Apple Watch SE 3 launched with S10 chip and 5G connectivity

September 10, 2025

At its “Awe Dropping” event last night, Apple unveiled the iPhone 17 lineup, AirPods Pro 3, and a couple of smartwatches. On top of it, we also got the Watch SE 3, which is Apple’s most affordable smartwatch right now. So without any delay, let’s dive into the features, specs, availability, and expected price in Nepal of the Apple Watch SE 3.

Apple Watch SE 3 Overview:

Design and display

Starting with the design, the Watch SE 3 looks mostly similar to the last-gen Watch SE 2. It still comes in a square chassis with the digital crown and a side button on the right side of the frame.

The Watch SE 3 is available in 40 and 44mm sizes, made of 100% recycled aluminium, while also being water resistant up to 50 meters. But Apple is still skipping dust-resistant properties from its most affordable smartwatch. And unlike the Watch SE 2, which was also available in a “Silver” finish, the Watch SE 3 only comes in “Midnight” and “Starlight” finishes.

That being said, Apple’s new affordable smartwatch does bring a few upgrades in terms of the display. It still maxes out at 1,000 nits of brightness as before, but the Watch SE 3 now supports Always-on display. More importantly, Apple says its Ion-X glass is also 4x more crack-resistant than the Watch SE 2.

Performance

Likewise, we absolutely love that the Watch SE 3 is powered by the same S10 chip as the more expensive Apple Watches, too. Including the latest Watch Ultra 3 and the Watch Series 11.

The storage has been bumped from 32GB to 64GB as well, and the Watch SE 3 now supports 5G connectivity, double-tap gesture, and wrist flick gesture to dismiss notifications. It comes with Apple’s latest watchOS 26 software, which will also be available for the older Watch SE 2.

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Battery

If you were expecting longer battery life with the Watch SE 3, you might be disappointed. Since it’s rated to last up to 18 hours. Just like its predecessor.

But there are a few notable improvements like a new Low Power Mode that can extend its life up to 32 hours, and fast charging ability to take the watch from 0 – 80% in 45 minutes. Whereas plugging it in for 15 minutes gives you 8 hours’ worth of battery life too.

Health tracking and other features

In terms of health and fitness tracking, the Apple Watch SE 3 looks quite impressive. Even though Apple is keeping things like hypertension notifications, ECG, and blood oxygen (SpO2) measurement exclusive to its more expensive watches.

So the Watch SE 3 can now detect signs of sleep apnea and provide a “Sleep Score” based on your sleeping habits. While the addition of a temperature sensor means it also gets retrospective ovulation estimates. Likewise, it supports fall detection and crash detection like the Watch SE 2.

Other than this, this smartwatch can also help you stay motivated in your workouts with the new “Workout Buddy” feature. And for the first time in Apple’s “SE” lineup of smartwatches, the Watch SE 3’s speaker can do media playback too. In case you wanna listen to music or podcasts directly from the watch.

Apple Watch SE 3 Specifications:

Dimensions (H x W x D):
- 40mm: 40 × 34 × 10.7 mm
- 44mm: 44 x 38 x 10.7 mm
Weight:
- 40mm: 26.3 gm (GPS-only), 26.4 gm (GPS + Cellular)
- 44mm: 32.9 gm (GPS-only), 33 gm (GPS + Cellular)
Display: 1.53 / 1.78 inches Always-on Retina LTPO OLED, Up to 1,000 nits brightness, Ion-X glass
Design: Aluminum case, Digital crown with haptic feedback
Durability: Water resistant up to 50 meters
Sensors: Second-generation optical heart sensor, Temperature, Compass, Always-on altimeter, High-g accelerometer, High dynamic range gyroscope, Ambient light
Processor: Apple S10 chip (dual-core), 64GB storage
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3, Dual-band WiFi, LTE, 5G
Navigation: Built-in GPS (L1), Galileo, QZSS, BeiDou
Audio: Single speaker, Single microphone
Battery: Up to 32 hours in low power mode (or 18 hours in regular usage)
Charging: USB-C magnetic charging cable

Apple Watch SE 3 Price in Nepal and Availability

The price of the Apple Watch SE 3 starts at USD 249 for the 40mm and USD 279 for the 44mm model. While the cellular variant fetches USD 50 more. As such, we expect the price of the Apple Watch SE 3 in Nepal to start at NPR 46,999 when it launches here shortly.