Apple Watch (1st generation) vs Apple Watch SE 3

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Watch (1st generation) compared with Watch SE 3

	AppleWatch (1st generation)	AppleWatch SE 3
Overview
Released
Released	April 2015	September 2025
Display
Case sizes
Case sizes	38 mm or 42 mm	40 mm or 44 mm
Panel
Panel	OLED	LTPO OLED
Peak brightness
Peak brightness	–	1,000 nits
Always-on display
Always-on display	No	Yes
Display detail
Display detail	Retina display with Force Touch; OLED panel, 272 x 340 pixels on 38mm or 312 x 390 pixels on 42mm (iFixit)	Always-On Retina display with OLED and LTPO; 324 x 394 pixels (40mm) or 368 x 448 pixels (44mm) at 326 ppi; 759 or 977 sq mm display area; 2 nits minimum brightness
Screen protection
Screen protection	Ion-X glass on Sport; sapphire crystal on stainless steel, Hermès and Edition	Ion-X front glass, 4x more crack resistant than SE 2
Health and fitness
ECG
ECG	No	No
Blood oxygen
Blood oxygen	No	No
Skin temperature
Skin temperature	No	Yes
Sleep apnoea alerts
Sleep apnoea alerts	No	Yes
High blood pressure alerts
High blood pressure alerts	No	No
Body composition
Body composition	No	No
Fall detection
Fall detection	No	Yes
Crash detection
Crash detection	No	Yes
GPS
GPS	None	Single-band
Water resistance
Water resistance	–	50 m
Sensors
Sensors	Optical heart-rate sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope and ambient light sensor; Digital Crown, Taptic Engine, speaker and microphone	Second-generation optical heart sensor; temperature sensor; compass; always-on altimeter; high-g accelerometer; high dynamic range gyroscope; ambient light sensor
Health features
Health features	Heart-rate monitoring and Activity rings	Heart Rate app; high and low heart rate notifications; irregular rhythm notifications; sleep apnoea notifications; sleep stages and sleep score; Vitals app (heart rate, respiratory rate, wrist temperature and sleep duration); Cycle Tracking with fertile window and retrospective ovulation estimates, perimenopause and menopause support; Medications; Mindfulness; Noise
Fitness features
Fitness features	Workout tracking; route and distance measurements use the paired iPhone's GPS (TechRadar)	Custom workouts; Training Load; customisable heart rate zones; VO2 max; Race Route; Pacer; cadence, stride length, ground contact time, vertical oscillation and running power; automatic track detection; multisport workouts; offline maps with custom route creation; Backtrack; pool and open-water swimming with SWOLF; cycling power zones with Bluetooth accessories; GymKit
Safety features
Safety features	–	Emergency SOS; international emergency calling; Fall Detection; Crash Detection; Check In; Backtrack; noise monitoring
Battery and connections
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 18 hours	Up to 18 hours
In low-power mode
In low-power mode	–	Up to 32 hours
Mobile data option
Mobile data option	No	Yes
Works with
Works with	iPhone	iPhone
Chip
Chip	S1	S10
Storage
Storage	8 GB	64 GB (better)
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Rechargeable battery; maker's up-to-18-hour rating varies with use and configuration	Up to 18 hours of normal use; up to 32 hours in Low Power Mode; up to 7 hours of outdoor workout
Charging
Charging	Magnetic charging cable	Fast charging to 80% in about 45 minutes; 15 minutes for up to 8 hours of normal use; 8 minutes for up to 8 hours of sleep tracking
Connectivity
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n at 2.4GHz; Bluetooth 4.0; Apple Pay; requires iPhone 5 or later	Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n) at 2.4GHz; Bluetooth 5.3; NFC for Apple Pay; L1 GPS (GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and BeiDou); GPS + Cellular models (A3326, A3328) with 5G RedCap and LTE
Storage
Storage	8 GB onboard storage and S1 system-in-package identified by iFixit	–
Design
Weight (lightest version)
Weight (lightest version)	25 g (better)	26.3 g
Software
Software	watchOS	watchOS
Case materials
Case materials	Anodised aluminium with composite back (Sport), stainless steel with ceramic back (including Hermès), or 18-carat yellow/rose gold with ceramic back (Edition); IPX7 splash and water resistance under IEC 60529, not for submersion	100% recycled aluminium case with nylon composite and sapphire crystal back; water resistant to 50 m (ISO 22810:2010)
Size
Size	38mm case is 38.6 x 33.3 x 10.5 mm; 42mm is 42.0 x 35.9 x 10.5 mm. Case weights are 25/30 g (Sport), 40/50 g (stainless steel), 55/69 g (yellow-gold Edition) or 54/67 g (rose-gold Edition), for 38/42mm respectively	40mm is 40 x 34 x 10.7 mm, 26.3 g (GPS) or 26.4 g (GPS + Cellular); 44mm is 44 x 38 x 10.7 mm, 32.9 g (GPS) or 33.0 g (GPS + Cellular)
Bands
Bands	Sport Band, leather straps, Link Bracelet and Milanese Loop; Hermès Single Tour, Double Tour and Cuff joined the range in 2015	Fits 130–200 mm wrists (40mm) or 140–245 mm wrists (44mm)
Colours
Colours	Sport in Silver, Space Grey, Gold or Rose Gold; stainless steel in polished steel or Space Black; Edition in yellow or rose gold	Midnight or Starlight aluminium
In the box
In the box	Watch, band, 2 m magnetic charging cable, 5W USB power adapter and quick start guide; Edition also includes a magnetic charging case and Lightning to USB cable	Apple Watch SE 3, strap, Apple Watch Magnetic Fast Charger to USB-C Cable (1 m)