Put another way, if you get Aluminum, you will likely end up with scratched glass in a fairly short period of time. If you get SS or Ti, your display will likely stay flawless. I've only owned the SS and have bumped my watch against doorknobs and granite counter tops and never had the slightest mark on the crystal.
Watches inevitably get bumped around and to me sapphire is essential.
I’ve had SS since s0 and have never had either a scratch or a reflection issue.I have mostly had aluminum sport or Nike watches, I bump into things a lot, and I do a lot of work with tools and various types of equipment. I have never had a scratch that affected either use or trade-in value of my aluminum watches.
And there are trade-offs. The sapphire layer (it's not a full sapphire crystal, that is not possible with a touch screen) does reduce the likelihood of scratches, but it is also somewhat more likely to shatter. In S6 and earlier, it also had really noticeable reflection issues in sunlight that could make reading the watch harder. I will say, though, that I picked up a SS S7 on Friday and the reflection issue seems to have been eliminated. That was never a hard problem to solve - Apple just needed to put an AR coating on the sapphire displays. It seems like they finally did that.
Admittedly I based on comment on what a lot of people with aluminum watches report on this forum. Scratching of the body and Ion-X glass is a common complaint. But everyone treats their watches differently. The only aluminum watch I ever owned was the original Series 0 for one week until I realized I wanted stainless and swapped it at Apple. Haven't had an aluminum one since.I have mostly had aluminum sport or Nike watches, I bump into things a lot, and I do a lot of work with tools and various types of equipment. I have never had a scratch that affected either use or trade-in value of my aluminum watches.
And there are trade-offs. The sapphire layer (it's not a full sapphire crystal, that is not possible with a touch screen) does reduce the likelihood of scratches, but it is also somewhat more likely to shatter. In S6 and earlier, it also had really noticeable reflection issues in sunlight that could make reading the watch harder. I will say, though, that I picked up a SS S7 on Friday and the reflection issue seems to have been eliminated. That was never a hard problem to solve - Apple just needed to put an AR coating on the sapphire displays. It seems like they finally did that.