Feels and looks the same, but real changes are deeper

Though the Apple Watch announcements may have paled in comparison to the iPhone news at Apple’s event today, there were still some noteworthy updates to the smartwatch lineup to talk about. This year, we’re getting the Watch Series 11, Watch SE 3 and Watch Ultra 3, and each of them have some interesting features. At a hands-on session here at Apple Park, I spent some time with the devices, and believe the most intriguing is the Series 11.

At first glance, the Series 11 is no different from the Series 10 I wore to the event. They’re the same thinness and have pretty much the same dimensions, and the main change is that the new smartwatch has an IonX coating that’s two times more scratch resistant. There’s also a new space grey case option that looked nice, though I was a bigger fan of the rose gold band and case pairing. I especially like the loop band that was on the unit I checked out.

I put the Series 11 on my wrist next to my Series 10 and truly could not tell them apart. There might not be much reason to upgrade from last year’s model to this, which isn’t a bad thing. We don’t want to be too wasteful, anyway. The real updates coming to the Series 11 include the new “Possible hypertension” alerts, using data gathered from the existing optical heart rate sensors to study patterns in the constriction and expansion of your blood vessels in relation to your heart rate. This tells the watch whether there are differences in your blood pressure — keyword: differences.

This tool isn’t meant to give you readings of your blood pressure like “130 / 80,” for example. It’s more meant to tell if there are concerning variations and alert you to see a medical professional if so. This is similar to many other Apple Watch features like sleep apnea detection or high heart rate alerts, and since it requires data trends to work, wasn’t something I could just test here at Apple Park.

I also didn’t get to test the sleep score feature that’s coming watchOS 26, but that isn’t exclusive to the Series 11, and any Apple Watch compatible with the latest software will be able to get it. I did like how you’ll get scores once you’ve worn the watch to bed, and don’t have to wait for a required number of nights for the insights to surface.

Hypertension and sleep score were among the more interesting updates coming to the Series 11, along with the promise of better battery life. Apple said the wearable should last up to 24 hours on a charge now, with eight of those meant to power through overnight sleep tracking. That’s not something I can really test here at a hands-on event, so we’ll have to wait for a review unit to properly measure.

Hands on with the Apple Watch SE 3

I was more intrigued by the Apple Watch SE 3, and will readily admit that I cheered when the company announced its entry-level smartwatch will be getting an Always On Display. When I picked up the Watch SE 3, I immediately noticed its relatively chunky bezels, but by and large it felt quite similar to my Series 10. Sure, the cheaper watch is slightly thicker, heavier and more sluggish, but for $250 it’s a very solid device. It comes with a skin-temperature sensor to support cycle-tracking, and will now charge twice as fast as the last Watch SE. That’s closer to the speeds of the Series 9 and later, which is a huge improvement considering how slow the older Apple Watches used to charge.

Again, like with the Series 11, a lot of the Watch SE’s improvements weren’t things I could check out at a brief preview like today. And most of them are features that already exist on other devices coming down to a smartwatch that costs $249. I think what Apple is offering for the price is very compelling, though, since you’ll really only be missing ECG and blood oxygen features by opting for the SE 3 over the Series 11. The latter is a bit thinner and lighter, but the SE 3 is plenty comfortable and small anyway.

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