A guide to choosing the right Apple Watch

This year, Apple released 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 niche, high-end market and athletes. For most consumers, the purchasing decision likely lies between the Apple Watch SE 3 and the Apple Watch Series 11, starting at $249 and $399, respectively.

Despite its lower price tag, the Apple Watch SE 3 comes with much of the same software as the Series 11. If you’re looking for a straightforward 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 has received a significant upgrade from the SE 2. The smartwatch jumps from the S8 chip to the S10 and now features an always-on display, supports fast charging, offers better crack resistance, introduces new health features, includes a wrist-temperature sensor for advanced sleep tracking and retrospective ovulation insights, and more. 

Although it’s not as flashy as the Series 11 and Ultra 3, it definitely stands out and packs great value, especially for first-time buyers and younger users. The gap between the standard and budget smart watches has never felt smaller. 

Of course, if you want access to more advanced health features, better battery life, and a larger display, the Series 11 would be the better option 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 smart watches to help inform your decision.

Similarities between the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch SE 3

• S10 chip: Both models come with the same chip, which means there won’t be significant differences in performance.
• Always-on Retina display: The watches can display the 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 low cardio fitness notifications.
• Wrist flick and double tap gestures: Both models let you do a “wrist 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 severe car crash 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 slept. They both also have temperature sensing, which can provide insight into your well-being by tracking nightly changes in your wrist temperature.
• Cycle tracking with retrospective ovulation estimates: The watches can determine when you most likely ovulated in your previous cycle.
• Fast charging capabilities: Both watches are fast-charge capable (up to 80% charge in about 30 minutes for the Series 11 and up to 80% charge in about 45 minutes for the SE 3; 15 minutes for up to eight hours of normal use for both models). 
• Find iPhone: Both watches let you press a button to play a sound on your iPhone to help you locate it. However, the Series 11 does feature “precision finding,” which means it can pinpoint the exact location of your phone.

Differences between the 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 hypertension notifications (detects high blood pressure), an electrical heat sensor, an ECG app, and Blood Oxygen app.
• Screen and display: The Series 11 can reach up to 2000 nits, while the SE 3 goes up to 1000 nits. Plus, the Series 11 features 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 aluminum or titanium cases, while the SE 3 comes in 44mm and 40mm sizes with an aluminum case. Additionally, the Series 11 is almost 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 Series 11 comes with a depth gauge to six meters, a water temperature sensor, 1 nit minimum brightness (vs 2 nit minimum brightness on the SE 3), and certified IP6X dust resistance.