After skimping on the Apple Watch SE last year, the Cupertino giant has finally unveiled the Apple Watch SE 3. It's the third generation of budget Apple Watches, and it brings quite a few improvements over its predecessor. If you're using the Apple Watch SE 2 or any other older Apple Watch and are thinking of upgrading, here's everything new in the Apple Watch SE 3 over the SE 2.
Apple Watch SE 3 gets an Always-on display, finally!
One of the major features in the Watch SE 3 is the always-on capabilities. The LTPO OLED in the SE 3, combined with the faster S10 chip, finally brings an always-on display to the affordable Watch SE. The Watch SE 2 features a slower S8 chip and doesn't have an always-on display.

Contrary to the previous rumours, though, the Watch SE 3 doesn't get a new casing and design, which is a bit disappointing. It has the same 40mm and 44mm casing options, with one less colour to choose from. The Silver Aluminium is gone, and left are only Midnight and Starlight colourways.
Apple Watch SE 3 has a faster chip
The Watch SE 2 ran on the S8 chip, which was already a year old when the watch launched. However, the Watch SE 3 features the latest S10 chip, which also powers the Series 11 and Watch Ultra 3. Thanks to the same, the storage capacity has also been bumped to 64 GB with a four-core neural engine.

S8 to S10 is a considerable upgrade, not only in terms of performance but also efficiency. While the S9 boasted relatively fewer performance improvements, the jump to the S10 should be noticeable from the SE 2. Not to mention, the latest chipset should help the Watch SE 3 support a few new features, which brings us to.
Apple Watch SE 3 offers new sensors and features
When it comes to cutting-edge health tracking, Watch SEs have always been behind standard Apple Watches. The Apple Watch SE 3 boasts a better third-generation optical heart rate sensor and a Temperature sensor.

This is a pretty significant upgrade from the Watch SE 2's. Besides, the S11 chip enables on-device Siri processing, support for double-tap gestures and more onboard storage for apps and media. Also, like the Series 11 and Ultra 3, the SE 3 supports 5G on its cellular variants.
Should you upgrade from Apple Watch SE 2 to the Watch SE 3?
Before we get to the conclusion, here are all the specifications of the Apple Watch SE 3 and SE 2.
Specification | Apple Watch SE 3 | Apple Watch SE 2 |
---|---|---|
Display | 40mm: 1.58-inch, 44mm: 1.78-inch LTPO OLED with Always-on display | 40mm: 1.58-inch, 44mm: 1.78-inch LTPO OLED |
Chipset | Apple S10 | Apple S8 |
Health Features | 3rd Gen Optical Heart rate, Temperature sensor | 2nd Gen Optical Heart rate sensor |
Battery | 18 hours on a single charge | 18 hours on a single charge |
Storage | 1 GB RAM, 64 GB storage | 1 GB RAM, 32 GB storage |
Price | 40mm, 44mm GPS-only: Rs 24,999, Rs 27,999 | GPS+Cellular for Rs 29,999, Rs 32,999 | 40mm, 44mm GPS-only: Rs 24,999, Rs 27,999 | GPS+Cellular for Rs 29,999, Rs 32,999 |
All things considered, the Apple Watch SE 3 is a considerable upgrade from the Apple Watch SE 2. Despite packing the latest S11 chip and a slightly more premium design, Apple has kept the pricing the same. Therefore, it's worth upgrading to the Watch SE 3 from SE 2, or if you're buying a new one, getting the SE 3 is a no-brainer.