The Apple Watch Series 7 is almost half the price of the Series 9, and it comes with the blood oxygen sensor.
The Apple Watch Series 7 came out in 2021, and it's not easy to find new ones for sale these days. But right now, you can get the GPS + Cellular 45mm Apple Watch Series 7 from Woot for $279.99 (originally $529) after a 47% discount. After looking at price comparison tools, this is the lowest price the Series 7 has been. If you have Amazon Prime, you get free shipping, too; otherwise, it’ll be $6 to ship. (Heads up, though: Woot only ships to the 48 contiguous states in the U.S.)
Other Apple deals right now:
The newest Apple Watches—the Series 9 and Ultra 2—made headlines in January because of the ban on its blood-oxygen feature. There are ways to get the feature on those models before it's too late, but if you want the feature and don't mind getting an older model, the Series 7 is a good way to go.
This is the GPS + Cellular version, meaning you'll be able to leave your phone at home and still be able to take calls and listen to music. It also has the larger 45mm screen with the rubber Sport Band (and only comes in the green color). You can see the full specs of the Series 7 from Apple here and here, and read the full "outstanding" review from PCMag here. You would still get the latest watchOS 10 updates since Apple updates Apple Watch Series 4 models and newer.
If you were to buy a 45mm GPS + Cellular Apple Watch Series 9, it would run you $529. The main differences in the hardware between the two are the processor, which is an S7 SiP over an S9; the storage, which is 32GB over the 64GB of the Series 9; and the Bluetooth, which is a 5.0 over a 5.3. The brightness is about half the Series 9 with 1,000 nits. They both have the "Always-on" display feature and have the same battery life of 18 hours. There is no crash detection, on-device Siri, double tap gesture control, or precision finding for your iPhone on the Series 7.
