Even if you’re in the market for an Apple Watch, you may not be able (or willing) to shell out $400 for the newest Apple Watch Series 9. Fortunately, there are pretty great deals to be had on older Apple Watch models, if you’re willing to make some compromises on features. Right now, Woot is selling refurbished Apple Watches for as little as $70. These deals all expire on September 30 at 1am ET (or when the items sell out).
Keep in mind that these refurbished Apple Watches are under the “scratch and dent” category, so they might come with signs of wear, but they were all serviced and given the thumbs-up to work properly. The batteries were also tested to give you at least 85% capacity. Note that Woot only ships to the 48 contiguous states in the U.S. If you have Amazon Prime, you get free shipping; otherwise, it’ll be $6 to ship. Woot also offers a 90-day Woot warranty and a 30-day return policy if you’re not happy with the state of the watch. You can read about some of people’s experiences buying “scratch and dent” products from Woot here.
Apple Watch Series 3: $69.99
The Apple Watch Series 3 came out on September 12, 2017, as the third generation of the series. Woot is selling the 38mm GPS model for $69.99. Something to keep in mind about the Series 3: Apple no longer updates them. The last security update was the watchOS 8.8.1 update earlier this summer, so be mindful of the limitations it might have. Still, if you’re looking for a solid Apple Watch with the basic features, this is a steal. You can see a video of how it performs in 2023 below.
Apple Watch Series 4 starting at $129.99
The Apple Watch Series 4 was released in September 2018 and still gets the latest updates from Apple, the last one being the watchOS 10.0.1. You can choose between the 40mm or a 44mm, and whether you want the GPS-only version or the GPS with the cellular model. The Apple Watch Series 4 starts at $129.99 on Woot. The Series 4 performs about twice as fast as the Series 3 due to its superior processor. It also has an electrical heart sensor, a larger screen than the Series 3, and fall detection. It does have the same battery life as the Series 3 and no sleep tracker. You can read the full review from PCMag here. You can see how the Series 4 performs in 2023 below.
Apple Watch Series 5: $159.99
The Apple Watch Series 5 was released in September 2019 and also gets the latest updates from Apple. You can choose between the 40mm or a 44mm, but you can only get the GPS-only version. The Apple Watch Series 5 is $159.99 on Woot. The main difference between the Series 5 and the Series 4 is that this version introduced the “always-on display,” which means you won’t have to tap it or raise your wrist to see the time. It also has a built-in compass, twice the storage space with 32GB, and better battery life. The battery can last between five hours and an entire day, depending on your activity and its battery-save mode. The Series 5 also has no sleep tracker. You can read the full review from PCMag here. You can see how the Series 5 performs in 2023 below.
Given that the Series 5 is only $30 more than the Series 4, I think the Series 5 is a better deal: It’s likely to get at least one more year of updates than the Series 4 (which is next in line to stop getting updates). Having twice the amount of storage also will make a huge difference.