Apple Watch Series 2 (38mm) vs Apple Watch Series 3 (42mm) Specs Comparison

Design

Dimensions
1.52 x 1.31 x 0.45 inches 38.6 x 33.3 x 11.4 mm	1.67 x 1.43 x 0.45 inches 42.5 x 36.4 x 11.4 mm
Weight
1.48 oz (41.9 g)	1.86 oz (52.8 g)
Materials
Frame: Stainless steel	Back: Ceramic Frame: Stainless steel
Resistance
Water	Water, Dust
Colors
Silver, Black	Space Black, Silver

Display

Size
1.5-inch, 55.12% screen-to-body	1.6-inch, 55.61% screen-to-body
Type
OLED, 1000 nits	OLED, 1000 nits
Resolution
340x272px, 290 PPI	390x312px, 303 PPI
Protection
	Sapphire
Features
Pressure-sensitive, Ambient light sensor	Pressure-sensitive, Scratch-resistant glass

Hardware

System chip
Apple S2 (16 nm)	Apple S3
Processor
Dual-core 780 MHz Cortex-A7	Dual-core
GPU
PowerVR G6200	PowerVR
Memory
0.5GB/8GB	768GB/16GB
Storage expansion
not expandable
OS
watchOS (6.x, 5.1, 5, 4.x, 3.x)	watchOS (8.x, 7.x, 6.1, 6.x, 5.1, 5, 4.x)

Battery

Type
273 mAh	341 mAh
Charging
Magnetic charging	Qi wireless charging

Camera

Connectivity & Features

Bluetooth
4.0	4.2
WLAN
b,g,n 802.11 b, g, n	b,g,n 802.11 b, g, n
Sensors
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Heart rate, Ambient light sensor	Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Altimeter, Compass, Heart rate, Barometer
Location
Glonass, Galileo	A-GPS, Glonass
Other
NFC	NFC

Multimedia

Headphones
	No 3.5mm jack
Speakers
Loudspeaker	Loudspeaker

Cellular

4G (FDD) Bands
	1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 18, 19, 20, 26
3G Bands
	1, 5, 8
Data Speed
	LTE, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s
SIM type
	eSIM

Alternative variants

With aluminum frame

Weight	0.99 oz (28.2 g)
Materials	Frame: Aluminum

Links

Full specifications
Apple Watch Series 2 (38mm) Specs	Apple Watch Series 3 (42mm) Specs
PhoneArena Review
	Apple Watch Series 3 (42mm) Review