The Apple Watch 11th Series Review: Wrist-Flickingly Good featuring Longer Battery Life

This newest Apple Watch 11th generation introduces the one thing most people actually want from a smartwatch: improved power endurance.

Otherwise, this latest version acts as a direct replacement to the Series 10, keeping pace in design, dimensions and capabilities, with most of its upgrades derived from watchOS.

This new model additionally more affordable by £30 in the UK, available from £369 sterling (449 euros/$399 USD/A$679), positioned above the fresh redesigned £219 Watch SE in the budget category and the premium Ultra 3 at £749 in the premium segment.

Build and Interface

Following the design of Series Ten, the latest iteration measures only 9.7mm thick, which makes it a trim appearance when worn, easy to sneak below clothing plus more pleasant overnight.

Featuring a 2,000nit display offers excellent visibility for seeing in various lighting, maintaining readability at various perspectives, making taking a peek for timekeeping or notifications straightforward.

It is covered by glass which is twice as scratch resistant than earlier versions, although not as hard as sapphire, that remains exclusive on the pricier titanium models.

Performance and Battery

The new watch utilizes equivalent S10 silicon from the previous generation while adding support for optional 5G and improved connectivity when you're away from civilization.

Power cells have increased in capacity by 9% and 11% for the 42mm and 46mm watches correspondingly.

Bigger version managed an impressive two full days in our assessment including sleep monitoring but without exercise.

Most people can nearly record two full days with overnight use before needing a charge, which takes just over an hour with a 20-watt or greater power adaptor (sold separately), achieving around 70% in 30 minutes.

If you do go out for a run, the device can continue approximately eight hours for monitoring, sufficient duration to complete marathons or two.

Product Features

  • Size options: 42 or 46mm
  • Case thickness: 9.7 millimeters
  • Weight: about 30g or 37g
  • Processor: S10 silicon
  • Memory: 64GB
  • Software platform: watchOS 26
  • Swim capability: 50 metres (50m waterproof)
  • Sensors: Heart rate, ECG, Blood oxygen, temp, Depth gauge, Microphone, Speaker, Near-field communication, Global navigation, compass, altimeter
  • Communication options: Bluetooth technology, Wi-Fi connectivity, NFC, UWB, optional 5G

Operating System Updates

The Series 11 ships with updated software, functioning on each iteration from 2020's Series 6 and subsequent.

Featuring the latest transparent design elements, resulting in interface components partially transparent, along with fresh interface options: a large digital face named Flow sensitive to gestures and traditional watch face titled Exactograph, that separates time components into their own dials.

The standout addition centers on gesture control, where you rapidly twist your arm outward then returning to dismiss things and return to the main interface.

This functions without raising your wrist to check the display, meaning you can stop notifications using a quick gesture with your hand.

Wellness Monitoring

The wearable device features the same comprehensive fitness analysis system of features found in earlier versions plus including several fresh capabilities and revamped workout app.

Hypertension alerts monitor indicators of hypertension during monthly analysis, informing wearers to consult professionals if cardiac metrics shows possibility of undetected issues.

Updated sleep scoring enhances rest analysis more straightforward to analyze, like other brands from multiple companies.

Daily upon waking the watch shows a score out of 100 that is broken down across three areas: sleep length, timing and disturbances, each self-explanatory and viewable in the Health app through your mobile too.

Workout buddy is an AI coach that uses your past activity records to provide encouragement during fitness activities, like detecting that you have already run regular activity patterns and the level of effort you achieved.

Also featuring spoken alerts when attaining certain milestones during exercise, like specific speed, cardiac rhythm, distance, time or further statistics.

There is a choice among three vocal styles, delivering verbal guidance through connected audio paired with the device across twelve exercise types, like strolling, sprinting or cycling.

Unfortunately, functionality requires if you have with you recent smartphones with you, which I found irritating prompting abandonment of the feature to avoid being encumbered with a phone on runs.

Green Initiatives

Apple says the battery should last exceeding 1000 complete charging sessions maintaining 80 percent of its original capacity with replacement available at £95 cost.

Service pricing ranges approximately £300-400 based on specific version.

It contains significant amounts of reused components such as aluminum, cobalt, copper elements, glass, gold materials, lithium, uncommon minerals, steel, tin elements, {titanium|

Jacob Roberts
Jacob Roberts

A passionate tech writer and gaming aficionado with over a decade of experience in digital content creation.

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