Apple Watch Series 10 review: an Ultra sleek package

The Apple Watch is 10 years old. That’s an unthinkable milestone successful the gadget world — and rarer still erstwhile it comes to wearables. Part of maine thought Apple mightiness propulsion retired each the stops, do thing pinch a batch of fanfare to commemorate the occasion. Instead, the Apple Watch Series 10 is different steady, incremental refinement successful a agelong statement of steady, incremental refinements. 

But not each iterative updates are created equal. With the Series 10, it feels for illustration Apple group retired to reply 1 question: really do we get the biggest show imaginable without sacrificing comfortableness and artillery life? 

This is simply a reliable seed to crack. Between a large display, comfort, and awesome artillery life, you only get to prime 2 pinch astir smartwatches. The Series 10 is the closest Apple’s gotten to nailing each three. On apical of having the biggest show of any Apple Watch ever, the Series 10 is the thinnest, lightest, and fastest-charging. watchOS 11 besides brings respective training-focused fittingness features to the device. The extremity consequence is the Ultrafication of the Series 10. It whitethorn not beryllium the splashiest update, but if you can’t wow’em, you mightiness arsenic good make smart refinements. And that’s the Series 10 to a tee.

A much wearable Ultra

The embiggening of the Apple Watch is thing new. The original Apple Watch measured 38mm and 42mm. The Series 4 bumped that up to 40mm and 44mm. The Series 7 made it 41mm and 45mm. Today, the Series 10 measures 42mm and 46mm. Normally, I obstruction against the inclination toward larger watches, but the Series 10’s show is worthy each millimeter. 

I opportunity this arsenic personification pinch crappy vision, mini wrists, and sausage fingers. Bigger displays usually mean a little comfortable watch, but sometimes that’s a worthwhile trade. A awesome logic why I picked the Ultra 2 complete the Series 9 arsenic my regular driver was the bigger show made reference texts and notifications truthful overmuch easier. That’s contempt the truth the Ultra 2 feels for illustration a mini ceramic connected my arm. It made specified a difference, I was apprehensive astir making the move to the 42mm Series 10’s somewhat smaller display. (Only the 46mm Series 10 is bigger than the Ultra.) Turns out, I was worried for nothing. 

I haven’t missed the Ultra’s show astatine all. The Series 10 is astir half the weight, and astatine 9.7mm thick, it’s astir 30 percent thinner than the Ultra too. It fits easy nether overgarment cuffs, doesn’t drawback connected the straps astatine my Pilates class, and doesn’t descent up and down my limb erstwhile I run. Plus, the on-screen buttons are besides somewhat larger. When I person press-on nails, it’s not a full symptom to participate my passcode aliases deed a complication! 

Also unexpected: I emotion the wide-angle OLED. I tin spot the clip from conscionable astir each angle. I, of course, would never propose anyone peep a gossipy matter from the wrist during an important meeting. But I tin corroborate it’s 100 percent easier to do truthful now. I only inquire you to usage this powerfulness for good. 

The bottommost statement is the Series 10 is simply a sleeker, much wearable Ultra. It lacks sportier features for illustration dual-frequency GPS, the Action Button, and an 80db siren. The Ultra besides has amended artillery life. But I can’t stress capable really galore group prize surface size and wearability complete bells and whistles — peculiarly folks who are much casual athletes aliases fashion-conscious. When you facet successful that the caller titanium type pinch sapphire solid is $699 – a full $100 little than the Ultra? I tin easy spot plentifulness of folks trading successful their Ultras for a titanium Series 10.

My 1 interest is I consciousness for illustration we’ve deed the precocious limit of really large the mini Apple Watch tin be. I slipped connected the original 38mm Apple Watch and compared it to a Series 10, and it’s a noticeable jump successful size. Right now, Apple’s deed the saccharine spot for smaller wrists. I conscionable dream it stays there.

Faster charging 

Usually, a bigger watch besides intends amended artillery life because it has a bigger battery. That’s not the lawsuit here. Most of the hardware tweaks this twelvemonth were laser-focused connected getting everything thinner and lighter. And yet artillery life wasn’t a problem for the Series 10. That’s because wrong the caller all-metal backmost is simply a larger charging coil that enables importantly faster charging. 

You tin now spell from zero to 80 percent successful 30 minutes. A 15-minute complaint will get you 8 hours, and 8 minutes gets you 8 hours of slumber tracking. Not only is it an highly convenient improvement, combined pinch the much comfortable design, it makes the Apple Watch a amended action for slumber tracking. 

Folks balk that Apple hasn’t budged from the Apple Watch’s 18-hour artillery life estimate successful 10 years, but it’s besides fundamentally a non-issue pinch faster charging. I plop my Series 10 connected the charger erstwhile I spell ablution and get fresh successful the morning. It’s topped up by the clip I’m done. In a week, I’ve ne'er gotten a azygous low-battery notification. For the mean person, this is the adjacent champion point to multi time artillery life.

Sleep apnea 

Sleep apnea discovery is the biggest wellness update this year, but unfortunately, I can’t measurement successful yet connected really good it works. The characteristic was just cleared by the FDA, and while I’ve had immoderate clip pinch it, it’s not capable to walk immoderate judgment. Expect an update to this reappraisal successful the adjacent month. 

Even so, Apple’s return connected slumber apnea discovery is an absorbing one. Sleep apnea is simply a information wherever you intermittently extremity breathing during the night. It tin lend to excessive daytime fatigue, arsenic good arsenic cardiovascular and metabolic issues down the line. Most wearables observe breathing disturbances — a proxy metric for slumber apnea — utilizing a humor oxygen sensor. Apple is presently locked successful a patent conflict complete humor oxygen sensors pinch Masimo, truthful U.S. models can’t make usage of this method. The Series 10 uses the accelerometer instead.

Once enabled, you’ll get a reference that says Elevated aliases Not Elevated. After 30 days, you whitethorn aliases whitethorn not get a notification that you show signs of slumber apnea and to talk pinch your healthcare providers. Setup is easy — you conscionable person to corroborate that you’re older than 18 and don’t already person a slumber apnea diagnosis. Like pinch Apple’s different precocious wellness features, this is meant to beryllium a informing flag, not a diagnostic tool. 

Even if I’d had a full period of testing, features for illustration this are difficult for immoderate 1 reviewer to evaluate. For one, this characteristic is designed to show breathing disturbances complete a agelong play to norm retired the overseas nighttime of mediocre sleep. Also, if I don’t person slumber apnea, I should ne'er get a notification. We’ll person to spot really things play retired connected a larger scale, but connected paper, I for illustration this to Samsung’s implementation — which only evaluates 2 night’s worthy of slumber information astatine a time. 

Ultra aliases Series 10?

This is the uncommon twelvemonth wherever the Series 10’s wide creation and charging improvements are worthy upgrading for. Especially if you’ve sewage a Series 5 aliases older. But if you person a newer Apple Watch — peculiarly 1 pinch progressive humor oxygen sensors — it’s sensible to clasp disconnected until your existent watch craps out.

The trickier calculation is for group stuck betwixt an Ultra 2 and a Series 10. I’m correct location pinch you. watchOS 11 adds several new training features, but those travel to some the Ultra 2 and the Series 10. So connected the package front, the Series 10 is now beautiful bully for each but the astir aggravated endurance training. Also, the Series 10’s lighter creation and bigger surface erases a ton of the Ultra’s advantages. I thought artillery life would beryllium a awesome factor, but for me, it simply wasn’t. The only times I miss the Ultra 2 is erstwhile I run. And moreover then, it’s only aspects of the Ultra 2, specifically the Action Button, and precision commencement for GPS activities. It’s silly, but the main point stopping maine from switching to a Series 10 is its GPS maps. They’re a smidge much squiggly compared to the Ultra 2. But for reasonable people, the Series 10 is undeniably the amended mundane watch. 

Ultimately, the Series 10 is not revolutionary for illustration the Series 3 and 4, aliases a awesome shakeup wrong the class for illustration the Ultra 2. It doesn’t person a marquee characteristic for illustration humor oxygen aliases double tap. But I’ve said clip and clip again that wearability is really the most important thing for a smartwatch to get right. By that measure, the Series 10 is the astir wearable, readable Apple Watch successful years.