I’ll be up front from the beginning here: the Apple Watch and its various iterations have been on my wrist for the last 9 years. I’ve taken it off for the odd day – or part of a day should I say – but it’s been present for weddings, funerals, black tie parties and even my own wedding day (up until I actually walked down the aisle).
When I started wearing the Apple Watch Series 9, it only had to convince me I liked it more than the Watch Ultra 2, rather than convince me to wear a smartwatch and pick Apple as the one to wear. Still, I’m going to tell you why the Apple Watch Series 9 is a great smartwatch and importantly, what it could do better.
The Disconnekt Downlow
Pros
+ Range of sensors
+ Good features
+ Great exercise tracking
Cons
– Same design
– No recovery suggestion
– Similar to Series 8
The Apple Watch Series 9 is an excellent smartwatch, delivering superb features and a brilliant user experience. There are a couple of things I’d love to see in future models but overall, there is pretty much everything you could want from a smartwatch here. It’s the Apple Watch – and the smartwatch – I would wholeheartedly recommend over and over again.
The reasons you should choose the Apple Watch Series 9
The Apple Watch Series 9 does a lot of things really well. It is excellent at tracking exercise, it’s the perfect companion to your iPhone for delivering timely notifications so you don’t need to get your phone out all the time and it’s brilliant for making you get up and move. Trust me, closing the rings becomes an addiction.
The design hasn’t changed much since the original Apple Watch that landed in 2015 but that means that any straps that early adopters bought remain compatible across the generations, and if you’ve bought any of the official straps, you’ll know how important that is. That design also works well. It’s recognisable, comfortable to wear and the different finishes and sizes (41mm and 45mm) mean there’s are options for a variety of users – I wear the 41mm model but I did get used to the 45mm model when I wore the Series 8 so it’s really about personal preference.
IMAGE CREDIT: THE DISCONNEKT
Within that design, plenty of sensors are on board, the screen has expanded to fill more of the space available and there are some extra gestures too, like Double Tap, which arrived with the Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 thanks to a new chip that is effectively the brain behind everything the latest Apple Watch models do.
People want a smartwatch for different reasons, but whatever that reason, the Apple Watch Series 9 will rise to the occasion. My personal favourite use is exercise tracking, because it is superb on the Apple Watch Series 9.
“
People want a smartwatch for different reasons, but whatever that reason is, the Apple Watch Series 9 will rise to the occasion.
If you’re a runner, there are plenty of features like Pacer and the ability to create a custom workout directly from it that are useful, but it isn’t just for runners.
I use it for outdoor walks, strength training and tracking Peloton workouts, as well as sleep. Its heart rate tracking is one of the best out there in terms of accuracy on a wrist-worn device, but that – coupled with all the other extra features it brings – makes it a best-in-class smartwatch.
What the Apple Watch Series 9 could do better
It’s not perfect of course – nothing ever is, right? I mentioned the design having not moved on too much since the original and that is both a positive and a negative about the Watch Series 9. It would benefit from a refresh, or at least the extra Action Button that you’ll find on the Watch Ultra 2 – and the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max – now. That would mean you could start a workout faster, rather than having to dive into the menus to find Outdoor Walk every time you go for a stroll and want to record it.
It could also deliver steps as a metric better. Fair enough, Apple uses Rings on Apple Watch to measure your activity and monitor how much you are moving, but steps are also a metric a lot of people like to use as a gauge for how much – or little – they are moving.
IMAGE CREDIT: THE DISCONNEKT
I aim to close my Rings everyday, but I also like to know I’ve hit 10,000 steps too. The ability to add a steps complication on a watch face without a third-party app would be great. On a similar note, I’d like to see some form of analysis of the data the Apple Watch Series 9 collects to then recommend if you should have a rest day.
Similar to Garmin’s Body Battery and Fitbit’s Daily Readiness, Apple has the data to determine if you are working too hard and whether you need a break, it just doesn’t use it yet. You can use a third-party app like Gentler Streak, but this is a feature I’d like to see in future software updates. Elsewhere, battery life on par with the Watch Ultra 2 would also be up there on the wish list.
A little about the watchOS 10 software
It wouldn’t be right to talk about the Apple Watch Series 9 without mentioning software because while the Series 9 has a range of extra features compared to older Apple Watch models, the general user experience you’ll get is the same across all Apple Watch models that run watchOS 10 (Apple Watch Series 4 and newer).
With watchOS 10, Apple made some significant changes to the overall Watch interface. It introduced widgets when you swipe up from the bottom of the screen, which by default moved access to the Control Centre (where you can switch to silent, ping your iPhone and turn on airplane mode) to the side button below the Digital Crown. It also added new watch faces, including Snoopy, which I absolutely adore.
IMAGE CREDIT: THE DISCONNEKT
The Double Tap feature on Apple Watch Series 9 – which is a combination of hardware and software – allows you to pinch your thumb and index finger together to answer a call, start a prompted workout or end a call, for example.
There’s also Precision Finding for iPhone with Watch Series 9, which helps direct you to your iPhone on the Watch screen rather than just pinging your iPhone. Both are great and add to an already excellent user experience provided by watchOS 10.
IMAGE CREDIT: THE DISCONNEKT
Should you buy the Apple Watch Series 9?
Short answer to this question would be a straight up yes. The Apple Watch Series 9 is an excellent smartwatch, delivering superb features and a brilliant user experience.
There are a couple of things I’d love to see – a design refresh and a recovery reading for exercise would be lovely – but overall, there is pretty much everything you could want from a smartwatch here. It’s the Apple Watch – and the smartwatch – I would wholeheartedly recommend over and over again.
IMAGE CREDIT: THE DISCONNEKT
FAQs
The Apple Watch Series 9 doesn’t add any new sensors over the Watch Series 8, but it does add a new chip (or brain as I like to call it) so it is more capable overall. The new chip means it delivers extra features like Double Tap and Precision Finding for iPhone compared to the Series 8, but otherwise, the design, sensors and general software experiences are all the same.
Double Tap is a feature available on the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 that allows you to double tap your thumb and index finger together in order to interact with your smartwatch one-handed. It is useful for when you are holding a cup of coffee, or walking the dog for example. It only works with certain elements, like answering a call, ending a call, recording a prompted workout if you forgot, for example, but it is handy and works well.
Precision Finding is a feature Apple introduced when it launched AirTags in 2021. It gives you precise directions and distance to the device you are looking for on your iPhone for AirTags or on your Apple Watch Series 9 or Watch Ultra 2 when you’ve pinged your iPhone. If you have left your iPhone between the sofa cushions for example, the Apple Watch Series 9 will give you a direction to move in and tell you how far away you are from your iPhone, sending an additional ping as you get closer.
