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Editor’s note: Black Friday doesn’t officially take place until Friday, November 28th; however, if you want to shop ahead of time, we’ve rounded up the best early Black Friday deals you can already get.
If you have an iPhone, the Apple Watch is the best smartwatch for you. But there was only one Apple Watch when the smartwatch launched in 2015. A decade later, you’ve got three flavors to choose from: the entry-level Watch SE, the standard Series, and the rugged Ultra. Each appeals to a different demographic and set of needs, but good news: I’ve tested every Apple Watch dating back to the Series 2 and can point you in the right direction.
What we’re looking for How we test Apple Watches Collapse Apple Watches do a lot of things, from tracking your health and fitness to fielding notifications. As with other wearables, we do a mix of year-round experiential testing and benchmarks. So while we may not take a tumble down a flight of stairs, we’ll note if organically tripping during a walk triggers Fall Detection. (Or doesn’t.) We also check to see how accurate sleep tracking, heart rate, and GPS are versus long-term control devices, like the Oura Ring or a Garmin. We’ll also note how the various Apple Watch models compare to each other on factors like durability, performance, and battery life. Who is it for? Collapse We’re not going to recommend an Apple Watch Ultra for a couch potato — unless you want the best battery life possible. The idea is to guide you to the right Apple Watch for your needs. Price Collapse Should you buy new? You can often save on an Apple Watch by buying refurbished, especially since there generally aren’t a ton of changes year to year. Feature set Collapse Do you want to shell out extra for LTE? Which models have what sensors, and how does that apply to you? Cellular or GPS Collapse Some scenarios call for you to buy cellular models, others you can get away with just having GPS.
The best Apple Watch for most people
Sizes: 40mm, 44mm / Weight: 26.3g (40mm), 32.9g (44mm) / Battery life: Up to 18 hours / Display type: Always-on LTPO OLED / GPS: Built-in GPS, plus GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, Beidou / Connectivity: 5G (optional), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi / Water resistance: Up to 50 meters / Music storage: 64GB
The third-gen Apple Watch SE is an incredible value. So much so, there’s not that much of a difference between this entry-level watch and the more advanced Series 11. There’s now an always-on display, an improved S10 chip that enables gestures like double-tap and wrist flick, fast charging, on-device Siri, 5G cellular, and additional health features thanks to the new wrist-temperature sensor. For folks who are in relatively good health, you don’t necessarily need advanced health features like blood oxygen or EKGs for afib detection. The SE 3 still gets you the basics like abnormal heart rate notifications, the new Sleep Score, and sleep apnea notifications.
Aside from health, you’re only really giving up on aesthetics. The SE 3 has a thicker bezel, and I wish battery life were a bit longer. Still, I had zero FOMO while testing this watch alongside the Series 11. And for a $150 less? This is the Apple Watch most people should buy.
The best Apple Watch for health monitoring
Sizes: 42mm, 46mm / Weight: 30.3g (42mm), 37.8 (46mm) / Battery life: Up to 24 hours, 38 in low-power mode / Display type: Always-on LTPO OLED / GPS: Built-in GPS, plus GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, Beidou / Connectivity: 5G (optional), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi / Water resistance: Up to 50 meters / Music storage: 64GB
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