Apple Watch SE 3 review: It nails the basics

I wasn’t expecting to see a new Apple Watch SE at Apple’s event in September. There were lots of rumours, of course, but nothing seemed concrete. At one point, it even seemed like Apple would reposition the Apple Watch SE as a children’s watch. So imagine my surprise when Apple announced the Watch SE 3 and then proceeded to show off its considerable suite of features.

What does the Apple Watch SE 3 get?

In my hands-on of the Apple Watch SE 3, I called it the watch that most people should get because it offers most of the features and capabilities of the pricier Series 11 watch for a lot less. Prices start at S$349, which is nearly half that of the S$599 starting price of the Series 11 watch. Here are the highlights:

• Gets the same S10 chip as the Series 11 and Ultra 3
• Always-on display
• On-device Siri
• Temperature sensing
• Sleep apnea notifications
• Sleep score
• Irregular heart rate notification
• 5G connectivity
• Strong Ion-X glass
• Faster charging
• Wrist flick & double tap
• Fall and crash detection
• 50m water resistance

Clearly, it’s a long list. And to be clear, many of these features aren’t even new to the Series 11 watch. But what’s more important is that the Watch SE 3 has many of the features that make the Apple Watch such a compelling everyday companion.

Personally, a couple of these features stand out. Having an always-on display should not be underestimated. It makes the watch so much more useful, since you can always glance at it to see the time and notifications. Support for the wrist flick and double tap gestures is great. Wrist flick, a new gesture introduced in watchOS 26, makes it a breeze to dismiss notifications and get back to your watch face. Finally, having the S10 chip makes the Watch SE 3 feel snappy and should mean it’ll continue to get watchOS updates for years.

My complaints

But it’s not perfect. After wearing it for about four weeks, I do have some complaints. At the risk of sounding superficial, it looks outdated. That’s because its design is similar to the much older Series 4, 5, and 6. In other words, its case design is seven years old now. It’s not terrible, but it’s nowhere near as sleek or as refined as the newest Series 11 and 10 watches, which have much slimmer cases. The display is also noticeably smaller. This could be an issue for readers who have difficulties with their eyesight.

The battery life is merely alright. Apple claims up to 18 hours, and while that’s entirely believable and reasonable, it also means that you’ll need to charge it fairly regularly, especially if you have long days that include workouts. Fortunately, it charges quite quickly. Apple says it charges twice as fast as the last Watch SE, and you can get from 0% to 80% in 45 minutes. In practice, I found that a 15-minute charge in the morning and evening was enough to keep it going indefinitely.

The above-mentioned are not dealbreakers, but then there’s no escaping the fact that the Watch SE 3 does miss out on a couple of features, and they are:

• Hypertension notification
• ECG
• Blood oxygen level
• Depth gauge
• Water temperature sensor
• UWB chip for precision finding

These features are certainly nice to have, but I’d argue that unless you have specific needs, they are not critical. Swimmers and scuba diving enthusiasts, for example, will almost certainly want to have a depth gauge. Those who have cardiac issues might need to have the ECG functionality. Me? I’ll miss the precision finding feature the most because I always forget where I left my phone.

Some will be disappointed to miss out on the new Hypertension Notifications feature. This is understandable since Apple says it’s estimated that hypertension affects around 1.3 billion adults in the world. What’s more alarming is that around 40% of these adults are unaware they have the condition. Given that this feature only became available locally last week, it’s hard to tell how much of an impact it will have.

Final thoughts

The Watch SE 3 clearly has its shortcomings, but I think most of it can be overlooked when you consider it starts at S$349. Even the most expensive version of the Watch SE 3 – the one that comes with cellular connectivity and in the larger 44mm case – costs S$459. Considering even the cheapest variant of the Apple Watch Series 11 starts at S$599, you can begin to see just how much more affordable and how much value the Apple Watch SE 3 offers.

Ultimately, the Watch SE 3 may not be as rugged or as sleek as its pricier siblings, but it offers most of their core features at a more accessible price. It may not be the Apple Watch that you want, but it’s the Apple Watch that you need.

Note: You can find the Apple Watch SE 3 on Lazada, Shopee, and the Apple Online Store.