Apple Watch Series 8, SE, Ultra: Which one to buy?
Apple is taking the wearable segment more seriously than ever. The tech giant has surprised everyone by announcing three smartwatches. While the Watch Ultra stole much of the thunder, the Watch Series 8 and the next-generation Watch SE also look impressive for their price. Each smartwatch promises upgraded performance and some important safety and health features. But which one should you pick?
The Apple Watch Ultra bears a titanium case
The Series 8 features a rectangular display with curved corners and a tactical crown. It comes in 45mm and 41mm sizes with aluminium and stainless steel cases. The Watch SE's design is similar to Series 8. It comes in 40mm and 44mm aluminium cases. The Watch Ultra features a redesigned digital crown, a customizable action button, a 49mm titanium case, and sapphire crystal.
The Ultra model boasts MIL-STD 810H rating
The Watch Series 8 and Ultra models bear IP6X dust resistance. The Series 8 and SE offer 5ATM water resistance, whereas the Ultra model gets 10ATM water resistance and MIL-STD 810H military-grade rating.
The Series 8 and Ultra sport an Always-on display
The Series 8 features an Always-On Retina LTPO OLED display with 352x430 pixels (41mm) and 396x484 pixels (45mm) resolution. The Watch SE sports a Retina LTPO OLED screen with 324x394 pixels (40mm) and 368x448 pixels (44mm) resolution. Both smartwatches offer 1,000-nits of peak brightness. The Watch Ultra gets an Always-On Retina LTPO OLED display with 410x502 pixels resolution and 2,000-nits of maximum brightness.
The wearables support women's health tracking
The Watch Series 8, SE, and Ultra pack 32GB of storage. The former two have a single microphone while the Ultra model gets a three-microphone array. All three provide heart rate and irregular rhythm notifications, sleep records, and menstrual cycle tracking with ovulation estimates. The Series 8 and Ultra models also support blood oxygen measurement, temperature detection, and ECG.
The smartwatches feature crash detection as well
The Watch Series 8, SE, and Ultra come equipped with safety features such as Emergency SOS, International emergency calling, Fall Detection, Crash Detection, Noise monitoring, and Backtrack. The high-end Ultra smartwatch also features an 88dB emergency siren which is audible up to 180 meters away.
The Ultra model delivers up to 36 hours of backup
The Watch Series 8 and SE offer up to 18 hours of battery life. They come in GPS and GPS+Cellular variants, and support Wi-Fi (dual-band on Series 8) and Bluetooth 5.0. The wearables house a single speaker. The Ultra smartwatch delivers up to 36 hours of battery backup. It comes in GPS+Cellular variant only and offers dual speakers, dual-band Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 5.3.
How much do they cost?
The Apple Watch Series 8 and SE start at Rs. 45,900 and Rs. 29,900, respectively. The Watch Ultra is priced at Rs. 89,900. All three models are available for order via Apple's official store.
Which model is right for you?
If you are looking for all the newest features and have a budget of around Rs. 45,000, get Watch Series 8. The Watch SE is a solid choice if you are looking for an affordable option and features like ECG don't matter. If you are an explorer, endurance athlete, or diver, the top-tier Watch Ultra should be right up your alley.
