December 3rd, 2023 - DarkBrave
I've been using an Apple Watch Series 2 for quite a while after a family member gave it to me since they upgraded to the Series 5, and it was awesome! Having all of those notifications
and complications on my wrist at all times was one of the coolest things ever! I enjoyed the Modular watch face with the date, workout button, activity rings, and GMT clock all on one face
with the local weather as well! I was a little jealous I didn't have watchOS 10, since it was running the ancient watchOS 6, which hasn't been updated in forever. Beside those features I
didn't have, I loved the thing to death, and used it all the time to work down my race time for the running season. However, this all changed on one day.
After hearing that the family member was upgrading to a Series 9 because they wanted to, I was excited to hear I was going to get their old Series 5. This alone was going to be a huge
upgrade for me, and I was ready. My big complaints with the Series 2 were slowness and battery, neither of which could really be solved, but hopefully the Series 5 would be better. We
decided to replace the battery in the Series 5 to extend its life, which lead us to the Apple Store. After turning it in we said goodbye and waited a few weeks. I still used the Series
2 during that time, but was still excited for the new one, since they could not replace the battery due to the small size of watches. Once we opened it at the store, there was no watch
inside! Yes, Apple did a big whoopsie! They were very kind about it and ended up giving us a brand new Series 9 with Cellular, which alone from the Series 5 would be a huge ugprade. I
was essentially getting two HUGE upgrades in one day!
After setting things up, I decided I didn't like my Modular watch face on the new one, so that night I setup the Infograph face with all my complications including compass, temperature,
timer, and rain on the outside. Of course, I added date, rings, workout, and digital clock to the inside as well to imitate the original face. As it turns out, I also really love the
simplicity and personality of the Snoopy face with all the fun animations and interactions. Later on, I used the Palette face with rings, temperature, date, and rain alongside the rainbow
color for its really amazing look, and also practicality. Nowadays, I have to say that Infograph is my favorite for utility, while Palette is my favorite for looks and aesthetics. Send
me your favorite faces in the comments below! (just kidding, sadly my website is basic and lacks comments)
As for watchOS 10, I have to say the changes are kind of unneeded, but at the same time don't matter. It was annoying having the control center moved to the side button and switching all
the shortcuts around, but it's the sort of thing you just gotta get used to. After using it for a few weeks, I have to say it's 100% okay now and I have adjusted to it. The app redesigns
are cool, but at the same time, unneeded. Smart Stack seems cool, and I do like it for checking the weather and seeing my timers, but it feels like it could be moved to its own app or
something like that. I just want Apple to add more needed features like maybe adding the raw sensor date (like body temperature) to the Heath app so we don't have to use third-party
hacked together apps for checking for 102 freedom degrees or above. However, by far my biggest complaint is that you can't assign a reminder to a specific section in the Reminders app!
You can see the sections in a specific list, but as for actually creating a reminder in a specific section you can't! Things like that I wish Apple would do, and it's a good thing this
watch should be updated for at least the next five or so years. Overall, it is a huge improvement and I love it, but want to see more in watchOS over the next few updates.
In addition, I love the other smaller features in the watch, things like the new always-on-display so I always know the time or the S9 SiP that is just blazing fast versus any other
Apple Watch ever. I actually really enjoy the new list view mode added, as it just makes searching for one app way easier than playing a game of Where's Waldo. The compass app is just
simply awesome, featuring all the cool location sensor data as well as a level indicator. Waypoints are just so cool, giving you an overview of everything, which I plan to use a lot
on camping trips. It would be cool to see topographic maps in the compass app, but at that point you should use WorkOutDoors. (which I want to use all my iTunes credit on later!)
Another thing I like is sleep tracking, which the fast-charging helps me achieve, as it shows me that I really need to get more sleep instead of staying up all night writing these
instead of going to bed. Oh yeah, and the Intervals feature in the Workout app just makes things so much easier for timed interval training, but I do wish it could repeat until I stop
it instead of just a certain amount of time. Also, now my passes finally sync from the Wallet app to the watch, making checkout at stores that much easier! I could go on and on about
these features, but instead I'm going to leave it here.
So from all of this, you should be able to tell I'm loving the new Apple Watch Series 9 with watchOS 10, and although I have some minor complaints, it's overall a great product I
would totally recommend. My watch would cost about $529.00 USD, considering of course you didn't get it for $80 like I did as explained above. However, an equivalently configured
Apple Watch SE 2 would run you only $329.00 USD, so is questionable if an always-on-display, way faster S9 SiP, ECG/Blood Oxygen, faster charging, and a few other features is really
worth the extra $200 USD. For me, I could probably go for an SE if I were buying it with my own money, but obviously the Series 9 is better if you can afford it, and will probably
last longer in terms of software updates. So that's just my thoughts on going from an Apple Watch Series 2 with watchOS 6 all the way to a Series 9 with watchOS 9, which are mostly
positive. Should my thoughts affect you? Probably not. But should they help you understand what a very enthusiastic tech user thinks that may help you decide if it's right for you?
Maybe so, but make sure to read or watch other people's reviews in addition to this one.