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cheese9man

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 18, 2021
17
4
As the title suggested, this will be my first time getting an apple watch. Last year I've bought a mi band just to read notifications on my wrist. I'm going into college and saved a bit of money. I saw that a brand new apple watch SE is the same price as a used series 5 here in my country. I know that SE is just a series 5 without the ECG and the always on display. My concern would be the battery of a used series 5. Is there a way to know the battery health of the watch like what's in our iphones? I saw a listing saying 97% battery, is that still good against a fresh battery from the SE? If you're in my shoes, what would you pick? Thank you so much in advance and I'm actually excited to get my first apple watch. I know that whichever I would pick would make me happy. Cheers!
 

wilberforce

macrumors 68030
Aug 15, 2020
2,937
3,217
SF Bay Area
The only important difference between SE and S5 is the always-on display (IMHO). Some people love it (like me), some hate it, and some are indifferent. At best it is a nice-to-have but not essential (after all, it did not exist for series 1, 2, 3, and 4).

ECG is a novelty thing you try out a few times when you get the watch and then forget about it. (Unless you have known heart issues).

Yes, you can check battery health in Settings > Battery > Battery Health (on the watch itself, not the Watch app). Anything above 90% is OK. I would decline <90% for a S5, unless it is a very good price, as the S5 with AOD is fairly power-hungry. Mine is at 88% which I am not too pleased about, but so far is sufficient. Remember that even if the battery health is very high, the battery in a used S5 is still going to be at least a year old, and all batteries have limited life spans.

An aluminum S5 (or SE) has a glass screen (not sapphire) so I would check a used one carefully for scratches.

If you want to save money, don't bother with cellular versions. Most people who carry or have their phones nearby never need it, and not worth the $10/month cellular fee.

If you get a new SE, you can pick your own preferred band.

If I were in your shoes? I would only get a used aluminum S5 if it cost less than the new SE.

Hope this helps. Looking forward to opinions from others.
 
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