Somewhat ambivalent about the Slate Ti S10

[Jeweller]

History: I've owned an Apple watch for two years and Apple products in general for seventeen. Mac, iPhone, etc have always been no-brainers. The watch took some warming up to though. Finally picked up a heavily Black Friday discounted S7 this time two years ago and used it for a solid year before trading it in for the Ultra 2. Bottom line, loved the U2 but it was way too cumbersome for my line of work. Literally nicked the display bezel day-one because of how much it stuck out from my wrist. Also (and I know minor) sleeping with it and putting on jackets kind of sucks.

So I switched to a S9 Al and have been totally happy with it. And yet my need for the more "premium" watch experience persists.

So given this year's solid BF discounts on S10 Ti models, I gave in. And the 46mm Slate Ti watch I got is...nice. It does seem like a premium product, I just can't decide if it was worth it. Should I have just sidestepped to the Jet Black, as I can barely tell the difference depending on light (and it's also heavily discounted) or should I have maybe just stuck with my silver AL S9? Always get the weird watch craving this time of year haha. Logical choice is to love the one I'm with. $700 illogical choice is to love strange.

Side-note. Looks like the major trade-in sites treat premium finishes like any other version of that series watch. Meaning, a year from now, you get the exact same trade-in with a Jet Black or Slate. And yes I know I can always sell on eBay or Mercari, but that's a hassle I don't want to have to deal with.

Anyway, just mainly looking to be talked into keeping the bad choice but am all ears haha.

 

[Jackbequickly]

Love my S10 Ti. Not as durable as my series 7 SBTi but life moved on and Apple not offering anymore.

 

[Psdn]

History: I've owned an Apple watch for two years and Apple products in general for seventeen. Mac, iPhone, etc have always been no-brainers. The watch took some warming up to though. Finally picked up a heavily Black Friday discounted S7 this time two years ago and used it for a solid year before trading it in for the Ultra 2. Bottom line, loved the U2 but it was way too cumbersome for my line of work. Literally nicked the display bezel day-one because of how much it stuck out from my wrist. Also (and I know minor) sleeping with it and putting on jackets kind of sucks.

So I switched to a S9 Al and have been totally happy with it. And yet my need for the more "premium" watch experience persists.

So given this year's solid BF discounts on S10 Ti models, I gave in. And the 46mm Slate Ti watch I got is...nice. It does seem like a premium product, I just can't decide if it was worth it. Should I have just sidestepped to the Jet Black, as I can barely tell the difference depending on light (and it's also heavily discounted) or should I have maybe just stuck with my silver AL S9? Always get the weird watch craving this time of year haha. Logical choice is to love the one I'm with. $700 illogical choice is to love strange.

Side-note. Looks like the major trade-in sites treat premium finishes like any other version of that series watch. Meaning, a year from now, you get the exact same trade-in with a Jet Black or Slate. And yes I know I can always sell on eBay or Mercari, but that's a hassle I don't want to have to deal with.

Anyway, just mainly looking to be talked into keeping the bad choice but am all ears haha.

The titanium is way more stronger then the aluminum, so I would keep it. The glass is sapphire, so again stronger.
And you have the benefit of having 4g as a possibility, as the standard aluminum doesn’t, unless you add 100 💵.

 

[JamesK1975]

I was in an Apple Store last week as I want to upgrade. In the store there didn't seem to be a lot of difference between the Slate Titanium and the Jet Black in terms of the colour. As I want to change to a darker watch I was leaning towards Jet Black.
However, as others have commented you get the stronger Sapphire screen on the Titanium. I'm quite a clumsy person, and I don't want to put my watch in a case. My current watch is Stainless Steel and the screen is still perfect. So for me, I probably need to stick with Titanium just to get the Sapphire screen.

My wife on the other hand has a Series 6 aluminium and it's got hardly any marks on it - she's just not as clumsy as me.

So if you got on previously with an aluminium watch and its Ion-X screen, you'll probably be fine with the Jet Black too.

 

[Jeweller]

So if you got on previously with an aluminium watch and its Ion-X screen, you'll probably be fine with the Jet Black too.

With my first midnight blue watch I immediately threw on a TPU screen protector and, for the first few months or so, had no issue. Couple of knocks against door frames later and there were visible nicks on the watch body. So I decided that was a sign to remove the screen protector and just enjoy the screen naked as God/Apple intended. Don't even think I went a week before gouging it (Ion-X screens do suck) and having to throw another protector on just to mask the super visible scratch. Thus my silver Al S9 has had a screen protector since it came out of the box. So if I do end up returning the Slate for Jet Black I will definetly have to use the same crappy TPU screen protectors. That said, it's practically half the price... 🤔

 

[perezr10]

When they’re NEW there’s not much difference. But I just can’t give up the sapphire screen which always stays looking new. The aluminum watches can be hit n miss when it comes to scratches. I just don’t want a watch that looks like this so the premium is worth it to me.

 

[Jeweller]

When they’re NEW there’s not much difference. But I just can’t give up the sapphire screen which always stays looking new. The aluminum watches can be hit n miss when it comes to scratches. I just don’t want a watch that looks like this so the premium is worth it to me.

Fair. Is that your personal watch or just an example? Regardless, seems about right with what I experienced with my Midnight S7. Ion-X is pretty soft glass. That said, I've since talked myself out of the Jet Black as I don't trust its durability either. I've seen plenty of pics of folks nicking their Jet Blacks in random daily use which leads me to believe I would destroy that watch in no time. Now if I worked a chill office job with minimal interaction with steel doors and whatnot I might be inclined haha. But I do need something a little more robust so Slate Ti it is 🤞

 

[xDKP]

When they’re NEW there’s not much difference. But I just can’t give up the sapphire screen which always stays looking new. The aluminum watches can be hit n miss when it comes to scratches. I just don’t want a watch that looks like this so the premium is worth it to me.

Just about to comment the same - have always bought the stainless steel models of S0, S2, S4 and tried the SB Ti S7 before jumping on the Ultra.

The Sapphire display is just as big a reason as the case material is. Way better for scratches!

 

[Arid]

The sapphire tax is real. All my previous AW has sapphire and myS4 still looks pristine today as it did new. More than that, you can always polish SS and bring it back to a like-new finish.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

The glass is sapphire, so again stronger.

The sapphire display is actually weaker and is more prone to shattering in a drop, but has a much harder surface which means it resist scratches much better than Ion-X glass.

Ion-X glass is cheaper and lighter than sapphire, and is also more flexible, which may make it less likely to shatter.

 

[xDKP]

The sapphire display is actually weaker and is more prone to shattering in a drop, but has a much harder surface which means it resist scratches much better than Ion-X glass.

But it's not a phone - You have quite a low risk of dropping something strapped onto your wrist, but quite a high risk of scratching it

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

But it's not a phone - You have quite a low risk of dropping something strapped onto your wrist, but quite a high risk of scratching it

People often drop them on tiled floors putting them on or if you are my colleague, he undid a bolt and whacked his stainless AW shattering the screen. Accidents happen.

 

[xDKP]

People often drop them on tiled floors putting them on or if you are my colleague, he undid a bolt and whacked his stainless AW shattering the screen. Accidents happen.

Of course it does - but as I wrote the risk is very small compared to the scratch risk

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Of course it does - but as I wrote the risk is very small compared to the scratch risk

I’ve lived with a scratched AW Series 5 and it is fine. They are still worth virtually nothing at the end of their use so might as well use it. Got an aluminium Series 10 now and not worrying about scratches, life is too short for trivial things like that.

 

[MarkX]

I’ve the S10 aluminium too. I’m not a fan of scratches on my screen but for a couple of quid on Amazon I got a pack of 8 self healing film screen protectors.

Easy to apply and can’t be seen when it’s on, plus it saves me about £300 odd.

 

[SYCAMOREGRAD]

Love my ti S10. Upgraded from aluminum S6. Never again with the sport/aluminum. The glass just scratches way too easily. I love my sapphire cover glass. Looks brand new after 2+ months!

 

[mguzman]

Went to the Apple Store yesterday because my wife wanted her first Apple Watch. She is both picky and indecisive so we tried what seemed like every possible combination of watch and band. She finally decided on a 46mm S10 Slate Ti. So far she loves it but is driving me crazy with questions.

I like the S10 Ti form factor and features. When it comes time to replace my Ultra, I’ll be giving consideration to going to a S?? Ti.

 

[xDKP]

Love my ti S10. Upgraded from aluminum S6. Never again with the sport/aluminum. The glass just scratches way too easily. I love my sapphire cover glass. Looks brand new after 2+ months!

I’m on a two year ultra now and screen looks brand new

 

[Jeweller]

I’ve lived with a scratched AW Series 5 and it is fine. They are still worth virtually nothing at the end of their use so might as well use it. Got an aluminium Series 10 now and not worrying about scratches, life is too short for trivial things like that.

To this point I ended up returning the S10 slate Ti and am sticking with my S9 silver Al for a couple reasons. While the Slate was beautiful and I definitely appreciated the thinness of the new design, I felt way too self-conscious and that I needed to be more careful wearing a $700 watch at work. Add to that the fact that I was already noticing a few hairline micro-scratches on the finish despite being careful. If it was stainless steel and they could be polished out then I guess it would be a non-issue. Overall, the looks of the watch did not justify the everyday hassle to me. I've had my silver S9 for over a year and there's only one little nick near the crown that's only visible in certain light. And I'm used to living with a cheap TPU screen protector that I refresh every couple of months, so the screen is still pristine.

 

[Christopher Kim]

I recently upgraded from a Graphite Stainless Steel S7 to a Natural Ti S10. Before that I had done aluminum (S2 and S5). My thought is early on (at least through S5 or S6), the SS/Ti versions were relatively poor value propositions - basically twice the price of the Al versions, when the "value was in the technology" as each generation had fairly large improvements. In a year or two, when the tech had improved significantly, rightfully so the "market value" of a 2 or 3-yr old Apple Watch was very low (whether it was Al, SS, or one of the "Editions").

This was also the case with iPhones, big generational leaps arguably through the X.

Starting with S7, I felt the annual improvements got more and more iterative. From S7 through S9, there was little improvement. As someone who wore my Apple Watch every day, I liked the classier look of the SS versions over Al, and also didn't feel the tech got devalued so quickly, that helped me justify paying the premium to go SS.

I upgraded to the Ti S10 after 3 years (around what my current iPhone upgrade cycle is), with a change in form factor. At this time frame, I am happy to pay the extra $300 or so, for a watch that 1) looks a lot dressier, especially with the ease in changing straps, 2) stronger scratch-resistant screen as many have mentioned, and 3) comes with cellular included.