ICYM my Apple Watch Series 10 review, Tom's Guide's Katie has been testing out Apple's flagship smartwatch for a few weeks now.
You had some questions about the design and colors, battery life, how the Apple Watch Series 10 vs. Apple Watch Ultra 2 compare, and about whether paying for Cellular support is worth it.
Hopefully her answers can help you out if you're planning to buy a new smartwatch!
You had some questions about the design and colors, battery life, how the Apple Watch Series 10 vs. Apple Watch Ultra 2 compare, and about whether paying for Cellular support is worth it.
Hopefully her answers can help you out if you're planning to buy a new smartwatch!
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TechTranscript
00:00Hey guys, I have seen a lot of interesting questions come through on my Apple Watch
00:04Series 10 review video, so I thought I'd go through and answer some. I've been wearing the
00:08Series 10 for two, maybe almost three weeks now, so hopefully I'll be able to help you out a bit
00:13if you're wondering whether you should buy the new Apple Watch. Again, these are all your questions,
00:18but if there's anything else you want to know or things I haven't discussed yet, just let me know
00:22in the comments of this video. Otherwise, let's get into it. First up, I want to plan about buy
00:28Apple Watch. Wait, huh? I want to plan to buy iPhone 10 Series. I think, I'm guessing they mean Apple
00:35Watch Series. So please, can you suggest a size, whether it's 42 or 46 millimeters, which fit my
00:41wrist size 240 millimeters? Do we have a ruler? Yeah, it's right there. I use the metric system.
00:49Thank you. I use the metric system, so I need to see what 240 millimeters would look like. So this is
00:5624 centimeters, 240, that's 24. I feel like that's a really big wrist. Look, I don't think there's any
01:03rule that tells you what size Apple Watch you should get based on your wrist size, but I think 24
01:09centimeters or 240 millimeters is a pretty large wrist. I generally think that the Apple Watch Series 10 in
01:1646 millimeters would probably look a bit more, what's the word I'm looking for? Proportional. It would look
01:21more proportional. Series 10 has a number of useful upgrades this year, so why not the battery?
01:27Sad face, crying face. Why not the battery? You know, I ask this question every year, and instead
01:33of actually increasing the battery or the battery life, I think that this person is referring to,
01:39Apple has instead opted to make changes to efficiency and the display and kind of the overall power of the
01:45watch without compromising battery life. So like, think about it. When the watch gets brighter,
01:49when the display gets bigger, when the performance is more demanding and it can do more, it takes more
01:55power, more battery to run those things. So Apple has kind of remained committed to not lowering the
02:00battery life expectancy, even though it's still making all of these improvements in other ways.
02:05Do I wish we got more than an 18-hour battery life? Of course. That's actually why I usually wear
02:10the Apple Watch Ultra, because you get closer to two days of battery life. The Garmin fans always come
02:15out whenever a new Apple Watch is announced, just saying how the battery life can't be compared.
02:19And that's so valid. If you really need a smartwatch with great battery life, maybe an Apple Watch isn't
02:24right for you. But I don't think it's fair to say that the battery hasn't been upgraded when it has
02:29been upgraded to match some of those new efficiency demands. Girl, I'm confused between jet black or
02:35rose gold color. Anyone have advice for me? And I've never owned an Apple Watch before. Well, if you are
02:40going to be getting your first Apple Watch, congratulations. That's very exciting. Second, in terms of colors,
02:46some people are complaining that there are maybe not as many interesting colors this year. As a reminder,
02:50we have jet black, silver, and rose gold. This is the jet black here on my wrist. But in my review
02:56video, I had the rose gold color, which is also really nice. In terms of which one to get, I would
03:03say it comes down to whether you want something that's more shiny or matte. The jet black is cool
03:07because it's polished aluminum. This is a first for Apple Watch. And it has this more like shiny,
03:13catches the light real nice. It might look a bit more premium in some ways in that regard. But the
03:18rose gold is also really nice. There's going to be no mistaking it for an Apple Watch. I think it
03:23goes really well with jewelry if that's something that you wear and want to have matched. If you're
03:28not totally sure, and again, you're getting your first Apple Watch, it's going to be an investment.
03:32You want to pick the right one for you. In this case, I might recommend going to the store,
03:35checking them out. You don't need an appointment or anything just to go try on the different colors and
03:39see which one you think matches your style. Oh, we have a similar question. I feel like jet black
03:45fits more men, right? No, no, no, no. I saw multiple comments like this. Actually, we are not going to
03:51be gendering which colors. Like, there's no color for men, color for women. Like, they're just colors.
03:57It depends on your preference. I've had women in my comments saying they love the jet black. That's
04:02what they're doing. I've had men saying they love the rose gold. It doesn't matter. Like, get the
04:07watch color that you like. There doesn't need to be one for men, one for women. I don't want to see
04:11any more comments about this, guys. Okay? Thank you for this detailed video. You're welcome. Can you
04:16please tell me if the wristbands are interchangeable between the Series 9 and Series 10? That is actually
04:21a great question because leading up to the launch, there were some rumors that Apple would be changing
04:26the band system, but they did not. So all of the bands that you already have for your Apple Watch
04:31will work for the new one as long as you have the corresponding sizes. So if you have a Series 9,
04:38you go to Series 10. Series 9, you would have a 41 or 45 millimeter. On the Series 10, you will have a 42
04:44or a 46 millimeter. The 41 matches the 42. The 45 matches the 46. Those bands will work either way.
04:53And in case you didn't know, that's also the case for the Apple Watch Ultra. The 45 slash 46 size bands
04:58also work for the 49 millimeter Apple Watch Ultra. Oh my god, that was a lot of math. I hope I explained
05:04that in a clear way. I just, the numbers, you know. Moving along, how is the apnea detection supposed
05:10to work without the blood oxygen sensor? That's a good question. I did see multiple comments about
05:16this. Now, this person's talking about the sleep apnea detection feature that was announced alongside
05:23the Series 10, though it also works for the Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra too. If you watched my review
05:28video, I talked about the deal with the blood oxygen sensor app, how it's not available in the U.S.
05:33due to the ongoing patent dispute. But it's actually not the blood oxygen sensor that's informing the
05:40sleep apnea detection feature. It's Apple's accelerometer that's powering those insights.
05:46Listen, this was actually pulled from the product description. This feature uses the watch's built-in
05:52accelerometer to detect motion and airflow patterns. So the nitty-gritty of how it actually works is still
05:58kind of vague. I don't think Apple would actually go out and share that information. But I've been
06:03using the feature since it became available a couple weeks ago. And so far, it's pretty on par
06:07with like what my understanding of my sleep is. I know I don't have sleep apnea. I know I sleep well
06:13through the night. I'm not getting any breathing disturbances alerts. But if this is something that
06:17you'd want to know more about, or if I should do a separate video about, let me know in the comments.
06:21Does the aluminum Apple Watch Series 10 have a sapphire screen like the Ultra 2 and the stainless
06:28steel watches? So first thing wrong with that question is Apple no longer makes stainless steel
06:33watches. The more premium Apple Watch Series 10 is actually a titanium material. So a bit of a
06:40difference there. But to answer your question, no, the Apple Watch Series 10 aluminum, which this one is,
06:46does not have a sapphire glass display. It has something called Ion X front glass. This is the
06:52type of glass that Apple has used on the Apple Watch, the aluminum watch, I should say, for years now.
06:57And no, it is not as scratch resistant as the sapphire crystal display. So not recommended for maybe more
07:06rugged activities if you have a job that you're very hands-on, manual labor, things like that. I know that
07:12all kind of sounds bad, but there is a positive or a trade-off in that the Ion X glass is more lighter
07:17weight than sapphire crystal. So that helps with the Apple Watch Series 10 being around 10% lighter,
07:24I believe, than last year's Apple Watch. Would you upgrade from the Apple Watch Series 8?
07:30Hmm, that's a good question. So the Apple Watch Series 8 came out two years ago. I don't think that
07:37people need to be replacing their Apple Watch every two years. I think phones are kind of different.
07:41There's a lot of incentives to get the new iPhone every year, but the Apple Watch doesn't need to
07:46follow the same kind of program. If you ask me, the biggest non-starter when it comes to whether
07:51it's time to upgrade your Apple Watch is whether your watch supports the latest software update,
07:56which in this case is watchOS 11. If you've been holding on to your Apple Watch Series 5,
08:01Apple Watch Series 4, and God forbid Apple Watch Series 3 or newer, I would say you're probably due for
08:06an upgrade, especially if your Apple Watch is something that you wear mostly regularly. There's
08:11honestly not that much major between the Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch Series 10 that I think
08:16maybe the average user would care about. So I would hold on to your Apple Watch Series 8 for
08:21at least another year. But hey, if you're curious, I would check those trade-in values because your
08:26Apple Watch Series 8 might be worth a good sum towards getting a new watch if that seems worth it
08:31to you. If I go with the 10, what will I miss out from not choosing the Ultra 2 and vice versa?
08:36Is the slimmer 10 better for overall use in terms of shirts, jackets, and so on?
08:42Hmm. I'm interpreting it as this person cares more about the fit and feel, so it's one of those
08:47cases where I think I should better show you than tell you. All right. Here I have the Apple Watch
08:55Ultra 2 in satin black. I posted an unboxing on our TikTok, which you should go check out. But I
09:01wanted to put it on to show you the difference in thickness in the two watches. I could pull up the
09:07measurements on Apple's website, but I think you're seeing what I'm seeing, that the Apple Watch
09:11Series 10 is much thinner than the Apple Watch Ultra 2. I'll take it off for a moment.
09:17I wore the right shirt today. I'm wearing, like, a form-fitting black long-sleeved shirt. And yeah,
09:24it definitely, like, as I'm pulling my sleeve up, definitely does get caught in the watch. I have
09:28to put it over. It's very clear. It's like, what am I hiding under there? Am I James Bond type of thing?
09:33Bond. James Bond.
09:36Now, if I put the Series 10 back on my wrist, the feel is night and day. There's really not much that
09:44the Apple Watch Series 10 gets that the Apple Watch Ultra 2 doesn't. It has the new Tides app.
09:50As I mentioned earlier, it gets sleep apnea detection. But there are some key benefits to
09:55the Apple Watch Ultra 2 compared to the Apple Watch Series 10. We already talked about the Sapphire
10:00crystal display. You have a titanium design. You have the added action button and the 86 decibel
10:07siren. But what I think matters to most people is the fact that the Apple Watch Ultra 2 has a much
10:13longer battery life. I can go on a weekend trip without charging it, and that's just a game changer
10:19for a lot of people. All right, guys, we made it to the last question. Is it justified to buy the
10:25Series 10 with cellular? It irks me how Apple charges an extra $100 for cellular support on the
10:33watches. The Apple Watch Series 10 starts at $399, but then if you get the version with cellular
10:39enabled, it goes up to $499. And some people don't realize that even though you pay for the cellular
10:46supporting version, you then still need to pay your carrier a monthly fee in order to have the
10:53cellular connection. I use Verizon. I think it's about $10 per month. So that means that the cost
10:58doesn't end beyond just paying for the cellular upgrade. For those who aren't familiar with what
11:03cellular means, it basically means that the iPhone supports your phone service. So it kind of like
11:08extends your phone's number to your watch. If you leave your phone at home, you go out, or your phone
11:14just isn't in range of your Apple Watch, you'll be able to answer calls, send text messages, use the Maps app,
11:21call an Uber, anything else that you would be able to do on your watch if it was connected to your
11:27phone. A feature like this is really popular among runners or people who do outdoor sports, meaning
11:32that they don't have to have their phone on them, but they can still stay connected. There's some great
11:36peace of mind in a feature like this. Or how about for people who just tend to leave their phone at
11:41home? I'm talking to you, mom. That way you know that you can still answer a call. The amount of times
11:46that my mom leaves for the grocery store without her phone, and I need to text her to get something that I
11:51forgot to say before she left, if she had a cellular watch, that wouldn't be a problem. So it's really
11:56important to note that you have to make this decision when you're going to buy your Apple Watch.
12:01If you get an Apple Watch without cellular support and then decide you want it, your watch isn't going
12:06to work even if you're ready to pay your carrier that monthly fee. If you think there's even a chance
12:11you're going to want a feature like that, I would go ahead and get the cellular version.
12:15I appreciate everyone who sent in some questions. I hope I was able to help even if it was just a little
12:20bit or maybe I even answered some questions you didn't even know you had. If there is anything else
12:25you want to know about the Apple Watch Series 10, be sure to go check out my full review video. There
12:30could be some more context in there. And if you're looking to upgrade the rest of your devices, Apple
12:35just came out with a bunch of stuff. We have some great videos. We have reviews, unboxings, photo
12:40face-offs, all that good stuff. And of course on TikTok at Tom's Guide is where you're going to see far
12:46more behind the scenes with testing all of the new products. Thanks for watching guys. Again,
12:52let me know if you have any questions about the Apple Watch Series 10. Otherwise, I'll catch you next
12:56time.