5 Affordable Alternatives To The Apple Watch SE 2nd Gen

If you own an iPhone and are considering adding a smartwatch to your tech arsenal, you've likely considered the Apple Watch SE 2nd Gen, among other options. The SE version of the smartwatch is one of many in the best-selling Apple Watch lineup, which has evolved significantly over the years. One of the biggest selling points of the SE is its affordability. It comes with all the core features of the flagship Apple Watches at a fraction of the price. If you're willing to give up health tools like blood oxygen monitoring, temperature sensing, and ECG functionality, you can get a decent Apple Watch without emptying your wallet. 

While the Apple Watch SE is a good option for many, you may want to explore other options. If you don't own an iPhone, using an Apple Watch won't be worth the trouble in most cases. Even iPhone users have good reasons to choose other smartwatches; for example, the battery life on Apple Watches often falls short when compared to other brands, and you might be able to get more for your money if you opt for an Apple Watch alternative. It may just come down to your priorities and how you plan to use your smartwatch. Whatever the case may be, there are many good alternatives to the Apple Watch SE worth considering.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is arguably one of the best smartwatches for Android. However, if you're an iPhone user seeking an Apple Watch alternative, one of the other options in this article will be a better option — this one is Android-only. 

While the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic retails for $449.99 compared to the Apple Watch SE's starting price of $249.99, if you shop around, you can find it for $249.99 or less on websites like Amazon, placing it in the same price range as the SE. For that price, you get a capable smartwatch powered by Wear OS with a sharp Super AMOLED display and a thinner bezel than on previous models. When you have the watch's always-on display enabled, you can expect to get about 30 hours of use out of the watch's battery; disable the feature, and battery life goes up to 40 hours. In comparison, the Apple Watch SE's battery life is 18 hours. 

The Samsung Galaxy Watch is water- and dust-resistant, and its screen is made of sapphire crystal for extra durability. You can use the watch to track various health metrics, including your heart rate, body composition (body fat, skeletal muscle, body water, BMI), blood oxygen, and skin temperature. It also has ECG functionality, advanced sleep coaching, and fall detection. However, if you're using the Samsung Galaxy Watch with a Google Pixel Phone or other non-Samsung phone, you won't be able to use all of these features unless you're willing to side-load Samsung's Health Monitor App to your phone. Still, even with these limitations, given its price and features, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is a good alternative to the iPhone SE.

As one of the best heart rate monitor watches available, it's hard to go wrong with the budget-priced Amazfit GTR 4 if you're looking for an affordable smartwatch with lots of health features. You can get this iOS and Android compatible watch for $139.99 on the Amazfit website, making it much cheaper than the Apple Watch SE. However, don't let the price deceive you. It has all the features most users are looking for in a smartwatch, including an OLED display, advanced fitness support, and over 150 fitness modes. The watch comes with smart recognition of eight sports and strength training exercises, making it a nice companion for those looking for a smartwatch to help them track workouts. You can store your music and play it back from the watch, so you always have your favorite tunes while out and about. 

It also has dual-band GPS monitoring, something that's usually only found in high-end smartwatches. It has a speaker and microphone for taking calls and using the built-in Amazon Alexa voice assistant. As far as health features go, it tracks your heart rate 24 hours a day, has SpO2 and Stress Monitoring, and tracks sleep and naps. For those looking for a watch they don't have to charge nightly, the Amazfit GTR 4 has a 14-day battery life when in battery saver mode.

If you're looking for a reasonably priced fitness-focused smartwatch, the Fitbit Sense 2 is worth a closer look. This smartwatch, which works with iOS and Android, is designed to give users a comprehensive view of their health and includes features like all-day body response to identify stress patterns and sleep tracking. Beyond that, with the watch's ECG app, you can take an atrial fibrillation assessment whenever you want or turn on irregular heart rhythm notifications to keep track of your heart rhythm when you're not moving or sleeping.

Fitness comes to mind when most people think of the Fitbit lineup, and the Fitbit Sense 2 comes equipped with the health tracking tools most expect, such as heart rate tracking, daily readiness score, active zone minutes, built-in GPS, exercise modes, plus it measures your steps, distance, and calories. One downside of Fitbit smartwatches and trackers is that many of the advanced features are locked behind a paywall, and you'll have to pay for Fitbit Premium to get them. While its smartwatch features don't compare to the Apple Watch SE, Fitbit has gotten better over the years. For example, you can use the watch to answer calls, send callers to voice mail, view texts, and use Google Maps and Google Wallet. Amazon Alexa is also built into the watch.

At $149.99, the Garmin Venu Sq 2 is one of the most affordable watches in the Garmin lineup, and you can use it with iOS or Android. While Garmin smartwatches are often thought of as being designed for athletes, the Venu Sq 2 balances smartwatch features with health tracking, making it a good fit for casual fitness enthusiasts. Its AMOLED display can be used in the optional always-on mode, or set it to wake only when you lift your wrist. This watch gets up to 11 days of battery life in smartwatch mode and up to 26 hours in GPS mode. However, if you use always-on mode, the battery will only last about three days. The watch's display is made of Gorilla Glass 3 with an aluminum bezel and silicone band.

While it doesn't have the high-end health features you find on more expensive Garmin watches, the Venu Sq 2 does have almost everything you need to track your fitness and daily activities. That includes monitoring your heart rate several times per second and alerting you when it's too high or too low, as well as tracking your body battery to let you know how your energy levels are throughout the day and whether you're ready for physical activity or need to rest. It also tracks your sleep, stress levels, and workouts and has a fall-detection safety feature. While its smart features aren't on par with the Apple Watch SE, it does have quick replies to texts (Android only), push notifications, alarms, timers, stopwatches, a third-party app store, calendar events, and contactless payments.

At first glance, the Withings ScanWatch Light, priced at $249.99 on Amazon, looks like a traditional analog watch with its silver hands marking the time on the grayscale OLED display. However, hiding behind the exterior is a powerful device with the health and fitness tracking features one expects from a smartwatch. With the Withings ScanWatch Light, you'll rarely have to worry about whether your battery is going to run out of juice because its battery can last up to 30 days. You can use it with iOS or Android, too. 

The watch does everything you'd expect a smartwatch in this price range to do, including automatically tracking your activity, heart rate, and sleep. You can view data like your respiration rate, heart rate, sleep stats, and step count from the watch and get more detailed information on the Withings Health Mate app, including an analysis of your health and fitness metrics.

One drawback of the Withings ScanWatch Light is that it doesn't include integrated GPS, so you'll need to use it with your smartphone and the Withings App to use connected GPS to track your running, walking, biking, and other outdoor workouts. As far as other smartwatch features go, there aren't many outside of health tracking. So, if you want a smartwatch that lets you answer calls on your wrist or with a large app store, you'll want to look elsewhere.