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 |