Apple Watch Series 10 review: Great gets even greater

The Apple Watch is all grown up. Ten generations after the launch of the original Apple Watch, Apple has refined and refined, making its wearable more feature-rich and more helpful. But after years of rumors around an Apple Watch redesign, and plenty of speculation that the Apple Watch Series 10 would actually be the Apple Watch Series X, and would represent as big a change for the Apple Watch as the iPhone X did for the iPhone, here we are yet again with a wearable that, at least when you squint, looks a whole lot like it did five years ago.

But perhaps it's not fair to level that as a big criticism. Maybe an Apple Watch redesign isn't in the books for the near future, and maybe the Apple Watch Series 15 will look similar too.

I'm not completely convinced that's a bad thing. Yes, it's a boring thing, but maybe we just need to get out of the loop of two-year upgrade cycles and realize -- like Apple has -- that consumers are getting less interested in upgrading often and more interested in holding onto their tech.

Ultimately, people who do hold on to their tech are likely in for a big upgrade with the Apple Watch Series 10. Yes, it's true -- the Apple Watch Series 10 is the best Apple Watch ever made. Its changes are incremental, but they're also upgrades to some of the biggest Apple Watch pain points.

Apple Watch Series 10 specs

A thinner and lighter build

A big part of Apple's focus during its keynote when discussing the Apple Watch Series 10 related to the design of the device. Keen Apple Watch fans will recognize that, in reality, the design isn't all that different from the Apple Watch Series 9. But there are some differences this year.

The most obvious design difference relates to the watch's thickness. Both the 42mm and 46mm models of the Apple Watch Series 10 are only 9.7mm thick, which looks and feels incredibly thin. Apple says that represents a reduction in thickness of around 10%, which is significant considering how much tech is packed into each Apple Watch. Indeed, it felt very thin on my wrist. The thinner build helps the lugs for the strap rest a little closer to my wrist, which means that the watch looks a little more natural. Does it reinvent the Apple Watch experience? No, but it's certainly a nice change.

Along with being thinner, the display on the Apple Watch Series 10 is also bigger than before. We'll get into display quality a little later, but as it relates to design, that means the bezels around the screen are smaller and the display looks much more edge-to-edge. It helps give it a more natural feel, which is helpful.

There's a stunning new color for this generation too. To date, aluminum Apple Watches have been stuck with matte colors, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it means that you couldn't get something quite as vibrant as the much more expensive glossy stainless steel models. That changes this year, though. The new Jet Black color of the aluminum Apple Watch has a stunning glossy finish, and I think it looks great.

There are other minor changes to the design too. I have a cellular Apple Watch Series 10, and it no longer has a red ring on the digital crown. The casing on the underside of the watch is more uniform. And, while not necessarily a design feature, the speakers on the watch can now be used to play music or other audio. While the audio quality leaves a lot to be desired when listening to music, it can be handy for continuing to listen to a podcast or audiobook in between your car and your headphones, for example.

Does the Apple Watch Series 10 have the flat-edged, rumored design that we've been hearing about for years? No, but I'm glad. This device looks a whole lot better than any of those renders did, and while it may be iterative, it's iterating on something that works.

A perfect display experience

Even more impressive than the design changes for me are the changes to the display. As mentioned, the screen on the Apple Watch Series 10 is even bigger than it was before, and on the 46mm model, that translates to a screen size of 1.96 inches. Yes, that's right; technically speaking, the display on the larger Series 10 is bigger than that on the Apple Watch Ultra 2. In reality, the displays essentially look the same size, but regardless, it looks huge in this body.

But I think the display size is actually the smallest display improvement for the year. Even more impressive is the new curved glass top that helps make the display more viewable at wider angles. Indeed, it makes a big difference. With my hands resting in my lap and my wrist literally facing away from me, I was still able to see the time. The new screen does its job and ensures that it's easy to glance at your watch without raising suspicion. Apple says the display is 40% brighter when viewed at an angle, and that doesn't surprise me.

There are even more display improvements, too. The Always On Display now refreshes every second instead of every minute, which essentially means that the second hand on your watch face can appear as though it's ticking when the screen isn't active. I love this feature; it helps make the watch look much more natural and much more like a traditional watch. That said, I wish Apple made a better effort to enable the feature for all of its watch faces. For now, you're limited to its newer watch faces, like Reflections. To be fair, Reflections is stunning, though.

All of these improvements make for a screen on the Apple Watch Series 10 that I'm not sure needs to get much better. It's bright enough to be easily viewable outdoors and at wide angles, and the ability to refresh every second means it can look as natural as a traditional watch.

Faster charging helps alleviate battery woes

The Apple Watch Series 10 features Apple's S10 SIP. Frankly, I couldn't tell much of a difference in performance between the Series 10 and previous generation models. That's certainly not an indictment on Apple, though. Previous generation Apple Watch models have performed flawlessly for the past year, responding quickly to any input and easily handling anything I can throw at them. The Apple Watch Series 10 is the same.

Perhaps more important than performance at this level is battery life. You might assume that the thinner build means the watch has a lower battery life, but thankfully, the battery remains the same, at an Apple-estimated 18 hours. To be clear, I do wish Apple improved on battery life instead of simply keeping it the same. However, most regular Apple Watch users have probably gotten used to charging their device while they're showering or before bed, or during the night if they don't use their watch for sleep tracking. I will say that I have enjoyed having much better battery life while wearing the Apple Watch Ultra 2 for the past year, but I didn't really have to adjust how I use the Series 10 to ensure that it remains juiced up all the time.

And, thankfully, while Apple hasn't improved on actual battery life, it has made charging faster. According to Apple, the Apple Watch Series 10 offers a larger and more efficient charging coil that can allow the device to charge to 80% in just 30 minutes. Apple's estimates for the Apple Watch Series 9 put charging to 80% at 45 minutes, so the Series 10 represents an impressive improvement. Even better is the fact that you'll unlock this faster charging without needing to upgrade any accessories, assuming you already have Apple Watch fast charging accessories that began rolling out with the Series 6.

Fitness features

The Apple Watch Series 10 got a bunch of health tracking improvements, too. As expected, the device does not have blood oxygen sensing, thanks to an ongoing patent dispute with Masimo. It's a bit of a bummer, but hopefully the dispute will be resolved soon. It's unclear if the Apple Watch Series 10 has the hardware for blood oxygen sensing and can be re-enabled with software.

Despite not being able to leverage blood oxygen, the Apple Watch Series 10 still has a new sleep apnea feature, which recently received FDA clearance. That's a pretty huge deal. I have plenty of people in my life with sleep apnea, but sleep apnea largely goes undiagnosed. Sleep apnea can lead to plenty of health issues down the line (like high blood pressure, abnormal heart rhythms, and even heart failure), not to mention basic tiredness during the day due to lower levels of oxygen reaching the brain at night. The Apple Watch Series 10 essentially uses the watch's accelerometer to track breathing disturbances at night, instead of trying to track sleep apnea through blood oxygen.

Some breathing disturbances are common and normal, and those who fall within the normal range won't get alerts, though they will still be able to see how many disturbances occur each night. If the watch detects an abnormally high number of breathing disturbances, it will notify the wearer that they show signs of sleep apnea and may want to get checked by a sleep doctor. Hopefully, this will help improve rates sleep apnea diagnosis.

On top of the sleep apnea feature, the Apple Watch 10 now gets the Depth app that was previously only available on the Apple Watch Ultra and Ultra 2. That makes it a great choice for those who want to use the device for casual swimming and snorkeling, though you can't use the Apple Watch Series 10 for actual scuba diving. Additionally, there's a new water temperature sensor built into the device, which some may find handy.

Conclusions

It seems as though Apple is in a year of understated improvements that make for a much better experience. At first glance, the Apple Watch Series 10 isn't all that much better than the Series 9, and in the grand scheme of things, perhaps it's not. But all of these minor improvements, especially related to the display, had a big impact on how I used the device. I loved being able to subtly glance at the screen and see the seconds tick on the watch face. I'm also a huge fan of the sleep apnea feature that will hopefully help more people find out if they have a potentially life-altering medical condition. And, I think the Jet Black color brings much more style to the entry-level aluminum Apple Watches. I only wish improvements to the display had come to the Apple Watch Ultra as well.

The competition

If you're considering the Apple Watch Series 10, you're likely debating whether to get this one, an older model, or if it's time to upgrade at all. If you have an Apple Watch Series 9, it's probably not time to upgrade. The improvements are nice, but they don't necessarily radically change the Apple Watch experience. This is likely true for Apple Watch Series 8 users as well. However, any user of a watch older than that may find the Series 10 to be a helpful upgrade, especially considering the improvements that Apple has made to the Apple Watch's display over the past few years and the more refined design.

Should I buy the Apple Watch Series 10?

Yes. It's a great smartwatch and offers helpful improvements.

The post Apple Watch Series 10 review: Great gets even greater appeared first on BGR.

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Apple Watch Series 10 review: Great gets even greater originally appeared on BGR.com on Fri, 27 Sep 2024 at 12:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.