Best Apple Watch: The best Apple smartwatches to buy, from £169
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Struggling to decide which Apple Watch is best for you? Here’s our pick of the bunch
With a long line of wearables to its name, Apple is one of the biggest players in the smartwatch game. And with all the many different models and generations out there, choosing the best Apple Watch to buy certainly isn’t an easy task, particularly as the brand is constantly throwing new models into the mix.
That’s why we’ve put together this list to help you find the right Apple smartwatch for you, whether it be the Series 6 or the more affordable SE. Before you make your decision, though, it’s important to ask yourself whether an Apple Watch really is the best option for you. The smartwatch market isn’t a narrow one, and there are heaps of wearables available from rival brands such as Garmin and Samsung, as well as lesser-known, budget-friendly options such as the Mobvoi Ticwatch E2.
With this in mind, be sure to check out our roundup of the best smartwatches you can buy, where you'll find a handy buying guide covering the most important criteria to consider when buying a smartwatch.
With that said, read on for our picks of the best Apple Watches to buy.
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Best Apple Watch: At a glance
- Best Apple Watch you can buy: Apple Watch Series 7
- Best value Apple Watch: Apple Watch SE
- Best cheap Apple Watch: Apple Watch Series 3
Which Apple Watch is best for me?
1. Apple Watch Series 7: The best Apple Watch you can buy
Price: £369 | Buy now from Argos 
It’s fair to say that the Apple Watch Series 7 is the best smartwatch you can buy. Admittedly, we said the same thing about the previous two generations. But although the Series 7 doesn’t introduce many new features, the slight refinements mean it stays in the lead.
The main updates to the Series 7 are a 20% increase in screen size and faster charging but there are other small changes, including an improvement in glass thickness and dust proofing, improving overall robustness.
Elsewhere, fitness tracking features and apps such ECG heart rate and blood oxygen monitoring, sleep tracking and Apple Pay remain the same. The only qualm we have with the Series 7 is the mediocre 18 hours of battery life, which hasn’t improved on previous generations.
It’s also worth mentioning that, with the launch of the Series 7, the Series 6 has dropped in price. It’s still a great smartwatch, and now you can get it for as little as £319 on Amazon.
Read the full Apple Watch Series 7 review
Key specs – Operating system: WatchOS; Screen size and type: 396 x 484, 1,143mm2 display area (44mm) / 352 x 430, 904mm2 display area (41mm); Battery life: Up to 18 hours; Replaceable strap: Yes; GPS: Yes; Heart rate: Yes; NFC: Yes
2. Apple Watch SE: Best value Apple Watch
Price: £249 | Buy now from Argos 
The Apple Watch SE does a lot of what the Series 6 can do, but at £110 less. It’s a fine option for those who want an Apple Watch but can do without the more flashy features such as ECG, blood-oxygen measurements, and the Series 6’s brighter always-on-display mode.
At 18 hours, the battery life is no worse than the Series 6. You can still use the watch to reply to texts, answer calls, and use Siri to set alarms and reminders, and you can install all the same apps from the App Store. While it doesn’t have the Series 6’s ECG app, the SE does have all the same fitness motion tracking sensors, as well as an altimeter and irregular heart rate notifications. If you can’t quite splash out £379 for the Series 6, this is the perfect alternative
Read the full Apple Watch SE review
Key specs – Operating system: WatchOS; Screen size and type: 1.57in 394 x 324 Retina LTPO OLED; Battery life: Up to 18 hours; Replaceable strap: Yes; GPS: Yes; Heart rate: Yes; NFC: Yes
3. Apple Watch Series 3: Now even cheaper
Price: £169 | Buy now from Amazon 
When we reviewed the Apple Watch Series 3 way back in 2017, we said it was one of “the best smartwatches money can buy”. Of course, that was long before the Series 6 and SE came around. Nevertheless, this is still a very fine smartwatch, and now at just £197 it’s hard to fault.
Once again, you won’t find the ECG or always-on display that the Series 6 has, but you get all the core features including heart rate monitoring, GPS and an altimeter. So, what stands in the way of recommending the Series 3 over the SE? Well, in terms of physical design, the SE (and the Series 6) has a larger retina display (30% larger to be exact), which makes it easier to read. The Series 3 also runs on an S3 processor chip, which isn’t quite as fast as the SE’s S5 chip.
That said, if you’re after a budget-friendly Apple Watch, you really can’t go wrong with the Apple Watch Series 3.
Read the full review of the Apple Watch Series 3
Key specs (Non-cellular) – Operating system: WatchOS; Screen size and type: 1.5in 272 x 340 OLED; Battery life: Up to 18 hours; Replaceable strap: No; GPS: Yes; Heart rate: Yes; NFC: No
