FYI for anyone thinking about ordering one of the new bands.
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And Apple has now changed this problematic return policy.
Whenever I tried the nylon sport loop for Apple Watch, it didnāt feel so much as scratchy or rough. Wasnāt comfortable for me, as opposed to smooth Sport loop.
I do still wish watch + band were more lightweight. Ordered Solo Loop with series 6; letās see what happens.
I wonder if itās worth upgrading my series 1 Watch to SE. Is there really anything substantially new and useful in my case? Does having built-in GPS make any difference if I always have my iPhone with me on walk workout anyway? And if I always have my iPhone with me is cellular really an extra benefit?
Thanks,
doug
The performance increase between the S1 and the SE is very noticeable, and you will continue to get OS updates for quite a while - the S1 is stuck on watchOS 6. Besides the performance of the watch and the items you list, the differences are better water resistance, a larger and brighter display, fall detection (that can call emergency services or contact emergency contacts if the watch detects that youāve fallen and you donāt respond to the prompt on the watch), a better speaker and microphone, the compass (I have never used mine on the S5), a better Digital Crown, and - I think - the ability to do āHey Siriā or Siri commands with raise to talk, with the S1 cannot do (you must press and hold the Digital Crown for Siri). There are also additional workout types, the biggest being swimming workouts, though you would have upgraded before now if you needed that.
I was just trying Siri on my Series 1 the way you said, by holding in the Digital Crown. It worked, but there was no voice reply, just a message on the screen. With the SE would it reply by voice?
I may have turned off sound. I donāt remember. I do remember that when I first got it I couldnāt hear all the alerts (e.g. new message) becauseā¦ the frequency was too high for my ears! Another friend could hear it just fine. So I turned off all sounds. I think I may have answered the phone with it once though when I was in the kitchen and my iPhone was in the office room.
Swimming might be nice again sometime. I guess I shouldnāt limit myself to walking.
Well, Iāll think about it. First world problem. 
Thanks,
douig
The SE (and all watches since Series 3) can have Siri spoken responses if you want them (there is a setting - always on, headphones only, control with silent mode.)
Yes, it is. 
It will be even better than I experienced going from a Series 2 to a Series 5.
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You devil you. Now Iām leaning towards the upgrade.
I wonder if itās worth having cellular though. Itās just an extra $3.50/month with my carrier. But I canāt think of when Iāve gone out without my iPhone in my shirt pocket.
doug
Yeah, I like the idea of the Apple Watch having cellular access, but Iām not willing to pay anything for it, since the times when Iād use it are so few and far between.
Tempting. From your article, I think the two main things (besides the fact that my series 1 can no longer be updated) are (1) You said the size difference between 40 mm and 38 mm was actually quite noticeable, in a good way. That might be nice. (2) Faster response. Sometimes the series 1 can have pauses between actions.
Being able to say Hey Siri might turn out to be useful.
For the extra $3.50 a month Iām pondering whether the cellular is worth it or notā¦
Oh, and I might start going swimming. I used to do that a lot. Not sure of the pool status these days. But I do record all my exercise for calorie syncing.
Fun to think about anyway!