Now that the Apple Watch Series 10 is here, I’m buying the Series 9

As funny as it is, I doubt Tim Cook will take the stage to announce that Apple’s newest product isn’t the best version the company has ever made. Naturally, Apple Watch Series 10 is the company’s most impressive smart watch yet. After all, he is the last of the cast. But just because it’s brilliant and has gone a few steps forward doesn’t mean it’s the best value for money option.

With repeated upgrades becoming the norm for smartwatches, it often makes more financial sense to consider previous models. This is true as follows: Samsung Galaxy Watch UltraIt’s an ultra-expensive device that makes the older Galaxy Watch 5 Pro an even more attractive prospect. With the arrival of Apple Watch Series 10, Watch Series 9 looks like a better bet.

Although I tend to stick with older devices, I don’t hate the new ones. However, as innovation in the smartwatch space slows down, older devices age more gracefully and remain technologically relevant in later years.

The Apple Watch series is a great example of this. Newer models have offered many minimal changes, mainly due to the platform reaching maturity. It is much more difficult to achieve breakthroughs from a highly advanced device than from a new concept.

So when the Apple Watch Series 10 arrived, I wasn’t exactly surprised to see it boast a few monumental additions. It includes many generational transitions, such as larger display options with better viewing angles, a new Apple chipset, and a titanium body option. Lighter and thinner designs are added to the spec list, along with a built-in speaker that’s loud enough to play music from your wrist.

You could argue that all these small changes add up to a big upgrade when viewed as a whole, but the Series 10 is only a small step up from the previous series. Series 9 takes its place. All of this rather keeps the older Apple Watch model in the game.

The Series 9 didn’t look like a significant upgrade over the Series 8 either when it launched in 2023. However, it introduced a key feature that will facilitate many more advances: the new chipset with an auxiliary neural engine. This combination allows the Series 9 to perform a variety of AI calculations on the wrist, from processing Siri commands on the device (even without an internet connection) to retrieving or logging fitness data via voice query. To a lesser extent, it also powers Double-Tap gesture control, which can initiate actions in various apps and menus. Series 9 is packed with features.

Compare this to the Series 10’s great feature: water depth and temperature sensors borrowed from the Series. Apple Watch Ultra liner. I don’t need to argue that these are strictly niche. Unless it is a city where all residents swim to work, these features will not benefit the general population. While it makes a lot of sense in a smartwatch designed for the great outdoors, it doesn’t quite mesh with the Series 10’s use cases.

As a result, the Series 10 doesn’t do enough to differentiate itself from its predecessor. For me, the Series 9 is by far the better buy.

Since the Apple Watch doesn’t offer many significant hardware upgrades between series, the biggest user experience changes come from its software. watchOS 11 It brings a host of updates to the wrist, including sleep apnea detection, a key health feature introduced for the first time in the Series 10.

Other improvements in watchOS 11 include updates to the Fitness app, including the ability to pause activity rings, the introduction of workout loadouts and vitals, the introduction of standalone Translation and Music Recognition apps, and (my favorite) contextual Smart Stack improvements. You don’t need the latest Apple Watch model to have all these features; Presumably these additions will affect the user’s experience. In a sense, having the latest Apple Watch hardware is less important than running the latest watchOS version.

More importantly, watchOS 11 will be coming to Series 9. This isn’t a Series 10-exclusive release, although Apple spent much of its launch event runtime detailing its additions. The Series 9 will also get most, if not all, of the company’s upcoming Apple Intelligence features and future AI developments. Apple has generally supported its smartwatches for about five years; That’s plenty of time to enjoy the spoils of a slightly older but cheaper smartwatch.

All of this means one thing: the best time to buy the Series 9 is now. I’m not knocking the Series 10 in any way. It’s a solid device on paper, and it’s admirable that Apple continues to anchor its Apple Watch models at the $399 price point. It doesn’t offer as much value as its currently discounted predecessor.

A cursory Amazon search shows Series 9 is available just over $300 And close to $200 If you’re shopping on the used market, it’s on eBay. Even the original Apple Watch Ultra can be purchased for around $400 right now, making it a great investment even without the fancy neural network intelligence.

However, value can be very subjective. One person might value the Series 10’s larger screen size or music-enabled speaker more than another. In this case, I don’t blame you for wanting the new watch. But for those looking for a strong, basic Apple Watch experience, the Series 9 still does the job and then some.