Hands-on: Apple Watch Series 10 in the test – this makes me give up the Watch Ultra

Hands-on review of the Apple Watch Series 10: Two-minute preview

(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

With Apple's “It's Glowtime” event coming up on September 9, 2024, I wouldn't blame you if you'd perhaps dismissed the rumor mill surrounding the Apple Watch Series 10. I've heard it will have a larger display, a new health feature, and a thinner build. On paper, that's not much, but I admit I underestimated it.

Maybe I should have looked at the calendar, because today (September 9) is the tenth anniversary of the Apple Watch, and while the Series 10 looks familiar, the difference is in the details.

Even after ten generations, it's clear that Apple is sticking with this rounded, square design and working to perfect it – or, as my colleague Lance Ulanoff put it, Apple is polishing the Apple to a high shine.

To sum up, the Series 10 is indeed similar to the Series 9, but much thinner – Apple shaved off a full 1 millimeter, which is a lot for a device on your wrist – and packed in a much larger display. In fact, the 46-millimeter display is even larger than that of the Apple Watch Ultra 2, and while that sounds like a behemoth, it's not. The smartwatch didn't feel massive at all on my wrist and looked quite sleek, especially in the aluminum Jet Black finish, which I enjoy so much as someone who waited hours for an iPhone 7 Plus in that shade.

Apple Watch Series 10 vs Apple Watch Series 9

(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

The screen is the star here, though, and it's bigger for more than just the sheer numbers. You can press buttons more easily in the calculator, and you can see more detail when viewing photos. And even better, when reading text in an email or news article, the screen is big enough to display an extra line of text.

This is super functional, but it also makes the display more visible, so even at extreme angles you can see what's on the display when you look at it off-axis. Think of this as the second half of what Apple was trying to achieve with the Series 7, which curved the edges downward.

To achieve this, the Apple Watch Series 10 features a “wide angle OLED” display with an LTPO-3 panel underneath. In practice, this is an incredibly bright (up to 2,000 nits) screen that offers crisp, vivid detail and can reach an extremely low refresh rate of 1Hz. Clock and timepiece: Fans will appreciate how good the ticking second hands look on various watch faces.

That's probably what you'd expect from an Apple Watch, but the Series 10's screen, which seems like a fairly straightforward upgrade, steals the show here and looks much bigger when seen in real life. The 44-46mm doesn't sound huge, but it makes me want to ditch my Apple Watch Ultra. Of course, if you don't want the larger Apple Watch, you still get the thinner build and larger display with the smaller, 42mm Series 10.

Apple Watch Series 10

(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

Second, while Apple still promises the same 18 hours of battery life, it offers an improvement in charging. I'd call this battery close, as it lets you extend the life of the Series 10 with a simple charge. It still comes with the fast-charging USB-C Apple Watch puck that's been included since the Series 7, but thanks to a new coil on the Series 10, it can reach 80% in just 30 minutes. That should make a big impact, and you can still get 8 hours of use in just 8 minutes.

That alone might convince you to wear the Apple Watch Series 10 at night for sleep tracking, but Apple is also adding a new health feature. Sleep apnea detection will be available in the Series 10, Ultra 2, and Series 9 once the FDA approves it. Essentially, it uses the accelerometer and a custom algorithm to determine if you might be suffering from it, and if it detects it, you'll get an alert in the Apple Health app. It doesn't need to measure blood oxygen or use other sessions, and Apple is only introducing this feature after extensive testing to ground the process in science.

Apple Watch Series 10, back

(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

These three are the most impressive feats Apple accomplished for the Series 10, which came out on the tenth anniversary of the Apple Watch. Inside, it's powered by the S10 SIP, which delivers similar performance to the S9 (in the Series 9 and Ultra 2). However, because the Series 10 is thinner, Apple had to design the inside to be much flatter than the previous model.

Apple also redesigned the speaker, which is now larger, and shortened the Digital Crown by 1 millimeter on the inside. The red circle on the Digital Crown that indicated LTE connectivity is gone, and the back of the Apple Watch is now metal and matches the rest, making it look like the Series 10 is made of a single body.

I was skeptical at first, but I can't wait to spend more time with the Apple Watch Series 10 and put it through its paces. Yet as I write this after a long, tiring day at Apple Park, my thoughts keep returning to the screen. It's much roomier, but not overly large and doesn't have a wide bezel around the screen like the Ultra. It's minimalist, sleek, and still feels like an Apple Watch at its core.

If you're already convinced, you can order the Apple Watch Series 10 now, starting at $399/£TBC/AU$649, with shipping beginning September 20, 2024.

@techradar ♬ Original sound – TechRadar

Hands-on: Apple Watch Series 10 in the test – this makes me give up the Watch Ultra

Hands-on review of the Apple Watch Series 10: Two-minute preview

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