With the new announcements, is a Watch 3 still a good first Apple Watch?

[gdourado]

Hello, how are you?

I have been an apple user for many years.
But I never had an Apple Watch before.
I currently have an iPhone 11 Pro Max and an iPad mini 5.
I am thinking about adding an Apple Watch.
Yesterday I got excited with the SE version.
But I can get the watch 3 for 160 euros.

Is this a good value for money?
Or is the 3 too outdated at this point?

What could the SE do that the 3 can’t?
In what way would I be limited with the 3?

I really appreciate your help as I am a total noob in regard to the Apple Watch.

Cheers.

 

[Macmelman]

I currently own a 3 and it is fine. Depends on what you need. The screen is slightly smaller, is not always on and can't do ECG, for instance, but for sports, notifications and even answering a call it is OK.

 

[Significant1]

You don't list the price of SE for comparrison, but going by the prices in my country I would say no. In my country the pricedifference between 42mm S3 and 40mm SE is minimal and they have about aproximately the same screen size.

A lot of the new software features Apple has introduced are not supported on S3 and future software support in general are questionable, because the hardware in general are weaker (less ram, 32bit instead of 64bit and half as powerfull cpu).

The SE is also available with LTE for a very reasonable price.

To list all the differences, you can compare the two on Apple Homepage.

 

[caelius]

I, personally, wouldn’t buy the 3 anymore at this point. The display and watch body itself on the newer watches - including SE - just looks so much nicer in reality, it’s not even a fair comparison.

 

[fridayxiii]

I have the Series 3. This was my first Apple Watch, bought it in late July. I wasn't sure how much I'd use the device, which is why I got the least expensive model I could, as a trial run. I found I use it & love it so much that it was worth upgrading, so I ordered the SE yesterday.

The SE has the Series 5 chip, and a better display (I'm going from 42mm S3 to 44mm SE). The SE will support more apps and have more long-term viability than the S3. In my opinion it's worth the extra money to get the SE if at all possible.

 

[Supermallet]

I would only recommend the 3 to the lightest of users, who plan on nothing but receiving notifications and maybe tracking a few workouts here and there. The 3 is missing so many features, I’m honestly annoyed that Apple would even offer it as an option anymore.

 

[MacNut]

IMO the first Apple Watch worth owning is the 4.

 

[bodonnell202]

Used a 3 for years and it was great. Upgraded to a 5 mostly for more music storage but am enjoying the larger screen/small bezels and always on display. Honestly the Series 3 can still do everything the Series 5 can (minus ECG, AOD and has fewer watch face options) so it may still be a fine choice depending on your use case. The only thing I would caution you of is that it is the oldest Apple Watch that Apple is still providing software updates to, so in theory it could get the chop from software support as early as next year (but since they are still selling it new it's probably good for a couple years).

 

[44267547]

If you find a Series 3 watch, I would try to find one as cheap as possible and here’s why:

You’re looking at watchOS support maybe another full year of support and that’s about it for the S3. If you can accept the fact that you might pay a higher price tag for a Series 3 depending on where you find one, then realize that you’re likely limited on continued updates, which is why I would suggest to find a gently used one or a slashed Price.

But at this point, I would not recommend a Series 3, I would just pay the difference for the new SE model. It’s safe bet and a smarter decision in general.