Apple Watch SE
24 reviews
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NOT SUITABLE FOR REGULAR SWIMMING. The seals degrade over time and water gets into it! Why do they advertise it for swimming? I swim 2kms for times a week in salt water and chlorinated water and twice my apple watches died after about two years of use. Both times it happened while swimming. After a few days the watch started working again, so… Read more
clearly water is getting into it. I have not used it in the water since and it works! Watch was inspected by Apple at Broadway and confirmed that no damage done to the watch by usage but rather they told me the seals wear out and water gets into it!
Apple repair is a rip off – I sent my watch in to get repaired due to the buttons being stuck and my emergency alarm kept going off. This is the second watch it has happened to. Apple replaced the first watch but the second watch they are saying is damaged. And it’s $371 + tax to repair it. The 2 issues are the watch has been in a catalyst heavy duty case and the case… Read more
is perfectly fine but they are saying the watch frame is dented.
Issue 2 the cost of the a new watch is $299 so how can the repair price be more?
Absolutely love it and would definitely buy another – Bought myself the apple SE GPS watch three years ago after seeing my friend pay for groceries with hers. Impressive! I've had no problems whatsoever and really have nothing bad to say about it. The battery life is very good. Siri is quick to respond. I love that it has Apple Pay, heart rate monitoring, fall detection, noise monitoring, daily steps… Read more
and general activity/workout tracking. The GPS works brilliantly with my iPhone and Apple CarPlay. I particularly like that the watch vibrates on my wrist to alert me of upcoming intersections etc. And the water resistance is a bonus, especially when you can purge the watch. So the screen isn't on all the time, but a simple tap or movement remedies that. Snoopy's antics on the watch face (my current fave) always make me laugh, but then I'm easily entertained. Would I buy another SE watch in the fullness of time? Absolutely!
UPDATE: August 2024. I bought myself the Series 9 Apple watch but am keeping the SE for now, thinking that it might be great to wear when I go to the beach. It could save my life!
20 hours of my life I’ll never get back – Battery completely died after 14 months. They sent me a replacement. After 6 weeks the battery started running down within 5-6 hours. I took it to the shop, they tested it and said nothing is wrong, deleted some apps, and unpaired/repaired it. No change. Took it back again. They ran the same tests, deleted some other things, told me to charge it… Read more
at exactly the same time every night and to turn it off once a week. Told me to take it to the place of purchase if it didn’t resolve. No change. Took it to the place of purchase. They couldn’t refund because it was the replacement rather than the watch they sold me. Called apple support. They ran the same tests again. Told me the battery is fine. Told me to delete pretty much everything. Battery still dying within 5- 6 hours, regardless of whether it was on my wrist or sitting on a table. Called apple support again. They ran more tests. Said they didn’t know why this was happening and I should take it back to the shop again for another check. Went back to the shop again. They eventually agreed to give me a replacement. Got the replacement, got home, and the replacement won’t even power on or charge.
The frice very chips – Good I think so because I always buy this store Show details
Disappointing quality – The battery life was disappointing and less than advertised. The Nike+ run app would pause when running linger than about 3km messing up the tracking.After less than a year it also developed an issue where after being charged within the last hour or two it would suddenly go completely flat. Sent it for repairs and 2 business days later they said… Read more
they couldn't replicate the issue (well duh it's not happening every time). Old Apple watch was more reliable now it seems they expect the customer to run around sending it in for repairs repeatedly before actually repairing or giving a refund.
Dick Tracy – Have never been one for high technology toys but was recently given a n Apple Watch and I am truly impressed with the quality of the Apple Watch and what it can do. What I am really impressed with is the ability of my Apple Watch to talk to me Apple phone and I-Pad. Show details
Waste of money, do not buy!! – New out of box, full charge. After taking it off charge, lasts 3-4 hours with cellular. With cellular turned off around 6 hours. That’s with all the features tuned off. Created a support ticket 3-4 weeks of having the unit. Went to Apple 3 times, sent the unit away for repair which they didn’t do a thing. Senior advisor then advised they said… Read more
they will provide a refund. Go into the store and they told me they never said such a thing and have prolonged the case further I’ve had to create a case with ACCC as they refuse to honor their guarantees and warranty which is highly illegal. Gone off the days of integrity and honesty from this company. Shame on them as their service used to be fantastic. Sorry apple but you should be ashamed
Worst watches – Keyboard is not available, not user friendly, no cellular service. Waste of money Show details
Limited value without iPhone – Bought this for my child so they can communicate without needing a phone - want to keep that genie in the bottle for awhile longer. But the SE is very limited - only works with Truphone in Australia and if in family mode, it only works with a small number of apps. Our family Spotify account doesn't work for example as it requires a paired… Read more
iPhone. Also painful to set up and administer through Family Sharing which isn't like Apple. E.g. no way to enter appleid and password without using the painful drawing of each character on the tiny screen.
Probably a better idea to go for a cheap txt and call phone with limited apps instead.
Strap broke -NO refund!! – My strap broke while cycling on a 3 month and 5 day old watch. The strap was on the second last hole of the biggest strap. The strap gave in and pulled through to the last hole and strap came loose, watch fell off and the lens broke! Went to see Apple in Perth City for a warranty claim. The tech guy there basically said its out of warranty and I… Read more
must go see JB Hifi where I bought it from. JbHiFi mgr was helpful but used the Apple tech guy’s report not to give me a replacement watch. Thanks Apple said the band was stretched and to small for my arm. It was the biggest strap I got with the watch and yes it was tight! (I have a full replacement warranty with JB HiFi) JB HiFi eventually offered me a $180 voucher if I buy a new Apple watch! Bottom line here is the strap broke and THAT was why the lens broke. It was a faulty Apple product!
Love this apple watch – This is the first apple watch I have had and am in love. The size is great as small as I am not a big person. I got the GPS + cellular model as wanted to be able to make & receive calls if needed if I ever forgot my mobile and home or ducked out without it. I found it easy to use and set up. I love that you can easily change the faces as well along with what you want to display such as the time, weather, phone, messages etc - so many options. Show details
Terrible – This watch doesn’t connect to most Bluetooth headphones. Apparently you need to buy the lates Apple AirPod and Beats (both sold by Apple). I would’ve had to through away my $400 Bose Bluetooth headphones as they can’t work with this watch despite them easily working with my iPhone and other devices. Show details
Find out how Apple Watch SE compares to other Smart Watches / Fitness Trackers
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Impressive – I have apple devices but never had a watch, I brought the SE, main reason is iPhone to heavy when walking, easy to set up, works well on calls, txt etc. highly recommend Show details
Great watch, terrible charger – this watch is good value for money given it does all of the Apple Watch things you'd want, however it comes with a charger that has to be plugged into a USB connector. Which means you need to buy another adapter if you want to use a standard wall charger. Apple are turning into an adapter company - far from the innovation leaders they used to be.
Great value for the budget conscious – Gives you most of the functions you need to use, while it would’ve been great for it to have the EPG and oxygen monitoring like the 6 and 7 series of the Watch, I find the heart beat and other basic monitors just fine. It is good to have while at work to keep track of time, go monitoring and tracking while exercising. I have found it useful to see who is calling or checking a text you have been sent without having to look at your phone. Show details
Useful Enough Fashion Thing For Some – I bought one for my daughter who is 22. My review is firmly aimed at my scenario only. Personally, I would have something else, incl of a hand map and a real compass, if somewhere really remote. I also don't need steps counted as I am happy to just know how far I walked. I am also quite capable of taking my own pulse and I like listening to… Read more
nature when I can.
My daughter sees things differently and loves it.
She finds it better not to be encumbered by her phone when out walking/exercising. This watch facilitates that by allowing SMS/calling and full BT support for listening to downloaded Spotify. The latter is easy and intuitive to do. Such things as how many steps per day is something she likes to have as well.
We went with this V the more expensive versions partly on cost (as it was as much as I was paying), but also on function. I simply could not see any good point for a person of her age contemplating more sensor capability on a watch, at least not with current tech anyway.
Battery wise: Charged up to 100% Sunday evening then off overnight; used all day Monday for time; Used twice for half-hour walks; used for music over BT from watch to buds for an hour in total; a couple of calls can be thrown in. By the close of play Tuesday the watch still had 29% battery.
The ordering and delivery experience was exemplary (as it should be for an extra $15 on top of that purchase price).
By Apple's standards, it packs a good bit for the money and solves all sorts of first-world problems, IMO.
Exactly what I needed – Has made my life easier. Am able check watch instead of having to carry phone in hand all the time. Perfect for work situations. Would highly recommend it. Thanks once again Show details
Love my Apple Watch! – After having a Fitbit Alta HR for 3 years I decided to upgrade. I love that the Apple Watch has all the features of a sports watch plus more. I often leave my phone on silent and miss calls. Not anymore with my watch! I can answer calls right from my wrist. I can tap and pay, get alerts from most apps on my phone, track sleep and much more with this watch! The only downfall is it needs to be charged daily Show details
Love my watch – Easy to use, looks great, you can customise the watch to make it more you, awesome to use for exercise and I love that it is cellar makes life a lot easier when you can answer your watch . Show details
Great if you like gadgets, not great as a sports watch – I bought the Apple watch SE to replace my (awesome but now pretty worn) Suunto ambit sport watch that I use mainly for running and occasionally for kayaking or paddle boarding. The main reasons I bought the Apple watch is that it can navigate (as we just moved to another state this is great for discovering new runs ) and it doesn’t need a strap… Read more
for a heart rate monitor, it furthermore has some handy smart watch features that should be good when running.
After having used it for a number of months both for running and when not working out I note the following about the Apple Watch SE:
1) It helped me realise smart watches are not for me. While an Apple smartwatch is probably the best smartwatch around, I’m not a fan and I think the concept is flawed. I’m not sure what value a smartwatch has when you already have a smart phone. The watch doesn’t really do anything a phone doesn’t do and -other than when working out when you need your hands - you might just as well use your phone to surf the internet/check the weather/read text messages/etc. especially as your phone does it much better and clearer.
2) The watch is a bit like a swiss army knife..... it can do an awful lot but hardly any of it is very useful neither does it do it well. It really is impressive to see that Apple can determine when I need to stand up to be healthy and how it tracks my fitness goals that I didn’t even know I had. In every day life however it is plain annoying to get all sorts of messages when in a meeting/driving/doing something about something I’m not interested in in the first place. When running I prefer to see my current speed in km/h instead of minutes per km and in real time rather than in splits. I haven’t worked out how to do that yet, I don’t think its possible using Strava or the nike app. Furthermore the information I can show when running is limited and hardly customisable, with Suunto I could show all sorts of metrics in an order or combined exactly as I preferred which I think is the difference between using a sports watch or a (relatively) smart watch to track your performance.
3) I have serious concerns about the quality. I have used a Suunto watch during the last 6 or 7 years and they are absolutely bomb proof. The (Suunto) watch itself is still going strong but I’m on my second strap, second charger cable and now the heart rate monitor has stopped working and as such I decided to replace it. Note I use the watch when going to the beach, kayaking, paddle boarding, running and all sorts of other (rough) stuff and it never let me down, battery life is exceptional as well. The Apple watch feels very weak compared to the Suunto and I have serious concerns about scratch resistance of the screen and if the crown will still work (and be fixed to the watch) in a couple of years time.
4) Battery life is a joke. You barely get anymore use than a day out of a fully charged battery which is worse than any GPS sports watch I’ve ever owned..... unfortunately pretty typical for anything Apple. What is even more frustrating is that the screen turns black when you turn your wrist away (to save battery life apparently) ...... when running more often than not I need to turn my wrist towards me in a very pronounced fashion so the watch wakes-up.
5) There are a few things I really like about the watch: - the auto stop/start is great, never run the risk of forgetting to push the stop/start button and missing sections of a run, the function works pretty flawlessly and even stops the timer when walking a short section instead of running. - the in-built heart rate monitor is great, don’t need a separate (uncomfortable) chest strap anymore and the readings I get are very similar to those when using a chest strap previously. - the navigation feature is great, pretty clear and the watch vibrating ensures you never miss a turn when running. This is also a great feature when driving using Apple car play, even if you’re on the phone you still get notified of an upcoming turn.
While the watch looks nice and it’s no doubt impressive as a smart watch, I’m not entirely convinced this is a good watch to use as a sports watch. As an everyday watch I find it downright annoying to use (courtesy of the non existing battery life, constant notifications about all sorts of nonsense and the screen being in “sleep mode” all the time) after about a week of wearing the watch to work I decided to wear my automatic watch again and haven’t looked back.
Considering the above I’m not sure if I’m going to keep the watch or if I’m selling it and will be buying a Suunto again and I would only recommend buying this watch if you’re after a smart watch that offers all sorts of gimmicks and looks cool, look elsewhere for a sports watch that actually needs to do something.
Must buy smart watch – This smart watch packs a lot for it’s price point. Simple and easy to use. I love that you can change the watch face accordingly to your moods and preferences. Only con was the buttons sometimes jammed or did not register my touch. Initially did not bother me so much but after a week I felt it was slightly inconvenient. Have taken back for an exchange as it seemed a little faulty. Show details
Well priced full featured smart watch – Purchased for my daughter (I have a series 5) as it was well priced. Have found it to be very durable and comparable to the 5 in all aspects apart from the main function differences such as- display always on. She wears it most days to school and has been careful with it and it’s still like new. Would highly recommend the SE over the more expensive 6! Purchased from apple store online and arrived within days!! Show details
Too soft plastic glass. Expect scratches – The front glass is too soft plastic. Got scratches in glass within 2 weeks under normal wearing conditions. Never dropped or rubbed against anything. Poor quality product for $480. May be ok as a dress watch. Show details
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correction: swim FOUR times a week.