Apple Watch Series 9 (2023)

Supreme 24/7 comfort Choice of size, color, and bands Extensive health, fitness, and safety features Fast, smooth, and usable performance Total, easy integration with the iPhone

Less than two days battery life with moderate use Almost no reason to upgrade from previous version

The Apple Watch Series 9 is best suited to newcomers to Apple’s smartwatches rather than an essential upgrade for anyone who has already bought one in the last three or four years. I want to restate how excellent the Apple Watch is, how seamlessly it...

Powerful processor Bright display Double-tap gesture for hands-free operation On-device Siri Precision Finding for iPhone 15 family Carbon neutral build option

Familiar design

The Apple Watch Series 9 has a faster processor, a brighter display, and a more eco-friendly build than its predecessor, making it the best smartwatch for iPhone owners.

More efficient processor = better battery life. New pink color! Brighter screen for your lovely custom watch face. Useful haptic features. Finds your iPhone way faster. Daylight tracking is nifty. Double Tap is handy.

Looks mostly the same. Just like the Watch Ultra 2, too much of the experience is dependent on your iPhone. Do you want to log your entire personality on a watch?

Gorgeous display ; Speedy S9 SiP ; Carbon neutral ; Double-tap gestures are useful ; Brighter display

Design still hasn’t changed ; Minor feature updates ; Battery life still underwhelming

Apple Watch Series 9 is a great smartwatch for all intents and purposes. The S9 SiP provides big speed boosts to Siri commands, and an improved display brightness helps in direct sunlight. But this slow-plodding rate of iterative updates is getting...

Much brighter screen ; Siri responds faster to basic requests ; New Double Tap gesture looks promising ; Most accurate heart rate sensor in the industry

No major changes at all ; Battery life remains just one day ; No round shape option ; Only works with iPhones

Health sensors are more accurate and more sensitive Screen brightness has doubled for better outside use Improved battery life now easily lasts a full day Double-tap gesture improves one-handed use

No blood pressure tracking yet Valuable HRV data is only used by third party apps Sleep tracking is still better with third party apps Accuracy of Series 9 tracking calls older models into question

I'd recommend getting this model rather than the Apple Watch SE or the previous Series 8 or Series 7 models that you can still buy -- since the Series 9 technology will remain current for longer and is likely to benefit from future software upgrades...

Brighter (and darker!) display ; Great interface and broad app support ; Accurate and versatile tracking ; DoubleTap is practical

No 'Precision Start' feature ; Battery life only okay ; Slow charging

At the end of the day, the Apple Watch Series 9 is a terrific smartwatch. If you are currently considering buying your first Apple Watch, then you can buy the "nine" without hesitation. However, due to the minor improvements compared to the Watch 8, an...