Not normal!
After a few iterations, the Apple Watch has become increasingly sophisticated in its features and experience, and has entered a phase of routine upgrades, whether it's the Apple Watch Series 6 or the Apple Watch SE, which frankly doesn't have revolutionary changes this time around.
For many consumers, whether to buy or not to buy, upgrade or not to upgrade, which one to choose, is the focus of attention. So instead of going into too much detail about these two products, I'm going to focus on sharing some of the key messages I found during my experience.
Since the Apple Watch Series 6/SE has been on the market for a week, in order to facilitate users who have known about the product for a long time, but just haven't placed an order yet for the time being, we'll take a different approach this time, and directly give our buying advice first.
Not recommended to buy the old model again
Apple Watch Series 6/SE listed, Apple's official website directly off the shelves of the Apple Watch Series 5, Apple Watch Series 3 is still on sale, starting at 1499 yuan. My suggestion is that although it is 700 yuan cheaper than the starting price of Apple Watch SE, but no matter the screen, configuration or function, all belong to the "previous era" of the product, do not recommend that we buy.
Additionally, Apple Watch Series 5/4 should still be available through unofficial channels. Considering that they don't have more features than the Apple Watch Series SE (especially the Apple Watch Series 4), and that the price may be more expensive (especially for the Series 5), don't even think about the older models.
With that in mind, let's take a look at the differences between the Apple Watch Series 6 and the Apple Watch SE.
As you can see from Apple's official chart below, the main differences between the two are in the screen (Apple Watch Series 6 supports always-on), performance (Apple Watch Series 6 has a newer, more complete configuration), and the oxygen sensor (Apple Watch Series 6 supports).
So, with a $1,000 starting price difference between the two, it's actually pretty good to make trade-offs - if you care about these points, then just go straight to the Apple Watch Series 6, and conversely, the Apple Watch Series SE's price/performance ratio really smells good.
As of press time, Apple's official website of the Apple Watch Series 6 shipping time takes 6-8 weeks ranging, Apple Watch SE is 3-4 weeks, that is, at least to wait a month or two, the monkey can go to the Apple store and third-party channels to take a chance, there should be a part of the spot.
The difference in appearance has to be reflected by the "optional"
From the day the Apple Watch was released, Apple has given it a certain amount of fashion attributes, a rich variety of shells and straps, giving the user a thousand different combinations of wear. In fact, Apple's official website two watches one to two months shipping cycle, part of the reason is also the factory to receive the optional order, in the production.
For the users who are ready to buy aluminum metal Apple Watch Series 6, I strongly recommend that you make a choice in the new red and blue CP, because only these two colors, the old models, including the new Apple Watch SE does not have, can be a moment to Show to the people around you, "LZ is the new model"!
Also, if you're going to choose the stainless steel version, I would also recommend that you prefer the Graphite color, which is the new colorway introduced this year. That's also because there's no stainless steel version available for the Apple Watch SE, another cosmetic status symbol.
What, you said titanium is new too? Yes, you're the one who bought the Edition version, so there's no need for me and other paupers to analyze it... Titanium has to go with a Hermes strap, right? （
In fact, since the Apple Watch Series 4, the appearance of the later generations of Apple Watch has not changed much, and more freshness needs to be reflected by the new case and strap. So if you're concerned about that, in addition to the case, the band should definitely be chosen from among the newer models, even though older watches can get new bands as well.
If I had to say there's a difference between the look of the Apple Watch Series 6 and the Apple Watch SE, I'd have to flip the case over. Thanks to the inclusion of the new oximetry feature, the oximetry sensor on the back of the Apple Watch Series 6 consists of four sets of LED light clusters and four photodiodes, and it looks noticeably different from the older model.
From my experience over the past few days, even with more appearance options and customization permissions on the Apple Watch Series 6, appearance is not an intuitive way to differentiate it from the Apple Watch SE, so there's no need to get hung up on it.
The screen always on is the biggest difference in experience
If I were to remove all the bands in the photo below, would you be able to tell which is the Apple Watch Series 6 and which is the Apple Watch SE? Yes, although the latter doesn't support the always-on screen, or "all-day" as Apple calls it, there's very little difference between the two in other ways, or in terms of how the screens look and feel.
As for the all-weather display, it's a feature that's undoubtedly hard to go from luxury to luxury, and even though it comes at the expense of a little bit of battery life, the benefits of the experience are instantly recognizable. First of all, as a piece of "electronic watch" worn on the hand, the screen has content at any time, and the screen is dark for a long time, there is a fundamental difference in the value.
Secondly, many times we just want to check the time, or take a look at whether there is any new news. In this case, the screen is directly visible without the need to deliberately lift the wrist or tap the screen. This is what I feel is the biggest disadvantage of the Apple Watch SE experience compared to the Apple Watch Series 6 outside of oximetry and performance.
Again, the screen brightness on the Apple Watch Series 6 is 2.5 times brighter than on the Apple Watch Series 5 when the screen is "off". Even when the screen is not lit outdoors, much of the content can be seen clearly, to some extent, the reverse effect of power saving.
So, for the choice of Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE, I think the first thing you have to consider is whether you care about the all-weather function of the screen, as long as you can accept that the screen is black all the time without lighting it up, then the difference of $1,000 basically can be saved.
Oximetry, a new level of health for the Apple Watch
Seeing this, you might ask, oximetry is the biggest upgrade to the Apple Watch Series 6, right? That's right, it's a new feature that Apple has introduced on top of the Health feature, allowing users to easily measure their blood oxygen saturation to get a better grasp of their overall health.
Blood oxygen saturation is the percentage of oxygen carried by red blood cells as they carry oxygen from the lungs throughout the body, and is an important indicator of how well oxygenated blood is delivered throughout the body.
To compensate for the effects of natural skin variations and to improve accuracy, Apple Watch Series 6's oximetry sensor utilizes four clusters of green, red, and infrared LEDs, as well as four photodiodes, all integrated into the crystal glass caseback, to measure the light that is reflected back from the blood.
As you can see from the video, the whole process takes 15 seconds, and users can take measurements as often as they need to while they're at rest. The Apple Watch Series 6 will also take periodic measurements in the background when the user is less active, including during sleep wear.
Review in progress, video temporarily unavailable
After the measurements are complete, Apple Watch Series 6 takes them using the Blood Oxygen App, an algorithm that can measure blood oxygen levels between 70 percent and 100 percent. All of the data can be viewed in the Health App, and users can track trends over time to see how their blood oxygen levels have changed.
Apple officials said it will work hand-in-hand with relevant organizations this year to study how longitudinal blood oxygen measurements and other physiological signals can be used to manage asthma conditions. Apple will also work closely with researchers at North America's largest health research organization to gain a deeper understanding of how oximetry and other Apple Watch metrics data can help manage heart failure conditions.
And during this extraordinary time when the new crown is ravaging the world, researchers and faculty in related fields will also be looking at how the data provided by the Apple Watch APP, such as heart rate and oximetry, can be used for early warning of respiratory symptoms such as influenza and new crown pneumonia.
As we all know, sports and health are two of the most important features of almost any wearable device, and many people are more concerned about their health than their exercise. Apple has not publicized the accuracy of the Apple Watch Series 6's blood oxygen measurements, and the data it measures cannot be used as a reference for clinical use.
But Apple Watch Series 6 itself is not a professional medical device, but rather a long-term, systematic measurement and data analysis to anticipate and alert users to potential risks that may arise in their bodies.
With the addition of blood oxygen measurement, Apple Watch's ability to monitor the body's cardiovascular system has been further enhanced, so if you and your family have concerns in these areas, it's more appropriate to choose Apple Watch Series 6, which at least adds a double layer of insurance on top of your regular routine checkups.
Sleep is finally a reference
Along with the release of Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE, Apple also pushed out the official version of watchOS 7, and with it came the long-awaited sleep measurement. This feature is not only supported by the two new models, but as long as you can update watchOS 7, that is, Apple Watch Series 3 onwards.
Apple has been able to look at bedtime before, but that's based on the time a user's iPhone is set to go to bed, and the time they put their phone down. Honestly the data isn't much of a reference, similar to screen usage time, and at best it gives a better idea of how one is using their phone.
After updating to watchOS 7, especially if you're using an Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE, with the latest hardware and algorithms, you can get a more accurate sleep duration when you wear your watch to bed, and the data is more informative as it incorporates objective information such as heart rate and movement.
From the chart below of my sleep status, you can see that the sleep time I set on my iPhone is 23:30-7:30, which should be 8 hours in full, but the data shows that my average bedtime is less than 6 hours, which means that I don't follow my own schedule, and I'm often playing with my phone when it's time to go to bed.
The average sleep time is even stranger, more than 6 hours, and a bit longer than bedtime instead. How can you sleep longer than bedtime? I didn't figure it out at first, but then I thought about it a little more carefully, and here's how it's supposed to work: bedtime is what the iPhone says it is, based on a combination of the time the user sets for bedtime, and the fact that movement is no longer detected.
And sleep time is Apple Watch's call, such as changes in heart rate to determine the user's state. So it's possible that after I go to bed every day, there are so many periods of time when the person has been still, and the left hand that wears the watch hasn't moved, but the right hand is still playing with the phone, and there's a situation where the iPhone knows that I'm not asleep, and the Apple Watch thinks that I'm asleep.
So Apple gives two reference values that are very scientific, and users can comprehensively judge their daily sleep.