Review of the Apple Watch Series 9

Our Verdict

The Apple Watch Series 9 is the best Apple Watch for most people. It might be a little expensive, but it's one of the best smartwatches you can buy. The app ecosystem carries this watch, and while Android Wear is catching up, what you can do on an Apple Watch without pulling out your phone is still unparalleled, so it earns its price tag.

Reasons to buy

• Bright screen
• Powerful processor

Reasons to avoid

• Looks identical to previous model
• Disappointing battery life

One of the greatest watches you can purchase with your iPhone is undoubtedly the Apple Watch. This is mostly due to the fact that no Android phone can be used with the Apple Watch. Apple has a clear edge in the hardware market since compatibility is a top priority in all of its design decisions. This is true for the most straightforward combination, which is the iPhone and Apple Watch. They wonderfully balance one another out.

But it's not a flawless gadget. Although it is not as lengthy as others, the battery is not as amazing as many of the best smartwatches. However, the Apple Watch compensates for this short battery life by offering seamless functioning between the iPhone and Watch, so you can conduct numerous things without taking your phone out of your pocket. You can use your wrist to open and close applications, prioritize emails, dictate audio responses to messages, and even operate your garage door. Is this the finest Apple Watch ever? To discover out, continue reading.

Cost and accessibility

The starting price of the Apple Watch Series 9 is $399 for an aluminum 41mm casing. It is available in Silver, Starlight, Pink, and Midnight. The 45mm model costs $429, while the $529 model costs $529 if you want the LTE variant. The 45mm Stainless Steel casing costs $799 if you want to go for the best of the best. In other words, although this watch is not cheap, it is comparable to models in the WearOS market and even more costly fitness trackers like Garmin.

You receive the watch, a charger (but no USB wall connector), and the kind of strap of your choosing for the price. The watch is available for purchase via Apple.com, a number of carriers, and other internet retailers including Amazon.

Specifications

Features

With its extensive sensor suite, the Apple Watch Series 9 can monitor your blood oxygen level, heart rate, temperature, steps, and sleep. The Apple Watch Series 9 is powered by an Apple S9 processor that was created especially for the watch. Additionally, you get Siri on your wrist, which is much superior than earlier iterations.

This year, the double-tap action gesture is the newest addition. The dominant button on your watch face may be activated by twice tapping your thumb and fingers together. This may include taking a call, hanging up, responding to a message, and more.

The double-tap gesture isn't really useful in real life, and I frequently forget it exists until after I've already pressed the screen to accomplish my goal. It's kind of like force touch on older iPhone models. The Watch OS 10.1 version, which was released just before this review, includes the double-tap gesture; thus, additional time with it might help me get acclimated to it.

Features like Apple Pay, fall detection, and crash detection—the latter of which is really helpful—and crash detection, the former of which you hope you'll never need—come from earlier versions. In addition, you may use your Apple watch to load boarding cards for flights rather than taking out your phone. Although the boarding pass only appears on the screen for a little period of time before returning to the watch face, I would really want to appreciate this function more. This function is useful since I travel with a cane for walking, but it is much less useful because I have to wait to draw it up until I really need it.

Create and present

In terms of design, the Apple watch is mostly unchanged from earlier iterations. When viewing the screen in direct sunlight, the display may brighten up to twice as much as the Apple Watch Series 8 (2,000 nits overall). The second button on the right side and the spinning crown are still there.

The good news is that the Apple Watch Series 9 has the same quick-release slots for the watch bands, which means your old accessories will still function. Actually, you should be able to use a watch band that you originally purchased for your Apple Watch in theory. That type of durability is uncommon in smartphone accessories, and I'm all for it.

The Apple Watch Series 9 has a temperature, blood oxygen, and optical and electrical cardiac sensor on its rear. With nearly the same battery size, the casing is the same as it has been for the previous three versions. Overall, unless someone is double-tapping their fingers or touching the screen, it's difficult to identify what model of Apple Watch someone is wearing at a glance.

Power Source

The Apple Watch has a respectable amount of battery life, but that is about it. With the always-on display set on, I usually got between 29 and 36 hours out of a single charge, but I seldom used the battery to its full capacity. If your watch has a longer battery life than 24 hours, you must recharge it at the end of the day in order for it to monitor your sleep throughout the night. That's not too annoying, but depending on when the watch thinks it's going to die, it may be a little confusing.

Thankfully, the watch charges rather rapidly with the included charger. I often use a variety of third-party chargers, such the stylish ESR 3-in-1 MagSafe folding charger I took with me on a week-long business vacation to Maui. These take longer to fully charge the watch than the accompanying charger, which takes little more than an hour to recharge a dead battery.

The important thing to remember is that the Apple Watch's limited battery life is a result of its high functionality. The watch offers excellent app compatibility, flawless iPhone syncing, and bulletproof notifications. A reduced battery life results from all that functionality. Boarding cards from the United app, pizza tracking from many pizza apps, and the ability to unlock my kitchen door, open my garage door, and disable my security system all happen without removing my phone from my pocket. It's perfect.

Performance

Your daily tasks can be easily kept up with by the onboard S9 processor. When launching Siri, transferring between tasks, or making a contactless payment, there are no lags or stutters. Given the gear involved, we've grown to anticipate that everything is quite smooth.

Additionally amazing is the background processing, which makes it possible for the watch and iPhone to function together without any issues. You enjoy blazing-fast connection, get all notifications, and never miss a beat while using the Find My function. Android smartwatches are making up in this area, however sometimes, the phone may put the smartwatch app to sleep or you may lose connection for a moment and not realize it, resulting in a missed notification or many at once.

Features like automated workout identification and loud noise alarms are made possible via background processing. Because you don't always know when your guided tour is going to turn into a 45-minute powerwalk, the latter option is far more handy. Without your conscious awareness, the Apple Watch automatically records this behavior and displays it.

Is it wise to purchase the Apple Watch Series 9?

In the end, if you own an iPhone, the Apple Watch is still the greatest watch you can get. Apple ensures that all of its gadgets work well together by designing its ecosystem from the ground up. It is pricey, for sure, but it offers a ton of benefits that a different watch brand cannot, like as the app ecosystem.

Though one of the Apple Watch's greatest value additions, it's easy to ignore the applications available for download. This level of functionality is unmatched by any other smartwatch. The applications you use on a daily basis will determine whether or not you are able to use that capacity.

If you're seeking for health information, a Fitbit or a Garmin wristwatch will provide comparable information. An ECG and accident detection will even be included on some of those watches. Apple has fewer watch faces than some of its rivals, in contrast. Therefore, there are less expensive choices if health data is what you're searching for. However, the Apple Watch is the best option if you're looking for a watch that functions as an extension of your phone and is designed to be used in tandem with it. However, as you can see below, the Apple Watch SE poses a threat to the Series 9.

Indeed, there are less costly solutions, thus the Series 9's pricing is difficult to defend. The Series 9 is the best option if you want a temperature sensor, double-tap, and Siri access to health info. If not, the SE could work for you.

Replacements

Check out some of the options below if the Apple Watch Series 9 isn't your cup of tea.

Apple Watch SE

As previously indicated, the Apple Watch SE costs $150 less than its larger sister but still delivers many of the same features as the Apple Watch Series 9. You still receive a good amount of the same performance, strong notifications, and deep watch-phone connectivity. The blood oxygen sensor, ECG, 2000 nit display, and double tap functionality of the Watch 9 are absent from the SE.

It makes sense, considering all of that, why the Apple Watch SE begins at $249; it all depends on your use case. The blood oxygen and ECG sensors are useful for an elderly person like myself, but I can live without the rest of them. Double tapping was something I was looking forward to, but I seldom think about it while I'm using the watch, even when there's a chance to utilize it. But again, I don't usually hang from a cliff face or carry armloads of goods. In such circumstances, I'll probably simply give my mother a call back.

Garmin Venu 3

Battery life is one of the biggest concessions made by the Apple Watch. With the Series 9, I consistently got over the 18 hours of battery life that were advertised, but the Garmin Venu 3 has a circular display, numerous watch faces, and battery life that is measured in days rather than hours. My Garmin Venu 3 often lasts five to seven days on a single charge, or longer if I disable the always-on display.

The health statistics is equally impressive. On the Venu 3, you can even access Siri, but not using voice commands. Even if there isn't as much app support, the longer battery life could be worth it. I wear a Garmin Venu 3 while I'm not using an iPhone.