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. If you received an Apple gift card during the holiday season and are considering different models, we can help guide you in the right direction.

Priced at $799, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is clearly aimed at a niche high-end market and athletes. For most consumers, the purchase decision will likely be between the Apple Watch SE 3 and Apple Watch Series 11, which start at $249 and $399, respectively.

Despite its lower price, the Apple Watch SE 3 comes with almost the same software as the Series 11. If you’re looking for a simple smartwatch with important features like step counting and sleep tracking, the SE 3 is a great and affordable option.

While the Series 11 and Ultra 3 offer slight improvements over their predecessors, the SE 3 receives significant upgrades from the SE 2. The smartwatch moves from the S8 chip to the S10, features an always-on display, supports fast charging, improves crack resistance, introduces new health features, and includes a wrist temperature sensor for advanced sleep tracking and retroactive ovulation insights.

It’s not as flashy as the Series 11 or Ultra 3, but it definitely stands out, especially for first-time buyers and younger users, and it packs great value. The gap between a standard smartwatch and an affordable smartwatch feels smaller than ever.

Of course, if you want access to more advanced health features, longer battery life, and a larger display, the Series 11 may be a better choice for your needs. However, the SE 3 may be all you need, so it’s worth comparing both models.

To help you decide, we will discuss the similarities and differences between the two smart watches.

Similarities between Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch SE 3

S10 chip: Both models have the same chip, so there’s no big difference in performance. Always-on Retina display: See your watch face and time even when your wrist is down. Heart health features: Both watches feature high and low heart rate notifications, irregular rhythm notifications, and poor cardiorespiratory function notifications. Wrist flick and double tap gestures: On both models, you can dismiss notifications and timers with a “flick of the wrist” gesture, or trigger actions like answering a call or playing music with a “double tap” gesture. Emergency SOS: Press and hold the side button and the watch can instantly call local emergency services, share your location, and notify your emergency contacts. Fall Detection and Collision Detection: Both watches can automatically alert emergency services and designated emergency contacts if a severe fall or serious motor vehicle collision is detected. Water resistant 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 quantifies your sleep quality on a scale of 1 to 100. Both have temperature-sensing capabilities that can provide insight into your health by tracking night-time changes in your wrist’s temperature. Cycle Tracking with Retrospective Ovulation Estimation: The watch can determine when you were most likely to have ovulated in your previous cycle. Fast charging capability: Both watches support fast charging (up to 80% charge in about 30 minutes for the Series 11, up to 80% charge in about 45 minutes for the SE 3, and up to 8 hours in 15 minutes with normal use for both models). Find my iPhone: On both watches, when you press a button, your iPhone plays a sound to help you find your iPhone. However, the Series 11 has a “precision search” 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: Series 11 lasts up to 24 hours (28 hours in low power mode), SE up to 18 hours (32 hours in low power mode). Health Features: Series 11 comes with more advanced health tracking features, including Hypertension Notification (detects high blood pressure), electric heat sensor, ECG app, and Blood Oxygen app. Screen and Display: Series 11 up to 2000 nits, SE 3 up to 1000 nits. Additionally, the Series 11 has a wide-angle OLED, while the SE 3 has a simple OLED display. Sizes: Series 11 is available in 46mm and 44mm sizes with aluminum or titanium cases, and SE 3 is available in 44mm and 40mm sizes with aluminum cases. Additionally, the Series 11 is about 10% thinner than the SE 3. Colors: Series 11 is available in Aluminum Colors: Jet Black, Silver, Rose Gold, Space Gray, and Titanium Colors: Natural, Gold, and Slate. SE 3 has Midnight Aluminum and Starlight Aluminum. Other small differences: The Series 11 comes with a depth gauge up to 6 meters, a water temperature sensor, 1 nit minimum brightness (compared to the SE 3’s 2 nit minimum brightness), and certified IP6X dust resistance.