The Apple Watch is a powerhouse among wearables and an undisputed runaway success, but it’s also a little on the pricy side. Around $250 feels like a lot of money — but right now, you can pick up the Apple Watch SE for just $219. This second-generation model comes with a few marked improvements over its previous iterations, including better workout tracking, Crash Detection and higher processing speeds.

Convenience and fitness

Answering calls or reading texts from your wrist is a great time saver. No longer will you need to dig inside your pocket or purse to find your phone and check if it’s an important message. More than that, if you have a smart home, you can control many of your devices from Apple Watch-compatible apps. Nothing feels as futuristic as tapping your wrist to dim the lights — believe me.

If you want a way to keep track of your workouts and calories burned, the new and improved Apple Watch SE is a great solution. Not only is it waterproof up to 50 meters, meaning you can swim in it and have it track the activity, but it has dozens of workouts stored within and can provide personalized insights into your activity if you sign up for Apple Fitness+. You can get a free trial for three months, but the service is $9.99 a month after that.

“I’ve had this watch for a couple of months and cannot say enough good things! It makes it easy to track your workouts and heart rate. Very easy to set up and use, not to mention the battery lasts me two days! Don’t know how I lived without it! Also great for easily seeing my notifications when I’m working from home! Love being able to see work things while moving around my house,” said one five-star reviewer.

Health and safety

The Apple Watch SE is great for more than just working out, though. This model comes with a lot of health and safety features, including Crash Detection, Fall Detection and an Emergency SOS function. It can even track your sleep throughout the night and keep you informed of how much time you spend in each stage of sleep. If you feel particularly tired one morning, check your watch — you might find there’s a reason for that.

Of course, there are a ton of other perks to an Apple Watch, too. There are hundreds of watch faces to choose from, and you can customize it to fit your personal style and tastes. The Apple Watch SE is available in both 40mm and 44mm sizes, and the watch bands can be swapped out. If you aren’t fond of the material, there are dozens of aftermarket bands to choose from.

It’s like having a companion at all times. One user said: “I bought this just because my old one died. BUT IT SAVED my life. I was taking my dogs for a walk. They got over excited about saying hi to some neighbors and pulled me down. I blacked out for a second but came to when my watch started ringing and sent a message that it detected a fall and wanted to know if it should call 911. I love this watch and will not leave the house without it.”

This is the lowest price we’ve ever seen the Apple Watch SE, so act fast — these are popular, and this deal won’t last long.

The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.

If you have Amazon Prime, you’ll get free shipping, of course. Not yet a member? No problem. You can sign up for your free 30-day trial here. (And by the way, those without Prime still get free shipping on orders of $25 or more.)

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Originally published March 21, 2023, 3:27 PM