A few months back, I sold my Apple Watch Ultra (battery health issues) and replaced it with the Apple Watch Series 10. It offered some new features that I didn’t have on my Ultra, and I was keen to see how I would get on with them.
So with wearing this nearly every day (I have been trying the Pixel Watch 3 more to come on that in a future post) I want to share my thoughts on Apple’s latest and greatest smartwatch in terms of:
- Design Changes
- Health & Fitness Features
- Performance & Battery Life
So let’s dive into these each in more detail below.
Design Changes:
Now in terms of the design, it looks like all the other non Ultra Watches that apple has produced before, but there have been a few noteworthy changes.
Thinner & Lighter
The Watch Series 10 is light and thinner than the series 9 by about 10% which makes it more comfortable to wear on a day-to-day basis. It being thinner is not something that you are going to visible see, but you will feel the benefit on your wrist. Going from the Ultra, I certainly felt the weight difference, which was nice.
Larger Cases Size & Enhanced Display:
One of the main reasons that I was happy to switch to the Watch Series 10 from the Watch Ultra was the larger size. The two sizes offered for the Series 10 are:
- 42mm, up from 41 mm on the Series 9
- 46mm up from 45mm on the Series 9
This may not seem like a massive difference, but the Watch Series 10 has up to 30% more screen area. Making it a lot easier for you to see all your complications and information a lot easier.
Not only do we see a bigger screen, we also have a much brighter display, up to 40% when viewed at an angle. This is great for being able to view your watch screen when out and about in the sun. I found this especially useful when exercising and trying to work out my metrics.
New Materail Options:
Finally, in design changes we have the new material and colour options. We still get the Aluminium options the same as with the series 9 but gone is the stainless-steel option. This is now replaced with a Titanium option, giving a more premium and durable look and feel.
The Aluminium option also comes with a new colour option, Jet Black to add to the Rose Gold and Silver options, which is a nice addition. The Titanium line up comes in Slate, Gold, and Natural Titanium colours.
Health & Fitness Features:
One of the main reasons that I and lots of you out there love the Apple Watch is for its Health and Fitness features. The Watch Series 10 comes with all the usual features, capturing just about all the exercises you would want to be able to track.
Fitness:
This year’s offering does seem to have focused more on diving, with a new a depth gauge and a water temperature sensor being introduced. Other than this, the main thing to touch on is the refinement of some features, such as improved respiratory tracking.
Another nice addition is HRV (Heart Rate Variability) to add to the already extensive heart health features. The improved heart rate sensor provides you with a faster, more accurate reading across all the different workouts, as well as in a resting state.
There is also better workout tracking and some new additions such as rowing.
Sleep Tracking:
If you use your Apple Watch for sleep tracking, then you will find a new feature for detecting sleep apnea, it uses its advanced sensors and machine learning to notify you of any instance of disturbance whilst you sleep.
I, personally, haven’t used this feature mainly because I don’t sleep with my watch as I find it a bit uncomfortable at times. But for those that do, it is a nice feature to have.
Performance & Battery Life
Performance:
With the Series 10, we get the new S10 chip, which has increased processing power. This is supposed to lead to apps opening quicker and a smoother experience. Personally, I think that it’s difficult to tell, all of my Apple Watches have been quick and smooth.
I have yet to experience any lag on with the Series 10. My workouts launch nice and quick and I have also not seen any issues when using 3rd party apps.
Battery Life:
In terms of battery life, you are going to see about the same as the Series 9 with up to 18 hours when you have all the features like the always-on Display on. For my experience, I would say that I am getting about a day and a bit, depending on my usage and workout tracking.
I never really worry too much about the battery life as I don’t use it for sleep tracking, so I charge it overnight. If you switch to low-power mode, then you will see an increased battery estimate of up to 36 hours, as it will turn off a number of tracking features. Again this is not something that I ever use due to my charging habits.
What we do get is slightly faster charging speeds, where you can 0-80% charge in around 30 min. So if you are caught with low battery, a quick charge will see you through.
Final Thoughts: Is it worth upgrading?
This is another well – put together watch from Apple, and it will do everything that you want it to, from smartwatch features to health & fitness tracking. But is it that much of an upgrade from the Series 9? I am not sure if it is, for me, it seems more about refinement of existing features with a quicker processor, which I am not sure you will notice.
So if you have a Series 9, then I would say it’s not really worth the upgrade (unless you want more diving features). Like I have said in other posts on Apple products, if you are upgrading after 3–4 years, then yes it would be worth it.