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Who has owned both SS & aluminum AWs?

Luba

Luba

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 22, 2009
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I currently have AW2 in SS. If I want a S3 AW I would have to get aluminum, probably Space Gray, as I don't want cellular LTE.

I know the aluminum AW are much lighter and don't have a sapphire display, but for those who have owned both, what else would I be missing out on if I went to aluminum. Is the aluminum's Ion glass noticeably more scratch prone than sapphire?
 
mcvaughan said:
I’ve had both, but I’d say it was easier to scratch the casing than the screen. It was hurtful to see, so it’s at least stainless for me.
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Oh, the coating on the aluminum is less durable than the Ion glass?

Hmmm, maybe I'll just stick with my SS AW2 for another year. I read AW3 is noticeably faster so I was looking into a AW3.
 
Luba said:
I currently have AW2 in SS. If I want a S3 AW I would have to get aluminum, probably Space Gray, as I don't want cellular LTE.

I know the aluminum AW are much lighter and don't have a sapphire display, but for those who have owned both, what else would I be missing out on if I went to aluminum. Is the aluminum's Ion glass noticeably more scratch prone than sapphire?
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Originally had aluminum, now have SS. Love SS, it’s like night and day, for me it’s worth the extra $. Aluminum felt like a toy, SS I can easily pull off with a suit shall need be. The exterior materials (crystal, casing) is just an icing on the cake.
 
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Luba said:
I currently have AW2 in SS. If I want a S3 AW I would have to get aluminum, probably Space Gray, as I don't want cellular LTE.

I know the aluminum AW are much lighter and don't have a sapphire display, but for those who have owned both, what else would I be missing out on if I went to aluminum. Is the aluminum's Ion glass noticeably more scratch prone than sapphire?
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I have a Aluminium SG, worm daily for a year and a half, no scratches anywhere on it including the glass and I’ve whacked it hard a few times on door knobs.... Looks perfect still. Hubby’s stainless has small fine scratches all over the SS, that mostly could be buffed out.
 
I’ve used SS for both Series 0 and Series 2, and had a Sport watch for Series 0 also, and while I agree its much more stylish than the aluminium models, I’m not sure now that it’s worth the extra cost. Functionally, they do exactly the same thing, so for Series 3 I think I’m happy to go for the aluminium instead.

If I wore a suit on a daily basis now (as I used to when I owned Series 0) I’d probably feel differently, but I think there’s a great enough selection of band types now for aluminium to look just as sleek as SS
 
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lyutin said:
Love SS
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SS is seriously the worst acronym ever for stainless steel, it feels aesthetically wrong to see it written. I would just call it steel tbh.

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Luba said:
Oh, the coating on the aluminum is less durable than the Ion glass?

Hmmm, maybe I'll just stick with my SS AW2 for another year. I read AW3 is noticeably faster so I was looking into a AW3.
Click to expand...

My experiences are this with the Apple Watch sport model and stainless model. When the Apple Watch sport model originally launched in 2015, I received mine fairly quickly, and after wearing it after a few weeks, I noticed several small minuscule scratches on the Ion-X Glass. And I remember, Apple was fairly confident in its durability. And I'm one who is fairly cautious with my devices, so I was overall displeased with seeing scratches on a smaller display.

I upgraded to the stainless model and until this day, I still have no scratches anywhere on the sapphire display. The stainless casing does scratch relatively easy, but that can be remedied by buffing it out with a polishing cloth.
 
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I've owned both and would only choose aluminium in future.

The issue is the apocalyptic depreciation on the steel models. Aluminium models retain more of their original purchase price. If you ever intend to sell an Apple Watch, stick to aluminium.
 
that......bottom side of my stainless steal AW2.....geez...scratches...but not a lot...(i'm talking about the charging side)
 
I bought first watch in SS. Now that I see the upgrade progression I'm only Aluminum going forward. I went to the Gold on Series 2 but except for the band it comes with hardware on all straps is silver. Also, I didn't think many of Apple's band color choices looked great with the gold. On Series 3 I went for the silver. Ordered an extra sports loop that arrived yesterday and I've put it on the Series 2 watch. This may be my favorite band yet. I was also a big fan of leather loop which seems to be gone.
 
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I had a Series 0 SS and my sister had sports version (so I have not actually owned both myself). Mine has no scratches on both the screen and case. Now that I am looking to upgrade I am just going to move to aluminum considering the price. Hers has no scratches on the screen and I have seen her bang into a few things, haven't taken a good look at the casing mind you. However, I like that her watch is lighter and I like the Space Grey look on the aluminum casing, I also think the display looks better with Ion-X Glass.

daijholt said:
I’ve used SS for both Series 0 and Series 2, and had a Sport watch for Series 0 also, and while I agree its much more stylish than the aluminium models, I’m not sure now that it’s worth the extra cost. Functionally, they do exactly the same thing, so for Series 3 I think I’m happy to go for the aluminium instead.

If I wore a suit on a daily basis now (as I used to when I owned Series 0) I’d probably feel differently, but I think there’s a great enough selection of band types now for aluminium to look just as sleek as SS
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I agree with this, for me the band makes it look more stylish than the actual casing around the watch. Not that I buy the watch for others' pleasure, but no one I have met cares about the materials of the case yet will often comment on my band selection.
 
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I owned a Space Grey Aluminium S0 and then upgraded to a Space Black Stainless Steel S2.

The Aluminium is definitely lighter and that's a plus because I think it's better for comfort, but the glass picked up some microscopic scratches which were noticeable when the face had light reflecting directly off it (and I'm careful with my devices). My Stainless Steel's sapphire hasn't picked up any scratches at all.

I also think the Space Grey doesn't match some band colours as well as the Space Black does, so if I bought another Aluminium model I'd go with Silver instead of Space Grey the second time around for that reason. But that's something that is totally subjective and just my personal feeling about it.

And hey, if you buy an Aluminium model you then have spare cash to buy more bands ;)
 
Seamaster said:
I've owned both and would only choose aluminium in future.

The issue is the apocalyptic depreciation on the steel models. Aluminium models retain more of their original purchase price. If you ever intend to sell an Apple Watch, stick to aluminium.
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100% agree and I have experienced the financial pain of selling both a series 0 and series 2 space black watch.
 
MjWoNeR said:
SS is seriously the worst acronym ever for stainless steel, it feels aesthetically wrong to see it written. I would just call it steel tbh.
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Over reacting a bit here. Yes vocally they sound the same but written and symbolically are very different. SS is fine to use for an acronym when discussing on a forum clearly stated for material identification. You posting the Nazi symbol for all to see is far more offensive than people discussing Stainless Steel with an acronym.
 
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I’ve had both, a steel S0 and aluminum S2, I can say without a doubt I preordered the S3 steel. The big selling point for me, and I don’t think a lot of people realize, is that the steel watch can be dressed in so many different ways. It looks great in a suit, it looks great in gym clothes. Especially if you’re buying it for LTE, like I am, I want to use it all the time, and the steel just looks so dang good in any band, from sport to leather to steel .
 
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I have only had a Series 0 Space Black since shortly after launch and now it is only worth about $200 on swappa. So I pre ordered Series 3 aluminum this round:
  • Depreciation is deep on the steel
  • I wanted to "try" LTE, the aluminum is the lowest cost.
  • I fell Series 4 or 5 will bring a design change, so I do not want to spend a lot right now.
 
Having owned both the stainless steel series 2 and the space grey series 2, I have found that more bands seem to look really nice with the stainless, but I really enjoyed the weight of the aluminum one more. It feels to me like you're not wearing a watch (which I know is why a lot of people purchased the stainless). All of that said, I just ordered the Space grey LTE with the dark grey band to get my series 3 fix. T-Mobile says it will ship in October sometime. . . hopefully it will move a bit faster.

edit: and yes, I have found that the sapphire screen on the stainless is much more resistant to scratches than the ion-x on the aluminum. If I so much as bump the ion-x on the wall when reaching behind something it has scratched. My stainless hasn't at all. Even the small little abrasions on the stainless will buff out without issue.
 
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madgalaxy said:
I have only had a Series 0 Space Black since shortly after launch and now it is only worth about $200 on swappa. So I pre ordered Series 3 aluminum this round:
  • Depreciation is deep on the steel
  • I wanted to "try" LTE, the aluminum is the lowest cost.
  • I fell Series 4 or 5 will bring a design change, so I do not want to spend a lot right now.
Click to expand...

And I think that's worth noting. A lot of Apple Watch owners, including myself at one point thought the stainless model will retain its value well over the aluminum model. And that's not accurate. The Aluminum model actually sells for almost just as much, if not better than some of the stainless models. And the aluminum model is way more widespread in other retail stores than the stainless model.
 
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Mabus51 said:
Over reacting a bit here. Yes vocally they sound the same but written and symbolically are very different. SS is fine to use for an acronym when discussing on a forum clearly stated for material identification. You posting the Nazi symbol for all to see is far more offensive than people discussing Stainless Steel with an acronym.
Click to expand...

Meh. It could be just me then. Whenever I see SS the first thing that comes to mind is Nazis. A little bit like the Hitler moustache. Oh well, please continue.
 
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I must be really odd, because I actually got a scratch on my series 0 sapphire screen. The only thing I can think of is that it was my diamond anniversary band.

Once I saw the resale of the SS, I switched to aluminum. Surprisingly, I like it better for the weight, and the fact that the case doesn’t scratch.
 
I own both the Sturmabteilung (SA) and Schutzstaffel (SS) watch models

The SS models are definitely tougher and better, but they're more expensive than the SA ones
 
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My first Apple watch was the S0 Sport. Exchanged it for a stainless steel a week or so later because I became totally paranoid about scratching the display (tried a screen protector, wasn't working out). Indeed, after a year and a half, the sapphire screen was still perfect, despite a few inadvertent whacks against things that I thought for sure would have left a mark (though the casing, as expected, had accumulated many small scratches.

Fast forward to about 6 months ago. I decided that a 38mm was a better size for me, and also I really liked the look of the gold aluminum case with the blue sport band, and wanted water resistance, so I moved to a S2 Sport. After 6 months, the screen still shows no scratches, and the casing is perfect as well. Now, to be fair, I'm just a little more cautious with it compared to when I wore the SS model. If I know I'm going to be working on something that has a good chance of damaging the watch, I take it off (this amounts to about once every few weeks), but I by no means am babying it.

Honestly, I've been pleasantly surprised at how it's holding up.
 
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