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The heart rate monitoring on the Watch SE is the same as the Series 6, but it lacks ECG and blood oxygen tracking. Apple Music can store tracks offline, for playing back via Bluetooth headphones for running or similar, but Spotify cannot.
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Most of the watch’s functions also work offline, such as health and fitness tracking but not notifications or maps. The watch connects to an iPhone and the internet via Bluetooth and wifi, plus 4G for those models that support it and if you have a compatible phone plan. You can reply to messages via the notification system but cannot start new ones from your wrist. The Watch SE has the same tight integration with an iPhone as other Apple Watches, for notifications, Apple Pay and a relatively healthy selection of third-party apps, including Strava, Google Maps and a basic version of Spotify. Voice dictation is now fully locally processed, meaning Siri is super fast for setting timers and other bits. The Watch SE runs the latest watchOS 7 out of the box and has all the same notification, fitness and health-tracking features as the Series 6, minus the ECG and SpO2 that require dedicated hardware sensors. Google Maps has returned to the Apple Watch after a hiatus. Sensors: gyro, HR sensor, light, microphone, speaker, NFC, GPS/GNSS, compass, altimeterĬonnectivity: Bluetooth 5, wifi n, NFC, optional 4G requiring eSIM and compatible plan Weight: 30.5 to 36.4g depending on version
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Otherwise the Watch SE fits the same as other Apple Watches with the same range of straps, and is available in silver, space grey or gold. But it requires a fairly deliberate action, meaning you can’t check the time at an off-angle glance when you’re carrying something or just typing at a keyboard on a desk.
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It takes about half a second to do so when you rotate your wrist. Only when you tap it, turn the digital crown or twist the watch face towards you does it light up to show the time or an app. When you’re not actively using it the Watch SE’s screen is off. But Apple has removed the ability for it to show the watch face all of the time. The screen is the same quality as the Series 6, which makes it bright, colourful and crisp when on. The back of the Watch SE is different to other recent Apple Watch models and features a redesigned optical heart rate sensor configuration.
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