I went from S6 to S9 when the battery life was no longer getting me through the day, and then to S10. Other than battery life (which really is a very good improvement) I find nothing different in terms of how I use it - indeed, the loss of the blood O2 sensor means the S10 is less functional for me than was the S6. The thinner form factor feels like a minor upgrade, but otherwise most of the new features (apnea stuff, swimming stuff) are not things I make use of. I don't regret the upgrades - thanks to lucky open-box / trade-in deals the S6>S9 upgrade cost about the same as a battery replacement and then the net cost for the S10 upgrade from S9 was about $30 for me. So, I'm still happy with it, but I can see why people would not feel compelled to upgrade except for battery life.
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As we approach the fall - was Apple Watch Series 10 a bit of a flop?
- Thread starter Adelphos33
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I bought the S10 because of the thinner design and, more importantly, the Titanium finish. I like how Ti is lighter than the Stainless Steel, but still gorgeous. I don't like the Ultra design, so I'm very happy we get the Titanium again with the S10.
Agree with this.
Obviously, the total addressable market is limited to iPhone users, and the realistic market is limited to the fraction of iPhone users that need the AW features and that are willing to be locked in deeper. This deep into the cycle, that market must be close to being saturated. So significant growth would only be expected if there was a major improvement in features, and that would be a one-off event (as existing users upgraded or a few additional users entered the market).
On a personal level, I upgraded to an AW8 from an AW4 because I couldn't replace the AW4 battery (a charging fault). I expect the AW8 to work well for a few years, and the features are good enough for me. At that point, I might look for a replacement if the AW8 can't be fixed, but not before.
From Series 7 to Series 10... A change that I greatly appreciate.
It should be noted that many people would not be able to distinguish whether they are wearing a Samsung watch, an Apple watch, or a generic chinese one. For the more "experienced/advanced" user or someone who appreciates certain details more... well, the story is different.
But I agree that the Series 7 was a bigger leap. The funny thing is that this is something I stood by from the very beginning (that's why I bought the Series 7) although back then a lot of people thought it was more of the same because the watch wasn't round or some such nonsense.
I imagine that in a few years, some people will look back on the Series 10 as an clear improvement.
It should be noted that many people would not be able to distinguish whether they are wearing a Samsung watch, an Apple watch, or a generic chinese one. For the more "experienced/advanced" user or someone who appreciates certain details more... well, the story is different.
But I agree that the Series 7 was a bigger leap. The funny thing is that this is something I stood by from the very beginning (that's why I bought the Series 7) although back then a lot of people thought it was more of the same because the watch wasn't round or some such nonsense.
I imagine that in a few years, some people will look back on the Series 10 as an clear improvement.
It's not quite a flop, but I have noticed the S10 has been discounted quite a bit in comparison to previous years.
I'm not holding my breath for anything major with the S11.
But I suspect they'll get blood pressure and new colours. S10 colours were so limited.
I feel Apple is also at a crossroads with their watches. They've fallen into the dreaded jack of all trades, master of none category. Especially in their Series lineup.
Meanwhile the Ultra has remained stagnant, with average battery life, and still lacks a one button precision start.
I'm not holding my breath for anything major with the S11.
But I suspect they'll get blood pressure and new colours. S10 colours were so limited.
I feel Apple is also at a crossroads with their watches. They've fallen into the dreaded jack of all trades, master of none category. Especially in their Series lineup.
Meanwhile the Ultra has remained stagnant, with average battery life, and still lacks a one button precision start.
I came from a Series 5 and for me it has been a decent upgrade. Not sure I'd class the Series 10 as a flop as the Apple Watch is very popular and not known as a device that people upgrade very often. I saw an article a while back and it said the upgrade cycle is typically 4 years on average and that makes sense. I kept my Series 5 for 5 years and now my daughter is still wearing it. It is also not a product that changes vastly year on year and I don't think it needs to either. One thing I like is the strap design has never changed and this has enabled people to build up collections and wear across different watches they've owned. Considering bands start at £49, I think it would be a bit of a con for Apple to change it and make people collections redundant. Credit to them for supporting this.
I have started wearing my mechanical watches at weekends this year after pretty much solely wearing an Apple Watch since 2017. I find its nice to detach myself a couple of days a week and enjoy a proper watch again and its amazing how many people comment that you're wearing a watch rather than a smartwatch, which sort of shows how commonplace smartwatches have become.
I have started wearing my mechanical watches at weekends this year after pretty much solely wearing an Apple Watch since 2017. I find its nice to detach myself a couple of days a week and enjoy a proper watch again and its amazing how many people comment that you're wearing a watch rather than a smartwatch, which sort of shows how commonplace smartwatches have become.
Which model did you get? Mine is the Jet black and no issues with chis or flaking thankfully. Looking at it as I write this, the watch is as pristine as it was on launch day tbh, no scratches as yet. I think if the watch case started flaking on mine, it would not be an AppleCare issue, but a warranty replacement, but then I am in the UK where laws are different for this sort of thing.
The black model. Here’s what it looked like after a while.
This was the first replacement.
Wow, nothing like that with mine, perhaps a manufacturing defect or a reaction to skin oils? If mine does that within 2 years, I'll be asking to swap it with the silver version.The black model. Here’s what it looked like after a while.
This was the first replacement.
I have a series 6, there is nothing markedly different with the series 10 that was tempting me. The ultra had features and a look that was more appealing to me, but at a price tag of 800 dollars, its not something I was willing to spend
Yeah, I snagged a S10 for my wife at $100 off on Best Buy. For that, it's a great deal. She had a S6 and it was showing its age.
I just think the Apple Watch is pretty iterative with upgrades at this point. Unless yours breaks, whatever you have is fine.
Hmm, I can only say that my series 5 seems none the worse for wear (expect for a few scrapes; I appear to have this penchant for turning around walls too closely and scraping my watch against surfaces). And I am certainly not secreting acid (I hope). 😛
I had the series 10 ti for 3 months and then went back to my series 7 ss. I loved the lighter weight of the ti model and thinner profile but my biggest problem was the series 7-9 just looks much better than the series 10 in my opinion. I don't care for the more square screen and larger bezels of the series 10. As you mentioned, some of the watch faces I liked didn't look good on the series 10 and I only used a black background to hide the larger black bezels. Apple really should have kept the aspect ratio the same on the series 10. I don't understand why make the screen larger but you don't have any watch faces that take advantage of the larger screen. I think apple dropped the ball on the series 10. If the series 11 keeps the same design I'm not sure what I will do. I guess either get a battery replacement for my series 7 or look at the Ultra 3.
Larger bezels? The screen was the closest to the edge of any Apple Watch before it, not to mention it was a thinner design overall. I'm on my third Apple Watch (S2, S5, S10) and can't see what you mean at all tbh.
Here’s the 10 (left) vs the 7. The black bezel around the screen is quite a bit thicker on the series 10. You may not notice coming from a 5.
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It's true, the metal chassis encapsulates less of the glass display, which reveals more black bezel. However, the combined bezel width (metal + black) is 3% less than previous gen.
My S7's battery wasn't performing well (used to go 24hr+ but probably down to about 60% of that), and I decided to get S10. I switch between them, maybe it will extend life of S10. Apart from the better battery performance, S10 was not much of an upgrade and because the oxygen sensor is not doing anything, in that respect, it is a downgrade.
I'm very much not interested in S11 even if it has BP sensor, or is a little thinner/lighter, what I really want is for them to settle the lawsuit (license the technology that they claim not to be using, or buy the company) so they can enable O2 feature on my S10. It may well be Apple did not steal any technology, but the status quo is harmful to their USA sales and customers.
I'm very much not interested in S11 even if it has BP sensor, or is a little thinner/lighter, what I really want is for them to settle the lawsuit (license the technology that they claim not to be using, or buy the company) so they can enable O2 feature on my S10. It may well be Apple did not steal any technology, but the status quo is harmful to their USA sales and customers.
The base watch and SE supposed to be charged every day, getting to 36 hours is really good
I have heard some reviewers say that the smaller Series 10 (42mm) has a better, less square aspect ratio. I’m worried about the Ultra 3 aspect ratio given it apparently will have a slightly larger screen
I returned the series 10 after 3 months, bought during the holiday return period from Walmart. These are the watch faces I compared. I thought the Nike face looked weird on the series 10. I used California with the black background the most
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Having owned the AW10 for a bit now.
Some observations.
I wear the watch 23 hours a day and charge it for a hour~ Thanks to fast charging possible
Fast charging is the biggest improvement of my AW4,SE2, Ultra1.
Beside that brutally honest, the activity apps are still the same lackluster apps, 3rth party app support still sucks for some apps such as whatsapp (not apple`s fault)
AOD is not really a biggy for me, raise wrist to see display worked fine for me on the AW4 and SE2.
Speed increase not noticeable at all, i never felt my AW4 was slow and 6 generations later i still do the exact same stuff on my AW10 as i did on my AW4.
Siri is better now standalone though, i never really used it in the past as it always was a bit **** for me, i am started to use it a bit more daily now, starting to slowely get a liking for it as the screen is so small for typing and stuff.
in LTE standalone mode it feels no different then my AW4 in fact every AW including the Ultra feels the same experience in a different package.
I mainly upgrade due replacing batteries are economically not worth it after 3/4 years of usage.
I hope with IOS26 and AI i get some real benefits out of the watch going forward, otherwise its just another AW4 experience for me mainly for the past 6 years.
Some observations.
I wear the watch 23 hours a day and charge it for a hour~ Thanks to fast charging possible
Fast charging is the biggest improvement of my AW4,SE2, Ultra1.
Beside that brutally honest, the activity apps are still the same lackluster apps, 3rth party app support still sucks for some apps such as whatsapp (not apple`s fault)
AOD is not really a biggy for me, raise wrist to see display worked fine for me on the AW4 and SE2.
Speed increase not noticeable at all, i never felt my AW4 was slow and 6 generations later i still do the exact same stuff on my AW10 as i did on my AW4.
Siri is better now standalone though, i never really used it in the past as it always was a bit **** for me, i am started to use it a bit more daily now, starting to slowely get a liking for it as the screen is so small for typing and stuff.
in LTE standalone mode it feels no different then my AW4 in fact every AW including the Ultra feels the same experience in a different package.
I mainly upgrade due replacing batteries are economically not worth it after 3/4 years of usage.
I hope with IOS26 and AI i get some real benefits out of the watch going forward, otherwise its just another AW4 experience for me mainly for the past 6 years.
With the possible exception of the reflection face, every one of those faces look better on the older watch model. And even the reflection face is very close. These pics show how the Series 10 square aspect ratio alters the faces in a negative way, IMO
No no no… Try them on AOD mode.
I did this with my Series 7 and the Series 10 and Contour face was garbage on Series 7. It always was, because in AOD mode it stayed far from the edges of the screen.