about to pull trigger on AW8 but struggling to justify it over new SE

[madeirabhoy]

decided that in buying a new phone and a new watch, better to spend too much and regret money which I will soon forget about versus buying a lower model which I might always regret.

and yet....


SE €349 versus 8 at €549

differences. 1 mm.
always on. would be nice.
temperature sensor, new, mainly for women
fast charging


honest opinions wanted, is it worth €200 more? I can afford just not sure if it's a waste of money. Sure many others will have same thought.

 

[Howard2k]

I went with an SE for my first Apple Watch as I wasn't sure if it made sense to go for the more expensive one. I was migrating from a Fitbit.

I feel like I made the right choice under the circumstances and will keep the SE until the S9 comes out.
Do I regret not getting the S6 (at the time)? No.

I am in my late 40s so soon enough things like EKG will matter. That's missing from the SE. That's the one big miss for me. I don't really care about AOD at this point.

I think the SE(2) is a great watch if you're unsure what you'd like. It looks like excellent value.

The one downside for me is that it has the aluminium body and Ion-X Glass. After 18 months I have a tiny nick in the body of the watch and no imperfections on the glass. I'd be "happier" with a scratched SE rather than a scratched S8, but again, hasn't happened yet. If you think that the watch might be beaten about then I'd consider the S8 with SS and Sapphire glass rather than the SE, which will not be as hardy.

 

[ItsMeMicke]

I have the same ”problem”. SE vs Series 8. And then I started thinking about Series 7, perhaps it will go on sale

I read that the new SE has got a composite material on the back, is this any good?

 

[ssledoux]

I love the always on display - I just prefer having something there versus a black rectangle on my wrist. I use EKG a lot too, especially since having my heart cath earlier this year. My cardiologist actually recommended it, so I guess it must be fairly accurate.

I’d probably try to find a new S7 over an SE if I didn’t care about series 8.

 

[WilliamG]

I have the same ”problem”. SE vs Series 8. And then I started thinking about Series 7, perhaps it will go on sale

I read that the new SE has got a composite material on the back, is this any good?

I would 100% go for an on-sale Series 7 over any of the new Watches, unless cycle tracking is vitally important.

 

[HiVolt]

I couldn't go back to a watch without AOD. When I upgraded from S3 to S4, i was so pissed when the S5 came out with the AOD, I upgraded again. Had I known, I would have waited.

That said, I have ordered a S8 Sport Aluminum to replace my S5, whose battery is starting to suffer. The Ultra is way too huge and I am not the target audience for who it's designed for.

 

[blueyz628]

I would 100% go for an on-sale Series 7 over any of the new Watches, unless cycle tracking is vitally important.

I personally think temperature tracking is more beneficial than just cycle tracking (even though it really wasn't discussed). I currently have an Oura ring, which measures temperature and it spiked one morning and later that day I was diagnosed with Covid.

 

[WilliamG]

I couldn't go back to a watch without AOD. When I upgraded from S3 to S4, i was so pissed when the S5 came out with the AOD, I upgraded again. Had I known, I would have waited.

That said, I have ordered a S8 Sport Aluminum to replace my S5, whose battery is starting to suffer. The Ultra is way too huge and I am not the target audience for who it's designed for.

That's a fair upgrade. But... saying that, if you can find an S7 on sale (which you absolutely will), I'd go for that and save your $.

 

[WilliamG]

I personally think temperature tracking is more beneficial than just cycle tracking (even though it really wasn't discussed). I currently have an Oura ring, which measures temperature and it spiked one morning and later that day I was diagnosed with Covid.

Very, very limited use for this. I mean, your Oura did not lead you to know you had COVID. You likely had a bunch of other symptoms. There's a clear reason why there's not a run on body temperature sensors and it wasn't discussed by Apple, - for most people it's just not important.

 

[blueyz628]

Very, very limited use for this. I mean, your Oura did not lead you to know you had COVID. You likely had a bunch of other symptoms. There's a clear reason why there's not a run on body temperature sensors and it wasn't discussed by Apple, - for most people it's just not important.

Actually I didn't. A slight fever, but since I work in healthcare, I had to test.

 

[WilliamG]

Actually I didn't. A slight fever, but since I work in healthcare, I had to test.

Yeah fair enough. Still, really disappointed in this year's Watch. For those that can take advantage of the Ultra, that's a neat device, but 99% of us can't/won't. I also can't understand titanium on an active-wear device, but... meh... whatever, it looks great, I guess!

 

[kevink2]

Well, I'm more likely to upgrade my watch this year than my phone. AW4 vs iPHone 12 Pro.

Lot of watch updates in 4 years.

 

[HiVolt]

That's a fair upgrade. But... saying that, if you can find an S7 on sale (which you absolutely will), I'd go for that and save your $.

I'm fine with upgrading to the S8. The new sensors could come in handy. It'll be cool if there will be a complication for body temp, or is it purely designed for women's needs.

 

[mk313]

If you can live without the AOD, I think the new SE is a much better value. This is coming from someone who doesn't use AOD, even though I've tried it several times. I like the watch better without it, but I think if you can live without it, the rest of the upgrades to the 8 aren't that significant for most users.