Running With the Apple Watch SE

Apple push us to get the Apple Watch Series 10, the Ultra 2 or the Apple Watch SE in third place. If you’re a runner, and you don’t feel like spending on the Ultra or the Ten then it makes sense to get the SE instead.

Although the SE is the cheaper option it still provides us with plenty of running metrics. It provides heart rate, pace, power, cadence, vertical oscilation, ground contact time, stride length, workout time, distance, elevation gain, average cadence, average pace, average power, active kilocalories, total kilocalories and more.

That is more information than the Garmin Instinct Solar, Suunto Peak 5, Garmin Forerunner 45s and other devices. It’s also more convenient than using the smart band 9 and smart band 8 in pebble mode. It also has the advantage of connecting to Gentler Streak and other related apps on iOS.

Gentler Streak is a good app to see whether to push, or take it easy. Training Today offers the same type of information. The point here is that the Apple Watch is not just a device with one app. It can be shared with multiple apps on your phone, as long as you have an iOS device.

It does have the disadvantage of having a touch screen rather than buttons, so in cold weather, or when in wet conditions, it can be more frustrating to use. It can also get false pauses due to clothing. When the battery gets low it might die mid workout.

It also requires daily charging. The Garmin Instinct can go for weeks without charging if you’re in Spain and leave the watch in the sun when you’re not running, hiking or other.

The difference in price between the SE and the 10 is about 150 CHF at the time of writing. The cheapest SE is about 200 CHF and the cheapest Series 10 is 378 CHF.

The point of this post is not to say “get the SE” but to say, the budget version Apple Watch SE has a lot of functionality that may make it interesting for people that do not want to spend 378 CHF on a watch that they may replace within two to four years. My Series 4 lasted four years and I expect my SE to last four years. In theory that’s 50 CHF per year if you get the 200 CHF model.
And Finally
If I was to spend 600-800 CHF on a watch I would get a Garmin Fenix 8 or similar because I expect Garmin not to make a watch obsolete as quickly as Apple will. According to ChatGPT the life expectation for both is about 5-7 years but the Apple watch battery is expected to be noticeably worse after four years. This is especially easy to spot, due to the Apple watch having a one day battery life, rather than one month, with the right sun conditions, or even 99+ days when in Spain.