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SS series 5 or Aluminum Series 6

J

JustCrusin

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 13, 2011
137
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I pulled the trigger on SS series 5 at Best Buy today on clearance for $449. I’m hard on my watches and my Series 4 aluminum is fairly scratched up.

Do you think that this is a better choice or will I regret not getting the series 6 (I can only afford the aluminum if I get a 6)?
 
I would have gotten the series 6 and then paid $10 for a watch cover. I use this when at work and it has kept my watch damage free.

www.amazon.com

Misxi 2 Pack Hard PC Case with Tempered Glass Screen Protector Compatible with Apple Watch Series 6 SE Series 5 Series 4 44mm, Black

Misxi 2 Pack Hard PC Case with Tempered Glass Screen Protector Compatible with Series 6 SE Series 5 Series 4 44mm, Black Application Compatible model: Compatible with apple watch series 6/5/4/SE 44mm (Also compatible with new apple watch SE2 44mm). High quality With updated technology, Misxi PC c...
www.amazon.com

There is nothing wrong with the series 5.
 
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For someone who is hard on their watches and has a series 4 aluminum that shows clearly that aluminum wouldn't work well, I think you made the right choice by going S5 SS. S5 is a very good watch and it seems like you don't really care about the small improvements in S6. So going with something that is more premium, is within your budget, and will work with your use case is a no-brainer. I would not question the decision you made - you picked correctly.
 
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I have an S5, but I understand the battery life in the S6 is improved, perhaps due to more efficient processor (despite the official Apple specs saying both S5 and S6 last 18 hrs).
So it depends on how much demand you put on your battery. If you plan to use AOD, that will also use some more. If you expect to put high demands on the battery, that could favor the S6.
But the fact that you are hard on scratching your watches, would definitely favor the SS S5. I don't think there is any killer feature in the S6 over the S5 - aside from possible improved battery life if that is important to you.
 
I would (did) go for the aluminum S6, but I can understand your choice if you’re hard on your watches. For me, the battery battery life and faster processor, wifi, and charging matter more than the casing. (I don’t care at all about blood ox).
 
The functional differences between the S5 and S6 are pretty minimal. But for me, the stainless steel is a massive upgrade compared to the aluminum in terms of build quality.

I have a SS S5 and I don't feel any need to upgrade. Plus, getting a brand new stainless steel model for $450 is a great deal.
 
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JustCrusin said:
I pulled the trigger on SS series 5 at Best Buy today on clearance for $449. I’m hard on my watches and my Series 4 aluminum is fairly scratched up.

Do you think that this is a better choice or will I regret not getting the series 6 (I can only afford the aluminum if I get a 6)?
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You'll always have a little remorse. I picked up the Nike S5, as I appreciate having cellular available for 911. Moving from a Nike S3, I was surprised by the much improved Siri experience with the watch and the display is a definite improvement for eyes over 50!

Enjoy the SS.
 
JustCrusin said:
I pulled the trigger on SS series 5 at Best Buy today on clearance for $449. I’m hard on my watches and my Series 4 aluminum is fairly scratched up.

Do you think that this is a better choice or will I regret not getting the series 6 (I can only afford the aluminum if I get a 6)?
Click to expand...

I did the same as you and picked up a SS Series 5 from Best Buy last week. I have always had SS models (Series 0,2, & 3). I hadn't updated the 3 because it was functional and the price point of a new SS 5 or 6 when they were released was too high for me to spend again with the phones having also gone up in price. I am really happy with the S5 having for the weekend already. I have to tinker and see about battery life as I go from 100% at 7am to about 25% at 10pm and I am home all day working and taking care of my infant daughter
 
As I found out, stainless steel doesn't prevent your glass from shattering if you drop it on the floor. After getting it replaced, I now have my S5 SS covered with a screen protector that hides the nice stainless steel part, which I think defeats the purpose.

In my case, I got a good enough deal on S5 SS cellular that it's still considerably cheaper than the aluminum S6 cellular, so I don't wish I got the S6. But in retrospect, if I could have saved enough money by getting an aluminum S5, I probably would have.

Do get AppleCare+ whichever model you get. I fortunately had it, but I saw the prices for screen replacement for the S5 SS without AC+ and it was more than I paid for the watch!
 
nilk said:
As I found out, stainless steel doesn't prevent your glass from shattering if you drop it on the floor. I now have my S5 SS covered with a screen protector that hides the nice stainless steel part, which I think defeats the purpose.

In my case, I got a good enough deal on S5 SS cellular that it's still considerably cheaper than the aluminum S6 cellular, so I don't wish I got the S6. But in retrospect, if I could have saved enough money by getting an aluminum S5, I probably would have.

Do get AppleCare+ whichever model you get. I fortunately had it, but I saw the prices for screen replacement for the S5 SS without AC+ and it was more than I paid for the watch!
Click to expand...
I have had a Stainless Steel Apple Watch for almost 6 years now between 4 different models and have never had the glass broken. All my watches used to go with me to the CrossFit gym regularly 3 to 4 times a week, went through two Triathlons, and a couple of 5Ks. At the gym, my watch face bumped into the weight rig multiple times, would hit hard concrete when doing some exercises.
 
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bradbomb said:
I have had a Stainless Steel Apple Watch for almost 6 years now between 4 different models and have never had the glass broken. All my watches used to go with me to the CrossFit gym regularly 3 to 4 times a week, went through two Triathlons, and a couple of 5Ks. At the gym, my watch face bumped into the weight rig multiple times, would hit hard concrete when doing some exercises.
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I must have been very unlucky. First time owning an Apple Watch. I was standing and adjusting the band and it fell on my tile floor, glass side down and shattered with multiple cracks. It was really amazing because I hadn't owned it for very long at that point, had just started to use it.

I suppose a drop can do more damage than something hitting it or slamming it against something; more impact from a drop maybe. Good to know it can take some abuse as long as it's not the perfect drop. Maybe I should throw caution to the wind and take the screen protector off and see what happens. I have one more $75 screen replacement via AC+. Would be either very unlucky or very clumsy if I break it again. If I break it a second time, I'd just resign myself to having to use some kind of protector.

---

In any case, if you're not going to use a case or protector that covers it up, seems like a discounted S5 SS is a good choice, and the choice I made when I compared to S6. I still don't have 5 GHz WiFi in my house yet, and it's not that important. Blood oxygen measurement doesn't seem to have a useful application that wouldn't be covered with a $20 pulse oximeter. Better battery life might be nice, but on my 40mm S5, I get through the day with plenty to spare, but YMMV.
 
I took advantage of the SS best buy sale a few months ago and sold my S6 Nike and I am very happy with my decision.
 
I have only gotten aluminum apple watches series 1, 3, and now series 6. All of them have held up well for my needs. Sure they have nicks and light scratches but those are hardly noticeable. I do basic work outs like walks, hikes, some weight lifting, light jogs. But if you are hard on watches, I think you made the right choice with stainless steel.
 
jetsam said:
Agreed. My AW is the only thing I've ever gotten AppleCare+ for. The AW just seems so...vulnerable.

And I'm not wiling to do case and screen protector for a watch.
Click to expand...

Same. I just get AppleCare plus for my watches and that's it. In my personal opinion, I think getting a case for an apple watch is a bit over board. I can understand screen protectors on them though, even if I personally don't use them ha.
 
ShadowGuardian87 said:
Same. I just get AppleCare plus for my watches and that's it. In my personal opinion, I think getting a case for an apple watch is a bit over board. I can understand screen protectors on them though, even if I personally don't use them ha.
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Wasn't planning on or even thought about using a case or screen protector until I shattered my screen on my brand new S5 SS (my first Apple Watch). I might still try going without it because the odds of me shattering it twice should hopefully be low 😂
 
Just to provide an alternative viewpoint on AppleCare:
Having bought 3 apple watches, so far I am ahead $444 by NOT getting Applecare:
3 times (AppleCare fee $79 + Incident fee $69) = $444.
$444 covers a brand new S6.

Considering all the Apple products I have bought without AppleCare, for which I have never had to make a claim, I have "saved" near $2,000.
I prefer to keep my money in my pocket and take my chances. That $2,000 savings bought most of my 2020 iMac
 
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wilberforce said:
Just to provide an alternative viewpoint on AppleCare:
Having bought 3 apple watches, so far I am ahead $444 by NOT getting Applecare:
3 times (AppleCare fee $79 + Incident fee $69) = $444.
$444 covers a brand new S6.

Considering all the Apple products I have bought without AppleCare, for which I have never had to make a claim, I have "saved" near $2,000.
I prefer to keep my money in my pocket and take my chances. That $2,000 savings bought most of my 2020 iMac
Click to expand...
I'm not sure why you would include the incident fee in your calculation if you are assuming the AC+ was a waste because you haven't broken a screen. Isn't your actual savings so far $237?

But fair enough, have to make those choices for yourself. If I didn't have AppleCare+, screen replacement would've cost me $400 -- which is more than the watch itself cost me ($380).
 
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I think AppleCare+ is a benefit for some people and a waste of money for others. Personally, I have the luck of a three-legged blind dog, so my rule is any Apple device that leaves the house gets AC+ (iPhone 12 PM, WATCH SS S5, and iPad Pro; I don't have AC+ on my MBP, but I rarely do business travel with it anymore).

If I could only pick one Apple device to have AC+, it would be the watch. It's exposed on my wrist 18+ hours everyday and everywhere I go. My biggest fear is dropping it while putting it on and it landing on any type of hard floor. I had a third-party leather band (nice one, cost $80 at the time) where the spring bar broke while I was inside Dallas Ft. Worth International Airport. Fortunately, I was at the gate area where it was carpeted. No way will I be that lucky ever again.
 
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I've had a Series 0,2,4 and now 6 all in SS. Just like the weight and look of a SS watch. The series 6 does charge up much faster than the series 4; mainly use the series 4 to wear while it take about 2 hours to charge the series 6 from 30% to 100%. :)
 
nilk said:
I'm not sure why you would include the incident fee in your calculation if you are assuming the AC+ was a waste because you haven't broken a screen. Isn't your actual savings so far $237?
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The incident fee has to factor into the comparison somehow. An incident fee of $0 is not the same as an incident fee of $69.
To prove my point, just for argument's sake, just imagine the incident fee was $400. It clearly would never be worth it to get AppleCare to cover an accidental breakage.

The problem is that people seem to "forget" the additional cost of the incident fee when making the comparison of insuring by AppleCare, or self-insuring (which is what I do. Or almost always do.) The incident fee is essentially an insurance deductible. The insurance industry has cleverly figured this out: they just divert part of your premium cost into deductible cost. They make exactly the same amount of money from us, if not more.

Another way to think of it: the only way to never pay an incident fee is to never have an accidental breakage claim, in which case it is clearly not worth it to have AC+ (because you never make a claim). If on the other hand, if you do make an accidental breakage claim, you have to pay the incident fee. So the incident fee is unavoidably an additional inherent cost of having AC+ (for accidental breakage coverage, that is).

The only things I insure are things where a loss would be catastrophic, such as: medical insurance (my wife recently had ~$300,000 in hospital charges), house, auto liability ($1 million). The loss of an apple watch is not catastrophic.
 
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I am married, whenever we buy a new Apple product (either iPhone or watch) we both want a new one. So that is double the Apple Care price.

We have had an iPhone since the very first iPhone and we have each dropped and broken our iPhone screen one time (mine was an iPhone 4 and theirs was an iPhone 6 pro max). We did add AC+ for 2 years and it went totally unused (it was $99 at the time. So we spent an extra $400)

Neither of us has broken our watch (we have both had watches since the very first watch)

We did buy AC+ for our AirPod Pros. Only because AC+ is pretty cheap and it is known that the batteries do not last that long. I plan on having Apple replace them with a fresh pair before the AC+ expires.
 
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