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Apple Watch SE 3 In-Depth Review // All This For Just $250?! — Transcript

by DesFit · 4,139 words · 578 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00So, this is the new Apple Watch SE3. And
0:02you may be looking at this watch because
0:04of the price tag where for $250 to $280.
0:07Well, it offers a lot for the money. And
0:09with that kind of price tag, you may be
0:11looking at this as maybe your first
0:12Apple Watch to kind of try out to see
0:14what these can do or possibly even your
0:16next Apple Watch if you have a previous
0:17generation SE. So, in this video, I
0:19wanted to go over what this watch can
0:21do, what it can do, how it compares to
0:23the higher price Series 11, as well as a
0:25really up close look at the fitness and
0:27sports aspects, as that's what I try to
0:28focus on on this channel. So, Apple's SE
0:31line of Apple watches are Apple's more
0:32budget friendly options in their entire
0:34lineup. But the amount of things that
0:36these can do is kind of surprising where
0:38all Apple Watches share a lot of the
0:39same software features. Apple is pretty
0:42good at having as many features be the
0:43same across their entire lineup based on
0:45the software. The differences more
0:47depend on the hardware. And that's
0:48actually a big story with the SC3 is
0:50that it brings some big upgrades from
0:52the previous generation. Where before
0:54there's a pretty distinct gap between
0:55the SE2 and their series line of Apple
0:57watches, but the SE3 brings some very
0:59welcome features like an always on
1:00display, their latest S10 chipset, a lot
1:03more health features, as well as faster
1:05charging. And then for fitness and
1:06sports, again, a surprising amount of
1:08features here. And I'll be focusing a
1:10lot on that in this video where I like
1:11to test these devices really thoroughly
1:13for stuff like running, cycling, weight
1:15training, as well as highintensity
1:16interval training just to see if these
1:18devices perform and if they're going to
1:19be right for you. So, if the information
1:21this video does help you out at all, do
1:23me a favor and just quickly hit that
1:24like button down below. It's a small
1:26thing that you can do that'll help this
1:27video and the channel out quite a bit
1:29and I appreciate it. All right, so first
1:30up, let's talk about price and options.
1:32So, the SC3 comes in two different
1:34sizes, a smaller 40 millimeter model as
1:36well as a larger 44 millimeter size. And
1:38the one I have for you here today is the
1:40larger 44mm size. And this is how it
1:43looks on my 185mm circumference wrist.
1:46And then for colors, so the SC3 comes in
1:48two different colors, a midnight color
1:49as well as a starite color. And all of
1:51them have an aluminum case with an IonX
1:53front glass. And there's also two
1:55different versions here. A Wi-Fi version
1:57as well as a cellular version. And the
1:59difference here is that with the
2:00cellular version, this comes with 5G
2:02cellular capabilities where you'll be
2:03able to text, take calls, as well as
2:05stream music without the need for your
2:06phone nearby. And then with the Wi-Fi
2:08models, you'll basically need to have
2:09your phone nearby or be on a wireless
2:11network. And then for price, so the
2:12Wi-Fi models start at $249 for the
2:15smaller 40mm size and then $279 for the
2:1844mm option. And then the seller models
2:20are basically $50 more. But do note that
2:23if you want that connectivity without
2:24your phone, you'll have to get an add-on
2:26cell plan. And the price can vary from
2:27region to region as well as carrier to
2:29carrier. But that plan is totally
2:31optional. And then one upgrade that all
2:33cellular Apple watches actually got this
2:35year is that all of them have a new 5G
2:36modem inside which not only allows for
2:38faster speeds and more coverage, but
2:40maybe more importantly, these new modems
2:41consume less power than before. And then
2:43for watch band options, so with all the
2:45SE3s, so these work with all the same
2:47bands as all their other Apple watches,
2:48where Apple watches basically have two
2:50different sizes for their bands. One
2:52size for these smaller Apple watches. So
2:54that's any of their like 40, 41 mm or
2:5642mm case sizes and then a larger
2:58version for any of their like 44 to 49
3:01mm cases. So you've got a ton of bands
3:03to choose from here and you can even use
3:05their ultra bands if you'd like if you
3:06have the larger 44mm size of the SC3.
3:09And then for the display, so this is
3:11probably one of the bigger changes from
3:12the SE2 where the SE3 now has an always
3:14on display mode where it can dim to a
3:16lower brightness when you're not
3:17interacting with the watch where you'll
3:19be able to see the time and your watch
3:21face at a glance without necessarily
3:22having to wake up the display to full
3:24brightness. And then in addition, you
3:26can also use this always on display mode
3:27during your activities where you can see
3:29data at a glance without having to raise
3:30your wrist. Now, the display will be
3:32larger and brighter on their Series 11,
3:34but this is still a really good display
3:35that can display plenty of stats, and it
3:37can also get pretty bright outside, so
3:39there's not really going to be many
3:40issues seeing it outdoors. The Series
3:4211, it definitely is easier, but I don't
3:45have any issues with the SE3. And the
3:46SE3 also gets an upgrade with the glass
3:49covering the display, where this version
3:50of their IonX glass is supposedly four
3:52times more scratch resistant than the
3:54previous SE2. Now, the Series 11 and the
3:56Ultra 3 are going to be more scratch
3:58resistant, but I've actually only
3:59managed to scratch one of like all the
4:01Apple watches I've had going back to the
4:03Series 3. So, that's over like a dozen
4:05Apple watches, I think, with their
4:06series models, the SE models, as well as
4:08the Ultra models. But, if you do want
4:10more peace of mind, you can always get a
4:11screen protector or a case or something
4:12like that. The SE3 also gets Apple's S10
4:15chip inside. So, this allows for a lot
4:17of new functions with their SE lineup.
4:18And the main ones are probably that you
4:20can do one-handed gestures with their
4:21double tap feature as well as their
4:23wrist flick feature where with double
4:24tap. So, this allows you to do things
4:26like quickly access widgets directly
4:27from the watch face with just one hand.
4:29So, think like if you're doing something
4:31with your other hand, you can still
4:32check different widgets on the fly. And
4:34there's also some other neat things that
4:35you can do here like taking a photo with
4:36just one hand with their camera control
4:38where you can just double tap to take a
4:40photo which can be less awkward than
4:41like tapping on the screen. And then
4:43with the wrist flick feature, so this is
4:45kind of the opposite where you want to
4:46make something go away. Like let's say
4:47you get an incoming call. Well, you can
4:49silence that call and just get rid of it
4:50with a quick flick of the wrist. So it's
4:52not like constantly ringing or buzzing
4:54on your wrist. And then additionally,
4:56this will also have ondevice Siri where
4:58it can perform Siri commands on the
4:59device versus having to have your phone
5:01connected. One minor difference between
5:02the SE3 and the Series 11 is that the S3
5:05doesn't have their precision find my
5:06feature for searching for your iPhone in
5:08case you lost it in the couch or
5:09something like that. Now, to be clear,
5:11the SE3 still does have a find my phone
5:13feature where it'll basically playing a
5:14tone on your phone so you can find it,
5:16but it doesn't have the precision
5:17feature like their Series 11 where it'll
5:19actually give you a precise distance
5:20where to find it. And something new with
5:22the SE3 this year is that you can also
5:23listen to music or media on the built-in
5:25speaker. And I was genuinely kind of
5:27surprised at how good it sounded.
5:29>> We just wrapped up with the 2025 fall
5:31Apple event. And I I kind of don't know
5:34where to start with this one. There's
5:35there's so much to talk about today.
5:37>> There's a lot today on the watch side
5:39and in nonwatch side as well. And we got
5:41basically refreshes of all three watch
5:43categories. And since this is an Apple
5:45Watch, this will have full iMessage
5:46functionality with voice dictation. And
5:48then you can also take calls on the
5:49watch itself as long as your phone's
5:51nearby or if you have a cellular model.
5:53But when it comes to battery life, so
5:54the SC3 has a claimed battery life of up
5:56to 18 hours, which I think is what Apple
5:58calls all day battery life. Now, I've
6:00always found Apple's battery life claims
6:02to be pretty conservative, where I
6:03usually get like 20, 22, and sometimes
6:05even like a full 24 hours out of mine,
6:07even while recording like an hour long
6:09outdoor activity per day. But at the
6:11same time, I've also heard of others who
6:12get less. So battery life is just going
6:14to depend on your usage. But a few tips
6:16I've had for you to conserve on battery
6:18life is to drop the display brightness
6:19down if you can as even at the lowest
6:21brightness level, it's pretty easy to
6:22see in most situations. And of course,
6:24you could also turn off the always on
6:26display mode to get a little bit more
6:27there as well. And then when it comes
6:29specifically for battery life for
6:30tracking outdoor activity, so their
6:31claim here is up to 7 hours, but I was
6:34actually getting far more than that. And
6:35that's without bringing my phone and
6:37also using the always on display. And I
6:39even tried this with both the lowest
6:40brightness level as well as the highest
6:42brightness level. And funny enough, it
6:43really didn't make all that much of a
6:45difference between the two, but with
6:46both scenarios, I was getting more than
6:48their 7-h hour claim. Now, with daily
6:49battery life in the 18 to let's say
6:5124-hour range, that does mean at some
6:53point during your day, you'll need to
6:54charge it. And what's nice about the SE3
6:56is that it actually charges twice as
6:57fast as the previous generation. And
6:59this also does come with their fast
7:00charging cable now as well. And then in
7:02addition, if you're running low on
7:03juice, if you place it on the charger
7:05for 15 minutes, that should get you
7:06enough power for an additional 8 hours
7:08of battery life. And what I generally do
7:10is I usually charge my Apple watches
7:11either when I take a shower in the
7:13morning and get ready for my day or even
7:15at night as I'm getting ready for bed.
7:16And while the Series 11 does have a
7:18longer battery life claim of up to 24
7:20hours versus the 18 hours on the SE3,
7:22for the most part, there's still going
7:23to be like a daily charging routine with
7:25either of these. And then for health
7:26tracking, so the SE3 can track your
7:28heart rate. It also has high and low
7:29heart rate alerts along with a regular
7:31heart rate. It can also track your
7:32respiratory rate. And then something new
7:34with the SC3 is that it can also track
7:36your wrist temperature during sleep. And
7:37the SA3 also comes with sleep apnea
7:39tracking as well, where after a 30-day
7:41period, it can alert you if it sees any
7:43signs of breathing disturbances
7:44throughout the night, which could be
7:45signs of possible sleep apnea. Now,
7:48something important to note here is that
7:49this isn't providing an actual diagnosis
7:51or anything like that, where it's just
7:52looking for possible signs. Then, if it
7:54does, it'll let you know, and at that
7:55point, it'll probably be a good idea to
7:57see a medical professional. Now, the
7:59heart rate sensor on the SE3 is a
8:00different generation than the one that's
8:01found on the Series 11. And this is
8:03going to translate into a few different
8:04differences where there's no blood
8:06oxygen saturation tracking. There's also
8:08no ECG capabilities and it also doesn't
8:10have their new hypertension alerts
8:11feature where it can look for signs of
8:13possible high blood pressure like the
8:14Series 11 and the Ultra 3 have. But
8:16beyond that though, this sensor does
8:17still perform very well for my test, at
8:19least when it comes to sports and
8:20fitness, which we'll talk about here in
8:21just one second. And the SE3 also comes
8:23with Apple's new sleep score feature. So
8:25along with tracking your sleep stages,
8:27it now gives you an actual sleep score,
8:29which is based on three different
8:30metrics. Sleep duration as in the total
8:32amount of time that you slept. Bedtime
8:34consistency. So this is how close to
8:35your times that you are for going to bed
8:37and waking up as well as any
8:39interruptions you had throughout the
8:40night like waking up. Now,
8:41interestingly, it'll actually give you a
8:43sleep score even on your first night of
8:44sleep, which is kind of odd considering
8:46that bedtime consistency is one of those
8:48factors, but it will get more fine-tuned
8:50the more you use it, where the score
8:51should get a little bit more impactful
8:52after around 13 nights of using your
8:54watch. Now, Apple's sleep score is
8:56definitely different than a lot of other
8:57brands out there, where they aren't
8:58using health metrics collected during
9:00sleep to factor in. So, it's not using
9:02stuff like resting heart rate or heart
9:04rate variability, which some other
9:05companies use. What this means, though,
9:07is that let's say you went to bed and
9:08woke up at a consistent time and you
9:09slept for long enough and you didn't
9:11wake up throughout the night. However,
9:12your resting heart rate was maybe
9:14elevated that night for some reason or
9:15another. So, in that case, it may still
9:17give you a high sleep score, but you
9:19could still kind of like feel like
9:20garbage that morning due to whatever was
9:21making your resting heart rate higher.
9:23So, Apple's sleep score really is about
9:25the length and consistency, but not
9:26necessarily your health stats. However,
9:28that's actually where their vitals app
9:29could come into play, where this tracks
9:31certain health metrics during sleep,
9:32like your sleep duration, resting heart
9:34rate, respiratory rate, as well as wrist
9:36temperature, and tells you if you're
9:37within range or out of range on any of
9:39these metrics. And it'll actually give
9:40you an alert if these metrics are off on
9:42more than one day. And I actually found
9:44this pretty interesting when I got sick
9:45early this year where all my vitals in
9:47the vitals app just started to get out
9:48of whack where it sort of noticed
9:50something even before I did. So, you
9:52could potentially use both the sleep
9:53score as well as the information in the
9:54vitals app and kind of combine those to
9:56get an overall picture of your sleep
9:58quality, which then would be a little
9:59bit more similar to what you'd find on
10:01some other brands. And then for safety
10:02features, again, a pretty good feature
10:04set here, too, where there's fall
10:05detection where it can initiate a call
10:06to emergency services if it detects that
10:08you've fallen. And on a personal note,
10:10this totally helped my mom out a few
10:12months back when she passed out. So,
10:13totally not a gimmick feature. And then
10:15there's also car crash detection as well
10:17as emergency SOS which you can initiate
10:19yourself in case of an emergency. And
10:21then in addition to that, if you have a
10:23seller SC3, there's also international
10:25emergency calling in over like 120
10:27different regions. And then when it
10:28comes to fitness and sports, so the SC3
10:30comes with quite a few sport profiles to
10:32choose from with all the common stuff
10:33like running and cycling both indoors
10:35and outdoors, walking, hiking, as well
10:37as plenty of gym profiles to choose
10:39from, including weight training,
10:40high-intensity interval training, yoga,
10:42as well as pilateses. And then the SC3
10:44also does have pool swimming as well as
10:46open water swimming. But the main
10:47difference between the SE3 and the
10:49Series 11 is that the Series 11 also has
10:51a depth gauge along with a snorkeling
10:53profile. But other than that, the
10:54capabilities are virtually the same
10:56between these two. And then you also get
10:57all the same training features that come
10:59with Apple's latest watch OS operating
11:01system like their effort rating feature
11:02that can attempt to give you an estimate
11:03of the intensity of your workout or
11:05basically how hard your workout was
11:07along with their training load feature
11:09which tracks the amount of training load
11:10over time. So, you can use this to,
11:12let's say, make sure that you're
11:13maintaining a consistent training volume
11:14if that's your goal. Possibly increasing
11:16volume if you're wanting to increase
11:18your training capacity or possibly even
11:20reducing your training volume if you're
11:21trying to taper for a race or an event.
11:23And then when it comes to running
11:24specific features, so you get all the
11:26normal stuff like speed, pace, and
11:27distance, but also stuff like cadence,
11:29stride length, vertical oscillation, as
11:31well as running power. But then when it
11:32comes to tracking your outdoor workouts,
11:34again, this is going to be the same as
11:35the Series 11 where you'll be able to go
11:37track your runs or your rides without
11:39having to bring your phone with you. And
11:40this is going to be with both the Wi-Fi
11:42as well as the cellular models. And
11:43basically the only difference here is
11:45that with the cellular models, you can
11:46also be connected with text and calls if
11:48you have a cell phone plan attached to
11:49your watch. And in terms of accuracy,
11:51literally zero problems in all the
11:53activities I use with the SC3 over the
11:55last few weeks, whether those are like
11:56shorter runs to like 3-hour long bike
11:58rides. Always very close to the other
12:00devices I was using. And I also wanted
12:02to mention that the elevation gain
12:03collected using the SC3's built-in
12:05alttimeter also lined up well with all
12:07my activities. And then when it comes to
12:09the finer detail of the GPS tracks
12:10themselves. So here's a ride where I was
12:12also wearing the Series 11 on my other
12:14wrist and the tracks are actually nearly
12:16identical between the two where they're
12:17both solid in all the straight sections
12:19where there's no like wavering or
12:20anything like that. And even on the
12:22corners and curves, they're basically
12:23exactly the same. Now I was also using
12:25some other devices on these activities
12:27that have a higher accuracy dualband
12:28satellite chipset versus the single band
12:30chipsets that are found with the SE3 as
12:32well as the Series 11. And this is where
12:34you may see some higher detail when it
12:35comes to the corners and curves where
12:36Apple watches do have this sort of
12:38tendency of not having as much detail
12:40where they kind of like smooth out some
12:41of these tighter corners and curves.
12:43Now, the Ultra 3 and its dualband
12:44satellite chipset has more detail on
12:46corners and curves, but it's also three
12:48times the price of the SE3. And the
12:50total distances collected by the SE3
12:52were always very close to other devices.
12:54So, while you may get more detail with
12:55some of the actual GPS tracks with more
12:57expensive watches with dualband
12:58technology, it rarely actually
13:00translates to what you probably care
13:01about most, which is the total distance
13:03and what you probably share to Strava.
13:05So, now let's move on to heart rate
13:06accuracy. And what I usually do is start
13:08out with some indoor cycling where
13:09pretty much all watches do well here as
13:11we're in a static position and there's
13:12not many variables for watch to deal
13:14with. And the SC3 did really well here.
13:16And in fact, you can barely even tell
13:18that the SE3 is there, which is an
13:20orange. We basically have to zoom in
13:21really, really close to even see the
13:23SC3. So basically absolutely nails it
13:25for indoor riding. Now moving outside.
13:27So here's where with road and gravel
13:28riding, there's more variables for a
13:30watch to deal with, like bumps and
13:31vibrations from the road. Plus, we're
13:33probably gripping on the handlebars a
13:34bit more than what we do indoors. And
13:36here's where we can see watches start to
13:38drift a little bit, but the SC3 still
13:40does a very decent job here where again,
13:42we kind of have to zoom in pretty close
13:43to see where it actually differs from
13:44the other heart rate sensors I was using
13:46as a reference. And then on this right
13:48here, quite good results as well, but
13:49maybe a little bit less accurate than
13:51the first example, but still very decent
13:52overall. And then when it comes to
13:54running, so this is a really good result
13:55here too, where there's a little bit of
13:57wavering like here and here, but overall
13:59it stayed very much in line. Now, when
14:01it comes to weight training and
14:02high-intensity interval training, this
14:03is by far one of the hardest activities
14:05for watches to collect accurate heart
14:06rate. And it's basically due to the
14:08nature of these activities where we're
14:09gripping onto dumbbells, which tenses
14:11our wrists, which then affects blood
14:12flow. There's also a lot of random arm
14:14movement which can make watches move
14:16around on the wrist. But for my testing,
14:18Apple watches do a surprisingly good job
14:19with these kinds of activities. Not
14:21perfect, but still very usable and very
14:23reliable overall. Like on this workout,
14:25there were really only a few spots where
14:27it got thrown off, like a little bit off
14:28here as I start out with some bench
14:30presses, and then I got a little bit
14:31thrown off in a few of the arm curls in
14:33the middle and then a little blip right
14:35here on the high-intensity intervals at
14:36the end. But other than that, these are
14:38actually quite usable results. But if
14:40you do want even more accurate data out
14:41of your SE3, you can also use an
14:43external Bluetooth heart rate monitor,
14:45whether that's a chest strap or an arm
14:46strap. But along with that, you can also
14:48use their new AirPods Pro 3s as heart
14:50rate sensors. And these quite frankly
14:52kind of blew me away, both in terms of
14:53the heart rate accuracy, but also the
14:55rest of the features that they have. And
14:56I'll have links for both my AirPods Pro
14:583 video as well as some external heart
15:00rate straps that I can recommend down in
15:02the description below. Oh, and one last
15:03thing is that you can even pair your SE3
15:05to a cycling power meter if you have one
15:07of those on your bike or even your smart
15:09bike trainer where you can also collect
15:10cycling power for your workouts. So, the
15:12SE3 may be the least expensive Apple
15:14Watch that they currently offer, but
15:15there's a surprising amount of features
15:17that it has, and a lot of it comes down
15:18to the fact that Apple does a really
15:20good job at keeping software features
15:21the same across all their watches. It
15:23usually just comes down to the hardware
15:25inside that makes up the differences.
15:26But ultimately, I think some of the
15:28highlight things that you'd get with the
15:29Series 11 if you wanted to pay more
15:30would be a slightly larger display, a
15:32slightly thinner case, as well as a few
15:34more hours of battery life, which are
15:36definitely nice to haves. But I think it
15:37probably more importantly comes down to
15:39the health features, which are probably
15:40going to be more distinct differences
15:41between these, where the Series 11, you
15:43get stuff like ECG, blood oxygen, as
15:45well as their new hypertension alerts
15:47feature. Other than that though, these
15:49share a lot in common. Anyhow, if you
15:51have any questions about the SE3 that I
15:52didn't cover in this video, feel free to
15:54drop a comment down in the comments
15:55section down below. And if you found the
15:57information in this video to be useful,
15:59do me a favor, hit that like button and
16:00also subscribe to the channel for plenty
16:02more health and fitness tech just like
16:03this that'll be coming up soon. In the
16:05meantime, have fun out there and we will
16:07see you in the next video.

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