Apple Watch Series 9 Review

I've worn the Apple Watch 9 every day since I received it in late September and have benefited from the Apple Watch since my husband bought the Series 7 in 2021, and we started going on daily walks.

It's nice to have my own. With an excellent battery, cool features, and a comfortable fit, the Apple Watch Series 9 is a great buy.

I haven't used many smartwatches, but I remember when a smartwatch wouldn't last through the day. Thankfully, that's not the case with the Series 9, which has yet to die on me (aside from when I unknowingly unplugged its charger right before bed).

It offers conveniences, too, not just "nice to haves," the top one being using Apple Pay at the register. (No fumbling around for my phone or wallet.) And using it to swipe onto the subway feels like a luxury.

Pricing and What's New

The Apple Watch Series 9 costs $399 for Wi-Fi only, the same as the Series 8 & 7. To add Cellular, pricing starts at $499.  (I have the Apple Watch Series 9 GPS + Cellular 45mm.)

The last few models have had the same processor, but the Series 9 gets the S9 chip, which promises 30 percent more speed and all-day battery life.

The display has double the brightness of the Series 8 and comes in a new pink color.

Apple released a new Double Tap gesture on the Series 9 and Ultra 2 that controls the primary button in an app without touching your watch. Tap your index finger and thumb twice to snooze alarms, stop timers, answer calls, and more.

It's a cool feature, though I often forget it's an option.

Finally, if you lose your iPhone, you can ping it from your watch, showing you which direction to go and emitting haptic feedback when you get close. I haven't yet used this feature, but I will update this review when I do.

Theater Mode

One of my favorite features is Theater Mode, which prevents the screen from lighting up when you glance at it or receive a notification. It's perfect for the movies and theater, of course, but it also came in handy when I was recently on jury duty during the trial and needed to keep distractions to a minimum.

It turns on silent mode and makes your Walkie-Talkie status unavailable, but you'll receive haptic notifications.

Fitness Tracking

I use the watch for fitness tracking and try to "close my rings" daily. After a few bike rides where my average speed was skewed because I forgot to pause or unpause the workout during or after a break, I was pleased to find that you can enable automatic pausing (auto-pause) for biking and running.

In my experience, the watch was quick to pause when I stopped at traffic lights and resume once I started moving again. (This is also helpful if you forget to end a workout.)

Who Should Buy It?

If you have a Series 6 or older, it's worth moving up to the Series 9 as you're likely dealing with declining performance and a more easily depleted battery. The Series 9 costs the same as the Series 7 and 8, so there's little reason to purchase last year's model.

You can use your old watch bands and cases on a newer model, which is convenient.

On the other hand, if you have an Apple Watch Series 7 or later that works well and has a good battery, there's little reason to upgrade. (The Series 4 and newer watches are eligible for watchOS 10 if you have an iPhone XS or more recent.)

One thing to know is that if you get an Apple Watch, you should have an iPhone too. It doesn't play well with Android smartphones and won't pair over Bluetooth.