Apple Watch SE 3 Canadian review: Value O’clock

The Apple Watch SE was always an underdog, but since it never featured an Always-on display (AOD), I never recommended it. There’s just something extra watch-like about the AOD that completes the Apple Watch package to me. However, that’s all changed this year since the Apple Watch SE has grown up. Without sugar coating it, here are all the upgrades worth caring about;

• The Always-on display
• Wrist temperature sensing
• Gesture controls
• On-device Siri
• Faster charging/low-power mode
• 4x stronger Ion-X glass screen
• Same chip as Series 11

All of these are practical upgrades that most people will be happy to be able to take advantage of. At this point, the main separation between the SE 3 and the Series 11 is a few hours of battery life, a larger screen and some health features. For most people, the core experience is going to be extremely similar. If you wanted to buy the smaller Apple Watch Series 11, I’d seriously consider the larger SE 3 since it will offer an identical experience for less. The SE even has a 5G antenna, but sadly, no Canadian carriers offer 5G watch plans yet.

Another reason I love the SE 3 is that it comes in my favourite Apple colour, starlight. It also comes in the dark blue, midnight, but I never found that option worked well as a watch. If you’re still working with a Series 5/6, this will be an upgrade since you get the stronger glass and the new gestures with the faster chip. The fast charging and low power mode will make battery management a lot easier.

When used alongside the Apple Watch Ultra 3 in downtown Toronto, the Ultra’s advanced GPS offered slightly more accurate distance measurements. However, it was only off by about 15 metres, which, after a 3km walk, doesn’t feel drastic enough to warrant spending another few hundred dollars to upgrade to the larger watch. For 90 per cent of workouts, the SE 3 is going to be a great companion.

Part of me wonders if the SE was upgraded so substantially this year because next year, Apple Intelligence is going to come to the Series 12, giving it a much more powerful chip than the S10. Thus, making the gap between the Series and the SE much more substantial once again. But, that’s just a theory, and due to the battery limitations on all the watches, Apple might not ever put AI on them.

One annoyance I have with the SE 3 is that Apple is still holding back the software keyboard from it, which makes no sense since the SE is literally 1mm smaller than the Series 7 that introduced the feature a few years ago. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter since most people use dictation on their wearables anyways, but it’s just annoying that Apple decided to continue to hold this tiny feature back for whatever reason.

Many of these features are coming to Apple Watches as old as the Series 6, as well as the three new ones. This starts with the beautiful new Liquid Glass, but also adds a few new tools to the Apple Watch utility belt. While I wish there was more Liquid Glass usage around the OS, I am happy with how committed Apple is to unifying all of its operating systems with design. It might not matter to some, but the unified clean design language is a big reason I like Apple products.

A surprise new watchOS 26 feature shown off at the iPhone event was the Sleep Score. Apple has simplified its sleep tracking with a score that evaluates how deep you sleep, how consistent your bedtime is and how long you sleep for. This is a nice way to make the sleep data a little more digestible by breaking it up into three areas to focus on. However, all watches that track sleep stages in the same way as Apple will also generate a sleep score once they offload their data to the Apple Health app.

Like my other Apple product reviews this week, all these photos were shot on an iPhone 16 Pro.

If you work out a lot Apple has a new feature called Workout buddy that will only apply if you also have a phone that supports Apple Intelligence. If you do, it will notify you of milestones during your workout and give you a little bit of motivation. This is pretty cool and a fun feature for people who work out in one of the supported activity types. It will also work on your phone for some workouts if you don’t have an Apple Watch.

In addition to the double pinch gesture from last year, now Apple Watch Series 9 and newer can also ‘wrist flick.’ This dismisses notifications by twisting your watch away from you and it’s super handy. I’d argue that I use it even more than Double Tap, but I still use both pretty frequently.

Like the new AirPods feature, watches connected to phones with Apple Intelligence will be able to use live translation. This is one area where the speakers on the watches are useful since they allow you to play the translations out loud.

There is finally a Notes app on Apple Watch, which is bad news for the voice memos app that will probably never get used on my watch again.

Finally, I just want to mention Liquid Glass. While it’s the least noticeable on the watch compared to Apple’s other operating systems, I’m happy that Apple unified all the systems without leaving the watch out.

Who is this watch for?

[Left to right] Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch SE 3, Apple Watch Series 6.

It’s got all the essential features that a die-hard Apple Watch fan like me wants. If you want one of these to track a few workouts and keep up on your notifications, this is a great option to do it. You could upgrade to the Series 11 if you want a bit more battery life, but since it’s so similar to the SE 3, I wouldn’t recommend upgrading unless you really like the style of the titanium version.

Anyone looking to get their first Apple Watch might want to start here, too. A: This is a great option for kids since it’s small and affordable at $329. B: If you’ve never used a smart watch before, you might want to start with something like the SE since it is a big commitment. A lot of people buy one and then stop using it after a bit, so not investing in the pricey watch at first can be a smart play.

The SE line does use a slightly more simplified version of Apple’s wrist sensors, that said, it’s still an above average fitness tracker.

If you’re super health-conscious, this watch isn’t for you since it lacks the ECG and Blood Oxygen apps as well as the new Hypertension feature. However, that one isn’t available in Canada yet, so really, none of the new watches have it. Think of the SE as more of a fitness device and less of a health tracker.

The other person who should probably not get the SE is a hardcore athlete. If you train hard and spend a lot of time beating up your watch, you’ll likely want the Ultra for its much stronger display glass, more accurate GPS and better battery life.