In more recent years, Apple has pivoted the focus of the Apple Watch to health, arguably the wearable’s biggest draw in 2024. Now your Apple Watch comes with heart rate monitoring, fall detection, Emergency SOS, ECG, and even tools to track dangerous diseases like atrial fibrillation.
If you’re in the market for your very first Apple Watch, then I’m here to tell you that there’s really only one model you’ll want to consider. But first, a few caveats. If you’re already an Apple Watch user, or an early adopter of the latest and greatest models, or you know you love the most expensive tech out there, this recommendation isn’t for you. That’s because I’m about to recommend the Apple Watch SE as the strongest Black Friday pick out there for first-timers.
I’ve been covering Apple and tech for eight years, before that, I used to work for the company, I was even boots-on-the-ground in the store on day one of the Apple Watch launch. In my opinion, the Apple Watch SE is not only the best Black Friday Apple Watch deal , but also the best deal in fitness tracking, period. You get a huge chunk of the Apple Watch experience at a fraction of the price, especially if you can score one over Black Friday. This year, that’s truer than ever. Here’s why the Apple Watch SE won’t let you down.
Apple Watch SE: The ultimate taster
(Image credit: Future)
The Apple Watch SE boasts a lot of the things that make the Apple Watch experience great, without some of the more costly premium features. Starting with health, you’ll get heart rate and irregular rhythm notifications, atrial fibrillation tracking, low cardio fitness notifications, and fall detection. You’re only missing out on two key features, the ECG app, and blood oxygen. However, if you’ve been paying attention, you might be aware that blood oxygen is no longer featured in any of the best Apple Watch models in the U.S. because of a patent dispute, so that’s one less reason not to choose the SE.
The Apple Watch SE is slightly smaller than the other flagship models, the Series 10 and the Ultra 2, but that 40mm (or 44mm) case size might lend itself more readily to kids or those with slender wrists. It’s got a vibrant OLED Retina display with 1,000 nits of brightness, as well as sleep tracking, the new Vitals app from watchOS 11 , and cycle tracking.
It’s also water-resistant and swim-proof in up to 50m of water, and includes vital safety features such as Emergency SOS, emergency calling, and Fall and Crash Detection. The S8 chip lags a little behind the S9 and S10, but most users won’t notice any difference at all, except maybe when it comes to futureproofing.
Really, there are very few massive features that the Series 10 and Ultra 2 offer over the SE. In fact, a large portion of the price difference can be attributed to the more premium materials and design. Usually retailing at $249 and $399 respectively, the choice between an Apple Watch SE and a Series 10 is a close-run thing at RRP. On Black Friday, I’ll wager it’s a no-brainer.
Apple Watch SE: The discount king
Almost every year we see an unbelievable new lowest-ever price on the Apple Watch SE. Right now the lowest-recorded price is $169.99, but we’d bet plenty of money that a new low is on the way for this year’s Black Friday sale.
If you can find an Apple Watch SE for $159, or the hallowed $150 mark, you’ll have secured yourself the bargain of the century.
But what about the Apple Watch SE 3? The latest reports indicate that it’s coming in 2025, but whether that’s early or late in the year, there’s good news for prospective buyers. If the Apple Watch SE 3 is closer at hand than we think, there’s a good chance of more generous discounts over the next few weeks, owing to the impending launch of the new model.
However, it the SE 3 arrives later in the year alongside iPhone 17 , you’ll get a solid year’s use out of your new SE before it’s supplanted by the next model. Not that it matters too much, however. If you’re in the market for your first Apple Watch and considering the SE, chances are you’re not a serial early adopter who cares about having the latest tech.
What about the Series 10 and Ultra 2?
(Image credit: Future)
None of this is to disparage the Apple Watch Series 10 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 , both of which are brilliant in their own right. If you want a bit more zip from the processor, some futureproofing, and a more vibrant display, the Apple Watch Series 10 presents a noble alternative to the SE that is already getting reasonable discounts in what will be its first Black Friday event.
The Ultra 2 is also brilliant, but it’s very limited in appeal for people who aren’t going to push their watch to the absolute limit. Unless you’re spending your weekends in the dirt mountain biking, hiking, climbing, deep-sea diving, trail running, or something else besides, you’ll struggle to realize the full potential of the Ultra 2, which would be fine, except it costs roughly $700, more than four times the cost of an Apple Watch SE.
So if you’re looking to make the Apple Watch leap for the first time in 2024, Black Friday is the time to do it, and the Apple Watch SE could be the perfect iPhone companion you’ve been waiting for. Already bought in? At this price, they also make great gifts for kids or older relatives. The Apple Watch SE is currently $189, already a 24% discount, and we expect even more savings in the weeks ahead.
