Apple Watch Series 9 review: if it ain't broke, don't fix it

Small but sleek upgrades keep the Apple Watch Series 9 on top of the smartwatch pile.

A Midnight Apple Watch Series 9 sitting on a desk
(Image: © Future)

Our Verdict

Seamless integration with your iPhone makes the Apple Watch Series 9 an understandably sought-after accessory for Apple fans, and with incremental but smooth-performing upgrades from the Series 8, the Apple Watch keeps its status as one of the best smartwatches around, with an impressive suite of health features complemented by better communication integration than before. The new touch-free double-tap gesture control is brilliant – once you've gotten the hang of it, that is – but one thing will never change: conducting a phone call by speaking into your wrist will never not be weird.

For

  • Screen brighter than ever
  • Easy to use
  • Double Tap has great potential

Against

  • Double Tap accuracy not quite there yet
  • Fairly expensive

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The Apple Watch Series 9 follows in most other recent Apple releases' footsteps, in that the changes and upgrades from previous iterations are incremental rather than revolutionary. It was the same story with the iPhone 15 and 15 Pro, where the main changes are a slightly more powerful processor underpinning the performance along with a few superficial function upgrades. While the iPhone 15 has the Action Button, the Watch gets Double Tap. 

But what is that? And does it make (or keep, depending on your personal viewpoint) it an essential accessory for any Apple owner? And does it make it a mandatory purchase over the Watch 8? (No, if you're not an Apple owner, it's still not compatible with anything other than iOS, but we have a list of Apple Watch alternatives for you...)

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Processor:S9 SiP
Screen:41 or 45mm Always-On Retina display
Max brightness:2,000 nits
Health tracking:Blood oxygen, ECG, heart rate, irregular rhythm notifications, cardio fitness, temperature sensing, cycle tracking
Safety features:Emergency SOS, intrernational emergency calling, fall/crash detection
Water resistance:50m water-resistant, swimproof
Battery life:18 hours, 36 hours in Low Power Mode
Dimensions:41/45 x 35 x 10.7mm
Weight:32g
The Verdict
8.8

out of 10

Apple Watch Series 9

Seamless integration with your iPhone makes the Apple Watch Series 9 an understandably sought-after accessory for Apple fans, and with incremental but smooth-performing upgrades from the Series 8, the Apple Watch keeps its status as one of the best smartwatches around, with an impressive suite of health features complemented by better communication integration than before. The new touch-free double-tap gesture control is brilliant – once you've gotten the hang of it, that is – but one thing will never change: conducting a phone call by speaking into your wrist will never not be weird.

Erlingur Einarsson
Tech Reviews Editor

Erlingur is the Tech Reviews Editor on Creative Bloq. Having worked on magazines devoted to Photoshop, films, history, and science for over 15 years, as well as working on Digital Camera World and Top Ten Reviews in more recent times, Erlingur has developed a passion for finding tech that helps people do their job, whatever it may be. He loves putting things to the test and seeing if they're all hyped up to be, to make sure people are getting what they're promised. Still can't get his wifi-only printer to connect to his computer. 

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