Apple Watch Series 11 ZDNET's key takeaways The Apple Watch Series 11 is on sale for $299 right now, $100 less than its original price.
Apple's newest baseline smartwatch offers upgraded health features and fantastic battery life.
Although affordable, it's trumped by the sheer value of its younger sibling, the SE 3. $299 at Amazon
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If you've been considering an Apple Watch to track your health in the new year, there are a few watches that could fit your needs. In this review, I'm going to focus on the Apple Watch Series 11, one of the most popular smart watches on the market right now, and the one I use personally to track my workouts, monitor my sleep, and do a whole lot more. Allow me to break down the pros and cons.
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Apple rolled out three new Apple Watches in 2025 -- the Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch Ultra 3, and the Apple Watch SE 3, and I've been testing all three for months since.
Many of the features stayed the same from Series 10 to Series 11, but the most significant thing is Apple's chipset. Normally, it updates its chips every year, but the Series 11 keeps the S10 processor, the same chip as 2024's Series 10.
When comparing the Apple Watch Series 11 to the Ultra 3 or SE 3, battery life is one of the biggest differentiating factors. The SE 3 gets 18 hours of normal use battery life, while the Series 11 gets 24, and the Ultra 3 gets 42.
Also: The 10 features that made me switch to the Apple Watch full-time
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