Apple Watch SE 3 review: the best Apple Watch for most people

TechRadar

What if I told you Apple has managed to trickle down nearly all the major features you’d expect from an Apple Watch into an entry-level model that doesn’t break the bank and still feels right at home in the lineup? That’s exactly what I found after testing the brand-new Apple Watch SE 3 for nearly a week.

Transcript

00:00Is the Apple Watch SE3 secretly the best watch in this year's Apple Watch lineup?

00:08The Apple Watch SE3 is a funny thing. While it's not the most powerful watch with the longest

00:13battery life, it's probably the best value of 2025's crop of Apple Watches. Why? It's got the

00:19same fantastic chipset as the Ultra 3 and Series 11, and the same 18-hour battery life that Apple

00:25Watches have had for generations, with the benefit of fast charging, all at a really attractive price.

00:30Let's break it down to find out if it's worth parting with your hard-earned cash flow. If you

00:33want to pick one up after watching this video, you can find the best deals on the Apple Watch SE3

00:38in the links below, as usual. So let's get into it.

00:45The Apple Watch SE3 doesn't stray far from Apple's proven formula and looks much like an Apple Watch

00:50Series 9 or older. It features an aluminum shell with a nylon composite back and comes in two sizes,

00:5740mm or 44mm. The bezels around the OLED display are thicker than those on the Series 10 or 11,

01:03which curve down at the edges. As mentioned, this looks more like a Series 9, so pre-redesigned.

01:09But considering the price, that feels like a fair compromise, especially since it's now got an

01:14always-on display. Even when not in use, it dims the brightness and slows the refresh rate so that

01:19the always-on display still allows you to see the time and any complications you've set.

01:24This removes one of the biggest reasons for skipping the SE in favour for a pricier model,

01:28which you no longer have to give up the always-on display in order to get the savings.

01:32The display is also protected with the latest IONX glass, making it four times more durable than

01:37the SE2. That extra toughness is a major win, considering some parents buy the SE for kids or

01:43teenagers as their first Apple Watch. Combine it all with Apple's up-to-date liquid glass design

01:48language, and what you have here is a great-looking watch. It's virtually indistinguishable from an

01:54Apple Watch Series 9 or lower to anybody but serious Apple experts. I'm a little bit into my

02:00first run with the Apple Watch SE3, and one of the things that I'm really enjoying is how light it is

02:06compared to something like an Apple Watch Ultra or even an Apple Watch Series 11 with all its metal bits.

02:12I know it's mostly plastic with a nylon backing, so it's naturally going to be light and therefore a

02:17little bit cheaper. But it really is hard to overstate how almost invisible it feels

02:24when it's on your wrist during exercise, whereas the Ultra Series can feel a little bit weighty.

02:32The most affordable SE3 is nearly as capable as the most expensive Ultra 3 or the mid-range

02:38Series 11 because they all use the same chip. Navigation is simple. Your home screen is your chosen

02:44watch face, which you can long press to edit or swap. Click the main button on the right to pull

02:49up Control Center for quick settings, or press the digital crown to view all your apps, and as it's

02:55an Apple Watch, you can download tons of third-party apps like Strava, Komu, Spotify, AllTrails, SmartGym,

03:03whatever you want really. Those are just some of my favorites. Double Tap lets you pinch your

03:07forefinger and thumb to perform actions like answering a call, opening an app, or controlling

03:12music. Wrist flick, new for watchOS 26, lets you flick your wrist back to return to the interface.

03:17After using it daily, I wondered why it wasn't available before. The SE3 offers sleep tracking

03:23with the new sleep score, which gives you a rating and a score from 0 to 100. If you've tracked sleep

03:28before, it retroactively assigns scores to show trends. It uses the same second-generation heart rate

03:33sensor stack as the SE2, providing monitoring with alerts for low, high, and irregular heart rate

03:40rhythms. So I've just completed my first night's sleep with the Apple Watch SE3, as you can see,

03:46because I'm in my pyjamas, and I got a 92, or excellent, sleep score. The wake-up and fall asleep

03:52times are pretty accurate. I fell asleep about midnight, woke up about 27. It's only 6 hours and 39 minutes,

04:01which is quite low for an excellent sleep score. I get the feeling Garmin wouldn't have been quite

04:06so forgiving. You can also get full activity tracking and temperature sensing from a wrist sensor,

04:11which upgrades cycle tracking with retrospective ovulation estimates. However, compared to a Series

04:1711 or an Ultra 3, you're missing some health features including hypertension notifications,

04:22blood oxygen tracking, ECG, and sleep apnea notifications that aren't available on the SE3.

04:31Overall, the SE3 delivers the core health and activity tracking you'd expect from an Apple Watch.

04:36In side-by-side use with the Series 11 and Ultra 3, it produced similar results for workouts, sleep,

04:42and heart rate, even though it's missing a couple of those health features highlighted earlier in the

04:47video. Apple says the SE3 is up to 30% faster than the SE2. In practice, it runs laps around the old one

04:54in day-to-day use. This makes sense, considering the SE2 was released three years ago now and was

05:01powered by an older chipset. The new 5G antenna adds efficiency if you opt for that LTE-capable model,

05:08although speeds felt about the same as before during our testing. The SE3's battery life is 18 hours,

05:15but we found the watch lasts a full day with moderate use, including sleep tracking. You still

05:20definitely need to recharge once a day, and even with fast charging, it's not as good as the Series 11,

05:25which now lasts at least 24 hours, while the Ultra 3 lasts 42 hours. Still, all of them pale compared

05:32to devices like a Garmin watch, which can last weeks as they're slightly lower power.

05:40If you can live without the very latest designs and slightly longer battery life from the more

05:44expensive models, the low, low price of the SE3 means that you'll probably be better off buying

05:49this as long as you don't need hypertension, a bigger screen, longer battery life, or the Ultra's

05:54ruggedness. For those of you buying your first Apple Watch, perhaps for the gym, a few runs,

05:59and general communication convenience, this is absolutely the pick. Still have your doubts?

06:05Watch our Apple Watch Series 11 and our Apple Watch Ultra 3 reviews to see which of the current gen

06:10Apple Watches are right for you. Thank you very much for watching and we'll see you on techradar.com next time.

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