The 10th edition of the Apple Watch, the world’s most popular timepiece, is now out. While Apple celebrated 10 years of the iPhone with the iPhone X series that ushered in a new design philosophy, there are no such big flourishes with the Apple Watch Series 10. Maybe it is not the right time, or perhaps the time is such that nothing new is waiting to be done. As a regular Apple Watch user, I was excited to a certain extent by the larger display on the thinner device and wanted to see if that would change my usage. Here is what I found.
Watch 10 on the left, and Watch 9 on the right. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
Compared to the Apple Watch Series 9 (review), you can see and feel the extra real estate. With some of the new watch faces like Flux, the screen is fully utilised. And with apps like the New York Times, the alerts are now more readable with the extra real estate. But I would have loved a few new apps that are making full use of these two extra millimetres and thinner bezels on your hand.
The thinnest smartwatch from Apple. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
Also, the Apple Watch is now a tad bit thinner than before. After wearing it for a day I realised that this might be the Apple Watch I can wear to bed without being irritated much — I am a light sleeper and keep blaming everything from an afternoon coffee to the type of bed linen for my lack of sleep. It also makes sense to wear the Apple Watch to sleep now as you have the new Vitals app, which uses overnight readings to give you insights into your health. So far it tells me everything is in range. The readings, however, start appearing only after you wear the watch to sleep for at least four-five days, one of the reasons this review took longer than anticipated.
The polished titanium feel makes it stylish, especially with the blacks. You can use some of the new watch faces to make people notice your new investment. With WatchOS photos can be converted into watch faces via the phone too. I like this feature as you get the reassurance of family every once in a while during the day. However, I wonder if this taking the personal too public; but then we put family pics on the larger phone lock screen as well.
The Watch can also warn about loud noise. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
Another aspect I found effective was the fast charging on the Apple Watch Series 10. My old charging dock by the bed has been giving me issues of late and I have come to realise that when I pick up the watch for use just before leaving for office, it is usually short of charge. Now, in the office, I put it on the Daily Objects Surge Max dock for a few minutes and get enough juice to last the rest of the day. This is a sea change from the time it took hours to charge the Apple Watch.
For my regular use of the Apple Watch, to track my daily quota of 10000 steps, regular heart rate checks, and mapping with my insurance and health apps, the Series 10 does well. The new Vitals app is an added layer here and will keep tab even when I’m sleeping.
Photos can be now used as a Watch face. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
For the past couple of weeks, I have been using the Series 10 for my daily usage, and I am more than happy with the performance and battery life, compared to the earlier Series 9. However, unless you are on versions before the Series 8, it will not make much sense to upgrade to this one as the changes will not be that discernible. For users of older Apple Watches, this is an upgrade at many levels from performance to screen size and battery life. At Rs 46,900, the best smartwatch has become better, though the upgrade this time makes more sense for those who have held on to the upgrade for longer.
