How hard-wearing is the Aluminium watch?

[simonlucas]

I currently wear a stainless steel series 2. I would have liked to buy a non-cellular stainless steel series 4 but this is not possible. Thinking, therefore, that I'll probably go with an aluminium.

My concern is how well the aluminium models cope with everyday wear. Do they age badly? Are they easily scuffed and scratched?

I'd appreciate any thoughts or insight please!

 

[tivoboy]

I have had all sport models since v1 and have never had them get scratched, either the body or the screens. I bike, row, workout, and wear it daily and nightly (for sleep tracking)..

 

[lyricthejoe]

I’ve had the same experience. The most I’ve ever splurged with an Apple Watch purchase was with the S3 w/ Cellular, but even then I went for the aluminum finish. Never had a scratch on the body or display, and I’ve certainly knocked it around quite a bit.

It does cost more to get the steel version, so maybe go with that if you really prefer it. You aren’t required to activate cellular if you don’t think you’ll use that functionality.

 

[sosumi99]

The glass surface of the aluminum version is not as scratch-resistant, and I do have quite a few scratches on mine after two years. The question is how much this will bother you. My phone screen and watch screen are both very scratched, but I never use a screen protector because I like the scuffed-up, worn look. If you think this kind of thing will drive you crazy (because you'll see the scratches every time you look at the watch), then stick to SS.

 

[Böhme417]

The aluminum body on my watch is flawless. The screen... not so much.

 

[PHILIP1193]

I have had a series 2 and 3 alu and wore them for work and exercising every day. Found them to be very robust, same can be said for the screen

 

[tekchic]

I've had the original AW since about a month after launch. It's been surfing, on water slides, stand-up paddling, Grand Canyon in 10 degrees, and through three trail ultra-marathons (I used my Garmin 910XT for pace/tracking though). Not a single scratch on it, and I've had 2 rough trail falls (just lucky I didn't whack it against a rock). I know it sounds like I use it pretty rough, but I'm super careful with my gadgets.

Only "edge case" to watch out for is paddling out on a surfboard, I've "klunked" it against the board a couple of times before I had to modify how I was paddling out.

My Series 0 is still kicking, but painfully slow. Looking forward to Series 4.