The $250 Apple Watch SE 3 Is the Most Capable SE Ever
We tried all three new Apple Watches, and the less expensive SE 3 no longer feels like a budget buy
This is the year that Apple beefed up budget models for some of its products, and the Apple Watch lineup is no exception. Just as the standard iPhone 17 received several previously Pro-only features, Apple narrowed the gap between its less expensive Apple Watch SE 3 and its latest Series 11 midtier smartwatch.
And that’s great news. If you’re buying your first Apple Watch or you’re in the market for an upgrade, you can now save a lot of money and get almost as much performance.
Apple Watch SE 3 ($249) and Apple Watch Series 11 ($399)
For years, the lower-priced Apple Watch SE was considered the “starter” Apple Watch. It was solid, but you lost out on enough functionality that the Series watch seemed like a better all-around buy. Now the gap between the two models is narrowing, and the SE 3 is a better watch than ever at the same $249 price.
Let’s start with some upgraded features, made possible due to its S10 chip. On the SE 3, you can now use hand gestures to control menus and take certain actions. When a text pops up, you can double-tap with a finger to initiate a reply, dictate a response back using voice transcription, then double-tap again to send the text off—no navigating of a tiny screen required. It might be my single favorite upgrade to the SE, and it made it annoying to go back to my older model.
The SE 3 now also has Always On capability, allowing you to see the time without having to raise your wrist to activate the screen. It can charge twice as fast as the previous SE, Apple says, allowing you to add 8 hours of battery life in just 15 minutes or go from dead to 80 percent battery in about 45 minutes. (Remember that fast charging requires an Apple USB-C Magnetic Fast Charging Cable.)
On the health and fitness front, the SE 3 can now also detect potential sleep apnea, as well as measure wrist temperature for better vitals data and more accurate cycle tracking, all features previously unavailable on the SE.
These upgrades don’t constitute a total overhaul, but they add up to a noticeably nicer user experience and fill in some of the SE’s previous gaps. Which then raises an obvious question: Why would anyone spend an extra $150 on the Series 11? Well, a few reasons.
The Series 11 still has a bigger, brighter screen, without the machine-strapped-to-your-wrist feel of the Ultra 3. That extra screen size can help you read small text more easily, even in bright light, or navigate the display.
Photo: Courtney Lindwall/Consumer Reports Photo: Courtney Lindwall/Consumer Reports
Battery life and charging time are also marginally better. The Series 11 now gets up to 24 hours on a single charge, while the SE 3 gets 18 hours, Apple claims. I successfully used a Series 11 (42 mm) for 24 hours straight, during which I logged two workouts, sent many texts, and tracked my sleep. The SE 3 tapped out a bit earlier, but my use may have differed slightly between the days. (CR will report back with controlled battery life testing for all three models.)
The Series 11 can also charge faster than the SE 3, Apple says, reaching an 80 percent charge in about half an hour. That’s the same as the Series 10. (In my at-home trial, the Series 11 charged to only 68 percent in 30 minutes.) Either way, a slight improvement in battery life probably won’t make a big difference for most people. You should still expect to charge once a day for the SE 3 or Series 11.
When it comes to comparing health features, the Series 11 can also alert you to signs of hypertension, according to Apple, take an electrocardiogram reading to check for an irregular heart rhythm, and measure your blood oxygen levels. Whether these extras are worth the $150 price difference is your call.
Apple Watch Ultra 3 ($799)
Apple’s premium smartwatch is getting upgrades to the already-large screen and adding a few cool features.
First: The Ultra 3 is large. I don’t recommend it to anyone with small to medium wrists unless you’ve tried it on in person and are sure the bulk doesn’t bother you.
But for those of you with a large-enough wrist who want a large display, you might be more than happy with this year’s update. The Ultra 3 now has a slightly bigger screen on the same-sized frame, thanks to thinner edges. The display uses OLED technology that enhances pixel light and improves readability at an angle and in bright light. It looked great to me both indoors and outside, although not significantly different from the Ultra 2. CR’s experts will give a more thorough analysis of screen quality, brightness, and readability in our testing.
Battery life got a boost, too. The Ultra 3 now lasts 42 hours on a single charge, Apple says, which is more than twice the staying power of the SE 3, and could remove the need for daily charging. (We will report back with its official battery performance from our testing.) And, as with all Apple Watch models across the lineup, it’s capable of fast charging.
The Ultra 3 gained the ability to send messages via a built-in satellite connection, which allows you to send texts or share your location when you’re somewhere remote without cell service or a WiFi connection. The satellite connection adds to the already impressive list of Ultra features aimed squarely at adventurers, like an emergency siren, a diving computer, or the ability to retrace your steps on a hike using offline maps and GPS data. But it’s hard to imagine anyone but the most outdoorsy among us regularly using these features. (I certainly didn’t during my brief trial run in Brooklyn.)
Hypertension Monitoring
For the first time, certain Apple Watches can now monitor for chronically high blood pressure, a condition known as hypertension that can lead to a heart attack, a stroke, and kidney disease. The feature, which just received Food and Drug Administration clearance, doesn’t work quite like the blood pressure monitor at your doctor’s office. It won’t give an exact reading of your current blood pressure. Instead, it tracks the metric over 30 days and alerts you to the potential of hypertension.
Because the feature requires at least a month’s worth of data, I don’t have any personal experiences to report. However, if you do receive an alert, Apple encourages you to then use a third-party blood pressure cuff and log your blood pressure for a week. You should also speak with your physician, who can provide more treatment and guidance.
In Apple’s clinical testing, the feature identified fewer than half of the hypertension cases (PDF) among more than 2,000 study participants, and Apple states clearly that not all people with hypertension will be notified. But given the popularity of Apple Watches, the feature could still prompt millions of people with undiagnosed hypertension to see a doctor. (On the plus side, the feature produced a relatively low percentage of false positives.)
Hypertension monitoring is available on the Apple Watch Series 9 and newer, and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and newer. It’s not available on the Apple Watch SE 3.
Sleep Score and Other Watch OS 26 Upgrades
Apple’s new holistic Sleep Score, available with WatchOS 26, can help you assess your sleep quality more quickly without sifting through a complex array of sleep data points.
I’m usually an easy sleeper. I fall asleep in about 90 seconds and time-travel to the morning. But I happened to get sick the week of this trial run, which caused me to sleep fewer hours and wake up more frequently. My Sleep Score indeed dipped as I felt my sleep quality dip, though I thought that it consistently rated my sleep higher than I would have.
Source: Apple Source: Apple
On the night I got a choppy 4 hours (and felt like death warmed over in the morning), I received a 62, labeled “Okay.” As I recovered from being sick and slept better, I logged 6.5 hours, which skyrocketed me to an “Excellent” score of 90.
New parents might scoff, but I wouldn’t consider a 6.5-hour night as excellent. That’s functional (with caffeine), and I know I feel my best when I get around 8 hours, though the score might have adjusted over time as it collected more of my data. That’s all to say: Any health-tracking tool, including the Sleep Score, can be useful for identifying patterns and progress, but I don’t let it override my own understanding of my body and symptoms.
In addition to the Sleep Score addition, WatchOS 26 saw some other changes, like a new look to the Workouts menu, the ability to access the iPhone’s Notes app, and the Workout Buddy feature, which gives you coaching and motivation via your headphones from a cheerful AI trainer during certain workout types.
CR’s Take
If you already love your Apple Watch, I have little doubt you’ll enjoy Apple’s latest iterations. In particular, the $250 Apple Watch SE 3 became an even better investment by inheriting a number of features previously available only on the higher-end models. I’d argue that Apple’s budget-friendly watch is now the best pick for nearly everyone, and certainly for anyone just looking for the basics, like tracking steps, improving sleep, and responding to an occasional text. From my first impression, the Series 11 and Ultra 3 remain impressively capable pieces of tech, but I’d only suggest spending more to upgrade if you know they offer a need-to-have feature or you want the longest possible battery life. CR’s official lab testing of the three models will be available for CR members within our smartwatch and fitness tracker ratings in the coming weeks.
Other new Apple Watch additions, like Sleep Score or Workout Buddy, come with the WatchOS 26 update rather than specific hardware and can also be accessed on older Apple Watch models.
The verdict on whether I’ll upgrade? I’m going to eke out a couple more months from my second-gen SE before upgrading to the SE 3—at least until I can snag a Black Friday deal.
