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Aluminum vs Stainless Steel

T

Tanax

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 15, 2011
1,046
450
Stockholm, Sweden
Hi!

I'm curious to hear which one of these you prefer and what made you choose one over the other?
I'm on the fence. I'm rocking a S3 and really want the bigger screen size as well as cellular! But the SS is like 40% more expensive!

I realise that this is a question that is very personal and "it's worth it to me, YMMV" type of responses, which is why I'm interested in hearing what made you choose one over the other so I can form my own decision instead of asking directly which one I should buy :)
 
I have been back and forth on this so many times. I have owned both. If you are OK with little marks on your screen the Aluminum will be fine. I had an AW3 and it got little marks on it in a short time. I saw a lady who did some yard work and just small branches scratched the $%#@ out of the screen. I was shocked. I have the Aluminum AW4 and it has one TINY little spot on it but few would notice. I am cursed with a testing eye.

The stainless.. IMO, it just feels and looks like a whole different watch. Good weight. Nice glass. Much more durable. It will likely shatter before scratching. I am likely going to sell my AW4 Aluminum and pickup a AW4 Stainless.

Don’t get me wrong.. the AW4 Aluminum is very nice. I love mine. It looks great and works perfectly (well.. except for the battery with some of the iOS 13 betas).

A big consideration is is you upgrade frequently. The hit you take on stainless is MUCH bigger and the market for buying one is smaller. It can take longer to sell the SS version than to quickly sell the Aluminum.
 
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With the early Apple Watch models, the stainless steel watch had a sapphire crystal display. I have the original Apple Watch and I've had it for years. It has no scratches and I am VERY rough on it. My sister has had 3 aluminum watches and all of hers have scratched and see sits at a desk all day. Not sure if this is still the same for the Apple Watch 5?
 
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I mainly just like how the SS/SBSS look over the Al model. (OooOOOooOhhhh, SHINY!). The sapphire is a nice plus, too, but it really just comes down to the looks.

Had an SS S0, SBSS S3. Really wanted to order the Al S5 because it's way cheaper, but just couldn't do it. Ended up paying extra for SS. Don't care about cellular. Not too worried about ion-x vs sapphire, really. So the entire price delta to me is just for SS. It's about not seeing the matte aluminum finish every time I look at it.

Along the way ended up with an Al S1 that I gave to my wife. She doesn't care which finish she has and thinks it's great.
 
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I have owned both Aluminum and SS S4 watches. I prefer the SS hands down. It's much more durable. I have always gotten scratches on the body and face of all of my aluminum watches and will never order another aluminum model for this reason.
 
Like above, I have owned both. I find the aluminum to scratch easily, and the SS model don't. Besides the look, you are paying more for durability to me.
 
I prefer to get the new watch every yea and the SS loses its value so fast and tanks.

The loss on the aluminum is minimum which makes the upgrade easier annually in my scenario,
 
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Stainless. (Let me pre-face by saying I don’t care about the resale value, so I don’t need one telling me that I’m losing money.:D)

But here’s why I don’t like the aluminum. It’s durable, but it feels to light, which I think feels cheap to me. But mostly, I’m not impressed with the Ion-X Glass (Which is Similar to the iPhone material), it’s scratches too easily and I’m one of those people that doesn’t want to see any scratches on the 44 mm display, [And no, I don’t want a screen protector either.] The Sapphire display alone sells the stainless model for me, aside from the weight, it feels premium with the stainless.
 
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Never had any scratch on any aluminum in 3 years and 3 different versions.

I also usually am pretty anal about my tech though so I may not be the best case scenario :)
 
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BigStrip said:
With the early Apple Watch models, the stainless steel watch had a sapphire crystal display. I have the original Apple Watch and I've had it for years. It has no scratches and I am VERY rough on it. My sister has had 3 aluminum watches and all of hers have scratched and see sits at a desk all day. Not sure if this is still the same for the Apple Watch 5?
Click to expand...

The SS series 5 does have sapphire glass.
 
If money was no object I'd prefer SS or perhaps even consider Titanium if purchasing an S5. Especially considering the offers some are reporting with their trade in value from Apple on S4 models.

Personally, I own S2 and S4 aluminum, neither of which has a scratch on the screen due to using screen protection. If I'm not in the shower one of them is on my wrist at all times. Yardwork, hiking, cycling, gym etc. The case and screen have held up quite well for me but I've also seen pictures to the contrary. YMMV. I also came from wearing traditional watches and always preferred ahefty, weighty feeling watch on my wrist--or I was. I changed my perspective on this after wearing aluminum every day since the initial purchase. I've now come to appreciate the light feel of it, I barely even notice it on my wrist.

For me, it came down to not wanting cellular, not wanting to pay for a watch which is dependent on developing technologies and going to see updates year over year. Once Watch matures or unless there's a feature only available in non aluminum versions, I can see my prerogative changing. I truly covet a SS model, they're beautiful. For now I'm very satisfied with Aluminum.
 
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Space black stainless steel series 4 44mm. Bought the watch to have a watch. Had a aluminium series 3 black.
Wanted a watch that looks nice and that I’ll keep for a good number of years. It does everything I want. Not sure what could be better. Series 4 with stainless steel band and a few other bands.
 
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I love my Series 0 link bracelet too much to move away from steel. If I only used the sport straps, I’d go aluminum.
 
Worth the extra for the almost indestructible screen. Everyone I know with the aluminium models has scratches.

The SS looks a lot nicer but given the price difference I would happily ‘settle’ for an aluminium model if it wasn’t for the difference in screen, it’s a deal breaker for me.
 
Stainless steel easily if you can afford it.

My S2 SB SS has been to hell and back and still looks pristine.

I'm upgrading to the SB SS S5 this year.
 
Relentless Power said:
Stainless. (Let me pre-face by saying I don’t care about the resale value, so I don’t need one telling me that I’m losing money.:D)

But here’s why I don’t like the aluminum. It’s durable, but it feels to light, which I think feels cheap to me. But mostly, I’m not impressed with the Ion-X Glass (Which is Similar to the iPhone material), it’s scratches too easily and I’m one of those people that doesn’t want to see any scratches on the 44 mm display, [And no, I don’t want a screen protector either.] The Sapphire display alone sells the stainless model for me, aside from the weight, it feels premium with the stainless.
Click to expand...
I couldn’t believe it when I saw you could get cases and screen protectors for the AW. I find the idea a bit hilarious. If I need that level of protection for something you wear on your wrist I wouldn’t consider it fit for purpose.
 
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I've had aluminum in the past. Always seemed to end up with a ding that I got to stare at for the rest of time. Even using a cover for when I was working on various automotive or home improvement projects. Usually ended up hitting a door or doorway or something at some point.

Switched to SBSS with my AW4. I still practice the same protection drill, I still end up smacking it into stuff once in a while.

Yet a year later my SBSS still looks pristine.

Worth it for me.
 
What I don’t understand is why Apple only puts sapphire glass on the £700+ models? If you can get it on a £100 watch, why can’t it be put on the Aluminium? Is it a marketing thing to sell the more expensive models I wonder?
 
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The-Real-Deal82 said:
What I don’t understand is why Apple only puts sapphire glass on the £700+ models? If you can get it on a £100 watch, why can’t it be put on the Aluminium? Is it a marketing thing to sell the more expensive models I wonder?
Click to expand...

I'd imagine it's part marketing, part cost and part weight, since the Ion X is lighter.
 
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I have both and I'm getting rid of the aluminum and getting another SS. I went a long time with no scratches on my aluminum but I recently noticed a few on the glass. My SS has no scratches except a few on the body which I can polish out with a cap cod cloth. SS feels premium.
 
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Wow, a lot of responses!!!

I think I can summarise everything into two things why you choose SS over Alu: Durability and premium look.
Regarding durability, I can find NOTHING on the website saying that the glass material is different between the two models on AW5, where do you see that?

I had SS for my first AW0 but since then I have gone with Alu on both AW2 and AW3 and have never ever got any scratches - that's without any protection, and I even sometimes bump the entire watch into a door frames, still no scratches. What do you do to get scratches on them? They seem super durable? :O Maybe I've jinxed mine now though, lol :D

I also compared the prices now again since I failed to take into account that the SS came standard with cellular. If I get cellular on the Alu, the difference is not as much. It's like 33% more expensive for the SS, or (converted) around $250 more.

Regarding premium look; Definitely agree that the SS looks more refined.
 
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