I Tried The Apple Watch Series 11, Watch Ultra 3, And Se - What The Keynote Didn't Tell You

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Apple's iPhone arena brought america respective caller phones, but my eyes (and hands) were each complete nan 3 caller smartwatches nan tech elephantine debuted this week. Apple unveiled nan Apple Watch Series 11, nan Ultra 3, and SE 3 astatine its September "Awe-dropping" event, and I person immoderate first-hand thoughts.

Apple's baseline Apple Watch Series 11 is nan smartwatch that hobbyist wellness trackers and mini wrists should buy, pinch a starting value of $399.

Also: Apple Events unrecorded updates: iPhone 17, iPhone Air, AirPods Pro 3, and caller wearables conscionable unveiled

Apple's rugged Apple Watch Ultra 3 offers precocious outer connection functionalities built for off-grid hikers and outdoor enthusiasts. It besides has nan largest surface yet and nan longest artillery life of nan lineup, astatine 42 hours.

The affordable SE 3 is simply that: a reasonably priced smartwatch pinch astir of nan features a personification would want, for illustration upgraded sleep-tracking, acknowledgment to nan recently announced Sleep Scores coming to each watch, and nan accustomed slate of workout search and second-screen functionalities a smartwatch-curious customer would want.

Let's talk slumber scores

Apple's smartwatches received respective notable upgrades, including a long-awaited Sleep Score that calculates really slumber duration, bedtime consistency, and interruptions effect wide sleep. Basically, your slumber is astir to beryllium graded. Are you fresh for nan test?

Also: You tin preorder Apple's caller devices this week: iPhone 17, Watch 11, AirPods Pro 3 and more

I've been wishing for a slumber scoring characteristic connected nan smartwatch for arsenic agelong arsenic I've owned it, but arsenic Apple's competitors delve further into personalized slumber and activity ratings, Apple has lagged down -- until now.

If you want to people your slumber without buying a caller smartwatch, download WatchOS 26 pinch an Apple Watch Series 6 aliases higher. The characteristic besides applies retroactively to each slumber you've taken pinch Apple Watch.

Longer artillery life ne'er hurts

Ah, yes. We're yet getting a day's worthy of artillery life retired of nan Series 11, six hours much than nan Series 10. Additionally, 15 minutes of charging provides 8 hours of artillery life connected Apple's baseline smartwatch.

Apple increases nan rugged Ultra 3 artillery life to 42 hours, 8 much than nan Ultra 2. Fast charging is now supported, providing 12 hours of artillery life connected a 15-minute charge. The artillery nosy doesn't extremity location - nan SE 3 now supports accelerated charging.

Everything is thinner now

Apple says its Series 11 smartwatch is nan thinnest watch yet. This could make nan smartwatch easier to slumber pinch and little obtrusive for mundane wear. My thoughts? Heck yeah.

Hypertension alerts (and which models support them)

Let's beryllium clear: This caller characteristic does not supply humor unit readings. Instead, it takes a 30-day mean of your humor unit utilizing nan watch's optical bosom sensor to spot really nan humor vessels respond to heartbeats. Then, it delivers an mean rating.

If your 30-day standing is supra nan threshold, Apple advises users to return nan information collected to a expert for aesculapian review. A expert mightiness propose that nan personification pinch precocious humor unit return mean readings pinch a accepted cuff.

Also: Excited astir Apple Watch 11's hypertension feature? It's coming to older models too

The Hypertension characteristic offers a humor unit log for easy search of diastolic readings. The log tin beryllium exported into a PDF to nonstop to a doctor. Apple is seeking FDA clearance connected Possible Hypertension and is expected to person it by nan extremity of nan month.

Possible Hypertension is supported connected Apple Watch Series 9 and later and Ultra 2 and later, and skips nan SE 3.

Satellite upgrades

As Apple's astir costly smartwatch, it comes pinch a fewer perks that its siblings don't get. Built-in outer connection for contacting emergency services, sharing locations, and messaging contacts deed nan caller rugged smartwatch. Additionally, 5G cellular capabilities travel to nan watch for faster downloads and improved performance.

Any notable SE 3 news?

It's getting nan Series 10's S10 spot and an Always-On display. The astir breathtaking portion of nan SE 3 is that Apple is offering a much affordable smartwatch alongside its baseline and luxury Series 11 and Ultra 3.

The caller Apple smartwatches are disposable to preorder now and will vessel connected Tuesday, Sept. 19. The Series 11 starts astatine $399, nan Ultra 3 astatine $799, and nan SE 3 astatine $249.