Is The Apple Watch SE3 Actually Worth It In 2026 — Transcript

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1. 0:00Apple just released the brand new series
2. 0:0112 Apple Watch and compared to the older
3. 0:03SE3, it's [music] got a bigger screen,
4. 0:05it's brighter, it's more powerful, it's
5. 0:07got a better battery, and it's got
6. 0:08better health tracking features. But, it
7. 0:10starts at $150 more than the SE3.
8. 0:13[music] And after using the Apple Watch
9. 0:14SE3 on and off for the last year since
10. 0:16it released, I'm not totally convinced
11. 0:18that people need to upgrade to the
12. 0:19series 12. In fact, the Apple Watch SE3
13. 0:21might actually be the watch that you
14. 0:23should get. So, in today's video, I'm
15. 0:24going to tell you whether I think the
16. 0:25Apple Watch SE3 is still worth it in
17. 0:272026. In my opinion, the Apple Watch SE3
18. 0:30is a pretty big deal when it comes to
19. 0:31smartwatches. You're getting an
20. 0:32incredibly capable Apple Watch that
21. 0:34looks like the more expensive models,
22. 0:36also does a lot of the same things as
23. 0:37well, for a really reasonable price. And
24. 0:39since Apple only seems to update the SE
25. 0:40line every other year, the SE3 is still
26. 0:43the latest Apple Watch SE. So, let's
27. 0:45talk about some of the standout features
28. 0:46of the SE3 that actually make it very
29. 0:48competitive to the more expensive and
30. 0:50newer Apple Watch series 12. First off,
31. 0:52you've got the S10 chip. Now, compared
32. 0:53to the series 12, which has the S11
33. 0:55chip, it isn't the latest chip, but from
34. 0:57what I can tell, the only thing that the
35. 0:58S11 chip really adds is additional AI
36. 1:00capabilities, which aren't even fully
37. 1:02unlocked yet. In terms of speed and
38. 1:03usability, the S10 chip is more than
39. 1:05adequate. When it comes to actually
40. 1:07performing tasks or opening and closing
41. 1:09apps, nothing felt slow or hindered at
42. 1:11all. Sure, this Apple Watch has a little
43. 1:12bit less RAM, but realistically, you
44. 1:14don't really need that much RAM to run
45. 1:16Apple Watch apps. Now, compared to the
46. 1:18older Apple Watch SE, this Apple Watch
47. 1:20does come with an always-on Retina
48. 1:21display, which is really great,
49. 1:22especially if you plan to sleep in this
50. 1:23watch. And by the way, this watch has
51. 1:25excellent sleep tracking capabilities.
52. 1:26In fact, they're basically the same as
53. 1:28the sleep tracking capabilities in the
54. 1:29newer watches. However, they are missing
55. 1:31some heart rate features, which we'll
56. 1:32talk about in a second. But, just like
57. 1:33the newer, more expensive watches,
58. 1:34you've got temperature sensors and sleep
59. 1:36apnea notifications, and even a sleep
60. 1:37score, which is something that I really,
61. 1:39really enjoy the addition of. And again,
62. 1:40it's in all the new watches. I literally
63. 1:42sleep in an Apple Watch every single
64. 1:43night, at least I have for the last
65. 1:45couple years. And what I really like
66. 1:46about it is that, no, it doesn't improve
67. 1:47my sleep, but it does tell me when I'm
68. 1:49in REM sleep, when I'm waking up, what
69. 1:51my temperature is, what my resting heart
70. 1:52rate is, which in turn helps me solve
71. 1:54some of the problems as to why I might
72. 1:55not be sleeping as well. For example,
73. 1:56maybe I'm going to bed too late, or
74. 1:58maybe I'm waking up too much in the
75. 1:59middle of the night. Actually, to be
76. 2:00fair though, I know why I'm waking up a
77. 2:01lot uh in the middle of the night,
78. 2:02that's cuz I have a a newborn. I have
79. 2:03two children now. They both wake me up.
80. 2:05Some other pretty premium features is
81. 2:06that you've actually got fast charging
82. 2:07that works really well. You've got 5G
83. 2:09capabilities if you buy the Apple Watch
84. 2:11SE that features 5G capabilities, and
85. 2:13the actual fundamental Apple Watch
86. 2:14experience is pretty much exactly the
87. 2:16same on the SE3 as it is on the more
88. 2:17expensive watches. You can answer text
89. 2:19messages, you can take calls, you can
90. 2:21listen to music. When it comes to that
91. 2:22normal stuff, the stuff that you're
92. 2:23using your Apple Watch for most during
93. 2:25the day, it's pretty much the same. And
94. 2:27even when it comes to health tracking,
95. 2:28which is one of the areas where the
96. 2:29Series 12 and the Ultra 4 are better
97. 2:31than the SE3, it's still no slouch. But
98. 2:33this part of the video is sponsored by
99. 2:35G-Tron. They just sent over their Nexus
100. 2:37140 W charging station, and it solves a
101. 2:39lot of problems for me. Now, I've got a
102. 2:40ton of different stuff that needs to be
103. 2:41charged throughout the day, whether it's
104. 2:42my phone, or my laptop, or my PC gaming
105. 2:44handheld, or whatever the case may be.
106. 2:46And one thing I hate so much are cables
107. 2:49all over my desk. And that's something
108. 2:50that I really like about this thing.
109. 2:51It's got these four retractable USB-C
110. 2:53cables built in, plus another USB-C port
111. 2:55right in the front so you can charge up
112. 2:56to five devices at a time. So, I can
113. 2:58pull out a cable, charge my phone, pull
114. 3:00out another cable, charge my laptop, and
115. 3:01then when I'm done, which my laptop is
116. 3:02not done, I'm just doing this purely for
117. 3:04the purposes of this video, you can
118. 3:05retract it right back into the box.
119. 3:06Actually, do want to charge my laptop
120. 3:08for real because the battery is about to
121. 3:09die. But the other thing that I really
122. 3:10like is that you can get up to 140 W
123. 3:12from a single port, which is enough to
124. 3:14charge some pretty power hungry laptops.
125. 3:15Or you can charge two compatible devices
126. 3:17at the same time and get 65 W of
127. 3:19charging on each port. Now, that being
128. 3:20said, obviously, the charging speed does
129. 3:22depend on the device that you're using
130. 3:23and if it's capable of pulling that
131. 3:24charge. Now, something else that I
132. 3:25really like about this thing is the
133. 3:26design. It's got this cool retro
134. 3:28computer look to it. And actually, the
135. 3:30entire top section with the cables can
136. 3:31be removed and replaced as just one
137. 3:33module. So, if you're looking for a way
138. 3:34to charge all of your stuff without
139. 3:36having cables everywhere, definitely
140. 3:37check out the G-Tron Nexus 140 charging
141. 3:39station. I'll make sure to leave a link
142. 3:40in the description below. But let's talk
143. 3:42about the display, because this is the
144. 3:43thing that you're going to be looking at
145. 3:44most. In fact, it's really the only
146. 3:45thing that you're going to be looking at
147. 3:46on the Apple Watch. And like I said, it
148. 3:48is the biggest upgrade from the older
149. 3:49Apple Watch. It's now an always-on
150. 3:50display, which like I mentioned before,
151. 3:51is one of the biggest upgrades from
152. 3:53previous Apple Watches. Obviously, you
153. 3:54can raise your wrist to turn on the
154. 3:55screen or see the time. I also just
155. 3:57updated my Apple Watch SE 3 to Apple
156. 3:58Watch OS 27, I think is what it is, or
157. 4:0127.1 or something, or whatever the
158. 4:02newest one is. And you've got all the
159. 4:03new like software features that you have
160. 4:05in the newer Apple Watches. Not all of
161. 4:06the newer software features, but the
162. 4:08basic software features in the newer
163. 4:09look. Now, as you would expect, the
164. 4:10Apple Watch SE 3 screen is not as good
165. 4:12as the more expensive newer options.
166. 4:14It's smaller. It's also a little bit
167. 4:15dimmer. So, this comes in a 40 mm and 44
168. 4:18mm case size. It's got a 1,000 nit peak
169. 4:20brightness, which is half of what the
170. 4:22Series 12 has, and a third of what the
171. 4:24Ultra 4 has. It's also a standard OLED
172. 4:26LTPO display. It's got thicker bezels.
173. 4:28And when it comes to durability, it's
174. 4:29only got Ion-X glass protecting the
175. 4:31display, which honestly, I haven't had
176. 4:33too many issues with, but it does
177. 4:34apparently scratch easier and I guess
178. 4:36maybe break a little bit easier than the
179. 4:37glass on other Apple Watches, but I've
180. 4:39literally never broken the screen on my
181. 4:40Apple Watch. So, I don't know, maybe
182. 4:42you're you're more active than I am or
183. 4:43something, I don't know, but I've never
184. 4:44had that issue. And I've only ever
185. 4:45noticed a couple scuffs. So, what does
186. 4:46all this mean when compared to the
187. 4:48Series 12? Well, it means you're getting
188. 4:49a smaller screen, a less bright screen,
189. 4:51and you don't have as many good viewing
190. 4:52angles, although the viewing angles on
191. 4:54this are pretty decent. But in practice,
192. 4:55it's really not that noticeable. I mean,
193. 4:57we're talking about a couple millimeters
194. 4:58larger when it comes to the screen size.
195. 5:00Yes, it is there, but if you use a watch
196. 5:02face that's primarily black, you won't
197. 5:03even see where the end of the screen
198. 5:04actually is. Same thing with the Series
199. 5:0612. Generally, especially in my Ultra 4,
200. 5:08I use a black watch face where you don't
201. 5:09even see the edges or the bezels. In the
202. 5:10video I did of the Series 12, yes, you
203. 5:12could see the edges of the screen, but
204. 5:13that's because I wanted to show the
205. 5:15edges of the screen by using a watch
206. 5:16face that had colors all the way to the
207. 5:17edges, so you could see them. But in
208. 5:18reality, it is not a big deal at all.
209. 5:20The only thing that I legitimately
210. 5:22notice and wish was a little bit
211. 5:23different was the screen brightness,
212. 5:24especially out in direct sunlight. If
213. 5:25you're going for a run or even just
214. 5:26walking around outside, it is a little
215. 5:28bit harder to see the screen on the SE 3
216. 5:30than on the Series 12, but not a huge
217. 5:31deal. You just kind of do one of these
218. 5:32if you really need to. So, is it worth
219. 5:34upgrading to the Series 12 for the
220. 5:36better screen? In my opinion, definitely
221. 5:37not. But here's something that might
222. 5:39actually justify the argument for
223. 5:40upgrading to the Series 12 or even the
224. 5:42Ultra 4, and that's battery life. So,
225. 5:44the SE 3 gets about 18 hours of battery
226. 5:46life and 32 hours in low power mode,
227. 5:48which is fine. That's about a night of
228. 5:50sleeping and a work days amount of time.
229. 5:52So, you are able to sleep in the Apple
230. 5:53Watch, go to the gym in the morning, and
231. 5:54then go to the office, and then come
232. 5:55home and put it on the charger. It's not
233. 5:57the best amount of time, but there are
234. 5:59definite ways to live with it. Now, like
235. 6:00I mentioned before, there is some pretty
236. 6:02excellent fast charging when it comes to
237. 6:03this Apple Watch. You can get 8 hours of
238. 6:05extra use, especially for sleeping, with
239. 6:06just 8 minutes of fast charging, which
240. 6:08is pretty incredible. You can also get
241. 6:10roughly 80% of your battery life with 45
242. 6:12minutes of fast charging. It's pretty
243. 6:13impressive, and I think even if you come
244. 6:15home, your watch is about to die, you
245. 6:16throw it on the charger for a little
246. 6:17bit, and then put it back on to go to
247. 6:19the gym or to sleep in, you should be
248. 6:21fine. But, this is where the Series 12
249. 6:22and the Ultra 4 have a pretty large
250. 6:24advantage. The Series 12 gets about 24
251. 6:26hours of battery life, 38 hours on low
252. 6:28power mode. It charges up to 80% in 30
253. 6:30minutes, and you get 10 hours of sleep
254. 6:32tracking time with just 5 minutes of
255. 6:34charging. All very, very impressive
256. 6:35stats. However, if you want the most
257. 6:37battery life possible, and I've talked
258. 6:38about all of this in my full Apple Watch
259. 6:40comparison video, so check that out if
260. 6:41you haven't yet. But, if you want the
261. 6:42best of the best battery, you got to go
262. 6:44with the Apple Watch Ultra 4. This guy
263. 6:45comes with like 50 hours worth of
264. 6:47battery life. It's ridiculous, and
265. 6:49that's actually the Apple Watch that I
266. 6:50use on a very regular basis because of
267. 6:52the battery life. I also like the way
268. 6:53that it looks a lot. And, the fast
269. 6:54charging times are pretty similar to
270. 6:55what you have in the Apple Watch Series
271. 6:5712. So, if you want a watch that you
272. 6:59only have to charge every couple days,
273. 7:00the Ultra 4 is the way to go. If you
274. 7:02want a watch that you generally only
275. 7:03need to charge every day and a half or
276. 7:05every other day, then go with the Series
277. 7:0612. If you are okay charging your watch
278. 7:08every single day, then the SE 3 is
279. 7:10totally fine for you. So, you may have
280. 7:11noticed I haven't really talked about
281. 7:12the industrial design or the physical
282. 7:14design of these Apple Watches yet. And,
283. 7:16that's because I like to sort of bunch
284. 7:17this in with sleep tracking because it
285. 7:19genuinely does make a difference when it
286. 7:21comes to sleeping. If you wear something
287. 7:22like the Apple Watch Ultra 4 to bed,
288. 7:23like I do on a very regular basis, you
289. 7:25will find that it catches on your
290. 7:26pillow, feels heavier on your arm, or
291. 7:28bangs into the nightstand pretty often.
292. 7:30And, that's because this is a big watch
293. 7:31with some pretty sharp edges. It's not
294. 7:33dangerous, but it's definitely not the
295. 7:35most comfortable watch to sleep in every
296. 7:36single day. The Series 12 is
297. 7:38significantly more comfortable to sleep
298. 7:40in because it comes in this sort of soft
299. 7:41rounded chiclet design, which I actually
300. 7:43really like a lot. It's thinner than the
301. 7:44SE3 and it's also a little bit lighter
302. 7:46than the SE3. However, if you want the
303. 7:48most comfortable watch when it comes to
304. 7:49sleeping in an Apple Watch, the SE3 is
305. 7:51the way to go because it is just
306. 7:53literally the smallest Apple Watch. And
307. 7:54because of its rounded corners and soft
308. 7:56edges, it's very comfortable to sleep in
309. 7:57even if you slide your hand under a
310. 7:59pillow, it never really gets caught. Now
311. 8:00sure, when it comes to actual aesthetics
312. 8:02and what I like to wear on a daily basis
313. 8:03because I like the look of it, it's the
314. 8:04Ultra 4. But the Apple Watch SE3 is not
315. 8:06about looking watch. It looks very
316. 8:08similar to the Series 12 and it just
317. 8:09kind of looks like an Apple Watch. Most
318. 8:10Apple Watches look the same even though
319. 8:12there are differences between them.
320. 8:13Realistically, you can look at an Apple
321. 8:15Watch from a couple years ago and be
322. 8:16like, "That's I mean that's still an
323. 8:17Apple Watch." Now like I mentioned
324. 8:18before, when it comes to sleep tracking,
325. 8:19this Apple Watch can do most of the
326. 8:21things that the other Apple Watches can
327. 8:22do as well. Again, sleep score, sleep
328. 8:24apnea notifications, temperature
329. 8:25sensing, sleep stages, things like that.
330. 8:27Everything that you'd want to know about
331. 8:29your sleep. Of course, the health app
332. 8:30that you use if you have an iPhone is
333. 8:31the same on all iPhones, so it's going
334. 8:33to be the same experience overall. And
335. 8:34this is kind of an aside, but one of the
336. 8:36most valuable things that I found about
337. 8:37any of my Apple Watches that I've ever
338. 8:38owned is the haptic alarm. I sleep in
339. 8:41the same bed as my wife, so I often wake
340. 8:42up earlier than she does. Well, not
341. 8:44recently cuz we have a new baby, but
342. 8:45before I would wake up earlier than she
343. 8:46does. And so in order to prevent her
344. 8:48from waking up, I'd use the haptic alarm
345. 8:50on my watch if I was getting up to go
346. 8:51somewhere, go on a trip, travel,
347. 8:53whatever the case may be. I work from
348. 8:54home, so it makes it relatively easy. I
349. 8:56don't have to get up like crazy early to
350. 8:57go to the office cuz it's just
351. 8:58downstairs. But that's besides the
352. 8:59point. The haptic alarm on any Apple
353. 9:01Watch is basically the same and it does
354. 9:02a really good job of waking you up
355. 9:04without waking those around you. That's
356. 9:05regardless of which Apple Watch that you
357. 9:07get, at least modern Apple Watch that
358. 9:08you get. I haven't tried any of the
359. 9:09older ones recently, but I would say out
360. 9:10of all of the modern Apple Watches that
361. 9:12I've tried, it's all the same and it all
362. 9:13works really well and gets you up unless
363. 9:15you get used to hitting snooze, which
364. 9:16I've recently started to do. And now it
365. 9:19doesn't work as well. Take away from
366. 9:20that, just don't hit snooze. Just get up
367. 9:21when your Apple Watch buzzes. Now the
368. 9:22largest difference outside of battery
369. 9:24life that I think will make people go
370. 9:25with the Series 12 or Ultra 4 over the
371. 9:28SE3 is the new health tracking sensors.
372. 9:30The SE3 though, again, is no slouch when
373. 9:33it comes to health tracking. In addition
374. 9:34to all of the sleep tracking features
375. 9:35that I already mentioned, the SE3 still
376. 9:37gives you heart rate tracking, high low
377. 9:39heart rate alerts, irregular rhythm
378. 9:41notifications, cycle tracking, VO2 max,
379. 9:43heart rate zones, training load, and a
380. 9:45ton of workout modes, as well as like
381. 9:47step counts and things like that. You've
382. 9:48got fall detection, crash detection,
383. 9:50emergency SOS, and 50 m of water
384. 9:52resistance. I wouldn't dive in this
385. 9:53watch, I'd probably get the Ultra 4 for
386. 9:55that, but you can swim in this watch, no
387. 9:56problem, especially if that's one of
388. 9:57your workouts. Now, what the Series 12
389. 9:59and the Ultra 4 add, which is
390. 10:00interesting because both of them use the
391. 10:02exact same sensor, so realistically, if
392. 10:04you mainly just want to help tracking
393. 10:05sensor, you don't even need to upgrade
394. 10:06to the Ultra 4, you can just stick with
395. 10:07the Series 12, cuz again, they have the
396. 10:09same exact sensor. The Series 12 adds
397. 10:11ECG, blood oxygen, hypertension
398. 10:13notifications, higher frequency heart
399. 10:14rate HRV sensor, which actually, if you
400. 10:16didn't own the Series 11, is a big deal,
401. 10:18but it's not as big of a deal as it
402. 10:19sounds, because essentially, it just
403. 10:20tracks your heart rate variability more
404. 10:22often than it used to. You've got a
405. 10:24readiness score, recovery HRV, a depth
406. 10:26gauge, and water temperature sensing.
407. 10:28Now, here's the thing, if any of those
408. 10:29specific features sounded very important
409. 10:31to you or were something that you
410. 10:32actually needed, then that makes the
411. 10:34choice really easy. The Series 12 is the
412. 10:35way to go. But, if you're like 90% of
413. 10:37people who are literally just using
414. 10:38their Apple Watch to check messages and
415. 10:39maybe track an odd workout or, you know,
416. 10:41fill their rings or whatever the case
417. 10:43may be, even check sleep tracking, then
418. 10:44the SE3 is more than enough. Now, the
419. 10:46final difference that might matter to
420. 10:47you or might not is the fact that the
421. 10:49Series 12 comes with way more
422. 10:50customizability options than the SE3.
423. 10:53And that's because not only do you get
424. 10:54aluminum case options, you get titanium
425. 10:56and ceramic, if that's something that
426. 10:57you want. The price goes up
427. 10:58exponentially though, if you decide to
428. 11:00upgrade to those more expensive
429. 11:01materials. You also get more color
430. 11:03choices. The SE3 only comes in midnight
431. 11:05or starlight. Of course, you can change
432. 11:06the bands, so you can get a lot of
433. 11:07customizability there, but those are
434. 11:09your only two options. The two case size
435. 11:10options that you get with the SE3 are
436. 11:11also smaller than the Series 12. They're
437. 11:1340 and 44 mm versus the Series 12, which
438. 11:16comes in 42 and 46. And to be honest
439. 11:18with you, the Series 12 does come with
440. 11:19slightly better materials. It's slightly
441. 11:20sleeker, but realistically, it doesn't
442. 11:22look that much different. So, which one
443. 11:24should you buy? Well, it really comes
444. 11:25down to budget and features. If the SE3
445. 11:27just doesn't have the features that you
446. 11:28want, like the health tracking features
447. 11:29that I mentioned or even the better
448. 11:31battery, then no, The SE3 is not for
449. 11:33you. Go with the Series 12. It is $150
450. 11:35more, though. However, if you're more
451. 11:37budget-conscious and you want to buy a
452. 11:38watch between the $250 to $280 price
453. 11:41point without cellular, then the Apple
454. 11:42Watch SE3 is an amazing watch. It can do
455. 11:44so much of what the Series 12 and the
456. 11:46Ultra 4 can do. It has a lot of activity
457. 11:48tracking. You can do all of the
458. 11:49notification stuff on this watch that
459. 11:50you can do on the other watches. And at
460. 11:51the end of the day, it just looks like
461. 11:53an Apple Watch. It doesn't look really
462. 11:54that much different than the Series 12.
463. 11:56So again, if you're in that like 90% or
464. 11:58maybe like 80% group of people who
465. 11:59primarily use their Apple Watch for
466. 12:00notifications, sleep tracking, and some
467. 12:03workout tracking and health tracking,
468. 12:04then the SE3 is more than enough for
469. 12:06you. And unless you really need one of
470. 12:07the features or just want one of the
471. 12:09features of the other Apple Watches,
472. 12:10then there really is no reason to spend
473. 12:12the extra $150. So that right there
474. 12:14really answers the question of the whole
475. 12:15video. Is the Apple Watch SE3 worth it
476. 12:17in 2026? In my opinion, absolutely. If
477. 12:19you want to see my deep dive reviews of
478. 12:21the other Apple Watches, make sure to
479. 12:22check out some of my other videos on
480. 12:24your screen or linked in the description
481. 12:25below. And also check out my full
482. 12:26comparison comparing all three Apple
483. 12:28Watches to help you decide which one is
484. 12:30best for you. But hey, thanks for
485. 12:31watching, and I'll see you all in the
486. 12:32next one.