Member-only story
APPLE
What Do You Lose by Buying the Apple Watch SE?
Save a little, give up very little
I won’t be buying new Apple watches this year. My wife and I are still happy with our Series 5 watches — the battery life is not what it was but between COVID and retirement we are almost always at home, so charging twice a day is not annoying.
We didn’t buy the Series 6 because we felt the addition of the blood oxygen sensor was not anything we need; we have the finger clip sensor which is more accurate anyway.
The Series 7 is slightly more interesting, but fast charging is not important for our lives and dust-proof doesn’t matter either. Neither of us have ever broken our watches, so extra crack resistance didn’t attract us. That leaves us waiting for Series 8 next year.
People who wear their watch while working or playing sports would have a very different view of these improvements.
The SE
The Apple Watch SE is something I have ignored since its introduction. I’m now wondering if I should consider that model next year. If we bought that this year, we’d be giving up the ECG ability and the blood oxygen sensor. We’d be saving $120 over the price of the 7. As we buy the cellular models, we’d save even more: adding cellular is $100 extra on…