The Apple Watch Series 9 vs. the competition: Same design, more power

Apple unveiled the new Apple Watch Series 9 on Tuesday. The main upgrade is a new S9 chipset, which includes the wearable’s first real CPU upgrade since the Series 6 in 2020 and helps enable features like a “double tap” gesture for controlling parts of apps hands-free. There’s also a brighter display, a new neural engine, a fresh pink colorway and, according to Apple’s product listing, a more expansive 64GB of storage. Designwise, however, the new watch looks much like the old ones.

Should you upgrade? We’ll have to review the Series 9 to see, but for now, we’ve laid out how the new wearable compares to a couple top rivals, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 and the Google Pixel Watch, on the spec sheet. Specs can’t tell the whole story, of course: WatchOS and Wear OS are different beasts, and many of Apple’s biggest updates this year are software-based. Plus, just because two watches have similar sensors doesn’t mean they’re equally accurate. But if you’re curious about what your money gets you in 2023, here’s how the Series 9’s hardware stacks up.

There is a caveat to this, as Google has already confirmed that a new Pixel Watch will arrive in October. That one will come with better water resistance and, in all likelihood, an improved chipset. That said, we won’t have full rundown of its specs until next month, and Google’s sneak preview suggests it’ll be similar to the existing model physically.

Apple Watch Series 9

Samsung Galaxy Watch 6

Google Pixel Watch

Pricing (MSRP)

41mm Aluminum: $399

45mm Aluminum: $429

41mm Stainless steel: $699

45mm Stainless steel: $749

40mm: $299.99

44mm: $329.99

$349.99

Dimensions

41mm: 1.61 x 1.38 x 0.42 inches

45mm: 1.77 x 1.50 x 0.42 inches

40mm: 1.53 x 1.59 x 0.35 inches

44mm: 1.69 x 1.75 x 0.35 inches

41mm: 1.61 x 1.61 x 0.48 inches

Weight (approx.)

41mm Aluminum: 1.13 ounces

45mm Aluminum: 1.37 ounces

41mm Stainless steel: 1.49 ounces

45mm Stainless steel: 1.82 ounces

40mm: 1.02 ounces

44mm: 1.16 ounces

1.27 ounces

Case material

Aluminum or Stainless steel

Aluminum (Stainless steel on Galaxy Watch 6 Classic)

Stainless steel

Display size

41mm: 1.69 inches

45mm: 1.9 inches

40mm: 1.31 inches

44mm: 1.47 inches

1.2 inches

Display resolution / pixel density

41mm: 430 x 352, 326 ppi

45mm: 484 x 396, 326 ppi

40mm: 432 x 432, 330 ppi

44mm: 480 x 480, 327 ppi

320 ppi

Display type

LTPO OLED

Aluminum: Ion-X glass

Stainless steel: Sapphire crystal glass

Super AMOLED

Sapphire crystal glass

AMOLED

Corning Gorilla Glass 5

Display brightness

Up to 2,000 nits

Up to 2,000 nits

Up to 1,000 nits

Chipset

Apple S9 (dual-core)

Exynos W930 (dual-core, 5 nm)

Exynos 9110 (dual-core, 10 nm)

Storage

64GB

16GB

32GB

Battery life (claimed)

Up to 18 hours / up to 36 hours in Low Power Mode

Up to 40 hours with always-on display (AOD) off / up to 30 hours with AOD on

40mm: 300mAh

44mm: 425mAh

Up to 24 hours

294mAh

Wireless charging

Yes, via proprietary standard

Yes, via WPC-based chargers

10W

Not officially supported

Water resistance

Up to 50 meters, IP6X dust resistance

IP68, 5 ATM

5 ATM

GPS

GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS

GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo

GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo

Health features

Optical heart rate sensor, blood oxygen measurements, temperature sensor, ECG app, sleep tracking, irregular heart rhythm notifications

Optical heart rate sensor, blood oxygen measurements, temperature sensor, ECG app, sleep tracking, irregular heart rhythm notifications, bioelectrical impedance analysis sensor

Optical heart rate sensor, overnight blood oxygen measurements, Fitbit ECG app, sleep tracking

Wi-Fi

802.11 b/g/n

802.11 a/b/g/n

802.11 b/g/n

Bluetooth

v5.3

v5.3

v5.0

NFC

Yes

Yes

Yes

OS

watchOS 10

Wear OS 4, One UI 5 Watch

Wear OS 3.5

Case colors

Aluminum: Pink, Starlight, Midnight, Silver, Product Red

Stainless steel: Gold, Silver, Graphite

Graphite, Gold

Champagne Gold, Matte Black, Polished Silver

Other features

Always-on display, ultra-wideband chip, fall detection, crash detection, emergency SOS, optional 4G LTE (standard with stainless steel model), altimeter, accelerometer, gyroscope

Always-on display, fall detection, emergency SOS, optional 4G LTE, altimeter, accelerometer, gyroscope

Always-on display, Fitbit integration, fall detection, emergency SOS, optional 4G LTE, altimeter, accelerometer, gyroscope

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-apple-watch-series-9-vs-the-competition-same-design-more-power-191333859.html?src=rss 

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