AW9 – did not expect much, still disappointed

[H_D]

Really, coming from an Apple Watch S7, I expected a small, evolutionary step up the ladder. But in reality this feels like the same watch. Same form factor, same color. Double Tap does not work. UWB-FindMy with iPhone 15Pro does not work at all (just the regular Ping sound), the SIP9 does not feel much faster... OS10 is no big improvement. Some small things here and there, but mostly a reshuffling of things and sometimes even a loss of functionality like switching watch faces being more difficult than before etc. It's just ... it is very very very little if anything at all. I knew going in (and like Apple for it) that not much would upgrade, but even so... this is too little.

And at the same time I look at the Nothing Watch Pro and am floored. It is far away from the tech and functionality of the iPhone, not in the same league at all... but it looks more like an Apple Watch SHOULD look and the watch faces are beautiful work. Super minimalistic Braun-esque interface which I would love to see adapted on the AppleWatch, it feels more futuristic and functional than WatchOS10. The «modular» faces should take a long hard look at the CMF Nothing Watch and learn ;-)

 

[3Rock]

Double tap will not be introduced until October.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I was going to upgrade this year as my series 5 is now heading into its 5th year. However, I felt the series 9 was rather disappointing and I was put off getting a series 8 by people here suggesting next year is seeing a re-design.

My series 5 is still working fine, although the latest update has suddenly had a dramatic impact on my battery life. It now dies around 9pm, whereas I would still have about 30% left by the time I go to bed. Hopefully the next update will resolve that. I had to disable AOD after the first 18 months as the battery wouldn't get through an entire day. That is something that will be disabled straight away on my next upgrade.

 

[4sallypat]

Coming from S7, the S9 is dramatically faster, responsive and my apps like my EV remote is awesome.

Plus the battery life is 2x more than the S7.

I can go 2 days without charging with my S9 which I could never do with the S7.

Now it's fun to use my S9 to lock/unlock/remote start my Ford Mustang Mach E.

 

[xraydoc]

Really, coming from an Apple Watch S7, I expected a small, evolutionary step up the ladder. But in reality this feels like the same watch. Same form factor, same color. Double Tap does not work. UWB-FindMy with iPhone 15Pro does not work at all (just the regular Ping sound), the SIP9 does not feel much faster... OS10 is no big improvement. Some small things here and there, but mostly a reshuffling of things and sometimes even a loss of functionality like switching watch faces being more difficult than before etc. It's just ... it is very very very little if anything at all. I knew going in (and like Apple for it) that not much would upgrade, but even so... this is too little.

And at the same time I look at the Nothing Watch Pro and am floored. It is far away from the tech and functionality of the iPhone, not in the same league at all... but it looks more like an Apple Watch SHOULD look and the watch faces are beautiful work. Super minimalistic Braun-esque interface which I would love to see adapted on the AppleWatch, it feels more futuristic and functional than WatchOS10. The «modular» faces should take a long hard look at the CMF Nothing Watch and learn ;-)

Went from an S7 to an Ultra 2. Noticeably faster & smoother. But otherwise, yes, still does same watch stuff. Ultra 2 does a few things that my S7 didn’t, but if I’d gone with another regular Stainless model, I might have felt similar to you. From an S7 to an S9, there’s probably not much reason to upgrade if your S7 is otherwise working well for you.

That said, the new Ping/directional find my phone works great for me.

Double Tap comes out later this month, so that’s why you say it doesn’t work… doesn’t exist just yet.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Many people on here know ahead of time about the incremental update (most every year) ahead of time, buy the new watch, and then complain about the incremental updates not being more substantial. Blows my mind.

Lower your expectations to meet the reality of the incremental updates.

 

[xraydoc]

Many people on here know ahead of time about the incremental update (most every year) ahead of time, buy the new watch, and then complain about the incremental updates not being more substantial. Blows my mind.

Lower your expectations to meet the reality of the incremental updates.

And people forget about some of the newer safety features, too, like crash detection and such. Not flashy, but still important (to some, at least).

 

[Apple_Robert]

And people forget about some of the newer safety features, too, like crash detection and such. Not flashy, but still important (to some, at least).

Excellent point, doc. That was a big reason I updated my toys as soon as I did last year, and did the same this year.