The Series 10 Apple Watch: A Comprehensive Review

I recently got my hands on the latest Apple Watch series 10, and I was eager to find out how loud the speaker could get on this model. To test its limits, I played a heavy rock track back at maximum volume and placed an additional Apple Watch next to it to measure the decibel level using the noise app. The result was around 90 odd dB or so.

But how does that actually translate to distance in the real world? I put my faith over there going to hit play, Let's see yeah I can hear something yeah right here definitely can hear her okay so annoyance rating probably about 20 ft away outside go I can barely hear it right now annoyance rating right next to me 2 ft. You can use the speaker for first-party apps like podcasts Apple Music and audiobooks, and I can confirm some third-party apps like Spotify work too.

The Series 10 features a new metric that it calls breathing disturbances, which is used to detect signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea. This is a sleep condition where you momentarily stop breathing during the night. Unlike other watches, this Apple Watch uses an accelerometer to track breathing disturbances and provides sleep apnea notifications. These are now available in the US, and users can follow the onboarding process in the Health app to get set up. It requires at least 10 nights of sleep data within a 30-day period.

Additionally, the Series 10 has a new feature called "Vitals," which tracks key metrics during sleep like heart rate, respiratory rate, and wrist temperature. If anything falls outside your range of normal, you'll be able to see it in the morning. There's also a training load feature that measures the intensity of your workout routine and provides effort ratings for supported workouts after the fact.

In terms of watchOS 11, this update brings several new features, including double tap, which allows you to respond to messages, answer calls, or control music playback with just one tap. It also enables scrolling through apps by double tapping on them. The latest version of watchOS 11 is available for compatible watches, and updating your software will give you some of the good stuff from the Series 10 without having to pay for new hardware.

The Series 10 also borrows features from the Ultra, including a depth gauge that's rated for 6 meters or just under 20 feet. This should be more than enough for most people who don't scuba dive. The watch also has a water temperature sensor, which is used not only for pool and Open Water swims but also when you dunk your watch in water.

Unfortunately, one of the biggest disappointments about the Series 10 is its battery life. With moderate usage, including notifications, a 30-minute GPS workout, and sleep tracking, I was only able to get around a day and a half. Apple claims that the watch can charge to 80% in 30 minutes, which is faster than the Series 9's 45 minutes. However, this requires a fast charger included in the box, as well as at least a 20W adapter.

One of the biggest challenges Apple faces is getting people to change their habits. Many users are used to charging their watch overnight, and with so many key health features that rely on wearing the watch to track sleep, it may take more than just fast charging to bridge this gap. A longer battery life would be a welcome addition to this already impressive smartwatch.

In conclusion, while the Series 10 may not be the big, flashy redesign that some were hoping for, it's still a significant update. For users coming from earlier Apple watches like the Series 4, 5, or 6, it's especially beneficial as you'll get access to many more years of watchOS updates and a whole lot more health features.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthe series 10 is the Apple watch you know but better for its 10th birthday Apple made the watch Slimmer lighter and sleeker but despite shrinking a lot of internal features it's got a bigger screen than ever more Health tracking tools and a niche but very welcome feature an ability to play music through the speaker I've been living with it for a few days and as someone who usually prefers bigger and bulkier watches the series 10 has won me over in almost every way so let's get into it the series 10 looks and feels more like a traditional wristwatch than ever if you want it to that's in part to the ltp3 technology that gives this display the ability to go down to 1 Hertz refresh rate so you can now have a ticking second hand on the always on display I know a lot of people have been asking for a ticking secondhand specifically healthcare workers the second hand only shows up on a few watch faces Reflections and flux plus activity digital which has the digital seconds countdown but I'm so glad it's here and I'm sure we'll see even even more watch faces with it in the future the series 10 now comes in a 42 and 46 mm case size to accommodate a bigger screen it feels like a true full circle moment as the original largest size of the upper watch was 42 mm so what does it feel like on the wrist if you prefer a smaller case size to me it really doesn't feel any bigger than the 41 mm version of the series 9 and earlier my wrist is 152 mm for reference if you want to see what it might look like on you but practically speaking I wanted to show you the difference in what you can actually see on the screen this is the small size of the series 8 so the 41 mm next to the 42 mm series 10 with the same messages maps and even app list side by side even the keyboard is easier to type on and buttons in apps like calculator are bigger I was also able to try on the 46mm version and compare it to the 45mm series 9 at Apple's launch event and you can see even just by looking at these watch faces that there is more real estate to work with on the series 10 the display is the same maximum brightness as the series 9 so 2,000 nits but in always on display mode the series 10 is brighter when you look at it from an angle like most of the time when you're glancing down at your watch I've been alternating between the aluminium and the titanium versions it sounds tra but after coming from a bulkier watch like the ultra 2 I honestly do feel like I have to keep looking down to check my wrist to make sure I'm still wearing this watch all this makes it more comfortable than earlier Apple watches for Sleep track and there is a big reason why you might want to start tracking your sleep if you don't already which we'll talk about later the series 10 comes with a new voice isolation feature to soften background noise on phone calls and FaceTime calls so let's put it to the test I'm here at lion dance me in San Francisco to test out the voice isolation so I have Lisa on the other end hi Lisa how do I sound there's not much happening in the background just yet yeah it mean you sound clear to me I can hear you perfectly okay great take it away so we're just going to have we're just going to have a casual conversation I I'm I'm going to keep talking and see if the voice isolation actually works to isolate my sound from what's going on the high it is really loud in here but we are really putting this to the test I have doub and I have no idea you can hear me at all I can I can I can hear you but it is very loud in the background but I can definitely hear you I can tell what you're saying but it sounds like there's a lot of music happening in the background maybe some drums it definitely sounds very loud where you are but yes I can hear you okay good to know I think we found a very very loud environment so maybe we need to find somewhere a little quiet enough thanks Lisa okay I I had to stop the video to actually play this back and listen to that I couldn't hear a thing in that environment I was shouting and it was so incredibly loud the fact that I've played it back I can hear the voice and those drums don't even sound like they were close to me they sound like the were down the street is wild that voice isolation is really good and that was a super extreme test the first thing I thought of when I heard the series 10 and Ultra 2 would now be able to play music back through the speaker was yay because sometimes I forget my headphones when going out on a walk or a run but the second thing how much chaos is this going to cause in the real world let's find out so I wanted to find out how loud the speaker could actually get on this series 10 I got a heavy Rock track I played it back at maximum volume I put another Apple watch next to it and used the noise app it was around 90 odd DB or so but how does that actually translate to distance in the real world I got faith over there going to hit play Let's see yeah I can hear something yeah right here definitely can hear her okay so annoyance rating probably about 20 ft away outside go I can barely hear it right now annoyance rating right next to me 2 ft you can use the speaker for first party apps like podcasts Apple music and audio books and I can confirm some third party apps like Spotify work too the series 10 series 9 and upper watch Ultra 2 can detect signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea this is a sleep condition where you momentarily stop breathing during the night but it's using a different technique to other watches that also monitor for sleep apnea you may know that the Apple watch blood oxygen sensor is the subject of a patent dispute so it's not available ailable on us versions of the watch instead the Apple watch uses the accelerometer to track a new metric that it calls breathing disturbances sleep apnea notifications are now available in the US and you can follow the onboarding process in the health app to get set up it needs at least 10 nights of sleep data within a 30-day period so stay tuned to the full text review Linked In the description and we'll revisit once I have enough data we have a deep dive into how this feature works and what it looks like Linked In the video description and right up here like the series 9 and Ultra 2 before it the series 10 has double tap which lets you do this gesture to respond to messages answer calls or control music playback watch OS 11 also now means you can double tap to scroll through apps also new in watch OS 11 is the vitals app this tracks key metrics during sleep like heart rate respiratory rate and wrist temperature if anything Falls outside your range of normal you'll be able to see it in the morning there's also training load which I've been using on the beta version of watch OS 11 for a few months this is a way to measure the intensity of your workout routine it's also going to give you effort ratings for supported workouts after the fact of make you feel really good or sometimes really bad I won't get too into the we about all of the new features in watch OS 11 because I do have a full video about that already Linked In the description but suffice to say if you have a compatible watch updating your software will give you some of the good stuff from the series 10 without having to pay for new hardware the series 10 also borrow some features from the ultra too including a depth gauge now it doesn't go as deep it's only rated for 6 M or just under 20 ft but for most people who don't scuba that's plenty there's also a water temperature sensor which is used not only for pool and Open Water swims but also when you dunk your watch in water because why not unfortunately there's not much new to say about battery life which for me is the biggest disappointment about the series 10 you're still only able to get about a maximum of a day and a half with moderate which includes things like notifications a 30-minute GPS workout and sleep tracking to get around this sort of Apple claims the series 10 can charge to 80% in 30 minutes which is faster than the series 9 which took 45 minutes to get to that level now I did test this out I set a timer and I charged the watch from almost flat and yes it did meet the claim with a little bit extra despair now do note that you'll need the fast charger that's included in the Box Plus at least a 20 W adapter but as well as faster charging is I think one of the biggest challenges Apple faces is getting people to change their habits a lot of people are used to charging their watch overnight and with so many key Health features that rely on you wearing this watch to track sleep I think it's going to take more than just fast charging to bridge this Gap basically just give us longer battery life please and thank you so the series 10 isn't the big flashy new redesign many were hoping for to celebrate the 10th anniversary but I don't think that matters matters too much this is a significant update if you're coming from an earlier Apple watch like the series 4 5 or 6 especially because you'll get access to many more years of watchos updates and a whole lot more Health features thanks so much to the Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco at in badero and lion dance me for letting us fil I'll see you laterthe series 10 is the Apple watch you know but better for its 10th birthday Apple made the watch Slimmer lighter and sleeker but despite shrinking a lot of internal features it's got a bigger screen than ever more Health tracking tools and a niche but very welcome feature an ability to play music through the speaker I've been living with it for a few days and as someone who usually prefers bigger and bulkier watches the series 10 has won me over in almost every way so let's get into it the series 10 looks and feels more like a traditional wristwatch than ever if you want it to that's in part to the ltp3 technology that gives this display the ability to go down to 1 Hertz refresh rate so you can now have a ticking second hand on the always on display I know a lot of people have been asking for a ticking secondhand specifically healthcare workers the second hand only shows up on a few watch faces Reflections and flux plus activity digital which has the digital seconds countdown but I'm so glad it's here and I'm sure we'll see even even more watch faces with it in the future the series 10 now comes in a 42 and 46 mm case size to accommodate a bigger screen it feels like a true full circle moment as the original largest size of the upper watch was 42 mm so what does it feel like on the wrist if you prefer a smaller case size to me it really doesn't feel any bigger than the 41 mm version of the series 9 and earlier my wrist is 152 mm for reference if you want to see what it might look like on you but practically speaking I wanted to show you the difference in what you can actually see on the screen this is the small size of the series 8 so the 41 mm next to the 42 mm series 10 with the same messages maps and even app list side by side even the keyboard is easier to type on and buttons in apps like calculator are bigger I was also able to try on the 46mm version and compare it to the 45mm series 9 at Apple's launch event and you can see even just by looking at these watch faces that there is more real estate to work with on the series 10 the display is the same maximum brightness as the series 9 so 2,000 nits but in always on display mode the series 10 is brighter when you look at it from an angle like most of the time when you're glancing down at your watch I've been alternating between the aluminium and the titanium versions it sounds tra but after coming from a bulkier watch like the ultra 2 I honestly do feel like I have to keep looking down to check my wrist to make sure I'm still wearing this watch all this makes it more comfortable than earlier Apple watches for Sleep track and there is a big reason why you might want to start tracking your sleep if you don't already which we'll talk about later the series 10 comes with a new voice isolation feature to soften background noise on phone calls and FaceTime calls so let's put it to the test I'm here at lion dance me in San Francisco to test out the voice isolation so I have Lisa on the other end hi Lisa how do I sound there's not much happening in the background just yet yeah it mean you sound clear to me I can hear you perfectly okay great take it away so we're just going to have we're just going to have a casual conversation I I'm I'm going to keep talking and see if the voice isolation actually works to isolate my sound from what's going on the high it is really loud in here but we are really putting this to the test I have doub and I have no idea you can hear me at all I can I can I can hear you but it is very loud in the background but I can definitely hear you I can tell what you're saying but it sounds like there's a lot of music happening in the background maybe some drums it definitely sounds very loud where you are but yes I can hear you okay good to know I think we found a very very loud environment so maybe we need to find somewhere a little quiet enough thanks Lisa okay I I had to stop the video to actually play this back and listen to that I couldn't hear a thing in that environment I was shouting and it was so incredibly loud the fact that I've played it back I can hear the voice and those drums don't even sound like they were close to me they sound like the were down the street is wild that voice isolation is really good and that was a super extreme test the first thing I thought of when I heard the series 10 and Ultra 2 would now be able to play music back through the speaker was yay because sometimes I forget my headphones when going out on a walk or a run but the second thing how much chaos is this going to cause in the real world let's find out so I wanted to find out how loud the speaker could actually get on this series 10 I got a heavy Rock track I played it back at maximum volume I put another Apple watch next to it and used the noise app it was around 90 odd DB or so but how does that actually translate to distance in the real world I got faith over there going to hit play Let's see yeah I can hear something yeah right here definitely can hear her okay so annoyance rating probably about 20 ft away outside go I can barely hear it right now annoyance rating right next to me 2 ft you can use the speaker for first party apps like podcasts Apple music and audio books and I can confirm some third party apps like Spotify work too the series 10 series 9 and upper watch Ultra 2 can detect signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea this is a sleep condition where you momentarily stop breathing during the night but it's using a different technique to other watches that also monitor for sleep apnea you may know that the Apple watch blood oxygen sensor is the subject of a patent dispute so it's not available ailable on us versions of the watch instead the Apple watch uses the accelerometer to track a new metric that it calls breathing disturbances sleep apnea notifications are now available in the US and you can follow the onboarding process in the health app to get set up it needs at least 10 nights of sleep data within a 30-day period so stay tuned to the full text review Linked In the description and we'll revisit once I have enough data we have a deep dive into how this feature works and what it looks like Linked In the video description and right up here like the series 9 and Ultra 2 before it the series 10 has double tap which lets you do this gesture to respond to messages answer calls or control music playback watch OS 11 also now means you can double tap to scroll through apps also new in watch OS 11 is the vitals app this tracks key metrics during sleep like heart rate respiratory rate and wrist temperature if anything Falls outside your range of normal you'll be able to see it in the morning there's also training load which I've been using on the beta version of watch OS 11 for a few months this is a way to measure the intensity of your workout routine it's also going to give you effort ratings for supported workouts after the fact of make you feel really good or sometimes really bad I won't get too into the we about all of the new features in watch OS 11 because I do have a full video about that already Linked In the description but suffice to say if you have a compatible watch updating your software will give you some of the good stuff from the series 10 without having to pay for new hardware the series 10 also borrow some features from the ultra too including a depth gauge now it doesn't go as deep it's only rated for 6 M or just under 20 ft but for most people who don't scuba that's plenty there's also a water temperature sensor which is used not only for pool and Open Water swims but also when you dunk your watch in water because why not unfortunately there's not much new to say about battery life which for me is the biggest disappointment about the series 10 you're still only able to get about a maximum of a day and a half with moderate which includes things like notifications a 30-minute GPS workout and sleep tracking to get around this sort of Apple claims the series 10 can charge to 80% in 30 minutes which is faster than the series 9 which took 45 minutes to get to that level now I did test this out I set a timer and I charged the watch from almost flat and yes it did meet the claim with a little bit extra despair now do note that you'll need the fast charger that's included in the Box Plus at least a 20 W adapter but as well as faster charging is I think one of the biggest challenges Apple faces is getting people to change their habits a lot of people are used to charging their watch overnight and with so many key Health features that rely on you wearing this watch to track sleep I think it's going to take more than just fast charging to bridge this Gap basically just give us longer battery life please and thank you so the series 10 isn't the big flashy new redesign many were hoping for to celebrate the 10th anniversary but I don't think that matters matters too much this is a significant update if you're coming from an earlier Apple watch like the series 4 5 or 6 especially because you'll get access to many more years of watchos updates and a whole lot more Health features thanks so much to the Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco at in badero and lion dance me for letting us fil I'll see you later\n"