Apple Watch SE 3 review: major glow-up

When I walked into Apple Park last week, there was one thing that I did not have on my bingo card: the $249 Apple Watch SE 3 stealing the show from the Apple Watch Series 11 and the Apple Watch Ultra 3.

But here we are. It’s 2025, and the entry-level Apple Watch is the one I’m most excited by.

That’s because compared to the iterative updates of the Series 11 and Ultra 3, the third-gen SE has gotten a massive, wide-ranging glow-up. Unlike the other watches, there also weren’t any leaks suggesting this was even in the cards, making this jam-packed release a total surprise. And the cherry on top? In the lead-up to the event, I wrote the easiest thing Apple could do to make the Apple Watch better was give people what they wanted. Nearly every single update to the SE 3 does exactly that.

I could probably just list all the changes, wrap up this review, and crawl into bed because many of them are such obvious improvements. Here they are in a nutshell:

That’s a heckuva lot. All of these “new” features were introduced on the Series 8, 9, and 10, and they function identically on the SE. Given that, it’s become harder to differentiate the SE 3 and the Series 11, especially since the latter’s coolest updates are tied to watchOS 26 and are coming to this cheaper model, too.

At this point, there are only a few key upgrades reserved for the Series 11. The SE 3 doesn’t have EKG capabilities or the ability to measure blood oxygen. Hypertension notifications are limited to the Series and Ultra lineups. The SE 3 comes in the smaller 40mm and 44mm sizes, and it has thicker bezels. The smaller displays also mean that you don’t get a keyboard for texting. And while you get 5G, it lacks the re-engineered antennae in the Series 11, meaning you might get slightly worse coverage in certain areas. The SE 3 also misses out on the modest bumps to battery capacity and battery life in the Series 11.

You’re giving up this handful of features in exchange for $150 off the price. For the average person, that tradeoff is absolutely worth it.

When I tested the second-gen SE in 2022, it felt like a first-time buyer’s Apple Watch. You got the core features, and if you’d never had an Apple Watch before, you wouldn’t feel all that bothered by the thicker bezels or missing features. That’s also true this time around, except there’s even less to miss.

During testing, there were several moments when I forgot I wasn’t wearing a Series watch. The biggest pain point for me last time around was the lack of an always-on display. Now that’s available on the SE 3, most of my complaints evaporated. I can always see the time or my complications without having to wake the watch up. It sounds like a small thing, but it’s crucial to really making the watch a source of glanceable information. Likewise, I’ve become so fond of double-tap and wrist-flick gestures for single-handed convenience. Not having to give those up meant using the SE 3 didn’t feel like a sacrifice.

I’ll get more into 5G performance in my upcoming Ultra 3 review, but I didn’t notice a huge drain in my day-to-day usage. (This might be more of an issue for you if you frequently leave your phone at home.)

The biggest features you lose out on by choosing the SE 3 are EKGs or blood oxygen sensing. But let me play devil’s advocate here. For most of the past 18 months, none of the newer Apple Watches sold in the US could perform blood oxygen readings — and I didn’t hear many complaints. Also, while you can’t actively take on-the-spot EKGs, the SE 3 can still passively check for signs of atrial fibrillation via irregular heart rhythm notifications. I can’t comment on hypertension notifications yet, as the feature only just became available for testing yesterday. However, now that sleep apnea notifications, more robust period tracking, and wrist-temperature data for the Vitals app are available? I don’t feel like I’m missing anything except metrics I didn’t make much use of to begin with. Obviously, you’ll feel different if you do value EKG and blood oxygen, but I’d argue the majority of people get more value out of high and low heart rate alerts.

As for battery life, you have to baby the SE 3 a smidge more than the Series 11. In my first 24 hours with the watch, I left my hotel at 7:30AM PT with 100 percent battery, tracked a 48-minute mini-golf session, and then hopped on a cross-country flight. After arriving home at 11:45PM ET, roughly 13 hours later, I had 27 percent battery left with no low-power saving mode used. A 10-minute charge while I brushed my teeth and did my skincare bumped me up to 37 percent, and that was enough to get me through the night. I woke up at 6:45AM with about 22 percent battery, and that got me to around 9AM before I really needed to charge.

Apple Watch users will find this battery babying normal, while Garmin or Fitbit diehards will view this as unbearably annoying. But it’s about what I’d expect from the SE 3. You have to be more aware of the SE 3’s battery levels if you’re going to push it hard throughout the day. You’re slightly freer to forget with the Series 11.

The only thing that truly bugged me was the screen size. I have the 40mm SE 3, and things are undoubtedly tiny, while the bezels are thicker than on the Series watches. But even I have to admit that it only really bothered me because I’d switched back from a higher-end Apple Watch. Eventually, I got used to it, and it’s much less noticeable if you use watchfaces with a black background. As someone with terrible eyesight, I find it easier to interact with and read notifications on a bigger display, but if you’ve got good eyesight, this may be a nonissue for you.

The best Apple Watch for most people right now

Beefing up the $250 SE 3 this much sows chaos into the Apple Watch lineup. Right now, the dividing line between the Ultra and the Series 11 is clear — there’s better GPS tracking, a rugged design, more buttons, satellite connectivity, and the biggest honking screen and battery Apple has to offer. The line between the SE 3 and Series 11? For many people, it’s now nonexistent.

The skeptic in me believes that the SE 3’s glow-up is partly an effort to draw more people into the Apple Watch ecosystem. It’s an incredible value, and Apple happens to be coming off five consecutive quarters of declining Apple Watch shipments due to a decrease in consumer demand, fewer models, and ho-hum feature upgrades. You don’t need to be a financial whiz to see the SE 3 will likely do gangbusters in terms of sales.

The SE line doesn’t get refreshed every year, and it’s possible that with the Series 12 or 13, Apple may introduce a new chip or sensor that enables more advanced health features that won’t make their way over to the SE 3. But that’s a moot point for people who are looking to buy today.

The true decision boils down to whether you think a bigger display, thinner bezels, EKGs, and blood oxygen are worth an extra $150. If you have to buy now, I’d recommend getting the 44mm SE 3 to mitigate the screen issue. But unless you have legitimate health reasons for needing the latter two metrics? Save that extra $120–$150 for a rainy day.