Apple Watch Series 10 Review: A Decade of Evolution, But Is It Still the Smartwatch to Beat?

Introduction: My 10-Year Wrist Companion

Design: Same Same, But Different

The Shape of Things

First things first – if you’re expecting some radical redesign, you might want to temper those expectations. The Series 10 is still rocking that rounded rectangle look we’ve all come to know and love (or tolerate, depending on your aesthetic preferences).

It’s like that friend who gets a slightly different haircut – you know something’s changed, but you can’t quite put your finger on it. The edges are a bit softer, the whole thing feels a smidge more organic on the wrist. I swear, sometimes I look down and it’s like the watch is trying to meld with my arm. Borg assimilation, anyone?

Apple’s been on this “let’s round all the things” kick for a while now, and the Series 10 is no exception. It’s subtly different, sure, but unless you’re the type who can spot the difference between X and Pro Max iPhones at twenty paces, you probably won’t notice.

Oh, and they’ve shaved off about 1mm in thickness. Cue the confetti! Okay, I’m being a bit snarky here, but seriously, it’s one of those changes that sounds impressive in a keynote but means diddly-squat in real life. I’ve been wearing it for weeks, and if there’s a difference in how it feels, my wrist certainly hasn’t noticed.

Material World

Now, here’s where things get interesting. Apple’s done away with the stainless steel option, which honestly feels like saying goodbye to an old friend. But before you start writing eulogies, let me tell you about its replacement: polished titanium.

This stuff is no joke. It’s 20% lighter (that’s about 10 grams for you metric fans), and it’s tougher than my grandmother’s fruit cake. And let me tell you, that fruit cake could survive a nuclear apocalypse.

The weight difference is noticeable. I’ve been wearing Apple Watches for years, and this is the first time I’ve actually forgotten I was wearing one. The other day, I spent a good five minutes tearing apart my bedroom looking for it before I realized it was on my wrist. Talk about a senior moment.

Color-wise, we’ve got some new options. There’s the usual suspects – silver and rose gold – but now there’s this sleek black polished version that looks like something out of a spy movie. I half expect it to shoot lasers or dispense poison darts. (Note to Apple: if you’re reading this, those are free ideas. You’re welcome.)

Screen Dreams

The display on this thing continues to impress. It’s bright – like, “I can read this thing while sunbathing on Mercury” bright. 2,000 nits, if you want to get technical. And the viewing angles? Let’s just say I can now check my notifications while doing yoga poses that would make a pretzel jealous.

One cool new trick is that the display updates every second now. You get to see the second hand move smoothly, just like a real watch. It’s one of those things you never knew you wanted until you have it, and then you can’t live without it. It’s oddly mesmerizing – I’ve caught myself just staring at it, watching the seconds tick by. (Note to self: find more productive hobbies.)

The Crown Jewel (or Pain)

Alright, time to address the elephant in the room – or rather, the crown on the side of the watch. Apple, we need to talk. I love you, but what’s the deal with the Digital Crown placement? It’s so high up on the case that it’s constantly digging into my wrist.

The other day, I was doing push-ups (yes, I do those now, thanks to this watch’s incessant prodding), and I swear I could feel the crown leaving a permanent indentation in my wrist bone. And don’t even get me started on the horror of getting arm hair caught in it. It’s like a tiny arm-waxing session every time I check my notifications.

I mean, there’s a reason traditional watches put the crown in the middle. It’s not just for looks – it’s so you don’t end up with a weird dent in your arm by the end of the day.

That said, I’ve got to give credit where it’s due. The haptic feedback on this thing is fantastic. Every click, every notification feels… well, “right” is the only word for it. It’s like the watch is communicating in some secret tactile language that my brain just inherently understands.

Old Bands, New Tricks

Here’s something that genuinely impresses me: every single watch band from the past decade still works with the Series 10. Every. Single. One.

In a world where tech companies seem to change connectors more often than I change my socks, this level of backwards compatibility is nothing short of miraculous. It’s like if you could still use your iPhone 3G case on an iPhone 15. (Apple, if you’re taking notes, please don’t get any ideas.)

This means that the small fortune I’ve spent on bands over the years hasn’t gone to waste. My wife might disagree about the “waste” part, but hey, at least I can still use them all!

watchOS 10: Jack of All Trades, Master of Some

Features Galore

Let’s talk software. WatchOS 10 is… a lot. It’s like they took every feature request from the past decade, threw them in a blender, and poured the result onto our wrists.

There are over 40 watch faces, each more customizable than my coffee order at that hipster place downtown. You’ve got apps for days – literally, I think I could use a different app every day for a month and not run out.

Want to check your email? Done. Control your music? Easy. Pay for your overpriced latte without touching your wallet? You got it. Navigate to that new restaurant everyone’s talking about? Just raise your wrist. It’s like having a personal assistant strapped to your arm, minus the judgmental looks when you ask for directions to the nearest fast food joint for the third time this week.

Oh, and apparently, it can now detect water pressure and temperature up to 7 meters deep. Because you never know when you might need to go pearl diving, I guess?

Feature Fatigue is Real

Here’s the thing, though. All these features? Sometimes it feels like too much of a good thing. Using this watch can sometimes feel like trying to navigate a maze blindfolded while riding a unicycle.

Take the new “Smart Stack” feature. It’s supposed to be this intelligent widget system that shows you what you need when you need it. In reality, it often feels about as smart as a bag of rocks. It’ll show me the time and date in big letters – you know, just in case I forgot I was wearing a watch – and then cycle through a bunch of widgets that seem to have been chosen by a drunk squirrel.

Weather, activities, photos… it’s like playing app roulette. Half the time, I find myself just swiping through, hoping to stumble upon something useful. It’s not that the information isn’t valuable – it’s just that getting to it feels like more work than it’s worth sometimes.

And let’s be real – trying to respond to an email on this thing is an exercise in futility. I’ve tried it. Multiple times. Each attempt ends with me frustratedly pulling out my phone, wondering why I even bothered. It’s like trying to write a novel on a Post-it note.

The result of all this feature-cramming? I’ve turned my once elegantly simple watch face into something that looks like the control panel of a nuclear submarine. All those complications (apt name, by the way) clutter up the screen, and I find myself missing the clean, classic look of a traditional watch.

Don’t get me wrong – I love having all these features at my fingertips. I just wish those fingertips didn’t have to work so hard to find what I need.

Feature	Apple Watch Series 10	Apple Watch Ultra 2	Apple Watch Series 9	Apple Watch Ultra	Apple Watch Series 8
Display Size	46mm or 42mm	49mm	45mm or 41mm	49mm	45mm or 41mm
Display Type	LTPO3 OLED Always-on	LTPO2 OLED Always-on	LTPO OLED Always-on	LTPO2 OLED Always-on	LTPO OLED Always-on
Brightness	Up to 2000 nits	Up to 3000 nits	Up to 2000 nits	Up to 3000 nits	Up to 1000 nits
Health Features	Heart rate notifications, Sleep tracking, Blood Oxygen app.	Heart rate notifications, Sleep tracking, Blood Oxygen app.	Heart rate notifications, Sleep tracking, Blood Oxygen app.	Heart rate notifications, Sleep tracking, Blood Oxygen app.	Heart rate notifications, Sleep tracking, Blood Oxygen app.
Water Resistance	Swimproof (50m)	High-speed water sports (100m)	Swimproof (50m)	High-speed water sports (100m)	Swimproof (50m)
Battery Life	Up to 18 hours	Up to 72 hours in Low Power Mode	Up to 18 hours	Up to 36 hours	Up to 18 hours
Processor	S10 SiP	S9 SiP	S9 SiP	S8 SiP	S8 SiP
Connectivity	GPS + Cellular	Precision dual-frequency GPS	GPS + Cellular	GPS + Cellular
Chip	W3	W3	W3
Weight	Light	Heavier due to materials used

Health and Fitness: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Vital Signs: Almost There

The new Vital Signs app is… interesting. It’s like having a little doctor on your wrist, constantly checking your vitals. Resting heart rate, blood oxygen, temperature – it’s all there. And you can set alerts for when things go wonky.

I’ve got to admit, it’s pretty cool. The other day, it alerted me that my resting heart rate was higher than usual. Turns out, I was coming down with a cold. The watch knew before I did. It was like having my mom on my wrist, except instead of saying “You look peaky,” it gave me actual data.

But here’s the kicker – they left out heart rate variability (HRV). It’s like they made this awesome health smoothie and forgot the kale. HRV is the cool kid of health metrics these days. It tells you about stress, recovery, overall health – all the good stuff. Every fitness nerd I know swears by it. So why, oh why, is it missing here? It’s like Apple made a pizza and forgot the cheese.

Fitness Tracking: Hit and Miss

When it comes to fitness tracking, the Series 10 is like that friend who’s really enthusiastic about working out but doesn’t quite know what they’re doing.

Take heart rate monitoring, for instance. During normal wear, it checks your heart rate as often as my cat checks if his food bowl has magically refilled – which is to say, inconsistently. Sometimes it’s every few minutes, sometimes it’s every 20 minutes. It’s only during workouts that it kicks into continuous mode. It’s like the watch is saying, “Oh, you’re exercising? Now I care about your heart rate.”

And don’t get me started on the training zones. Whoever set these up clearly hasn’t run a mile in their life. The default Zone 2 is so off, you’d think they confused “light jog” with “running from a bear.” I had to go in and manually adjust everything. It’s not a huge deal, but come on, Apple. You’ve got all this fancy tech, and you can’t figure out basic training zones?

Sleep tracking is another head-scratcher. Sure, it can tell me when I was in deep sleep versus REM. But can it tell me why I woke up feeling like I’d been hit by a truck? Nope. No insights about sleep onset, no info about how my resting heart rate changed overnight. It’s like having a really detailed map but no compass.

And then there’s the workout analysis. After a week of workouts, it proudly told me I’d done “32% more training than last week.” Great! …I think? Is that good? Should I do more? Less? The watch doesn’t know, and at this point, I’m too afraid to ask.

The Sleep Apnea Silver Lining

Now, it’s not all doom and gloom. The new sleep apnea detection feature? That’s genuinely cool. Over 30 days, it monitors your breathing patterns while you sleep, looking for potential interruptions.

For someone like me, who’s been told I snore like a freight train (lies, all lies), this could be a game-changer. It’s the kind of feature that makes you realize how far we’ve come. A decade ago, detecting sleep apnea meant a night in a sleep lab, hooked up to more wires than a marionette. Now? It’s just your watch doing its thing while you dream of electric sheep.

Performance and Battery Life: The More Things Change…

Processing Power: Fast, But Familiar

Under the hood, we’ve got the new S10 chip. And by “new,” I mean “it’s the S9 chip in a fancy hat.” Okay, that’s a bit harsh. They’ve tweaked it to fit in the slimmer design, but in terms of raw power? It’s not exactly a quantum leap.

That said, this thing is fast. Scary fast. Apps open quicker than I can change my mind about opening them. Scrolling is smoother than a buttered-up seal on a slip ‘n slide. It’s undoubtedly the zippiest smartwatch I’ve ever used.

But here’s the rub – if you’re coming from a Series 8 or 9, you probably won’t notice much difference. It’s like upgrading from a sports car to a slightly sportier sports car. Sure, it’s faster on paper, but in the real world? You’re still stuck in the same traffic as everyone else.

Battery Life: The Eternal Struggle

Ah, battery life. The eternal thorn in the side of every smartwatch. Has it improved over the decade? Yes. Is it revolutionary? Not quite.

With my 42mm version, I typically end the day with about 45% charge left. Throw in sleep tracking, and it uses another 10-15% overnight. It’s enough to get through a day and a night comfortably, but don’t expect much more than that.

The bigger 46mm model can stretch to about two full days, and the Ultra variant can manage an extra day on top of that. It’s respectable, but after ten years, I was kind of hoping for more. I mean, my old Casio could run for years on a single battery. Granted, all it did was tell time and occasionally play a tinny rendition of “Fur Elise,” but still.

Charging is, admittedly, pretty slick. A 30-minute charge will get you to 80%, which is usually enough to get through a full day. It’s perfect for those “Oh crap, I forgot to charge it” mornings. Not that I have those. Often.

But here’s the thing – after a decade of development, I was secretly hoping for some kind of breakthrough. Wireless charging from across the room, maybe? Solar charging? Heck, I’d settle for it being powered by my sarcasm – I’d never have to charge it again.

Conclusion: A Refined Classic, But Where’s the Revolution?

So, here we are. Ten years and ten generations of Apple Watch. The Series 10 is, without a doubt, the most capable iteration yet. It’s a jack-of-all-trades that’s actually managed to master quite a few of them.

For iPhone users, it remains the undisputed champion of the smartwatch world. The integration with the Apple ecosystem is so seamless it’s almost creepy. It’s like the watch knows what I need before I do – which is equal parts convenient and mildly terrifying.

But – and isn’t there always a but? – I can’t shake this nagging feeling that we’re due for something… more. The Series 10 feels like the culmination of a decade of incremental improvements. It’s polished, it’s powerful, but it’s also… familiar.

Who Should Strap This to Their Wrist?

• iPhone devotees looking for the ultimate wrist companion.
• Those still rocking an Apple Watch Series 5 or earlier (trust me, the upgrade is worth it).
• Health nuts who want a less judgmental workout buddy.
• Anyone who’s ever dreamed of being Dick Tracy (minus the whole detective thing).

Who Might Want to Keep Their Wrists Bare?

• Serious athletes who need more detailed training metrics (sorry, marathoners).
• Battery life enthusiasts who break out in hives at the thought of daily charging.
• Folks happy with their recent-model Watch (unless you really need that extra millimeter of wrist space).

The Verdict

The Apple Watch Series 10 is a testament to a decade of innovation in the wearable space. It’s a refined, feature-rich device that continues to set the standard for what a smartwatch can be. However, it also reveals that Apple may need to refocus on core health and fitness functionalities to stay ahead of increasingly competent rivals.

For most iPhone users, the Series 10 remains the best smartwatch option available, thanks to its unmatched ecosystem integration. But as we look to the next decade of Apple Watch evolution, one can’t help but wonder: what groundbreaking features will redefine the smartwatch experience once again?

The journey of the Apple Watch has been remarkable, and the Series 10 is a worthy culmination of ten years of development. It’s not perfect, but it’s a powerful reminder of how far wearable technology has come – and a tantalizing glimpse of where it might go next.