Let me ask you a question. What does your smartwatch actually do for you on a daily basis? Not what the spec sheet says. Not what the Apple keynote promised. What does it actually do?
For most people, the honest answer is: show notifications, track steps, monitor heart rate during workouts, maybe track sleep. That’s it. That’s the daily reality. And for that list of features, Apple charges $249 for the Watch SE. Two hundred and forty-nine dollars. For a watch that does what a $59 Amazfit does.
I know that statement will annoy Apple Watch owners. But I’ve worn all five watches on this list — four budget picks and the Apple Watch SE — for two weeks each over the past three months. I tracked the same runs, wore them to the same gym sessions, slept with them on the same wrist. And I’m going to tell you something that Apple’s marketing budget is specifically designed to prevent you from believing: the gap between a $60 smartwatch and a $249 one is much smaller than the gap between a $249 one and no watch at all. The diminishing returns are extreme.
Contents
What the Apple Watch SE Actually Does (That Matters)
Before I pick a fight with Apple, let me be fair about what the Watch SE brings to the table:
- Notifications: Texts, calls, app alerts on your wrist. Every smartwatch does this.
- Fitness tracking: Steps, calories, heart rate, workout detection. Every smartwatch does this.
- GPS: Track outdoor runs/rides without your phone. Most $60+ smartwatches do this.
- Heart rate monitoring: Continuous optical HR. Every smartwatch does this.
- Sleep tracking: Basic sleep stages and duration. Every smartwatch does this.
- Apple Pay: Tap-to-pay from your wrist. Budget watches generally don’t do this.
- Crash/Fall Detection: Emergency SOS features. Some budget watches have this, most don’t.
- Tight iOS integration: Reply to messages, control music, use Siri. Apple-exclusive.
Notice the pattern? The first five features — the ones most people use daily — are commoditized. They exist on every smartwatch above $50. The Apple Watch SE’s real advantages are Apple Pay, fall detection, and iOS integration. Those are genuine differentiators. The question is whether they’re worth a $150-190 premium.
The Comparison: Apple Watch SE vs 4 Budget Picks
| Feature | Apple Watch SE | Amazfit GTS 4 Mini | Samsung Galaxy Watch FE | Xiaomi Watch S4 | TicWatch GTK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $249 | $59 | $99 | $79 | $69 |
| Battery Life | ~18 hours | ~15 days | ~40 hours | ~15 days | ~10 days |
| GPS | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (dual-band) | Yes |
| Heart Rate | Optical HR | BioTracker 3.0 | Optical HR | Optical HR | Optical HR |
| SpO2 | No (SE only) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Water Resistance | 50m (WR50) | 50m (5ATM) | 50m (5ATM) | 50m (5ATM) | 50m (5ATM) |
| Display | OLED, always-on | AMOLED, always-on | AMOLED, always-on | AMOLED, always-on | AMOLED, always-on |
| NFC Pay | Apple Pay | No | Samsung Pay | No | No |
| Ecosystem Lock | iOS only | iOS + Android | Android preferred | iOS + Android | iOS + Android |
| Phone Compatibility | iPhone only | Any phone | Any (limited on iOS) | Any phone | Any phone |
Look at that battery life column. Eighteen hours versus fifteen days. The Apple Watch SE needs to be charged daily. The Amazfit and Xiaomi can go two weeks. For a device that’s supposed to track your sleep, having to charge it every night is a design contradiction that Apple has never adequately addressed.
The Reviews
Amazfit GTS 4 Mini — The One I Keep Recommending
Price: ~$59 | Battery: ~15 days | Weight: 31.2g
The GTS 4 Mini is the smartwatch I recommend to everyone who isn’t already locked into the Apple ecosystem. At $59, it’s absurd. AMOLED always-on display, built-in GPS, continuous heart rate, SpO2, sleep tracking with sleep stages, over 120 sport modes, and two-week battery life. It weighs 31 grams — you forget it’s on your wrist.
The Zepp app (Amazfit’s companion app) is… functional. It’s not as polished as Apple Health, but it shows you the data clearly and syncs with Google Fit and Apple Health if you want everything in one place. The watch face selection is extensive, and third-party options exist too.
Where does it fall short compared to the Apple Watch? You can’t reply to messages from it (notifications display, but responses require your phone). No NFC payments. No fall detection. The GPS is slightly less accurate — about 2-3% variance on my running routes compared to the Apple Watch and my Garmin reference. For casual fitness tracking, that’s irrelevant.
“Bought the GTS 4 Mini for $55 on sale. Battery lasts 2 weeks. Tracks my runs accurately enough. Shows my texts. I genuinely don’t understand what I’d get from spending 4x more on an Apple Watch. What am I missing?” — u/budget_fitness_tech, r/smartwatch
Buy this if: You want the most functionality for the least money and aren’t locked into Apple Pay or iOS message replies.
Samsung Galaxy Watch FE — The Android User’s Smart Choice
Price: ~$99 | Battery: ~40 hours | Weight: 26.6g
The Galaxy Watch FE is Samsung’s answer to the Apple Watch SE, and it’s a more interesting product than Samsung gets credit for. Wear OS gives you access to Google Maps, Google Wallet (NFC payments!), and a much richer app ecosystem than Amazfit or Xiaomi. You can install Spotify, Strava, and dozens of other apps directly on the watch.
Battery life is the weak point — 40 hours means charging every other day. That’s still better than the Apple Watch SE’s 18 hours, but it’s miles behind the Amazfit’s two weeks. The trade-off is that Wear OS enables features that Amazfit’s real-time OS can’t match.
If you’re an Android user, the Galaxy Watch FE at $99 is genuinely smarter than the Apple Watch SE at $249, because you get NFC payments (via Google Wallet), real app support, and better Android integration — the things that actually differentiate a smartwatch from a fitness band. For more on the Samsung vs Google vs Apple mobile ecosystem debate, check out our Galaxy S25 Ultra vs Pixel 9 Pro vs iPhone 16 Pro Max comparison.
Buy this if: You’re on Android and want the closest thing to an Apple Watch experience for $99, including NFC payments and app support.
Xiaomi Watch S4 — The Specs Sleeper
Price: ~$79 | Battery: ~15 days | Weight: 44g
Xiaomi’s watch hardware is embarrassingly good for the price. The Watch S4 has a 1.43″ AMOLED display that’s brighter and larger than the Apple Watch SE’s screen. Dual-band GPS (L1 + L5) provides better positioning accuracy than any other watch at this price — and it matched my Garmin Forerunner to within 1% on a 10K route. Dual-band GPS on a $79 watch. The Apple Watch SE doesn’t have dual-band GPS at $249.
Sleep tracking is surprisingly granular — REM, deep, and light sleep stages plus sleep breathing quality. The health data is comprehensive: heart rate, SpO2, stress monitoring, menstrual cycle tracking, and “body battery” energy scoring. The HyperOS companion app has improved significantly from Xiaomi’s earlier Mi Fitness app, though it still has occasional sync hiccups.
The design is the only weak point. It’s chunkier than the Amazfit (44g vs 31g) and the rotating crown, while functional, feels cheap compared to the Apple Watch’s Digital Crown.
“The Xiaomi Watch S4 has dual-band GPS for $79. The Apple Watch SE has single-band GPS for $249. Read that sentence again and tell me the premium is justified.” — u/gps_accuracy_nerd, r/running
Buy this if: GPS accuracy for running/cycling is important to you, and you want flagship-level health tracking at budget pricing.
TicWatch GTK — The Battery Marathon Runner
Price: ~$69 | Battery: ~10 days | Weight: 38g
The TicWatch GTK doesn’t try to be everything. It picks a lane — reliable fitness tracking with a great battery — and stays in it. The 1.39″ AMOLED display is crisp and bright. The interface is clean and snappy with no lag. Heart rate monitoring is accurate enough for daily tracking, though the SpO2 readings occasionally disagree with my pulse oximeter by 2-3%.
What sets the GTK apart is build quality. At $69, it feels more premium than it has any right to. The aluminum bezel gives it a watch-like appearance that doesn’t scream “budget tech.” I wore it to a dinner event and nobody knew it was a $69 device.
The app ecosystem is minimal — notifications come through, but you can’t install third-party apps. It’s a fitness tracker that looks like a smartwatch rather than a smartwatch that does fitness tracking. Know which one you’re buying.
Buy this if: You want a good-looking fitness watch with 10-day battery life and don’t care about apps or NFC payments.
The “Ecosystem” Argument Is Weaker Than You Think
The most common defense of the Apple Watch SE’s price is ecosystem integration. “It works seamlessly with my iPhone.” “I can reply to texts from my wrist.” “Siri just works.”
Let me push back on that:
Text replies: How often do you actually compose replies on a 1.7″ screen? In two weeks of Apple Watch use, I replied to exactly four messages from the watch. Everything else, I pulled out my phone. The novelty wears off fast.
Apple Pay: Genuinely useful — about once a day for me. But is wrist-tap payment worth $190 over a phone-tap payment that takes two extra seconds? Your call. The Galaxy Watch FE has Google Wallet for $99 if this matters to you.
Siri on the wrist: In my testing, I used Siri on the Apple Watch to set timers while cooking. That was the only consistent use case. Every other query was faster on my phone.
The health data argument: Apple Health is a great platform, but Amazfit and Xiaomi both sync to Apple Health and Google Fit. Your data isn’t trapped on the budget watch. It all ends up in the same health dashboard.
Where Apple Still Wins (Let’s Be Fair)
I’m not here to pretend the Apple Watch has no advantages. It genuinely excels at:
Fall/Crash Detection + Emergency SOS. If you’re elderly, have a medical condition, or work alone in potentially dangerous environments, the Apple Watch’s safety features are genuinely life-saving. No budget watch matches this. It’s a serious consideration.
ECG monitoring. The Apple Watch Series (not the SE, notably) has FDA-approved ECG. The SE doesn’t have it, which further weakens the SE’s value proposition — you need the Series for the serious health features.
Cellular connectivity. The Apple Watch SE offers a cellular option, so you can leave your phone at home. No budget watch does this. If you run without your phone and want music streaming and emergency calling from your wrist, Apple is the only game in town at this price range.
App quality. The watchOS app ecosystem is genuinely richer and more polished than anything else. If you use specific watch apps daily (Workouts, Activity Rings, third-party fitness apps), the experience is better on Apple Watch. As we noted in our overhyped tech roundup, paying for quality is fine — paying for features you don’t use isn’t.
What Reddit Says When Nobody’s Shilling
“Wore an Apple Watch for 3 years. Switched to the Amazfit GTS 4 Mini to save money. After the first week of withdrawal, I realized I didn’t actually miss anything except Apple Pay. And I got two weeks of battery. Two. Weeks.” — u/watch_detox, r/apple
“The Apple Watch SE is the weird middle child. Too expensive compared to budget watches, too stripped-down compared to the Series. If you want Apple Watch, buy the Series. If you want fitness tracking, buy an Amazfit. The SE is the compromise that satisfies nobody.” — u/smartwatch_pragmatist, r/smartwatch
“I’m an iPhone user wearing a Xiaomi Watch S4. It syncs notifications, tracks my health, and lasts two weeks on a charge. The fact that it costs $79 is genuinely wild. The Apple Watch tax is real.” — u/cross_platform_chad, r/gadgets
“Counter-argument: I’m a nurse who works 12-hour shifts. The fall detection on my Apple Watch has notified my emergency contacts once when I slipped in a parking lot. That feature alone is worth $249 to me. Different use cases, different answers.” — u/healthcare_tech, r/apple
Who Should Buy What
Buy the Amazfit GTS 4 Mini ($59) if: You want the most smartwatch for the least money, don’t need NFC payments, and value 15-day battery life over iOS bells and whistles.
Buy the Samsung Galaxy Watch FE ($99) if: You’re an Android user who wants NFC payments, app support, and the best “real smartwatch” experience under $100.
Buy the Xiaomi Watch S4 ($79) if: GPS accuracy for outdoor sports matters, you want the best display at this price, and you’re comfortable with Xiaomi’s ecosystem.
Buy the TicWatch GTK ($69) if: You want a good-looking fitness watch with great battery and don’t care about apps or payments.
Buy the Apple Watch SE ($249) if: You genuinely use Apple Pay daily, want fall/crash detection safety features, or require cellular connectivity without your phone. Also if you’re building an Apple-first college tech kit and want everything to “just work” together.
Skip the Apple Watch SE and buy the Apple Watch Series if: You want ECG, blood oxygen, temperature sensing, and the always-on display upgrade. If you’re going Apple, go all the way. The SE’s cuts make it the worst value in Apple’s lineup.
FAQ
Are budget smartwatch heart rate sensors accurate?
For resting and casual use, yes — within 2-5 BPM of a chest strap for all four budget watches tested. During intense exercise (intervals, HIIT), accuracy drops to within 5-10 BPM. For medical-grade accuracy, no wrist-based sensor (including Apple Watch) replaces a chest strap.
Can I use an Amazfit or Xiaomi watch with an iPhone?
Yes. Both Zepp (Amazfit) and HyperOS (Xiaomi) apps are available on iOS. You’ll get notifications, health data syncing with Apple Health, and full fitness tracking. You won’t get message replies, Apple Pay, or Siri — but you don’t get those from a non-Apple watch anyway.
Do budget smartwatches break faster than Apple Watches?
Build quality varies. The Amazfit and TicWatch have held up well in my testing over months of daily wear. The screens are hardened glass but not sapphire crystal. Budget watches are more likely to show scratches over time. That said, at $59-99, replacing one every 2-3 years still costs less than a single Apple Watch.
Is sleep tracking on budget watches reliable?
Reasonably so. Sleep stage detection (REM, deep, light) on the Xiaomi and Amazfit correlates well with my Oura Ring reference data — within 15-20 minutes of variance for each stage. The Apple Watch SE’s sleep tracking is actually less detailed than these budget options.
Should I get a smartwatch or a fitness band?
If you want a screen you can read at a glance, notification previews, and a watch-like design, get a smartwatch. If you want a minimal tracker for steps and heart rate with maximum battery life (3-4 weeks), get a fitness band like the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 ($35). The band is less distracting and more forgettable — which, for some people, is the point.
