Tag Archives: Apple Watch

Apple Watch Series 10

I have been using the Apple Watch Series 7 for almost 3 years without any complaints, nor had a yearning to upgrade. However, the battery health went down gradually over the years. Eventually, at 79% health, I couldn’t even complete a 10k with it playing music while connected to LTE. Fighting back the urge to get the Series 9 or Ultra 2, I decided to wait for the Apple Watch Series 10 and buy that. Strangely in Thailand, it was launched much later, even after India.

Since I experienced a financial windfall, I decided to move up to the Titanium variant.

My views on the watch

  1. Titanium is absolutely gorgeous. As you can see in the photos above, the watch has a golden hue in warm lighting and silver in cool lighting. At some angles, looks jet black, too.
  2. The titanium chassis is much lighter than the Stainless-Steel variant (Which I had the Series 4 in). I found it hardly any heavier than Aluminium variant.
  3. I had planned to use the Milanese Loop only when going out and my old Braided Solo Loop all other times for comfort. However, I found the Milanese loop much more comfortable than I had assumed, so I almost always wear that.
  4. Wrist temperature monitoring is good to have, but I wasn’t yearning for it.
  5. I can see the difference in screen size, but don’t find it revolutionary. I thought it would look comically big on my wrist, but thankfully, doesn’t. The bigger bezels are also hardly noticeable.
  6. I don’t find the watch any faster or any better in any other way.
  7. I don’t see any changes or improvements to exercise tracking (Except the better battery life, of course).
  8. I can’t remember to use the pinch gestures to decline calls etc.
Apple Watch Series 10 on the dawg's wrist
Apple Watch Series 10 on the dawg’s wrist

Overall, I can say that the upgrade from Aluminium to Titanium is a bigger upgrade, compared to technical improvements (From Series 7 to Series 10) which are nice-to-have but not revolutionary.

Mixed Feelings about the Apple Watch

I have been using an Apple Watch for a few years now. I got my first Apple Watch (Series 4, aluminium) in 2018 but gave it to the wife after using it for a few months because of the abysmal battery life & I didn’t like how it looked. Got one again in 2020 (Series 4, Stainless Steel) and have mixed feelings about it

Apple watch with Blue braided solo loop, PC: iPhone in Canada

What I like about the Apple Watch

  1. The integration with the rest of apple’s ecosystem is amazing. Everything “just works”. Setup and use are both pain free, like every Apple product.
  2. The cellular functionality is awesome. I leave my phone at home when walking the dog or going for a run. Can take/receive calls if needed and stream music. It is also impressive how so many carriers support it.
  3. The “Activity” app and the concept of closing the 3 rings is very good. Much better than tracking steps only.
  4. Walkie-Talkie is a fun & useful feature. I use it with the wife’s watch very often. The related feature of “intercom” to send messages home is also useful.
  5. Apps are very useful. Some apps even have full functional parity with their phone counterparts, although I don’t use many apps on the watch.
  6. Heart Rate tracking is one of the best in the business. Once I even got alerted when I was high and my heart-rate went up while I was still.
  7. The glass (on the stainless steel version) is very durable. Not a single scratch in a year.
  8. The Solo braided loops are the most comfortable & convenient watch straps I have ever used.
  9. Amazing obsolescence. Apart from new sensors, you would be hard pressed to find a difference between different generations of watches. Each generation gets OS updates for at least 3/4 years.
High Heart Rate at Rest
High Heart Rate at Rest

What I don’t like about it

  1. The battery life is abysmal. I can’t even go away for a night without worrying about the watch dying. Once I even had to charge it between 2 connecting flights.
  2. I don’t like how it looks. To me, it looks quite like a burn blister on the skin. I much preferred the Withings smart watches in this regard. They were just beautiful.
  3. Every new app installed on the phone gets notifications enabled by default on the watch. Can sometimes be annoying.

My watch is now almost 3 generations old already and I plan to get the 2021 model when it is out. If nothing else, I hope it has a better battery life than the current ones.