Apple Watch SE (1st generation) vs Apple Watch Series 11
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleWatch SE (1st generation) | AppleWatch Series 11 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | September 2020 | September 2025 |
| Display | ||
| Case sizes | 40 mm or 44 mm | 42 mm or 46 mm |
| Panel | LTPO OLED | LTPO OLED |
| Peak brightness | 1,000 nits | 2,000 nits (better) |
| Always-on display | No | Yes |
| Display detail | Retina LTPO OLED; 40mm 324 x 394 pixels and 759 sq mm; 44mm 368 x 448 pixels and 977 sq mm | Always-On Retina display with wide-angle OLEDs and LTPO3; 374 x 446 pixels (42mm) or 416 x 496 pixels (46mm) at 326 ppi; 989 or 1,220 sq mm display area; 1 nit minimum brightness |
| Screen protection | Ion-X glass | Ion-X front glass with a ceramic coating, 2x more scratch resistant than Series 10 (aluminium cases); sapphire front crystal (titanium cases) |
| Health and fitness | ||
| ECG | No | Yes |
| Blood oxygen | No | Yes |
| Skin temperature | No | Yes |
| Sleep apnoea alerts | No | Yes |
| High blood pressure alerts | No | Yes |
| Body composition | No | No |
| Fall detection | Yes | Yes |
| Crash detection | No | Yes |
| GPS | Single-band | Single-band |
| Water resistance | 50 m | 50 m |
| Sensors | Second-generation optical heart sensor; compass, always-on altimeter, accelerometer up to 32 g-forces, gyroscope and ambient light sensor | Electrical heart sensor; third-generation optical heart sensor; blood oxygen sensor; temperature sensor; compass; always-on altimeter; high-g accelerometer; high dynamic range gyroscope; ambient light sensor; depth gauge to 6 m; water temperature sensor |
| Health features | High and low heart rate notifications; Noise app; sleep tracking and automatic handwashing detection in watchOS 7 | ECG app; Blood Oxygen app; hypertension notifications; sleep apnoea notifications; irregular rhythm notifications; high and low heart rate notifications; Vitals app; sleep stages and sleep score; wrist temperature; Cycle Tracking with retrospective ovulation estimates; Medications; Mindfulness with state of mind tracking; Noise |
| Fitness features | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and QZSS; GymKit; Activity rings; elevation and compass information; dance, functional strength and core workouts in watchOS 7 | Custom workouts; Training Load; heart rate zones; Race Route; Pacer; stride length, ground contact time and vertical oscillation; 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 | Fall Detection and Emergency SOS; international emergency calling on cellular versions in supported regions | Emergency SOS; international emergency calling; Crash Detection; Fall Detection; noise monitoring; Backtrack |
| Battery and connections | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | Up to 18 hours | Up to 24 hours |
| In low-power mode | – | Up to 38 hours |
| Mobile data option | Yes | Yes |
| Works with | iPhone | iPhone |
| Chip | S5 | S10 |
| Storage | 32 GB | 64 GB (better) |
| Battery life detail | Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery | Up to 24 hours of normal use; up to 38 hours in Low Power Mode |
| Charging | Magnetic charging cable; retail packaging updated to USB-C in September 2021; USB power adapter sold separately | Fast charging to 80% in about 30 minutes; 15 minutes for up to 8 hours of normal use; 5 minutes for up to 8 hours of sleep tracking |
| Connectivity | W3 wireless chip; Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n at 2.4GHz; Bluetooth 5.0; cellular versions add LTE and UMTS; requires iPhone 6s or later with iOS 14 at launch; Family Setup allows a family member without an iPhone to use a cellular watch managed from an organiser's iPhone | Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n) at 2.4GHz and 5GHz; Bluetooth 5.3; second-generation Ultra Wideband chip; NFC for Apple Pay; L1 GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and BeiDou; GPS + Cellular models (A3335, A3337) with 5G RedCap and LTE |
| Design | ||
| Weight (lightest version) | 30.49 g | 29.7 g (better) |
| Software | watchOS | watchOS |
| Case materials | Recycled aluminium case; ceramic and sapphire crystal back; 50 m water resistance under ISO 22810:2010 for shallow-water swimming | 100% recycled aluminium or 100% recycled titanium case; water resistant to 50 m (ISO 22810:2010); IP6X dust resistant |
| Size | 40mm 40 x 34 x 10.7 mm, GPS 30.49 g or cellular 30.68 g; 44mm 44 x 38 x 10.7 mm, GPS 36.20 g or cellular 36.36 g; case weights exclude bands | 42mm is 42 x 36 x 9.7 mm; 46mm is 46 x 39 x 9.7 mm; lightest is the 42mm aluminium GPS + Cellular at 29.7 g, heaviest the 46mm titanium at 43.1 g |
| Bands | Compatible with Apple Watch bands including Solo Loop and Braided Solo Loop; Nike editions have exclusive bands and faces | Fits 130–200 mm wrists (42mm) or 140–245 mm wrists (46mm) |
| Colours | Silver, Space Grey or Gold aluminium; Nike Silver or Space Grey | Aluminium in Jet Black, Rose Gold, Silver and Space Grey; titanium in Natural, Gold and Slate |
| In the box | Watch, band or loop and 1 m magnetic charging cable; no USB power adapter; later packaging supplies a USB-C cable | Apple Watch Series 11, strap, Apple Watch Magnetic Fast Charger to USB-C Cable (1 m) |
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