The Apple Watch Series 10 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 may be Cupertino’s latest and greatest wearables, but the 2nd-generation Apple Watch SE remains my favorite smartwatch from Apple. Smaller and lighter than its siblings, the SE is also the comfiest Apple Watch, IMHO. Best of all, it’s currently on sale for 24% off as part of Amazon’s early Black Friday sale.
That drops the price of admission to the wonderful world of Apple Watches down to just $189 for the GPS version of the watch. This deal is specifically on the smaller 40mm model, which is available in your choice of three case colors and two strap types, all for the same price. Regarding the latter, I’d opt for the woven Sports Loop strap over the standard rubber one (Sports Band), for maximum comfort.
The 44mm Apple Watch SE is also discounted by a more modest 22%, knocking the cost down from $279 to $219. Again, these prices reflect the standard GPS models but you can also save $50 off the cellular versions via Target.
Whichever Apple Watch SE model you choose, know that you’re getting a device that is compatible with all of Apple’s latest features introduced with watchOS 11, including on-wrist translations, access to Apple’s fun tide tracking app, the ability to finally pause your Activity Rings, Apple’s Check In safety feature, improved women’s health tracking and more.
Like the Apple Watch 10 — which is also on sale for $50 off via Walmart — battery life is roughly 18 hours with standard use, however, I frequently find my SE lasts closer to 24 hours when using Apple’s Low Power mode. It also boasts the same 50 meters of water resistance as the Series 10, which is enough for surface-level swimming.
There are not quite as many health-monitoring sensors as found in the device’s higher-end siblings but the SE has proven itself time and again to be an exceptionally accurate fitness tracker. You also get access to Apple’s useful sleep insights as well as the new Vitals health app for monitoring key wellness data.
Of course, the SE also supports an enormous variety of useful apps, both first and third-party including some of my favorites like Strava, Google Maps, Spotify and Headspace. Beyond that, it has all the charm you’d expect from an Apple device, which is to say: it’s easy on the eyes and a pleasure to interact with.
Looking for more awesome Apple deals? If you make haste, you can additionally save $100 off of a new Apple iMac M4 and up to $149 off a new iPad.