The Apple Watch SE is affordable and looks good, but does it deserve a place on your wrist?
Despite lacking the Series 6’s advanced health features, the SE is a great smartwatch
SCORE
PRICE 40mm, £224 (£269 inc VAT) from apple.com/uk
The Apple Watch SE is the cheapest smartwatch the firm has ever launched. At first glance, you could be forgiven for wondering why on earth you’d pay any more for the Apple Watch Series 6 ( see p68). After all, the Watch SE has the same display and resolution, the same design and does most of the same things.
This begs the obvious question of what the Series 6 has that the Watch SE hasn’t. Top of the list is an always-on display: the Watch SE’s screen turns off when you’re not looking at it and only switches on when you raise your wrist or tap the screen. The Series 6’s display can be set to permanently active.
The cheaper watch also loses two health-related sensors, with no SpO2 sensor for blood-oxygen measurement. You also lose the ECG. It’s worth noting, however, that this doesn’t mean the Watch SE is completely shorn of advanced health warnings. Via watchOS 7, the watch can still notify you if it detects you have an irregular heart rate via its optical sensor, and you can also set up high and low heart rate notifications.
These are potential deal-breakers, but the final two drawbacks don’t feel as major. So what if there’s a smaller colour range, with the Watch SE only available in silver, grey and gold?
And I suspect that most people can live without the Series 6’s always-on altimeter, which means that the altitude complication doesn’t update in real-time on watch faces as it does on the flagship watch.
Otherwise, the Watch SE can do everything the Series 6 can. It runs watchOS 7 and has GPS, motion sensors, an altimeter and a heart-rate tracker. It’s just as water-resistant too, down to 50m, meaning you can use it for swimming.
Arguably, the biggest difference between the two watches is price: the Watch SE starts at £269 for the 40mm and £299 for the 44mm model, which is a whopping £110 difference compared with the Series 6. The cellular Watch SE models are an even bigger bargain. They cost £319 for the 40mm watch and £349 for the 44mm – a difference of £160.
Apple publishes a detailed breakdown of the Watch SE’s battery capabilities on its website, but the headline claims are similar to the Watch Series 6: it will last for around 18 hours of mixed use, or 14 hours with 4G enabled; six hours of continuous GPS usage; or five hours of continuous GPS usage with 4G enabled. Although these numbers are a tad lower than for the Series 6, I found that the Watch SE would last longer, with roughly 20% more capacity left at the end of a day’s use where I’d gone for an hour-long run. That’s probably due to the display not being on all of the time.
While battery life may be comparable, however, charging time is very different. Apple quotes a time of around 1hr 30mins to charge the Watch SE to 80% (half an hour slower than the Series 6) and 2hrs 30mins to 100% (a full hour slower). If you want to use the sleep-tracking feature, which I explain in detail on p68, you’ll need to plan carefully when to charge the watch.
“For me, the SE strikes the perfect balance. It’s every bit as great a smartwatch as the Series 6, but at a much reduced price”
When it comes to working out, there’s barely any difference between the Watch SE and its more expensive sibling, despite the fact that they have different innards. The main thing is that you need to raise your wrist to see the screen while working out. Otherwise, you get all the same exercise modes – including everything from walking, running and cycling to pool and open-water swimming – as well as all the same metrics displayed onscreen, which can be customised via the app.
That also means there are the same limitations. Although the Watch SE can generate some serious-looking data, including an estimate of your VO2 max, those keen to set their own heart-rate zones and create structured workouts are going to be disappointed. Still, the Watch SE is just as accurate from a heart-rate tracking perspective as the Series 6, which is to say it’s excellent. It was rarely more than 2bpm or 3bpm different from the Myzone MZ-3 chest belt I used as a control. GPS tracking was also very reliable – although, like the Series 6, it tends to smooth out any small corners where higher-end fitness wearables track kinks in the road more accurately.
The Watch SE is another topquality smartwatch from Apple. It fills a gap in the range between the now rather aged Series 3 – which is still available for £199 – and the all-singing, all-dancing Series 6. For me, it strikes the perfect balance. It’s every bit as great a smartwatch as the Series 6, minus the advanced health features, always-on screen and fast charging, but at a much-reduced price. If you own an iPhone and don’t fancy splashing out £379 for the full-fat Apple Watch experience, the Watch SE is a very tempting alternative. JONATHAN BRAY
SPECIFICATIONS
40mm model: 1.5in, 312 x 390 OLED touchscreen 34 x 10.7 x 404mm (WDH) 31g 44mm model: 1.7in, 368 x 448 OLED touchscreen 38 x 10.7 x 44mm (WDH) 37g
Both: Dual-core Apple S6 processor 32GB storage 802.11n Wi-Fi Bluetooth 5 heart-rate sensor altimeter compass gyroscope GPS water resistance to 50m watchOS 7 1yr RTB warranty