A guide to choosing the right Apple Watch

This year, Apple launched three new Apple Watch models: the Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch SE 3, and Apple Watch Ultra 3. If you received an Apple gift card over the holidays and are exploring the different models, we can help point you in the right direction.

With its $799 price tag, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is clearly aimed at a high-end niche market and athletes. For most consumers, the purchasing decision likely falls between the Apple Watch SE 3 and Apple Watch Series 11, 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 simple smartwatch with essential features like step counting and sleep tracking, the SE 3 is an excellent and affordable choice.

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

While it’s not as flashy as the Series 11 and Ultra 3, it definitely stands out and offers 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 Series 11 would be the best option for your needs. But it’s worth comparing the two models because the SE 3 might be all you need.

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

Similarities between Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch SE 3

• S10 chip: Both models are equipped with the same chip, which means there will be no significant differences in performance.
• Retina display always on: Watches can display the dial and time, even when your wrist is down.
• Heart Health Features: Both watches offer 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 perform a “flick” gesture to dismiss notifications and timers, and a “double tap” gesture to trigger actions like answering calls or playing music.
• Emergency SOS: The watches can quickly call local emergency services, share your location and notify your emergency contacts once you press and hold the side button.
• Fall detection and crash detection: Both watches can automatically alert emergency services and designated emergency contacts when a hard fall or serious car accident is detected.
• Waterproof up 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 your sleep quality. They also both feature temperature sensing, which can provide insight into your well-being by tracking nightly changes in your wrist temperature.
• Cycle tracking with retrospective ovulation estimates: Watches can determine when you probably ovulated during your previous cycle.
• Fast charging capabilities: Both watches are capable of fast charging (up to 80% charge in around 30 minutes for the Series 11 and up to 80% charge in around 45 minutes for the SE 3; 15 minutes for up to eight hours of normal use for both models).
• Find an iPhone: Both watches let you press a button to play a sound on your iPhone to help you locate it. However, the Series 11 features “precision search,” meaning it can pinpoint your phone’s exact location.

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 characteristics: Series 11 comes with more advanced health tracking features including Hypertension Notifications (detects high blood pressure), Electrical Heat Sensor, ECG App, and Blood Oxygen App.
• Screen and display: The Series 11 can achieve up to 2,000 nits, while the SE 3 goes up to 1,000 nits. Additionally, the Series 11 has a wide-angle OLED, while the SE 3 has a simple OLED display.
• Size: The Series 11 is available in 46mm and 44mm sizes with an aluminum or titanium case, while the SE 3 is available in 44mm and 40mm sizes with an aluminum case. Additionally, the 11 Series is almost 10% thinner than the SE 3.
• Color: The 11 Series is available in aluminum colors: Jet Black, Silver, Rose Gold and Space Gray, and in titanium colors: Natural, Gold and Slate. The SE 3 is available in Midnight Aluminum and Starlight Aluminum.
• Other smaller differences: The Series 11 comes with a depth gauge of up to six meters, a water temperature sensor, a minimum brightness of 1 nit (compared to a minimum brightness of 2 nit on the SE 3), and IP6X-certified dust resistance.