octalfudgeApple Watch Series 9 'Basically Unchanged' Other Than Performance Boost From S9 Chip
Honestly this is exactly what I was hoping for š I absolutely love my S5 and donāt want them to change the design language (the ultra is uuuggglllyyy and I think the squared off look of the 12 is nice on the phone but would be weird on the watch) but also my S5 is getting real slow and the larger screen of the 7+ will be nice
NOT_RICKI also have a S5 Iām looking to upgrade. Iāve been waiting for a processor bump so this is good to see
Iāve not noticed my watch get much slower, although the battery has degraded. One thing that I did notice was that when I upgraded my iPhone my watch felt a lot faster, especially when using Siri or anything that used a lot of data transfer from the iPhone.
Still holding on to my S4 until it dies or they make a decent upgrade to battery life.
thatsnothowyoudoitIf you donāt need the new features they have made massive improvements to battery life; theyāre just hidden behind the new features a s5 owner might not care or need.
When I got my S6, I disabled:
- Pulse OX
- Always on display
- noise monitoring
When new, I was getting 56 hours.
Iām down to about 48 hours after just over two years.
I did not know you could disable noise monitoring, or as I like to call it āhand is outside the window while drivingā alert.
People may complain about not having big changes in each year for the watch, but I think itās important that Apple release certain products every year even if the changes are minor. Just look at the MacBook/iMac/Mac Pro lines and how much people want an upgrade (available at least) every year. It shows apples dedication to the line and itās very important in my opinion.
Most of us really donāt get a new one every year. However releasing a new model every year, even with fewer changes, means people who update less frequently always get a huge improvement
Anyone that has done software/hardware development knows that more new features usually means more bugs/broken stuff. Iām always glad to see stability/minor updates
madjoIām thinking of switching to an Apple Watch from a Garmin Vivoactive 4. But Iām not sure if thatās a good move.
If you have an iPhone, itās a good move.
There are a few small things Garmin watches are better at, but thereās a massive list of things Apple Watches do better than Garmin ones. Itās not even close.
Iām pretty sure the Series 9 is mostly unchanged because thereās basically nothing left Apple can do to improve the hardwareā¦ itās just a waiting game for batteries that hold more power - which will allow more features.
On battery lifeā¦ Garmin advertises ā8 daysā for the Vivoactive 4 but thatās only if you donāt use certain features. Itās exactly the same with an Apple Watchā¦ real world battery life depends what is active, how many notifications you receive, how often you check the time, how often you are out of bluetooth range of your phone or a wifi network, etc etc.
The lowest power mode an Apple Watch can run in (it will only tell you the time) will last a full month on a charge.
I would say the battery life on Apple Watch vs Garmin is totally different. The difference between charging every 5+ days vs every day is a huge qol difference. In my experience even if I turn off most of the Apple Watch features I still donāt get even close to 48 hours and thatās after losing most of what made the Watch feel smart. What it boils down to is if you want a smart watch or a fitness watch. If you want a smart watch then the Apple Watch is the obvious choice, but if youāre more interested in fitness tracking and stats then I think Garmin is probably the better choice.
ThekingoflordaGonna hold on to my S3 for another few years then
Have you had the battery replaced yet, how old is it?
No I didnāt, and 4 years old
airportlineGood thing to know I wonāt be missing much with just my current Apple Watch
I have the s4 and miss a little of the extra features like temperature
Still seeing no reason to upgrade from my S4, although my battery is overdue for replacement.