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It’s been over a month since Apple introduced the new Watch Series 11 and just like most years, it’s been sort of sidelined by the new iPhone line-up. I can understand that as well. The only major thing that standsout for me is a superior battery life — something that me and a lot of other Apple Watch users have been asking for. Is it a big upgrade? Depends entirely on how you look at it. I will share my thoughts later in the review. Apart from that, there is not much that Apple has changed with this watch. It offers more or less the same experience as last year’s Watch Series 10 and doesn’t bring a lot of exciting upgrades to the table. Most of the other new experiences you get are through watchOS 26 which is also available on older models. Does it make the Watch Series 11 any less of a smartwatch? Absolutely, not. In fact, it’s still one of the best smartwatches one can buy. I have been using it for the past month and here is what I think of it. Design And Display As I have already established, the Watch Series 11 looks very similar to the Watch Series 10. It has the same 9.7mm thickness, is powered by the same S10 chip and is extremely slim and comfortable to wear. I have been using the Apple Watch Ultra 2 for the past year which is bigger and thicker so had a difficult time adjusting to the size of Series 11. The latter feels tiny in comparison to the Apple Watch Ultra 2 — not so much from usability point of view but more by appearance. You can get Series 11 in 42mm and 46mm sizes. Both get a battery upgrade - 9% and 11% pct respectively, with Apple claiming that the watch can now last for 24 hours on a single charge. It also supports 5G with eSIM support for both Airtel and Jio in India. The display quality is good as always. It is a 2,000nit OLED screen which is plenty bright for seeing indoors and out. The text remains clear to read, notifications are visible at a glance and the screen itself is twice as scratch resistant as before. I have been using the watch with Apple’s new Nike sports strap which is really good and ensures firm grip on hand. It’s very comfortable to wear. Features And Performance The size and battery aside, Watch Series 11 has been an absolute delight to use. It brings all the health monitoring features from previous generation models but with a few new capabilities and experiences. One of the most interesting and useful additions is the support for hypertension alerts. The way this feature works is that it reads your heart rate data for the last 30 days and identifies irregular patterns of high blood pressure. It can then alert the user to take necessary actions. The big catch though is that this feature is only available in the US for now whether it makes to India or not, depends entirely on government approvals. The other new feature is sleep score metric which basically allows users to track and interpet their sleep data in a better way. The Apple Watch now shows a sleep score out of 100, which is broken into three categories: duration, bedtime and interruptions, which are all self-explanatory and viewable in the Health app on the iPhone, too. To get the most accurate and reliable sleep score, you need to wear the watch while sleeping every single night, which means I only had a few minutes in the morning to charge it. I think it is a good addition. It gives a clear indication of your sleep performance. The breakdown will help people identify their sleep patterns and be more conscious about them. Then, there is Workout buddy which is an AI coach that uses your previous workout data to give you a pep talk. Only if they helped with fitness routines. But, it’s a fun way to keep your workout sessions engaging. It also gives you audio alerts for major milestones like specific heart rate, distance or other metrics. There is also an option to change these voices. For now, you can choose from three different voices. Rest of the experience was the same as the Watch Series 10. I frequently use the watch to check my WhatsApp messages and emails, so that brings down my phone’s screen time by a lot. I also use its camera app as a viewfinder for shooting videos when I don’t have support. I, have at times, taken calls directly from the watch. And, all of these features and functionalities work fine for now. While Apple has also increased the battery life on the Watch Series 11, I still see a lot of scope for improvement. I wore the watch on a 16 hour long flight from New Delhi to New York and then hopped onto another 4 hour long flight to Denver. Add to this the time I took to reach the airport from home in Delhi and the 1 hour 30 minute connection I had in New York, we are looking at about 24 hours of travel time. I landed it in Denver with 11 per cent battery left. I was both happy and surprised. On average, I have been getting about 22 to 24 hours of battery life from it which is significantly less than 38-40 hours of battery I would get on my Watch 2 Ultra. I understand both these watches have different purposes and are positioned differently, but I just don’t want to charge my smartwatch everyday. Yet, while choosing between the previous two generations, battery life can be an important factor to consider. Should You Buy? I don't think that Watch Series 11 makes a lot of sense for any Watch Series 9 or Series 10 users unless they are facing issues with their current device or the battery health has gone down. The difference between the last three generations doesn't really demand an upgrade. But, as I said, it's still one of the best smartwatches you can buy. Why? It's slim, has a good display, better battery life and almost every feature you would expect on a smartwatch. So, this could be a great option for anyone who is yet to experience an Apple Watch. Also, if you have been using an older watch such as Series 6 or 7, you will notice that the experience is noticeably better. Get Latest News live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Technology Science and around the world.
