Apple Watch SE: the complete Review

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“Time flies … Time flies”. It is with these words that Apple invited the press to the event during which the Apple Watch SE was launched. And in fact, in five years, the smart health connected watch from Apple has come a long way. Moving from great luxury to a positioning more correlated with its high tech nature, at the crossroads between the roles of iPhone extension, sports companion and health assistant.

This year, the world’s best-selling smart health connected watch takes a new turn and gets a mid-range. Not enough to arouse interest? It all depends on what the product in question offers and it all depends on what you expect. In this case, Apple has kept the name SE, which represents the entry level among iPhones, and attached it to a Watch to compose a range of three products: an aging Watch Series 3 entry level, a top-of-the-range Watch Series 6, and therefore an SE, which must be located at the perfect balance point of the quality / price ratio. Is that the case ? And above all, does it have enough to make us crack?

The top-of-the-range finish

The Watch SE may occupy the mid-range de facto, it does not have the shortcomings of certain competing smart health connected watches which pay for this positioning with a questionable finish. Although confined to the aluminum case, the Watch SE displays an impeccable finish, with a rectangular case – sorry for fans of round watches – that feels solid and durable. Apple’s removable bracelet system is obviously part of it and allows you to change it according to the mood or the clothes for those who pay attention to sartorial details.

Let’s slip in two little words about the two new bracelets introduced by Apple. The Solo Loop / Unique Silicone Buckle requires you to choose between the nine sizes offered, because it is important that it fits well on the arm, especially if you want to use the Watch for sports. The Leather Link Bracelet is very beautiful and attractive, but its design does not necessarily make it very suitable for sports activities, because it is difficult to tighten it well. Not to mention that we are always a little afraid that someone will snatch the Watch off our wrist when we wear it in a metro, for example.

From a material quality point of view, the Watch SE follows in the footsteps of Series 5 or even Series 6. However, it should be noted that the screen is not protected by crystal sapphire but by ionized glass, as is very often the case with the less expensive Watch models.

Ergonomics without sacrifice… except for one big detail

Beyond the finish, the Watch SE is on par with the Series 6. It offers the same interaction choices, with a digital crown that is used both to scroll through a menu and as a push button. The side button is there to invoke your credit cards if you want to use Apple Pay, for example, or to view your favorite or most recently used apps.

The touchscreen is the same size as on the Series 6. The SE is indeed available in the same case sizes of 40 and 44 mm. No really, ergonomically, the Watch SE is flawless. With one detail. Since Series 5, Watch users have been able to get used to more fluidity in use thanks to an “always on” OLED screen. The Series 6 has even perfected the offer by increasing the brightness of the screen in “passive” mode. However, the Watch SE does not benefit from this function. She would however have all the prerequisites to do so. In this case, one could be tempted to believe that this choice of Apple is only justified by the desire to leave something to the Series 6 …

Obviously, the new top-of-the-range Watch has two strong arguments in its pocket: the ECG and the oximeter, which the Watch SE does not have. It retains a classic sensor, which however makes it possible to very precisely follow the beating of his heart, which is more than enough for running or playing sports regularly. It does not embed the U1 chip either, which will notably allow you to unlock your car with it, but for the time being, the other uses of this chip are still unknown …

Getting back to those functional absences, let’s be frank, if features like ECG or oximeter are welcome, if they improve your health monitoring, and while they have already saved a few lives, most users don’t. do not have a real need for it on a daily basis. It is therefore easy to do without it in everyday life, even sports. Especially since the new permanently active altimeter, from which the Series 6 benefits, and which allows you to follow the difference in height during a race for example, is present in the Watch SE.

watchOS 7: great vintage and the same experience as a Series 6

This new altimeter manifests itself in different ways in the new version of the Watch operating system: it can be a complication for example, or just a more detailed set of information in one of the many workouts offered by the app. dedicated Exercises.

But watchOS 7, and its some 20,000 applications, is full of new features and the Watch SE makes the most of it. It thus offers sleep monitoring – which offers a good basis but perhaps still lacks a little precision -, the countdown and the hand washing reminder, the possibility of creating Memoji and making them a background. animated screens, to create and share personalized watch faces, especially with new and more varied complications, and the list goes on.

Siri is also more diligent, although the local treatment does not work French yet. It seemed to us that Siri’s misfires on the Watch were rarer and that her understanding as well as her responsiveness had been improved. However, on the Watch SE, Apple’s assistant can only count on the SiP (System in Package) S5, which equipped the Series 5.

We are therefore not entitled to the 20% more performance provided by the S6 (from the Series 6). Nevertheless, already last year with the Series 5, the interface was fluid and the applications were launched quickly enough so that there is no reason to be annoyed by slowness or failure.

Ultimately, the S5 chip provides enough power to take advantage of watchOS 7 and its novelties.

Two or three details

The other good surprise is that the conjunction of the S5 chip and the screen off, except when you lift your wrist or touch it to activate it, allows the Watch SE to ensure good battery life. We understand, it is not a question here of holding out for several days. No. By using the watch sparingly, not too much GPS, exercise and phone calls (if you have the 4G model, which we tested) we manage to last a good thirty hours. On the other hand, if you accumulate a somewhat long bike ride, a lot of notifications and a few calls, it is possible that you find yourself running out of battery a little too soon for your liking. We always managed to get health home before we saw the SE die off, but sometimes it came close to it.

Especially since, as on the Series 6, the sleep tracking function makes the task of recharging a bit more complex, traditionally done at night with previous Watches. You will have to find the right time to recharge it, which still takes 1h56, if you want to go from 0 to 100% charge.

The Family Setup Watch

Even more than the aging and less efficient Series 3, the Watch SE appears to us as the smart health connected watch from Apple that we can entrust to a child. Thanks to the Family configuration function, it is indeed possible to use a Watch without an iPhone since only one Apple smartphone is needed to configure and manage a watch.The goal is to allow children (or grandparents) to use a Watch on a daily basis without necessarily having to own a smartphone… Apple. Obviously, it is recommended to use a version with the option (and subscription) 4G, a little more expensive, this will allow you to make calls outside of Wi-Fi and to be geolocated too – if you have no problem with it. idea of ​​”tracking” your loved ones in real time.The Watch SE will allow parents to configure a semblance of parental control, via approval of contacts, or downloaded applications. But also to define the time slots for School mode. It limits certain functions so that the Watch does not become an object of distraction.

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