Apple Watch Series 6 vs. Apple Watch SE: Which Should You Buy? By Gizmodo

- We have no idea, if the Series 3 is gonna even support watchOS 8. I will eat my shoe, if it supports watchOS 9, I just don't think that's gonna happen. (upbeat music) - Hello, I am Caitlin McGarry, Consumer Technology Editor for Gizmodo, and this is my lovely colleague, Victoria. We are talking about the Apple watch Series 6 and the Apple Watch SE. So let's start with the Apple Watch SE. Victoria, tell me everything about this watch.

- I got it right here. So the SE is meant to be kind of the middle tier of all the Apple Watches that are out now. It's because it's got the processor as a Series 5 and it's got some of the same sensors as the Series 6, like the always-on altimeter, the improved accelerometer or that sort of stuff, but it's missing stuff like the always-on screen, it's missing the ECG, and most importantly, it does not have the SpO2 sensors for blood oxygen. But, you know, it's sort of, an upgraded version of the Series 5 kind of minus the screen. - And it's also a lot cheaper than the Series 6 by over a hundred bucks, just for the base model Series 6 and that goes a lot higher because there are a lot of finishes that you can choose, stainless steel, of course, popular option.

So I've been testing the Series 6, as you can see, it has this lovely always-on display. And that's one of the things that separates it from the Apple Watch SE, as Victoria was talking about it also has an SpO2 sensor, which measures your blood oxygen levels. There's like a specific blood oxygen app and you scroll down to the app and then it just has you sit there, you know, counting down and now it's telling me I'm doing it wrong, which I am. Definitely have to sit still, otherwise you don't get the correct reading. But, then it also does work in the background like while you're sleeping, and in the iPhone Health app, it'll tell you, here's where your measurements were overnight and that's kind of it.

But I do think that there's gonna be, more coming down the line. So we can get into that. But first we want to dive into, do you need to upgrade? - First off, if you have a Series 5, you need to cool your jets. - Calm down (laughs) - Calm down It's still good (laughs) It just came out a year ago. - Yeah.

- How rich are you if you're trying to upgrade the Series 5 right now. But like, as you mentioned, like the blood oxygen feature, it's not that riveting just yet. If you have a serious sport, that's a little bit more of a consideration for you. Like you might want better battery life, which the series Series 6 and the SE, both have better battery (mumbles) because there was like, I think there was a huge drop from the Series 3 than the Series 4 in terms of battery. Then also you have to think if you're on a Series 4, how much do I like the ECG app? Because if you have heart concerns or if you have like health concerns in general or you're gifting something to your parent, who's getting up there at age, then yeah, you probably want to think about getting the Series 6 because that means going to have the ECG.

But if you're like young like me and healthy and no known heart problems and you use the ECG app, maybe like two times outside of testing for several years, then you might want to think about the SE because you could save some money, but get all the updated components. And I don't know, I think that's pretty, okay deal, especially if you trade it in and you get a discount. - The Apple Watch SE I mean, I haven't been testing it, you have it, but it seems like it's a good middle ground for people who are maybe just getting started with smartwatches and don't really want to spend $400, but they want like all of that iPhone integration and the Apple Watch SE does have a lot of the same health features. - And if you're a klutz, it also still has the fall detection. So at the very least it has that.

- So let's go back to, the blood oxygen sensor, because I feel like that's something that Apple has been really hyping with this watch, and I wanted to get your thoughts, Victoria. - Well, you know, like I think that's Apple's MO, right? They don't care about being the first to something, they care about being the best at something. And the thing is, is that SpO2 sensors are not there. They were like... I think the first smartwatch that had it was the tragic Ionic that Fitbit introduced.

In general nothing I've tested so far, really makes use of that particular sensor. I just think it's something that is super future forward looking. And if I'm gonna guess which company is gonna be first to it, I would put a lot of money on Apple because I mean, I'm still reeling from them going onstage with the Series 4 and like, "hey, we've got the FDA. " (Victoria laughs) - Everyone was shocked. Everyone was shocked, I remember.

Well, obviously given the fact that they've launched, three new clinical studies with the launch of this watch, one that looks at the blood oxygen levels as they relate to heart failure, one with asthma and one with respiratory viruses, like potentially COVID-19 and the flu, they're very clearly working on something here. Obviously they have to collect a lot of data to submit to the FDA, so this is more of like a long game for them, which is why I'm like, maybe not so useful right now, but give it like six months to a year and we're gonna see some major movement. So the Apple Watch SE and the Series 6, are the new new for this year, but we still have the $200 Apple Watch Series 3, three years old now. What's happening, should anyone buy this thing? - No! There's a very, very small specific set of people who could potentially benefit from having the Series 3, but there's a couple of things to keep in mind, like there's no more like cellular versions of the Series 3 that are being sold. If you're getting a new one via Apple, it's gonna be GPS only, which means you're not gonna get the Family Setup, which means if you're trying to get it for your kids, that's not gonna help you at all.

- Yeah. - And you know, I did the math and you can check out the blog I did for Gizmodo. I literally sat down and I was doing math and I was like, well, if you have it for this many months and that many months or whatever, it's actually cheaper to get the SE because you're likely to be able to keep it for a longer period of time. We have no idea, if the Series 3 is gonna even support watchOS 8, I will eat my shoe if it supports watchOS 9. I just don't think that's gonna happen.

- No definitely. - So, I think if you're getting it at retail price, just don't do it, don't do it, man. - I really, I questioned what Apple was doing here, but maybe there's a strategy. - Maybe this is all a bunch of leftover, and now-- (Caitlin laughs) - So now we get to the real question, which watch is worth the money? Obviously not the Series 3, toss that out. No one get that one.

Between the Apple Watch SE and the Apple Watch Series 6. What are we thinking? Which is one that people should buy? - So I think you just really first have to ask the question, do I want advanced health? Does that gonna help me? My partner was like, "do I get the SE or do I get the 6?" And I'm like, "you better get the 6 "because you sometimes have like tachycardia. " And that's something that you wanna really have the ECG's accuracy on. But for me, I've been using the SE and I'm struggling to find a difference between this and the Series 5. Like it's wonderful, it feels almost the same.

The only thing I really noticed is like, when I'm running outside and I'm doing like this, it's not an always-on screen. The always-on screen on the Series 5 is just like, "Oh, I don't even have to wait for it to wake up. " It's just there. But this one is actually pretty snappy. It's just like, I know because I had the Series 5.

So I'm just like, Oh, I have to-- - Right (laughs) The agony. - The agony. Like for everybody else, I think the $280 SE is an extremely good value. I'm really shocked that this is like as advanced as it is. I'm real surprised.

- I think it was important for Apple to release something in that sort of mid tier. Basically it's replacing the Series 3, which as we've said, forget about it, doesn't exist anymore. I do think the Series 6 is worth it if you want the latest and greatest, obviously some people just do, or if you want one of the brand new colors, like I'm testing this red right here, it also comes in blue. Beautiful. - It's gorgeous.

- You don't get that with the SE (laughs). - No, they're all really boring colors, you don't even get the different case materials like stainless steel. So if you're like hard on your gadgets, (Victoria mumbles) cause it's gonna last you. - Yeah. And you know, like we were talking about, this one's just gonna be future-proof for whatever those new FDA cleared hopefully, possibly, eventually features will be.

So, Yeah, it's a matter of your priorities. (upbeat music).

Source : Gizmodo