Apple Cuts Watch SE 3 Price Beyond Original Plan, Garmin and Samsung Went So Low Apple Had to React

This is the first year that Apple has put all of its Watch models on sale at the same time on Black Friday: This includes the rugged Watch Ultra model for extreme sports, the standard Series models, and the SE models that are focused on value. This all-encompassing sale strategy gives people access to Apple’s wearable ecosystem in ways that have never been possible before, since Apple usually keeps prices high except for short promotional periods (and mainly on Amazon).

Since this morning, the price of the Apple Watch SE 3 with 44mm GPS (and sport band) on Amazon dropped from $279 to $229. This is the lowest price ever with an 18% discount that makes it a good choice against affordable Samsung and Garmin watches at similar prices. Amazon went above and beyond the usual Black Friday discounts, making the Apple Watch SE 3 the best-selling smartwatch on the main Black Friday day.

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Always-On Display

The always-on Retina display is the SE 3’s biggest improvement over the SE 2: It gets rid of the need to raise your wrist which made previous models feel half-functional when you just wanted to check the time. It also means that you can check notifications during meetings without the obvious wrist flick that says you’re looking at your watch, or keep track of your workout metrics without waking up the screen by making big movements.

The temperature sensing lets you look back at ovulation estimates by taking nightly wrist temperature readings that show patterns that point to fertile windows. This makes natural family planning tools or fertility awareness that dedicated ovulation trackers offer at similar prices. The Vitals app combines temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, and sleep data into unified health dashboards that show patterns that individual metrics don’t show. Daily sleep scores measure the quality of your sleep by looking at how long you sleep, how consistently you sleep, and how your body works.

The new battery lasts 18 hours on a single charge and has an always-on display so you can use it all day, from waking up to going to sleep, without having to charge it in the middle of the day, which makes sleep tracking impossible. Fast charging gives you 8 hours of battery life in just 15 minutes, so you can quickly charge it up while you shower or get ready in the morning. The battery lasts twice as long as the SE 2’s and the new charging architecture makes it charge twice as fast.

The Apple Intelligence-powered Workout Buddy looks at your past workouts to give you personalized coaching, changing goals, and real-time support that keeps you motivated during tough sessions. The feature learns how well you usually do and changes its suggestions based on that, so you don’t get the unrealistic goals that generic fitness apps give you without knowing what you can really do.

The crash and fall detection features use data from the accelerometer and gyroscope to look for serious impacts or dangerous falls. If you don’t respond after an incident, they will automatically call emergency services. The safety features are especially useful for people who do things alone, like running on remote trails, biking on busy streets, or older people who are more likely to fall.

The record-low Black Friday pricing at $229 makes Apple’s latest Watch SE 3 model cost similarly to Samsung and Garmin alternatives but they offer better ecosystem integration, safety features and seamless iPhone connectivity that Android watches cannot match. The combination of always-on display, temperature sensing, 18-hour battery and Apple Intelligence features at 18% below retail creates exceptional value.

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