- 12 hours ago
In this video Kate has all three new Apple Watch devices and breaks down the differences between Apple Watch Series 11 vs. Apple Watch Ultra 3 vs. Apple Watch SE 3. You've got new features like the longer battery life and hypertension alerts to consider, but also improvements to the SE watch with an Always On Display and on-device Siri. With all watches offering similar fitness tracking, software with watchOS 26 and performance from the S10 chip, how do you determine which is the best Apple Watch for you in 2025?
Not only does this video explain the Apple Watch 2025 lineup in terms of design, pricing, sensors, display, and other features, but it also gives a top-level review of how to choose the right watch. Between Apple Watch 11 vs. SE 3 vs. Ultra 3, let us know which one you're planning to pick up.
Not only does this video explain the Apple Watch 2025 lineup in terms of design, pricing, sensors, display, and other features, but it also gives a top-level review of how to choose the right watch. Between Apple Watch 11 vs. SE 3 vs. Ultra 3, let us know which one you're planning to pick up.
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TechTranscript
00:00Hey guys, normally you know I'd just do a dedicated review of the Apple Watch Series 11,
00:05Apple Watch Ultra 3, and Apple Watch SE 3 all individually. And to be clear, I did write those,
00:11they're linked in the description. But in this video, I'm going to be giving you a summary of
00:16all three watches side by side in kind of a review format, because while I think it's great that
00:22there are options, options can also be confusing. In my opinion, it's not necessarily clear what
00:28the benefits of each watch are, or the reasons to buy or skip each based on all the different
00:33features for all the different prices. If after watching this video, you do want to see anything
00:37more in depth, or you have any questions, you guys know I'm active in the comments section.
00:41But for now, let me know, are you here as a first time Apple Watch buyer? Or are you upgrading to a
00:47new one? Starting with price, because ultimately, that is a huge factor. The good news, there are no
00:54price hikes compared to last time. So if you're upgrading, you're probably going to end up paying
00:59the same price as you did for the watch you currently own. And just a reminder, a good reminder,
01:04if your old watch is in good condition, you should definitely look at trade and offers. Apple's
01:09program is probably the easiest to navigate, but Best Buy would be my second recommendation for trade
01:14ins. Now let's throw a chart up on the screen for clarity on pricing. The Apple Watch Series 11 starts
01:21at $499. The Apple Watch SE 3 starts at $249. Apple Watch Ultra 3 is a flat $799. There are premiums
01:31for sizes and cellular connection on the Series 11 and SE 3, but not for the Ultra because it supports
01:38cellular by default and only comes in one size. And yes, speaking of cellular, it is upgraded to 5G
01:45for this family of watches, but I'll come back to that later. Since we've got all three of them here,
01:49let's take a closer look at design. Starting with Series 11. It comes in jet black polished aluminum,
01:56rose gold like I have here, silver, and a new space gray that I tried in my hands-on video. Honestly,
02:02I really liked that color in person. There are also three titanium options you can pay more for if you
02:08like the traditional metallic look. I personally have never felt compelled to do that, but hey,
02:14it's your watch, your style. The Series 11 has the same subtle redesign that we got with the Series 10.
02:19That means a slightly bigger display if you're coming from a watch older than that, with sizes
02:24shifting from 41 millimeters and 45 millimeters to 42 and 46 millimeters. But do not worry, all of your
02:31older bands are still compatible. The Series 11 also has the same wide-angle OLED screen from the
02:37Series 10, but this one is two times more scratch resistance. So if you've ever had an Apple Watch,
02:43you know day-to-day it's just going to get marked up, scratched up eventually. So for me,
02:47this is a pretty nice quality of life upgrade. If you're a little rougher on your gear, that's where
02:52the Ultra 3 comes in. It's made from a more durable titanium, either in natural titanium like this or
02:59black titanium. And it comes in one size, I already mentioned that, 49 millimeters. But the flat display
03:05is actually slightly bigger than before, thanks to 24% thinner bezels with the upgrade to the LTP-03
03:11and wide-angle OLED display. The chassis itself hasn't really changed, except it's now made from
03:17100% recycled titanium using a new 3D-printed process that reduces waste. That might not matter
03:23so much to you, but I think it's pretty cool. Not new, but still a big difference for comparison
03:28purposes. Here on the side, the action button. It's basically a quick launcher for any app or shortcut.
03:34For me, it's usually a flashlight. It's up to you what you want to use though. Also worth noting that
03:40this watch has double the water depth rating compared to the other watches. It has full dive computer
03:45functionality and also the brightest display of the lineup up to 3,000 nits compared to 2,000 nits on the
03:52Series 11 and just 1,000 nits on the SE 3. Speaking of the SE 3, it still has a bit of the older Apple
03:59watch design dating back to Series 4. It comes in 40 and 44 millimeters in either Starlight or
04:06Midnight Aluminum, just two colors. This watch is more durable now than before. The cover glass is
04:10four times more resistant to cracks than the SE 2 was, at least that's according to Apple. But the
04:16biggest design change here is the always-on display. You guys, this is huge. When I tested the SE 2,
04:23the lack of always-on display really distracted me from the experience, especially coming from a Series
04:28model, which has had always-on back to Series 5. The only difference with the always-on functionality
04:34here compared to the Series 11 and Ultra 3, those have LTPO3 displays. Those can refresh every second
04:40without battery life draining. That's not the case for the SE 3. Another small little upgrade, the SE 3
04:45also lets you play music straight from the built-in speaker now. Again, not life-changing, but still a cool
04:50addition. So yeah, maybe to trained eyes, this looks a little outdated, but overall, I think it still gives
04:57Apple Watch. I am going to talk about battery life next, since I know that for a lot of you watching
05:04this video, this is a deciding factor. This is also where the Garmin comparisons usually start to pop
05:11up in the comments, but just to be clear, I'm only comparing these three Apple Watches. So here's the
05:17good news. The Apple Watch Series 11 finally jumped from 18 hours to 24 hours of battery life. I honestly
05:24never thought this would happen, but those extra six hours really do make a difference when you
05:29factor in GPS use, overnight wear, and sleep tracking. The Apple Watch Ultra 3 goes even further. It now
05:36lasts up to 42 hours, and if you turn on low power mode, you can stretch it to around 72 hours. Low power
05:43mode also extends the Series 11 to about 38 hours, and the SE 3 to about 32 hours. But the SE 3's standard
05:50battery life estimate is still just 18 hours. The upside, the SE 3 now charges faster. In fact,
05:55all of these watches can get about eight hours of use from just a 15-minute charge. Personally,
06:01I just top my watch off while I'm in the shower. It's usually that quick. Let's dig a little deeper
06:05under the hood. All three of these watches features Apple's S10 chip. That means performance-wise,
06:11responsiveness, processing speeds, you're getting the same experience across the board.
06:16The big win here is actually for Apple Watch SE 3. It now supports on-device Siri processing,
06:23just like the Series 11 and Ultra 3. It also gets wrist-based gestures like double tap and the new
06:29flick gesture. Flick might be a little self-explanatory. It basically just lets you quickly dismiss
06:34notifications or decline a call by flicking your wrist up. These are part of WatchOS 26, which comes
06:41preloaded on all three models, but is also a free update available to Series 6 and newer. Some
06:47features are hardware-specific, though, so just keep that in mind. Now, what else does WatchOS 26 bring?
06:54Oh, duh, liquid glass design language. This is Apple's new look across all of its devices. That,
07:00fun fact, is inspired by VisionOS for Vision Pro. You'll see a lot of transparency effects,
07:05and it's really noticeable here on the new Flow watch face. Speaking of watch faces, some are
07:12exclusive to Ultra 3. Wayfinder, this new one, Waypoint, and my personal favorite, Modular.
07:17These are complication-heavy faces that really shine on the bigger screen. With WatchOS 26,
07:23all of these watches also get Workout Buddy. This is basically the first real Apple intelligence-driven
07:29feature for Apple Watch. Now, do not get it twisted. The processing still happens on your
07:35iPhone, as long as it's Apple intelligence-compatible, meaning iPhone 15 Pro or newer.
07:41Workout Buddy is like an on-watch coach. You can enable it during workouts, and it gives you
07:46real-time guidance, like if you're about to break a record, hit a milestone, or close your activity
07:51rings. It's always positive reinforcement, so don't expect criticism or tough love. Just little,
07:58little boosts of encouragement while you're exercising. Of course, beyond Workout Buddy,
08:03you can still track pretty much any type of workout you can think of. The Workout app lets you customize
08:08your views, monitor heart rate zones. That's one of my favorite recent additions, and take advantage
08:13of automatic workout detection. And of course, you cannot forget all the activity badges you can earn,
08:19you guys. These features are standard across all three watches, so if your main reason for buying an
08:25Apple Watch is activity tracking, you'll get a very similar experience no matter which one you pick.
08:30The only real exception to that is for water sports or scuba diving. For that, you definitely will
08:37need the Ultra 3. The other two just don't have the correct durability or depth ratings. Now, if I
08:42keep talking about health features, this is where things will get a little more divisive. The Apple
08:48Watch SE 3 simply does not have the sensors that the Series 11 and Ultra 3 offer. The Series 11 and
08:55Ultra 3 have the latest-gen heart rate sensor. That's what's powering the new hypertension alerts.
09:01You might have heard this if you've been following with Apple Watch News. I need to make a very
09:06important distinction. These are not blood pressure monitors. Instead, Apple developed an algorithm that
09:13can detect possible high blood pressure based on AHA guidelines. It requires 30 days of wear to
09:20establish your baseline, so I'm not going to get a notification from just testing it out for a few
09:24days. But if your watch does detect possible hypertension, it'll prompt you to see a doctor
09:31or use a real blood pressure cuff to confirm the readings. You can then log those readings in Apple
09:36Health, create a chart, and export that PDF to your doctor. And because people were probably already
09:41writing comments, yes, this is the same sensor that is in the Series 9, Series 10, and Ultra 2,
09:47so those watches will also get hypertension alerts via software update. In other words,
09:53you don't have to go trade in your Series 9 because you've been waiting for this hypertension
09:56feature for a while. The Series 11 and Ultra 3 also support ECG readings, which can detect AFib.
10:02I know this is like old news in the Apple Watch world, but I personally know multiple people who have
10:08actually discovered AFib thanks to their Apple Watch. It's also worth noting that most AFib diagnoses happen
10:16over the age of 60. So if you're buying for yourself or maybe for a parent, that is definitely a selling
10:23point for choosing Series 11 over SE3. The SE3 also misses out on the Blood Oxygen app. That feature
10:30is back and fully functional after being disabled due to a copyright lawsuit. You might not need
10:37SbO2 readings every day, but it is actually a useful sickness indicator. It can flag when your oxygen
10:43dips, which is often an early sign that you're getting sick. What the SE3 does get is a skin
10:49temperature sensor. Yes, that is new for the SE line. This isn't a thermometer to tell you if you're
10:54sick. Instead, it helps with better sleep and cycle tracking insights. It powers retrospective
11:00ovulation estimates, which can be helpful for pregnancy planning or just understanding your
11:05body a bit better. One step further, if you log a pregnancy in the health app, the watch can track
11:10gestational age and adjust your activity goals accordingly. And if you're not comfortable with
11:15Apple Health tracking this data, you can totally opt out and delete your history at any time. I feel
11:20like I needed to make that very clear. Apple continues to evolve its sleep tracking features. We got sleep
11:26stages not too long ago, and now all three watches include a sleep score out of 100 every morning.
11:33The score breaks down into three main factors. How long you slept, how consistent your bedtime is,
11:38and how often your sleep was interrupted. I like this feature because it could give me specific areas
11:43to work on. For example, if my sleep score is low, I could see if it's my bedtime inconsistency dragging
11:49it down and make changes accordingly. Either way, I will still be checking my Vitals app every morning.
11:55Vitals app gives you an overview of your body's activity and sleep data from the day before.
12:00It's front and center on your Apple Watch stack when you wake up. Now, another huge pillar of owning
12:05an Apple Watch, connectivity and safety. The big news across all three watches, the cellular models now
12:12support 5G and not just LTE. That's thanks to a new antenna, which is also one of the reasons that
12:18battery life, which we already talked about, has improved. The antenna supports more bands, detects when
12:24you're in weak coverage, and merges connections to find the most efficient one. That means faster,
12:29more reliable communication. You know you can text, call, whatever you're doing from your wrist.
12:35This optional 5G cellular connection is available from most major carriers. But what if you are really
12:41going off the grid? That's where the Apple Watch Ultra 3 maybe stands out the most compared to the other
12:47two watches. It has satellite connectivity in addition to 5G. You can use it to send your location
12:53and a text message to any contact that you've communicated with in the last 30 days. As long
12:59as you can align with the satellite overhead and the watch walks you through that, you're pretty much
13:04good for getting in touch. It's definitely designed with adventurous, outdoorsy users in mind, but it
13:11could also be life-saving. Safety features do not stop there. All three watches have emergency SOS,
13:17crash detection, and fall detection. These are the features that you hope you never need, but
13:22you're glad to have. The Ultra 3 also adds one more, an 86 decibel siren. This can be used to
13:31attract attention outdoors if you're stranded perhaps, but honestly it's just as useful in the city.
13:38As a woman, I will say this, having that option when walking alone at night gives me some peace
13:43of mind. Sometimes it's the reason I recommend the Ultra to friends they're budget permitting.
13:50Thank you for making it to the end of this video. I really, really wanted to be as comprehensive as
13:55I can. I'm very passionate about the Apple Watch, clearly, and I hoped I helped clarify which one is
14:02best for you. To recap, the Series 11, the sweet spot, all the health sensors, best design options,
14:08and the same price as before. SE3, the best value, great for first-time users or younger users,
14:15always on display, gestures, 5G, packed with value. Ultra 3, the powerhouse, big screen, big battery,
14:23all the features, not just for athletes, but for dedicated users, myself included. Let me know where
14:29your head's at in the comments. I'd love to hear your thoughts, and if you found this video helpful,
14:34please consider subscribing and turning on notifications. We've got tons more Apple device
14:39videos, buying guides, and buyer skip reviews coming up. That's it for me, guys. I will catch you next time.
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