigger XL. Traeger backs the body for 7 years and the controller, auger and fan for 3, and those moving parts are what owners report failing in the pellet grill critical reviews we read.

Not for you if: you want to sear, or you want proof from owners before you buy. It tops out at 450°F, and both testers say it will not leave real grill marks. And it is new: when we read its Amazon listing on October 14, 2026, it was two weeks old and 9 of the first 10 reviews came from Amazon’s free-product program. We did not let that rating decide anything, and we will re-read the listing as real purchases come in.

Winner

Our top pick

Traeger Westwood

Best budget · 653 sq in · 450°F · WiFIRE app · 7-year body warranty

Your pick if you mostly smoke and want the budget grill a tester actually cooked on — Bon Appétit's budget pick, with a 7-year body warranty; it tops out at 450°F, so it will not sear, and it has no independent owner record yet.

4.9 · 20 owner ratingsacross Amazon · 2026-10-25 · early data · incentivised base

Check price at Amazon →

Sold and shipped by Amazon · 30-day refund / replacement · read 2026-10-14

Picked before we checked what this link pays us.

Pro review Bon Appétit

“During a 3-hour smoke at 250℉, it held temperatures very steady.”

Traeger Westwood

Best budget

Your pick if you mostly smoke and want the budget grill a tester actually cooked on — Bon Appétit's budget pick, with a 7-year body warranty; it tops out at 450°F, so it will not sear, and it has no independent owner record yet.

4.9 · 20 owner ratingsAmazon · 2026-10-25 · early data · incentivised base

Pro review “During a 3-hour smoke at 250℉, it held temperatures very steady.”— Noah Kaufman, Bon Appétit

Pros

• Tested hands-on: Bon Appétit's budget pick held its set temperature through a 3-hour smoke at 250°F
• 7-year body warranty, with 3 years on the controller, auger and fan
• WiFIRE app control and Traeger's P.A.L. rail accessories
• Sold and shipped by Amazon

Cons

• 450°F maximum, so it will not sear a steak
• No independent owner record yet: its Amazon listing launched in October 2026 and 9 of the first 10 reviews were free-product (Vine) reviews
• Smaller cook area: 653 sq in, 424 of it on the main grate
• Two testers found the controls unintuitive at first; keep the manual handy

Check price at Amazon →

Sold and shipped by Amazon · 30-day refund / replacement · read 2026-10-14

✓ Safety: no active recallNo active CPSC recall for the Westwood (checked 2026-10-14). Traeger's two recalls are other products: its 2018 wood pellet grill recall (#18230) predates the Westwood, which launched in 2026, and its December 2023 recall (#24061) is the Flatrock flat-top propane griddle. As with any grill, run it outdoors with clearance from walls and keep grease cleaned up.

Best for more space & searing: Pit Boss Navigator 850

The Navigator 850 is what you buy when you want more grill and a real sear without leaving the budget tier.

At 932 sq in it is the bigger cooker by a wide margin, with a 30 lb hopper and WiFi plus Bluetooth. Its trick is the Flame Broiler lever: slide it open and you cook over direct flame, which Pit Boss says runs up to 1,000°F. Nobody has put a thermometer on this model, so that is Pit Boss’s number, not a measured one, but it is a sear the Westwood cannot do at all. Pit Boss covers every part for 5 years.

The honest catch is the record behind it. Its Amazon rating of 4.6 across 72 looks deep, but it pools three sizes of the grill, and only 21 of those reviews were of the 850 when we read it on October 14, 2026. Its critical reviews tell a consistent story: half of them describe a part failing early (the auger, the igniter, the controller board, peeling paint), and several say Pit Boss’s warranty support did not fix it. If you cook for a crowd or want to grill as well as smoke, the space and the flame broiler earn their keep. Just buy it from a seller Pit Boss authorizes.

Pit Boss Navigator 850

Best for more space & searing

Sold in 3 grill sizes on this listing: 850 sq in, 1300 sq in, 1600 sq in — this card is the 850 sq in. Check the size before you add to cart.

Your pick if you want the most cook space and open-flame searing for the money — 932 sq in and a flame-broiler; Amazon's 4.6★/72 pools three sizes, and its critical reviews cluster on early part failures.

4.6 · 72 owner ratingsAmazon · 2026-10-14 · early data · listing-wide base · global base

“The Navigator is sturdy, smoky, and better at open-flame grilling than most pellet grills in this price range.”— Jared Brown, Burning Brisket

Pros

• Big 932 sq in cook area and a 30 lb hopper
• Flame Broiler slide-plate for direct-flame searing
• WiFi + Bluetooth with the Pit Boss app
• 5-year warranty on all parts

Cons

• Amazon's 4.6★/72 pools the 850, 1300 and 1600 sizes; in October 2026 only 21 reviews were of the 850
• Critical reviews cluster on early part failures (auger, igniter, controller board) and slow warranty help
• Reviewers note heat can run uneven side-to-side
• Only one meat probe included (two probe ports)

What owners complain aboutDefect reports

Parts fail early - the auger, the igniter, the controller board, peeling paint - and owners say Pit Boss's warranty support did not fix it.

5 of the 10 critical reviews describe a part failing; 3 name Pit Boss support or the warranty · critical reviews read October 2026

Check price at Amazon →

✓ Safety: no active recallNo active CPSC recall for the Navigator or any Pit Boss pellet grill (checked 2026-10-14). Standard pellet-grill care: run outdoors with clearance, keep the firepot and grease tray clean to prevent flare-ups, and don't leave it unattended on high.

Why the Amazon stars didn’t decide this fight

On paper the Westwood’s 5.0 stars beat the Navigator’s 4.6. Neither number is what it looks like, and this is the part of a rating most shoppers never check:

• A launch base is not an owner record. The Westwood’s listing went up in October 2026, and nearly every early review came through Amazon Vine, which sends a reviewer a free unit to write about. Those are real reviews of the real grill, but nobody paid for it and nobody has owned it through a season.
• A pooled rating is not a rating of your grill. The Navigator listing sells three sizes (850, 1300 and 1600 sq in) under one rating. Of its reviews, 21 were of the 850.

So we ruled on what the testers measured and on what owners wrote in the critical reviews, which is where a grill’s real failure pattern shows up. That pointed to the Westwood.

How to choose between them

Skip the spec sheet and answer two questions:

1. Will you mostly smoke, or also grill? Mostly smoke → the Westwood, the smoker a tester measured. Want to sear steaks and burgers on the same machine → the Navigator 850 and its flame broiler.
2. How many do you feed? The Westwood’s 653 sq in (424 on the main grate) handles a family. The Navigator’s 932 sq in handles a crowd.

For most people reading this, that’s the Westwood. If you want more room and a real sear, the Navigator 850 gives you more grill for the money.

Ready to step up? Our Welterweight pellet grill showdown puts the bigger Westwood XL against the Z Grills 700D4E and the Weber Smoque, the Middleweight showdown covers the tier above that, and the best pellet grills of 2026 page gathers every measurement a tester has published across all three weight classes.

What to look for in a budget pellet grill

• A controller that holds temperature. This is the whole point of a pellet grill. Look for a tester’s measurement, not just “PID” on the box.
• WiFi + app. Remote temperature control and probe alerts change how you cook, and both grills here have them.
• Cook area for your crowd. About 650 sq in suits most families; over 900 sq in gives you room for big cooks.
• Searing ability. A flame broiler or a direct-flame mode lets a pellet grill sear, not just smoke. A 450°F dial will not.
• The warranty on the moving parts. The auger, fan, igniter and controller are what fail. Read how long the maker covers those, not just the headline number, and buy from an authorized seller.

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