A guide to choosing the right Apple Watch

This year, Apple released Three new Apple Watch models: Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch SE 3, and Apple Watch Ultra 3. Whether you’re looking to get one for yourself, buy a last-minute holiday gift, or explore different models, we can help point you in the right direction.

At $799, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is clearly aimed at the niche market and athletes. For most consumers, the purchasing decision will likely fall between the Apple Watch SE 3 and the Apple Watch Series 11, priced starting at $249 and $399, respectively.

Despite its lower price, the Apple Watch SE 3 comes with much of the same software as the Series 11. If you’re looking for a clean smartwatch with basic features like step counting and sleep tracking, the SE 3 is an excellent, affordable option.

While the Series 11 and Ultra 3 offer modest improvements over their predecessors, the SE 3 has received a significant upgrade from the SE 2. The smartwatch moves from the S8 to the S10 segment and now features an always-on display, supports fast charging, offers better resistance to cracks, offers new health features, and includes a wrist temperature sensor for advanced sleep tracking, retrospective ovulation insights, and more.

While it’s not as flashy as the Series 11 and Ultra 3, it definitely stands out and is great value, especially for first-time buyers and younger users. The gap between standard and budget smartwatches has never been smaller.

Of course, if you want access to more advanced health features, better battery life, and a larger screen, the 11 Series will be the better choice for your needs. But it’s worth comparing both models because the SE 3 might be all you need.

We’ll walk you through the similarities and differences between the two smartwatches to help make your decision.

Similarities between Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch SE 3

• S10 chip: Both models come with the same chipset, which means there won’t be major differences in performance.
• Always-on Retina display: Watches can display the watch face and time, even when your wrist is raised.
• Heart Health Features: Both watches feature high and low heart rate notifications, irregular heart rate notifications, and low cardio fitness notifications.
• Wrist flick and double tap gestures: Both models let you do a “wrist tap” gesture to dismiss notifications and timers, and a “double tap” gesture to initiate actions like answering calls or playing music.
• Emergency contacts: The watches can quickly contact local emergency services, share your location, and notify your emergency contacts by simply pressing and holding the side button.
• Fall detection and malfunction detection: Both watches can automatically alert emergency services and emergency contacts when a hard fall or severe car accident is detected.
• Water resistant to 50 meters: Both watches can be used for swimming.
• Sleep tracking: Both models feature sleep tracking, sleep tracking notifications, and Apple’s new Sleep Score, which gives you a number on a scale of 1 to 100 for how well you sleep. Both are also equipped with a temperature sensor, which can provide insight into your well-being by tracking night-time changes in your wrist temperature.
• Track your cycle with retrospective ovulation estimates: Watches can pinpoint when you might have ovulated in your previous cycle.
• Fast charging capabilities: Both watches are capable of fast charging (up to 80% charge in about 30 minutes for the Series 11 and up to 80% charge in about 45 minutes for SE 3; 15 minutes for up to eight hours of normal use for both models).
• Search for iPhone: Both watches allow you to press a button to play a sound on your iPhone to help you locate it. However, the Series 11 has a “precise find” feature, which means it can pinpoint the exact location of your phone.

Differences between Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch SE 3

• Battery life: The Series 11 can last up to 24 hours (28 hours in low power mode), while the SE can last up to 18 hours (32 hours in low power mode).
• Health Features: The Series 11 comes with more advanced health tracking features, including high blood pressure notifications (detects high blood pressure), an electrical temperature sensor, an ECG app, and a blood oxygen app.
• Screen and display: The 11 Series can reach up to 2,000 nits, while the SE 3 reaches up to 1,000 nits. Additionally, the 11 Series features a wide-angle OLED display, while the SE 3 has a simple OLED display.
• measuring: The 11 Series is available in 46mm and 44mm sizes with an aluminum or titanium case, while the SE 3 comes in 44mm and 40mm sizes with an aluminum case. Additionally, the 11 Series is approximately 10% thinner than the SE 3.
• color: The Series 11 comes in aluminum colors: Jet Black, Silver, Rose Gold, and Space Gray, and titanium colors: natural, gold, and slate. The SE 3 comes in Midnight Aluminum and Starlight Aluminum.
• Other smaller differences: The 11 Series comes with a six-meter depth gauge, a water temperature sensor, a 1-nit minimum brightness (versus a 2-nit minimum brightness on the SE 3), and certified IP6X dust resistance.