Good value

Handles training and more, at a lower price.

Review: Apple Watch SE 3 - An affordable Apple Watch that can

The cheaper version of the Apple Watch is a good buy for most people and it combines advanced features with a really quite low price.

Published 9 December 2025 - 16:40 Modified 9 December 2025 - 16:41

In most of our tests of the regular Apple Watch over the years, we mention how expensive that watch is. It can cost from 5,000 up to 13,000 kronor if you choose more luxurious materials and straps.

With a price tag of about half of a regular Apple Watch, there is therefore a clear place for the Apple Watch SE 3, and the fact is that you get a lot for your money, especially all the features that form the basis for all versions of the Apple Watch.

Apple Watch SE 3, of course, gives you tight integration with your iPhone and Apple's services. This includes apps like Spotify, Whatsapp, calendar, Imessage, general notifications from the phone's apps. Additionally, the ability to respond to notifications directly from the watch with Siri or through short quick replies.

Review: Apple Watch SE 3 - An affordable Apple Watch that can

The basic idea is that you should be able to keep track without having to pick up the phone so often. Beyond that, the focus is on health. You set health goals and should close three rings every day that show your activity in the form of standing hours, movement, and active exercise.

Vital in some cases

When Apple presents new Apple Watches, it is often with user reports about how the watch has more or less saved someone's life or at least alerted the user to a serious illness that otherwise would not have been detected as quickly. Apple Watch SE 3, for example, has a heart rate monitor that, in addition to keeping track of your activity and exercise, can help the watch warn of irregular rhythm or unusually low or high pulse. It can also warn of sleep apnea but lacks the ability to take ECG, warn of high blood pressure, and measure blood oxygen levels. This is, of course, difficult to evaluate. These are measurements that directly help a few, but just for those few people, it can be crucial.

The Apple Watch SE 3 I'm testing is the model with a 40 mm large screen. There is a noticeable difference in size compared to the Watch Series 11 in 46mm size that I recently tested, but at the same time, it doesn't make much difference in practical use. I can't really fit more information on the dial in the larger watch, but of course, the format is smaller here, and it fits less text and requires more scrolling. When I sleep and have the watch on, it's more the thickness than the circumference that is noticeable, and therefore the different formats here don't make much difference to how comfortable the watch is.

Overall, the Watch SE 3, when we look at function, is not far behind. When I exercise, the watch provides good precision on gps and heart rate measurement, not so that I then notice that it costs around half of the regular Apple Watch Series 11. When I test walking four laps around the Hötorgsskraporna, the gps track deviates once, but it's on a single occasion, and I notice no deviations when I train in more normal conditions in urban environments or more undeveloped forest terrain.

Can do most things

I use the watch for training, notifications, a couple of apps, and for health measurement and sleep tracking. It handles everything as expected. I experience the battery life as roughly the same as the larger Apple Watch, albeit slightly worse. A typical day with sleep tracking, some exercise sessions, and other usage usually ends with the battery down to about 30 percent. No chance of lasting two days on a charge, but never a risk of needing to charge more than once a day.

A night's sleep tracking usually takes about 12-14 percent of the battery, a workout with GPS active and Spotify streamed via e-sim to AirPods takes between 25 and 30 percent of the battery.

Overall, the Apple Watch SE 3 offers a competent collection of features, much of what we expect in the more expensive Apple Watch, but at a significantly better price.

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