Hands-on: Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2

It wasn’t just the shiny new iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models unveiled at Apple’s “Wonderlust” media event that garnered buzz among attendees, including yours truly. A pair of new Apple Watch devices— the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2—were also announced and available for hands-on time outside the doors of Steve Jobs Theater. I was eager to try on the new smartwatches and play around for a while with each new model. Here’s what you need to know.

Apple Watch Series 9: An improvement to Apple’s flagship watch

Aside from a new color—pink aluminum, which I think will be a hit—the Apple Watch Series 9 looks and feels the exact same as the Apple Watch Series 8. But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Along with the usual 41mm and 45mm sizes, there are new watch band styles and materials.

The coolest new feature available to both Apple Watch models is a “Double Tap” gesture: Quickly tap your index finger and thumb together twice and it’ll answer or hang up a call, snap a photo (via a nearby iPhone), start and stop music, cycle through widgets, and more. This one-handed option worked well and seemed faster and more intuitive than touching the screen itself and is ideal for those with dexterity challenges. Under the hood of the Apple Watch Series 9 is the new S9 SiP (“system in package”) chip, coupled with a new 4-core Neural Engine. It results in faster and smoother performance, including on-device Siri requests (rather than having to send the data to the cloud), and the ability to securely log health data to the device.

Despite the new processing power, Apple says Apple Watch Series 9 will still last up to 18 hours between charges. We have no way to test this yet.

Also new is a second-gen Ultra Wideband (UWB) chip for greater precision—say, in finding a misplaced iPhone 15 or a friend at a busy outdoor concert (who must also have an Apple Watch or iPhone 15 with this same UWB chip).

The higher brightness with Apple Watch Series 9 makes it easier to read the screen in direct sunlight. Maximum brightness is now up to 2,000 nits (rivaling many of this year’s best TVs), which is double that of the Apple Watch Series 8. In dark or dimly lit environments, the watch can display down to just one nit.

Finally, Apple announced deeper integration between Apple Watch and HomePod. When you get within four meters (about 13 feet) of a HomePod playing audio, Apple Watch Series 9 will launch Now Playing to control the tunes.

On the software side, Apple Watch Series 9 runs watchOS 10, which offers new watch faces, redesigned apps, a Smart Stack (turn the Digital Crowd to see timely and contextually relevant widgets), and some extra physical and mental health features.

Starting at $399, Apple Watch Series 9 is out September 22.

Apple Watch Ultra 2: Faster, and much brighter

The second-generation of Apple’s beefier Apple Watch Ultra—ideal for outdoor adventurers—was also available to play around with at Apple Park.

Just like Apple Watch Series 9, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 includes the S9 SiP, 4-core Neural Engine, and new Ultra Wideband, for all the same benefits as mentioned above. This includes the Double Tap navigation option, more accurate locations to a compatible iPhone or Apple Watch, and on-device Siri and secure health data.

Apple Watch Ultra 2, however, gets the brightest display Apple has ever created for a watch: up to 3,000 nits, which is twice as bright as last year’s Apple Watch Ultra, for reading in harsh sunlight. By rotating the Digital Crown, the Flashlight feature also offers double the brightness compared to the first-generation Apple Watch Ultra.

A new Modular clock face is exclusive to Apple Watch Ultra 2, which takes advantage of the larger 49mm case to show more real-time data along the edges of the clock, including altitude and depth. Like last year’s model, Apple Watch Ultra 2 could be brought down 500 meters below sea level or as high as 9,000 meters. (Ed: Reviewed will again test the Ultra capabilities of supplanting your dive computer.)

Freediving has been added to its list of measurable water sports, along with kitesurfing, wakeboarding, recreational scuba diving, and others.

New band styles and colors are also available, but Apple Watch Ultra 2 did not get a new color itself, despite some speculation and fake “leaked” photos leading up to the event.

Apple Watch Ultra 2 is $799 and available September 22.

Are the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 worth an upgrade?

Should you buy Apple Watch Series 9 or Apple Watch Ultra 2? Like the new iPhone 15 family, these new watches are more evolutionary than revolutionary, and you really need to wait a few years between models to truly appreciate the differences.

That said, if you’re an iPhone owner and you’re in the market for a smartwatch, it doesn’t get much better than Apple Watch. If the price point is too high, consider the very capable Apple Watch SE (from $249) with many of the same features minus mostly health-related data capture.