Apple Watch SE 3 vs Apple Watch Series 8

Every spec side by side, from each maker's published figures.

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Watch SE 3 compared with Watch Series 8

	AppleWatch SE 3	AppleWatch Series 8
Overview
Released
Released	September 2025	September 2022
Display
Case sizes
Case sizes	40 mm or 44 mm	41 mm or 45 mm
Panel
Panel	LTPO OLED	LTPO OLED
Peak brightness
Peak brightness	1,000 nits	1,000 nits
Always-on display
Always-on display	Yes	Yes
Display detail
Display detail	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	41mm 352 x 430 pixels, 904 sq mm; 45mm 396 x 484 pixels, 1,143 sq mm
Screen protection
Screen protection	Ion-X front glass, 4x more crack resistant than SE 2	Ion-X glass on aluminium; sapphire crystal on stainless steel and Hermès
Health and fitness
ECG
ECG	No	Yes
Blood oxygen
Blood oxygen	No	Yes
Skin temperature
Skin temperature	Yes	Yes
Sleep apnoea alerts
Sleep apnoea alerts	Yes	No
High blood pressure alerts
High blood pressure alerts	No	No
Body composition
Body composition	No	No
Fall detection
Fall detection	Yes	Yes
Crash detection
Crash detection	Yes	Yes
GPS
GPS	Single-band	Single-band
Water resistance
Water resistance	50 m	50 m
Sensors
Sensors	Second-generation optical heart sensor; temperature sensor; compass; always-on altimeter; high-g accelerometer; high dynamic range gyroscope; ambient light sensor	Blood oxygen, electrical and third-generation optical heart sensors; two temperature sensors; compass, always-on altimeter, high-g accelerometer up to 256 g-forces, high dynamic range gyroscope and ambient light sensor
Health features
Health features	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	ECG and Blood Oxygen apps; overnight wrist temperature changes and retrospective ovulation estimates; sleep stages, AFib History and Medications in watchOS 9; oxygen readings are for general wellness rather than medical use
Fitness features
Fitness features	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	L1 GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and BeiDou; GymKit; running form metrics, heart-rate zones, custom workouts and Multisport; Compass Waypoints and Backtrack
Safety features
Safety features	Emergency SOS; international emergency calling; Fall Detection; Crash Detection; Check In; Backtrack; noise monitoring	Fall Detection, Crash Detection and Emergency SOS; international emergency calling on cellular versions in supported regions
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	Yes	Yes
Works with
Works with	iPhone	iPhone
Chip
Chip	S10	S8
Storage
Storage	64 GB (better)	32 GB
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Up to 18 hours of normal use; up to 32 hours in Low Power Mode; up to 7 hours of outdoor workout	Rechargeable lithium-ion; up to 36 hours with iPhone present in Low Power Mode, which limits features including the always-on display and heart notifications
Charging
Charging	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	Magnetic Fast Charger to USB-C Cable; USB-C power adapter sold separately
Connectivity
Connectivity	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	W3 wireless chip and U1 Ultra Wideband; Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n at 2.4GHz and 5GHz; Bluetooth 5.3; cellular versions add 4G LTE and UMTS; international roaming introduced with watchOS 9; iPhone 8 or later with iOS 16 at launch
Design
Weight (lightest version)
Weight (lightest version)	26.3 g (better)	31.9 g
Software
Software	watchOS	watchOS
Case materials
Case materials	100% recycled aluminium case with nylon composite and sapphire crystal back; water resistant to 50 m (ISO 22810:2010)	Aluminium or stainless steel; ceramic and sapphire crystal back; IP6X dust resistance and 50 m water resistance for shallow-water swimming
Size
Size	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)	41mm 41 x 35 x 10.7 mm, aluminium GPS 31.9 g, aluminium cellular 32.2 g or steel 42.3 g; 45mm 45 x 38 x 10.7 mm, aluminium GPS 38.8 g, aluminium cellular 39.1 g or steel 51.5 g; case weights exclude bands
Bands
Bands	Fits 130–200 mm wrists (40mm) or 140–245 mm wrists (44mm)	Apple Watch Studio case and band combinations; Nike bands and faces available across watchOS 9 watches; Hermès H Diagonal and Gourmette Metal bands and Lucky Horse face
Colours
Colours	Midnight or Starlight aluminium	Midnight, Starlight, Silver or (PRODUCT)RED aluminium; Silver, Graphite (PVD) or Gold (PVD) steel; Hermès Silver or Space Black (DLC) steel
In the box
In the box	Apple Watch SE 3, strap, Apple Watch Magnetic Fast Charger to USB-C Cable (1 m)	Watch, band or loop and 1 m Magnetic Fast Charger to USB-C Cable