The Series 6 was released over four years ago in September 2020, and thanks to a benefit I had at a previous job, I was able to obtain one for free, which was a good thing because frankly I’m not sure I would have coughed up the $430+ it cost otherwise without it. Before the Series 6, I bought a Series 3 about a year and a half before. If I remember correctly, the Series 3 was being treated kind of like an SE model before the SE was released (alongside the Series 6). I think I paid about $230 or so for it. The Series 3 served me well in that short time, but its flaws were apparent very quickly: lots of lag, lack of memory, and a screen that doesn’t stay always on, nor as bright or big.
Luckily, the Series 6 solved all of these issues with a bigger, brighter screen (44MM) and much speedier thanks to the S6 chip. It also has plenty of sensors and such that made it feel like a decent jump from the Series 3. This same processor essentially was used for quite a while on the Apple Watch, which makes sense because there really isn’t much need to have a watch be crazy powerful. Something that I have that all new Apple Watches lack, however, is of course the blood oxygen sensor!
Durability
I have a (PROUCT)RED watch, never had it in a case, and I work in a job where it would definitely hit against hard surfaces. It definitely is scratched and dinged up, but it is nothing too serious. I wear it in the shower, around dusty environments, when I swim, etc., and it seems to hold up just fine.
The battery after four+ years is down to 75% total capacity, and with light use (just using it to check notifications, time, weather) it will last up to 16 hours all the way to about 1%. In normal use (using it to see how long I got on Uber, Workouts activated, maybe use an app here and there, it lasts about 10-12 hours, so it needs a charge before putting it back on for bed. I’m not actually sure when I will get a new Watch, but I suspect once the battery gets to be super annoying it will be around then. A year from now I suspect that in normal use, it lasts just a full work day, needs to be charged before bed, and even charged as much as I can get it charged before work.
Longevity
So how does it stack up against the current watches? Well, compared to the 10, the screen is bigger and brighter at 2000 nits vs 1000, the 10 also has temperature sensing, crash detection, a depth gauge, water temp sensor, the “double tap” gesture, faster charging, and a 36-hour low power mode. There are certain things you can do with the UI that you can’t on the S6 as well. Of course, it is much thinner as well. While that stuff is great, it’s more of a case of “if you don’t know what you’re missing then you aren’t really missing anything” kind of deal. I will say that the Series 10 is the first watch that I can remember that looked noticeably different than any other watch besides the Ultra series.
If it will get new updates past watchOS11 remains to be seen. On one hand, the SiP from S6-S8 are virtually identical so there shouldn't be any technical reason not to support the S6, but this is also Apple we are talking about so who knows. I suspect though that Apple will support the 6-8 through security updates the next few years as they move towards using the neural cores that are in the 9 on up, and besides I’m not even really sure how Apple would even improve upon the OS without taking advantage of the newer hardware. As of now I am planning on sticking with my Series 6 until the battery becomes unbearable or it dies, so probably another year or two?
How about you guys? Any of you using your older watches still? I just have a hard time thinking about buying another watch. When I got the S6, I gave the S3 to a family member and they were able to use it for another three years, basically until they bought a new watch a year ago. Is there anything you guys are doing on your newer watch versus your older ones?
Luckily, the Series 6 solved all of these issues with a bigger, brighter screen (44MM) and much speedier thanks to the S6 chip. It also has plenty of sensors and such that made it feel like a decent jump from the Series 3. This same processor essentially was used for quite a while on the Apple Watch, which makes sense because there really isn’t much need to have a watch be crazy powerful. Something that I have that all new Apple Watches lack, however, is of course the blood oxygen sensor!
Durability
I have a (PROUCT)RED watch, never had it in a case, and I work in a job where it would definitely hit against hard surfaces. It definitely is scratched and dinged up, but it is nothing too serious. I wear it in the shower, around dusty environments, when I swim, etc., and it seems to hold up just fine.
The battery after four+ years is down to 75% total capacity, and with light use (just using it to check notifications, time, weather) it will last up to 16 hours all the way to about 1%. In normal use (using it to see how long I got on Uber, Workouts activated, maybe use an app here and there, it lasts about 10-12 hours, so it needs a charge before putting it back on for bed. I’m not actually sure when I will get a new Watch, but I suspect once the battery gets to be super annoying it will be around then. A year from now I suspect that in normal use, it lasts just a full work day, needs to be charged before bed, and even charged as much as I can get it charged before work.
Longevity
So how does it stack up against the current watches? Well, compared to the 10, the screen is bigger and brighter at 2000 nits vs 1000, the 10 also has temperature sensing, crash detection, a depth gauge, water temp sensor, the “double tap” gesture, faster charging, and a 36-hour low power mode. There are certain things you can do with the UI that you can’t on the S6 as well. Of course, it is much thinner as well. While that stuff is great, it’s more of a case of “if you don’t know what you’re missing then you aren’t really missing anything” kind of deal. I will say that the Series 10 is the first watch that I can remember that looked noticeably different than any other watch besides the Ultra series.
If it will get new updates past watchOS11 remains to be seen. On one hand, the SiP from S6-S8 are virtually identical so there shouldn't be any technical reason not to support the S6, but this is also Apple we are talking about so who knows. I suspect though that Apple will support the 6-8 through security updates the next few years as they move towards using the neural cores that are in the 9 on up, and besides I’m not even really sure how Apple would even improve upon the OS without taking advantage of the newer hardware. As of now I am planning on sticking with my Series 6 until the battery becomes unbearable or it dies, so probably another year or two?
How about you guys? Any of you using your older watches still? I just have a hard time thinking about buying another watch. When I got the S6, I gave the S3 to a family member and they were able to use it for another three years, basically until they bought a new watch a year ago. Is there anything you guys are doing on your newer watch versus your older ones?
