Best refurbished Apple Watches and where to find them

The latest Apple Watch might be better than the last, but it's not that much better. Even if it is the world's most popular wearable piece of tech, Apple's smartwatch doesn't change that much from year to year.

The upshot here is that while those looking to pick up the latest and greatest version of Apple's iconic smartwatch have plenty of options, those who want to zag in the opposite direction and save money by shopping refurbished

Refurbished Apple Watches from the right retailer tend to go through a rigorous appraisal and cleaning on par with other Apple products and don't differ greatly when it comes to the experience they offer. Sure, they might have had a few parts replaced and some evidence of previous use, but on a practical level you're looking at a much more affordable asking price for a near-identical experience.

If that sounds like a deal you want in on, be sure to scroll on for our pick of the best refurbished Apple Watches in Australia.

There’s a great range of retailers to choose from when sourcing a refurbished Apple Watches in Australia.  For example,  you can visit the official Apple store for a range of refurbished Apple Watches. Refurbished Apple Watches are cleaned, tested and repacked in a new box with all the cables and relevant accessories.

That's far from the only place you can find refurbished Apple smartwatches. There are plenty of other retailers who play in the space nowadays. For instance, Reebelo has a range of refurbished Apple Watches, offering 14-day returns and one-year warranties.

Alternatively, there are smaller retailers like Phonebot and Ozmobiles, the latter of which offers a 12-month warranty, price-beat guarantee and 30-day returns. Green Gadgets also offers a selection of refurbished Apple Watches. If you want more options, check out the Amazon Renewed listings or Kogan refurbished smartwatches.

Love everything about the latest Apple Watch except for how much it csots? Then refurbished is a great way to go about getting your hands on last year's Apple Watch Series 9. You're still getting the new features like double-tap and a faster processor and you're definitely saving some cash when it comes to the price-tag.

Writ large, our reviewer came away pretty chuffed with the Series 9. Even if it didn't tinker too much the formula, it delivered a timely refresh on a formula that's proven to have staying power even among the famously-fickle fitness crowd.

While there are plenty of reasons to opt for a refurbished version of Apple's latest iPhone, the reality is that you'll have to roll things backwards a couple of generations if you want to get the most value for your money. In our opinion, the Apple Watch Series 6 is the sweet spot here.

Back in 2020, we called it the best wearable of the year.

If you can get past the price of the latest Apple Watch but can't extend that courtesy to its high-end Ultra counterpart, then a refurbished model might be the best way forward. Since the hardware here is built to last, there's not going to be a huge difference between a refurbished and brand new version of the Apple Watch Ultra and the experience it offers.

Our reviewer called the smartwatch a surprise favorite of the 2022 lineup.

We started our Apple Watch round-up by sourcing the best retailers in Australia for refurbished models. With a long list of contenders, we used price and meaningful use cases to create a shortlist.

Outside of the cheap refurbished category, it’s okay if certain Apple Watch are more expensive. Generally, we'd privilege models that are reasonably priced compared to increasingly expensive new-model flagship smartwatches.

Finally, we had a look at the features and battery life of the contenders to make our recommendations, ensuring we also acknowledged alternatives around the same price point or with similar features.