Samsung’s $99 Galaxy Watch is the best WearOS deal around right now — here’s how to qualify

With the Samsung Unpacked event just weeks away, all eyes are on Folding phones, earbuds and smart rings are coming soon. However, if you look beyond the fanfare, you’ll see a Samsung deal that might be too good to pass up. I’m talking about Galaxy FE watchon sale for $199 but can be yours for just $99 (50% off) when you trade in any smart watch in any status.

It’s easily one of the best trade-in promotions I’ve ever seen, so much so that I upgraded my mom’s Galaxy Watch 2 this morning without hesitation. It’s a new smartwatch from Samsung for $99, folks.

Let me break this deal into two parts: what you get for a $99 smartwatch and how to buy it for that price. Galaxy Watch FE is Samsung’s low-end wearablesmeaning it’s ideal for users who just want a smartwatch with basic features like fitness and health tracking, syncing notifications and alerts, and providing timely information.

This model has a fancy scroll wheel or a super sturdy design like the more expensive model Galaxy Watch? Absolutely not. The 1.2-inch (40mm) display is also a bit smaller than most watches.

Also: What to expect from Samsung Unpacked Summer 2024

If such tradeoffs aren’t a deal-breaker for you, as was the case for my mother, then the Watch FE will be more than adequate. In fact, despite being cheaper than other Samsung watches, the Watch FE still features the company’s BioActive Sensor for health data collection, NFC for mobile payments, and LTE support. It also runs on the same OneUI Watch 5/WearOS 4 software as the higher-end models.

As for the deal itself, Samsung will give you an instant $100 discount as long as you commit to trading in any smartwatch in any condition upon receipt. See FE. Yes, that means you can set the old date Garmin smart watch caught fire, dropped it from the roof, sent it to Samsung and still got the Watch FE for only $99. (You can also get Up to $1,500 off upcoming Samsung Galaxy phones when you pre-order now.)