Apple Watch SE (2022) review

The primary factor you must know concerning the 2022 Apple Watch SE is that for $279/£259/€299, it’s most likely all of the Apple Watch you want.

The Apple Watch Collection 8 and Apple Watch Extremely pack in additional options, however a better and terribly excessive asking worth respectively in comparison with the SE.

As entry-level tech merchandise go, the Apple Watch SE nails the transient by having each important characteristic from the costlier fashions and leaving out all of the options that most individuals received’t need – or use – within the first place.

Design & construct

• 40mm and 44mm sizes
• Premium supplies
• Common band compatibility

Though it’s the most affordable Apple Watch, the SE doesn’t really feel low cost. That is nonetheless a premium constructed and feeling product created from aluminium in both the starlight (gold) of my assessment unit, midnight or silver.

The underside of the watch that homes the guts charge sensor and sits in opposition to your wrist is created from a nylon composite and matches the color of the steel casing.

If you would like a chrome steel or titanium Watch you’ll should go for the Collection 8 as a substitute, although you will get a Nike model of the SE if you wish to get your fingers on one of many Nike-branded straps.

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The SE has an identical design to the older Apple Watch Collection 4 and 5, with decent-sized shows however ones with bigger bezels than on the newer Collection 6, Collection 7, and eight.

I reviewed the smaller 40mm model, which at first felt too small in comparison with different smartwatches and Apple Watches I had beforehand worn. After a few weeks although I very a lot loved this extra compact measurement.

The primary benefit of the bigger 44mm mannequin is the bigger display and battery, however Apple pleasingly has stored all its official Watch bands full suitable with each mannequin supplied you purchase the precise measurement.

The Watch is light-weight at simply 27.8g with out the strap for the 40mm mannequin and 33g for the 44mm. I quickly forgot I used to be sporting it (in a great way), and it’s small and discreet sufficient that I didn’t thoughts sleeping with it on to trace my sleep, however it’s not as slim or delicate as a skinny exercise tracker such because the Fitbit Encourage 3.

Apart from the Digital Crown wheel, there’s one button on the identical aspect for accessing the app tray and different menus, whereas a mic and speaker are housed in a slit on the left edge.

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Display & audio

• Larger bezels than different Watches
• Superb show
• Speaker OK for calls

The SE has a pin-sharp OLED show that excellently produces vibrant color all set in opposition to a black background. This has all the time been Apple’s strategy with the Watch, and it nonetheless seems to be elegant. The usage of black on an OLED display saves battery life too, as lit white pixels use extra energy.

Apple makes use of sturdy Ion-X glass that hasn’t picked up any scratches in my time with it, however it’s not as sturdy because the sapphire screens on the metal and titanium Collection 8 fashions.

Even on the small 40mm display I discovered poking concerning the interface no problem, and mixed with the Digital Crown scroll wheel, going via messages and menus is intuitive. Like a cellphone, you ping out and in of apps. A swipe down for notifications and a swipe up from a management panel. It’s a mini iPhone in your wrist.

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You possibly can bump the textual content measurement up if you really want, however the show is massive sufficient to indicate full watch faces with many app icons and issues.

The largest draw back to choosing the SE is it doesn’t have an always-on show. When not in use, the display is a clean black. All different fashions of Watch Apple sells have an always-on display that exhibits the time and different info in a low-power state when the machine shouldn’t be purposefully risen to have a look at.

It means when you look down on the SE you possibly can’t see the time, you need to elevate your arm to show the display on or faucet the display. It’s a small inconvenience.

There’s a small speaker grille on the left of the watch. The audio is surprisingly loud and crisp, adequate to take cellphone calls on in a quiet sufficient setting. Although the Watch can retailer music and podcasts, you possibly can’t play these via the speaker and should as a substitute pair wi-fi headphones.

I normally used the Watch on vibrate mode solely, however when you preserve sounds on you get a pleasing ‘ping’ sound while you get notifications, although you possibly can’t customise the sound – it’s the identical for each app.

Specs & efficiency

• Similar chip as Collection 8
• Very responsive
• 32GB storage

For the worth, it’s nice that the SE 2022 has the identical S8 chipset because the costlier Apple Watch Collection 8. In reality, all of the {hardware} options are the identical together with Apple’s second-generation coronary heart sensor, the W3 wi-fi chip for connectivity, and nice new options resembling worldwide emergency calling and worldwide roaming – although the latter two are solely on the mobile model of the Watch.

The SE lacks the U1 chip discovered on the Collection 6 and later, however contemplating it doesn’t actually do a lot on the Apple Watch proper now, it’s not an enormous loss in my guide. You possibly can nonetheless discover the watch utilizing the Discover My app.

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It’s additionally waterproof to 50 metres, is IP6X dustproof, and has a really beneficiant 32GB of storage. You possibly can obtain audio from Apple Music, Podcasts, and Books onto the Watch and pay attention with out your cellphone utilizing headphones (Apple hopes AirPods, naturally). It’s also possible to obtain songs from Spotify, however it’s a lot much less dependable than utilizing Apple’s providers.

I loved utilizing NFC for cellular funds with Apple Pay, and the Categorical Mode characteristic to be used on public transport is nice – you possibly can rapidly contact the Watch to the contactless card reader on buses and Tubes in London to pay with out having to double faucet the perform button as you normally do for different funds.

The center charge sensor on the underside is correct and dependable whether or not you’re sleeping or on a 5k run. If you would like extra sensors to measure blood oxygen, ECG, or temperature, you’ll should go for the Collection 8.

A mobile mannequin is accessible for each sizes of Look ahead to a further value, however it can solely work with sure service suppliers and it’s a must to contact them to get it arrange. As soon as up and operating, you possibly can take calls, play music to headphones, and obtain messages and alerts over a 4G connection when not related to your cellphone.

If you happen to get the Bluetooth/Wi-Fi-only mannequin then you need to keep related to your cellphone or Wi-Fi to obtain alerts always – however you possibly can nonetheless monitor train utilizing GPS and take heed to audio offline when you go away your cellphone at residence.

Software program & options

• Superlative integration with iPhone
• Nice third-party app assist
• Good security options

Whereas Apple has not a lot modified the design of the Watch for the reason that first model, we are actually as much as watchOS 9 for the software program, and it’s a lot improved. You get the identical model on the Apple Watch SE as all different suitable fashions, with many various wonderful watch faces to show as a lot or as little info as you need.

Notifications ping pleasantly in your wrist as they arrive in tandem along with your iPhone. Apple has made certain the 2 gadgets work in seamless tandem and the pairing stays a greater total expertise than any Android equal.

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Little issues just like the cellphone or Watch mirroring Do Not Disturb mode regardless of which machine you turned it on or off on is an easy contact that the Google Pixel Watch fails to do when paired with an Android cellphone.

There’s additionally a enjoyable walkie-talkie mode to rapidly chat to household or mates, enjoyable iPhone options like Memoji, and one of the best third-party app integration of any wearable. Many, resembling sensible residence apps or airline apps are pretty naked bones, however with the latter, you possibly can normally simply entry your boarding cross QR code within the app or by way of Pockets.

You possibly can even management the temperature of your tea out of your wrist when you’ve got an Ember mug, or subtly examine your financial institution stability earlier than splitting that meal out with mates that landed a few days earlier than payday.

Although it misses out on some headline options, the SE does get crash detection, the characteristic that may inform when you’ve got been in a automotive accident and might name emergency providers robotically, additionally triangulating your location.

Apple additionally markets the SE as the best Apple Watch for a kid or aged member of the family due to its Household Setup service that permits you to give a mobile Watch to them to speak with with out them having or needing it to be related to an iPhone.

Health & monitoring

• Good GPS monitoring
• Coronary heart charge sensor correct
• Cycle monitoring

The Apple Watch works very nicely as a wrist pc however it’s additionally an excellent health tracker. With built-in GPS you possibly can monitor runs simply, and I discover Apple’s in-run info display essentially the most readable and helpful even in comparison with devoted health watches from Polar and Garmin.

With watchOS 9 now you can get in-run audio and visible updates on lap occasions, and it’s simple to manage music quantity and playback on a second display a swipe away.

You possibly can monitor a plethora of workout routines from strolling to swimming, mountain climbing to HIIT periods, yoga to tai chi. A few of these don’t monitor particular motion however help you view total time and coronary heart charge metrics by completely different actions within the Health app in your iPhone.

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Different metrics are stored within the Well being app, resembling Sleep information, and I’m glad Apple doesn’t unfold your information over greater than these two as it may be slightly overwhelming and complicated to seek out sure issues.

Sleep monitoring is sort of related to what’s discovered on Fitbit. Combining motion and coronary heart charge, the SE provides you a graph of your sleep levels – deep, core, REM, and awake – and signifies how nicely you slept. Although you most likely already know when you slept nicely or not.

The Watch can even use your exercise and coronary heart charge information to estimate your stage of cardio health and when you enter information it might probably additionally estimate your ovulation for cycle monitoring of your interval. This can be a useful device however ought to solely be used as a information, and the temperature sensor on the Collection 8 implies that watch is healthier suited to you than the SE if you wish to use cycle monitoring.

You don’t should pay a subscription to entry any of the primary information factors you get out of your Watch, an enormous benefit over Fitbit, which expenses for its Premium service and retains some information locked away when you don’t. However Apple does cost for Health+, a video service that guides you thru exercises. You get a three-month free trial while you purchase an Apple Watch.

Battery life & charging

• 1-2 days on a cost
• Extra juice on 44mm mannequin

With the caveat that I reviewed the smaller mannequin, battery life on the Apple Watch SE is OK. It will get me via a day and evening of monitoring comfortably if I don’t use GPS or stream music from it to my AirPods.

Utilizing extra juice will see the ability run down, as with each smartwatch, and if you wish to use sleep monitoring you may need to chuck it on the little puck charger earlier than mattress. Observe that USB-C charging cable comes within the field, however there’s no brick.

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The SE has higher battery life than the Google Pixel Watch, however lower than the bigger 44mm SE, which I might advocate over the smaller one for its battery life and greater show.

Although they don’t have nearly as good integration with the iPhone for apps and notifications, if you’d like a health watch with higher battery life then the Fitbit Versa 4 and Sense 2 value much less and about the identical respectively because the Apple Watch SE however can go for 3 to 5 days away from a charger.

The SE does include Low Energy Mode, so if you end up with out a lot juice you possibly can flip that on and nonetheless have full monitoring, fall detection, and different capabilities whereas turning off others to protect battery.

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Value & availability

The 40mm Apple Watch SE prices $249/£259/€299, which is an excellent worth for what you get.

Even at $279/£299/€339 the 44mm remains to be very nicely priced contemplating it has the important options of the Collection 8.

You’ll should pay extra for each fashions if you’d like the mobile model, and the costs can go up relying on which strap you buy.

The primary miss for the SE is the always-on show, which is helpful and makes the product look extra premium. Apart from that, the Apple Watch SE could be very totally featured.

You would possibly choose spending $229.99/£199.99/€229.95 on a Fitbit Versa 4 to get a sexy health tracker in watch kind, however you miss out on a heck of quite a lot of Apple’s wonderful premium options and mainly all third-party apps.

In case you are actually into health you would possibly choose a devoted sports activities watch just like the Polar Pacer, which has longer battery life and much more health options.

Verdict

The Apple Watch SE is one of the best Apple Watch possibility for most individuals with an iPhone who desire a smartwatch. It is rather fairly priced – not one thing we will usually genuinely say about Apple {hardware} merchandise.

It has lots of the options of the costlier Apple Watch Collection 8, whereas sustaining a contemporary design with the identical chipset and stable battery life – for an Apple Watch, that’s.

If you happen to equally worth sensible options like third-party app integration, music storage, contactless funds and full health monitoring, the Apple Watch remains to be one of the best smartwatch when you’ve got an iPhone. The SE does all the pieces surprisingly nicely contemplating it’s the most affordable one.

Specs

• 40/44mm casings
• IP6X mud resistant
• 50ATM water resistance
• Coronary heart charge monitoring
• Cycle monitoring
• Automobile crash detection
• GPS
• Barometer
• All the time-on altimeter
• Elective mobile connectivity with worldwide roaming
• 18-hour battery life
• Longer with Low Energy mode