If you haven’t upgraded your Apple Watch in years (or haven’t tried one at all) the Apple Watch SE 3 (40mm GPS) offers the best bang for your buck, and the Starlight color is down to a new all-time low of $199.99 ($50 off) at Amazon. Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song was impressed with how many features Apple managed to cram into its entry-level smartwatch while testing the watch for her review.
The Apple Watch SE 3 has an always-on display, so you can check the time or an incoming notification without having to raise your wrist or touch the screen. It has the same S10 chip found in the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3, albeit without the Ultra Wideband chip that enables the Precision Finding for iPhone feature. The processor is powerful enough to handle on-device Siri requests. The Apple Watch SE 3 also supports the wrist flick and double tap gestures, which let you clear notifications and navigate through the watch to set timers, snooze an alarm, or answer and end a phone call without tapping the screen.
Apple didn’t increase the Apple Watch SE 3’s battery life compared to the previous generation—it still gets around 18 hours—but did introduce fast charging, so you can top it up more quickly. It did improve the smartwatch’s health and wellness features, including sleep apnea notifications, a wrist-temperature sensor, and ovulation tracking. It can’t take an EKG or measure your blood oxygen level like the Apple Watch Series 11 and Ultra 3 can, but it’s very capable of tracking your activity and sleep.