Apple Watch Series 10: it’s getting thinner, but a weak point remains

Since 2014, Apple has been punctuating the connected watch market with annual launches. And for the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch, many hoped for an aesthetic revolution, like the iPhone X in 2017, which abandoned the Home button in favor of Face ID facial recognition. Certainly, Apple’s tocante has undergone alterations, but its case remains rectangular with rounded edges.

The elegant Apple Watch Series 10 still benefits from notable improvements in terms of comfort and ergonomics. Still exclusively compatible with iPhones (from the Xs model), the watch is almost 10% thinner than the Series 7, 8 and 9 and is 10% lighter than the aluminum models of the Series 9. As for the cases made of titanium, they are 20% lighter than those of the Series 9 in stainless steel, a material now withdrawn. We almost forget that we are wearing a watch on our wrist.

The Apple Watch Series 10 is also larger. It is available in 42 and 46 mm, compared to 41 and 45 mm previously. Its screen, with thinner borders, offers a more generous surface area: 9% more on the 42 mm model compared to Series 7 to 9, and up to 30% compared to Series 4 to 6. The 46 mm model, that of our test, is even 3% larger than the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Note that the old bracelets remain compatible.

The brighter OLED screen (up to 2000 nits) is clearly visible from wide angles. Practical for checking the time without having to turn your wrist. The screen refresh rate varies from 1 to 120 Hz for increased battery life.

On the audio side, the speaker now allows you to listen to music or podcasts, without needing to connect headphones. And a new voice isolation mode reduces background noise during calls.

Apple introduced sleep apnea detection with the watchOS 11 update. It is not reserved exclusively for the latest Apple Watch. Indeed, it uses the accelerometer and is available to owners of the Series 9 and Ultra 2 models via a software update. Not personally suffering from this disorder, we were unable to evaluate the effectiveness of this system, which is based on the analysis of sleep cycles to detect and alert in the event of apnea. But there is no doubt about its usefulness.

Water resistant up to 50 meters, the watch also includes a new Depth app and a depth meter, allowing you to measure immersion up to 6 meters and display water temperature, among other data.

Autonomy? This is where we hoped to move up a gear. Although it was possible, during more than two weeks of testing, to wake up with a quarter of battery life left, it is more common to have to recharge the watch daily. This is especially the case when it is in greater demand, particularly for GPS tracking. However, Apple has improved the charging time. It is now possible to reach 80% in 30 minutes or get around 8 hours of battery life with 15 minutes of fast charging.

Without major redesign or improvement in autonomy, even with faster charging, the Apple Watch Series 10 remains an excellent watch. Its elegant design is accompanied by increased comfort, made possible by a larger and brighter screen, as well as a thinner and lighter body. Available from 399 francs for the aluminum version and from 699 francs for the titanium version, it offers the same performance as the Series 9, thanks to its S10 chip similar to the S9. Its new features mainly come from the software update, and are largely shared with the Series 9, which makes the upgrade hardly justified, except for those with an older model.