Apple Watch Series 10 review: A good time to upgrade

Note: This review was first published on 3 October 2024.

There were whispers that we would get a special Apple Watch this year. 10 years ago, Apple unveiled its first smartwatch and it has since made the company the best-selling watch brand in the world. Word on the street was that this year’s watch would be called the Apple Watch X and would have a host of updates including a redesigned case, blood pressure monitoring, and more. We now know that the new watch is called Series 10 and the updates are less bombastic. Even so, this year’s updates are some of the most significant in recent years.

The TL;DR version: 



Series 10 is a significant step forward for the Apple Watch. If you have an older Apple Watch (Series 8 or older), now is definitely the time to upgrade.



Note: You can find the Apple Watch Series 10 on Lazada, Shopee, and the Apple Online Store.

New case, larger displays

There’s no question that the biggest update is the case. Apple has managed the rare trick of making something bigger, yet slimmer and lighter. Case sizes are now larger by 1mm so we have 42mm and 46mm. Overall thickness has been reduced by 10% to just 9.7mm, while weight has also been reduced by at least 10%. The net result of all these figures is it's more comfortable on the wrist. 

9.7mm is the same thickness as a slim Swiss watch and it means it’s less likely you’d snag onto something or smash it into something. But the most surprising difference I found was how much more comfortable it was to wear it to sleep. This has important implications because there are a host of sleep updates in watchOS 11 (more on this later).

Speaking of cases, there are new materials and finishes. There’s a new Jet Black aluminium version that features a deep black polished case. It’s dramatically different from the Midnight finish of last year’s Series 9 watch because it looks and feels almost like ceramic. The huge news this year is that Apple is replacing stainless steel versions with titanium. What’s really amazing is how Apple has managed to polish the titanium cases so that they have a mirror finish.

The larger case naturally allows for a larger display. Apple has been steadily increasing the size of its watches' display and that’s a good thing because it means better legibility and usability – bigger buttons are easier to hit. What’s slightly shocking to me was that the display of the 46mm Series 10 is actually larger than the Apple Watch Ultra’s. It’s only a meagre 3% and isn’t noticeable, so Apple Watch Ultra owners shouldn’t feel inadequate about their purchases. 

Not only are the displays on this year’s watches larger, but they are easier to read at an angle too. The Series 10 features a new type of display called “Wide-angle OLED”, which Apple claims is 40% brighter when viewed at a 60-degree angle. I can’t verify these figures, but it is noticeably brighter at an angle. That’s not to say the older watches were unreadable, but the Series 10 certainly improves this aspect. 

The display uses less energy too so Series 10 watches can now have a 1Hz refresh rate when in Always-On mode. The upside to this is that you can see the watch face updating every second – great if you are particularly fussy about time. To show this off, Apple has a new Flux watch face with a ticking animation. I’m sure Apple will update its other watch faces at some point to show off this low refresh rate.

The importance of sleep

Sleep is a huge deal for this year’s watches because of watchOS 11. This OS update adds two important sleep-centric features: the Vitals app and sleep apnea detection. The Vitals app looks at key metrics such as your heart rate, wrist temperature, sleep quality, and blood oxygen levels, and tells you if any of them are out of the ordinary. To get Vitals to work requires wearing the watch to sleep for multiple nights at a stretch so that it can get baseline/reference readings, which is why wearing comfort is so important. You’d be less inclined to wear the Apple Watch to sleep if it felt cumbersome. 

Sleep apnea detection works very much in the same way. Owners have to commit to wearing their Apple Watches to sleep consistently but for a longer duration of at least 30 days. This means users have to be comfortable wearing the watch to sleep, otherwise it won’t work accurately. This is why I mentioned wearing comfort is critical.

At any rate, sleep apnea detection works by analysing the accelerometer data from your watch and counting the number of breathing disturbances the wearer encounters in his/her sleep. If it occurs with a high frequency, they’ll get a possible sleep apnea notification, advising them to seek a doctor for further discussion. Since you have to wear it for 30 nights, the watch hasn’t had the chance to properly evaluate my sleeping data. But even if it did, it’s hard to say if it works as intended since I shouldn’t receive any notification if I don’t have sleep apnea. Trying to evaluate this feature on my own is a bit of a catch-22 situation.

To be clear, Vitals and sleep apnea detection aren’t exclusive to Series 10. Vitals will work with any Apple Watch that can run watchOS 11 and sleep apnea detection is also available on Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2.  

Other improvements

Swimmers will be pleased that Series 10 is getting the Depth app that was previously only available on the Apple Watch Ultra and Ultra 2. It’s an app that shows your depth under water and the water temperature. However, it only works at depths of up to six metres. That might sound meagre, but it’s sufficient for most swimmers and snorkelers. 

Thanks to a larger and more efficient charging coil, Series 10 has even faster charging. Apple claims you can get up to 80% battery in 30 minutes. This compares to 45 minutes for Series 9 watches. Furthermore, Apple also says 15 minutes can get you up to 8 hours of use, and 8 minutes is enough to get 8 hours of sleep-tracking. In my tests, I found these claims to be credible.

These much faster charging times are helpful because battery life is still rated at just 18 hours, which means a charge at some point in the day is necessary if you want to wear the watch the entire day and still want to track your sleep. Typically, I leave it on the charger while I’m showering and I found that this was sufficient to keep the watch going indefinitely.

Final thoughts & buying advice

This is a good year to upgrade if you are holding on to a Series 8 or older watch. Series 10 has more than enough updates over Series 8 to make upgrading worthwhile. Not only do you get a slimmer case that’s more comfortable to wear, larger displays, and faster charging, but you also get features like Precision Finding, Double Tap, and sleep apnea detection, which are all useful in their own ways.

Series 9 owners will have much to ruminate. The key differentiators are the slimmer case, larger display, faster charging, and the Depth gauge app. Is that enough to warrant an upgrade? Especially since Series 9 watches will also run the new Vitals app and have sleep apnea detection. Personally, I find Series 10 to be a worthy upgrade for its improved wearability and larger display.

Is it worth stepping up to an Apple Watch Ultra 2, which costs double? With Series 10’s upsized display, the biggest appeal of the Apple Watch Ultra 2 for casual users is its battery life. Having to charge only on alternate days sounds trivial, but it has a profound impact on how little you worry about battery life. If you often find yourself on long flights across the globe, the Ultra’s long battery life is very nice to have. The rugged design is also attractive too.

Hardcore fitness enthusiasts will be better served by the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Its longer battery life means it can track outdoor workouts of up to 12 hours, with full heart rate and GPS readings. The rugged design will stand up to abuse better. And if you are scuba-diving, you’ll want the extra water resistance and the ability to track your depth up to 40 metres. If you do none of these things, you probably don’t need the Ultra watch.  However, I will concede that the Ultra, with its more burly case design and prominent crown guards, is quite the looker – especially now that it’s available in black titanium. So, yes, I can understand its appeal and why you might want one even if you aren’t a serious fitness junkie.

What’s also commendable is that Apple hasn’t raised the prices of the Series 10 watches. In fact, it has reduced prices for certain models. This has to be applauded.

More than ever, the Apple Watch is the best smartwatch to buy for most iPhone users. This is even more true for this year’s Series 10 watches, which have updates that are significant enough to even warrant owners of last year’s Series 9 watches to contemplate upgrading. Series 10 will go down as one of the most important versions of the Apple Watch.

Note: You can find the Apple Watch Series 10 on Lazada, Shopee, and the Apple Online Store.

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