Apple Watch Battery Replacement Series 4 Cellular- Worth It?

[trumptman]

I'm not a big Apple Watch user but we have this series 4 cellular that has gone through all the family member upgrades and now will be sitting in a drawer. I checked the battery health and it is 77%. The battery replacement price is $79. Should I pay to get the battery replaced and enjoy playing with this series 4 or should it be turned in for some future purchase of something along those lines. As I mentioned it has already been handed down through the family. I was going to use it for Fitness Plus and just as a sort of iPod rather than carry a phone around when using my sport watch. The replacement is certainly cheaper than even the SE2.

Thoughts and opinions please.

 

[ymarker]

My daily driver is a used series 4. Battery health is 90+%. Works fine for the mild use it gets. if the battery lasts a full day for you, why bother replacing anything.

 

[mk313]

If it were mine, I would do the battery change for $79. But for what you plan to use it for, you should be fine for a couple of weeks using it how it is. I'd recommend trying using it for Fitness+ & music to see if you like it or not. If you do, $79 is not bad at all. I just upgraded to a 6 today, but before that was using a 5 & it was perfectly fine in every day use. I think your 4 will perform very similarly.

 

[papbot]

or should it be turned in for some future purchase of something along those lines.

You’d get so little, if anything, for it but for $79 you essentially have a new fully functional device that does most of what the current ones do. We had a series 0 then a 5 and now our 8/Ultra are on order. In between those series there was no compelling reason to upgrade. Even now if we hadn’t been entranced by the Ultra and the 8 we would probably be very happy keeping our 5s, they’re both in the 90+ battery health and it would be worth getting a battery replacement when it became necessary but we decided to splurge this year.

 

[russell_314]

If you have a use for it, then it’s definitely worth it. I just had it done on my Series 4. It was $85 and some change with tax for me and I think well worth it.

Just as a sidenote, if you’re buying an Apple Watch, consider getting AppleCare. It’s the same price as a battery replacement and it lasts for two years. If you’re going to use the watch every day there’s a good chance the battery will fall below 80% within two years. I took my Series 6 in about two months before AppleCare expired if I remember right. Basically you’re paying for a battery replacement ahead of time and getting damage coverage just in case.

 

[doolar]

I did it on my S5 aluminium, well worth it since you get a new watch. I’m doing it with my wife’s S4 too.

I couldn’t resist the Ultra, but I’ll probably hand the S5 down to my son, giving him in reality a brand new watch.

 

[jagooch]

If you have a use for it, then it’s definitely worth it. I just had it done on my Series 4. It was $85 and some change with tax for me and I think well worth it.

Just as a sidenote, if you’re buying an Apple Watch, consider getting AppleCare. It’s the same price as a battery replacement and it lasts for two years. If you’re going to use the watch every day there’s a good chance the battery will fall below 80% within two years. I took my Series 6 in about two months before AppleCare expired if I remember right. Basically you’re paying for a battery replacement ahead of time and getting damage coverage just in case.

How long did it take them to replace the battery? Could you have it done at an Apple Store in an hour or so? Or did you have to mail it into a repair center to fix it?

Btw, it took 5 years for my AW 4 battery health to go below 80%.

 

[russell_314]

How long did it take them to replace the battery? Could you have it done at an Apple Store in an hour or so? Or did you have to mail it into a repair center to fix it?

Btw, it took 5 years for my AW 4 battery health to go below 80%.

It took them about a week. I didn’t mail it in but I’m guessing they sent it to a repair center. They replaced the watch instead of replacing the battery. I suspect they replaced the battery in mine and refurbished it for another customer.