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If you’re still looking to snag some good values for your holiday shopping, the Dealmaster is here to help. Leading today’s roundup of the best tech deals we can find is a new low price for the Apple Watch Series 7—it’s currently down to $349 at several retailers, which is $30 less than the previous low and a $50 drop from Apple’s MSRP. Not every color is discounted, but listings at Amazon, Target, and Best Buy all say the device will ship in time for Christmas as of this writing.
The Series 7 is currently the top pick in our guide to the best smartwatches. That’s probably not a shock—the Apple Watch has been recommended by many reviewers for a long time—but all the things that have made it stand above other wearables still apply here. Apple’s watchOS remains head and shoulders above competing platforms in terms of app support and variety. The waterproof design is handsome, durable, and relatively easy to operate. It tracks the requisite health metrics—heart rate, sleep, various exercises, etc.—and runs apps quickly. You can buy a wide variety of alternative watch bands down the road if you want. It largely leaves Android users in the dark, but if you use an iPhone, it’s not outrageous to say that the Series 7 can serve as an effective substitute to your phone, at least in smaller doses.
There’s no major need to upgrade if you own a Series 6, but compared to that model, the Series 7’s big addition is a larger display. It’s only slightly bigger physically, but Apple has also shrunk down the black bezels surrounding the screen. All told, there’s about 20 percent more available screen space for viewing apps and messages; there’s now support for a QWERTY keyboard as well. And while the watch’s battery life is still only OK, lasting roughly a day per charge, it does recharge faster than before. You’ll need a capable power brick, but if you do, you can refill the Series 7 from zero to 100 percent battery in a little over an hour. With prior models, this took about two and half hours.
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