Black Friday 2022 is almost upon us, but the smart shoppers out there won’t be waiting for the weekend to bag a bargain, because discounts crop up earlier in the month. Take this Walmart deal on the original Apple Watch SE,
We were expecting great deals to pop up on older Apple Watches in the sales this Black Friday, because the Apple Watch SE 2 and Series 8 have just launched, meaning the original SE and Series 7 are ripe for discounts.
This deal has delivered the goods earlier than we expected, and it’s well worth considering if you want the entry-level Apple Watch, since the SE 2 is not a huge upgrade on the original. The two major new features on the SE 2 are an upgraded processor plus crash detection, which can alert emergency services and select contacts if it detects you have been involved in a car crash.
Crash detection is a welcome feature, even if it’s one you hope never to have to use, but the upgraded processor on the new SE 2 won’t make a big difference – the original SE already runs very smoothly as you’d expect from an Apple device.
In general, the Apple Watch SE is worth considering at this price even if you were eyeing up the Series 7 or 8 watches. There are some major advantages to paying more for the Series watches, which have larger displays you can set to always-on, and both offer more accurate heart rate and GPS tracking in our experience. The Series watches also can take an ECG, and track blood oxygen saturation and skin temperature, which are all useful upgrades on the SE line, but not essential for many people.
Those who do want a Series watch should look at the Walmart discount on the 41mm Series 7 watch with GPS and cellular, which is reduced to $329 down from $429.
If you’re happy to buy a renewed model of the Apple Watch SE, then there are even bigger discounts to be had over at Amazon, where some models of the watch are going for as little as $170. Getting a new watch in the Walmart sale brings with it some extra piece of mind, but we can’t help but flag a lower price if we see it.
There will be more Apple Watch deals to come during the Black Friday sales, and we’re hoping that the Series 7 will be going for a song at some point, but when you see a discount like this early doors it can sometimes pay to move fast and save yourself weeks of bargain hunting, spending that time toying with your new Apple Watch instead.
