The Apple Watch SE drops to a new record low of $169 for Black Friday

Here's a solid Black Friday deal for iPhone users who have yet to hop into the smartwatch ecosystem or perhaps are clinging onto a much older Apple Watch but don't need a flagship model. The Apple Watch SE has dropped to $169 at Amazon. That's a discount of 32 percent or $80.

This is a new record-low price for the 40mm GPS variant. However, it's an all-time-low only by one dollar. The wearable was on sale for $170 during the October Prime Day event. 

The second-gen Apple Watch SE is our pick for the best budget Apple Watch and we gave it a score of 89 in our 2022 review. It has the same chipset as the Apple Watch Ultra and Series 8, and it should feel faster if you're coming over from, say, a Series 6 or earlier model.

The SE shares some, but not all features with flagship Apple Watches. It supports crash detection, heart rate monitoring and emergency calling, and it is water resistant to 50 meters. We felt that the screen was easy to view, even when the sun was shining brightly. Fitness tracking is accurate (which is pretty important!). Perhaps most crucially, the Apple Watch SE is light and easy to wear.

The Ion-X glass isn't quite as robust as the sapphire crystal on other recent Apple Watch models, so you'll likely want to be extra careful with it. Other features present on other Apple Watch devices that are missing here include an always-on display, blood oxygen monitoring and temperature sensor. The very handy Double Tap feature isn't available here either.

While we feel that this is a good price for the second-gen Apple Watch SE, it's worth bearing in mind that a new model could arrive in the coming months. Apple is reportedly working on an Apple Watch SE with a plastic casing in a bid to reduce the price and allow for bolder color options. It's unlikely that Apple will announce this model before next year, though.

There are plenty of other Black Friday deals available on Apple products. We've put together a list of the best ones from across the web.

Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-apple-watch-se-drops-to-a-new-record-low-of-169-for-black-friday-183924035.html?src=rss https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-apple-watch-se-drops-to-a-new-record-low-of-169-for-black-friday-183924035.html?src=rss