Apple Watch Series 9 Vs. Series 8: How They Compare

Apple Watch Series 9 Vs. Series 8: How They Compare

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When the Apple Watch Series 9 released in September 2023, it immediately supplanted the Series 8 in Apple’s lineup as the company’s flagship. Although it didn’t usher in many significant new upgrades, the Series 9 is the best Apple Watch you can buy, especially for new Watch wearers and those with older models. 

But that’s not to say the Series 8 is past its prime. For certain users, the Series 8 is still a highly useful wearable, especially if it can be purchased at a discount on its original sticker price of $399. Current users don’t necessarily need to rush out and upgrade to the Series 9 and can instead wait for the Series 10 (or whatever gets announced next year). 

Below is an in-depth breakdown of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Series 8, with comparisons of the watches’ design, smartwatch functionality, health and fitness tracking tools, and battery life. Read our full review of the Apple Watch Series 8 for more detailed insight.


Apple Watch Series 8 (41mm, GPS)

The Apple Watch Series 8 features a temperature sensor, car crash detection, and low-power mode that weren’t available to previous generations of the smartwatch. Now the Series 9 is out, we’re seeing regular discounts on the previous model.


Apple Watch Series 9 (41mm, GPS)

The Apple Watch Series 9 includes the newest S9 processor, a 2000-nit always-on Retina display, expanded Apple Health integrations with Siri, and a unique single-hand gesture to answer calls and interact with widgets.

Apple Watch Series 9 vs. Series 8: Specs

Apple Watch Series 9 vs. Series 8: Size and design

A side by side picture of an Apple Watch Series 9 and an Apple Watch Series 8.

The design of the Apple Watch Series 9 (left) is identical to that of the Series 8 (right)

Rick Stella & Antonio Villas-Boas/Insider



Both the Series 9 and Series 8 are identical in size and appearance. However, the biggest distinguishable difference between the two is that the Series 9 is available in a new pink colorway. 

Each comes in two different display sizes, 41mm and 45mm, and both feature an always-on display, as well as two case options of either aluminum or stainless steel.  Both watches are also compatible with a variety of the best Apple Watch bands and the best Apple Watch Series 9 bands.

For the Series 9, its finish options include pink, Midnight black, Starlight tan, silver, and red in the aluminum case, and gold, silver, and Graphite black in the stainless steel case. The Series 8 comes in Midnight black, Starlight tan, silver, and red with its aluminum case, and Graphite black, silver, and gold with the stainless steel case.

Internally, the Series 9 has Apple’s new S9 chip, while the Series 8 uses the S8 chip.

Apple Watch Series 9 vs. Series 8: Smartwatch features

The Series 9 and Series 8 are also nearly identical in terms of smartwatch functionality. Although Apple released the updated WatchOS 10 operating system alongside the Series 9, it’s also

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Apple particulars how its endeavours, products and solutions, and technologies are advancing wellness and health

Apple particulars how its endeavours, products and solutions, and technologies are advancing wellness and health

Over the decades, Apple has released solutions and technological know-how which empower customers to acquire control of their overall health and fitness journey. The Health app, Apple Look at, and Physical fitness+ are examples of tools that allow customers to observe their coronary heart, calories, action, and other places for their physical well-staying.

Thus, the Cupertino tech huge has revealed a report “How Apple is empowering people with their health and fitness information” to document the means it is helping people, developers, and well being corporations in the advancement of private health and fitness, treatment, and research.

Apple particulars how its endeavours, products and solutions, and technologies are advancing wellness and health

Apple equipment are empowering people, developers, and health-related institutions to split obstacles in the wellbeing market

As per the report, the tech giant’s overall health and fitness options are established on 4 pillars.

  1. Providing a central and protected place for buyers to retail outlet and look at their overall health details like the Overall health app.
  2. Developing and launching characteristics for Apple Look at which provide as “intelligent guardians” for users’ overall health.
  3. Giving handy functions to improve users’ every day health and health.
  4. Empowering developers to develop innovative 3rd-get together overall health and exercise applications.

In addition to the presently offered Well being app, Physical fitness+, and other options, the impending iOS 16 and watchOS 9 updates will deliver new attributes to emphasis on 17 places of wellness and exercise for heart, slumber, women’s wellness, and others.

Apple Health Report

And for deeper integration of overall health and know-how, the tech big is immediately collaborating with the healthcare local community in 4 categories.

  1. Develop tools for researchers to make new scientific discoveries.
  2. Reinforce the physician and affected individual relationship with beneficial, correct and significant information.
  3. Collaborate with health and fitness organizations for the promotion of healthful lifestyles.
  4. Support community wellness and government initiatives.

For example, the Exploration application has enabled Apple to collaborate with Harvard T.H. Chan Faculty of General public Wellness, the Countrywide Institute of Environmental Wellness Sciences, Brigham and Women’s Clinic, the American Coronary heart Affiliation, the College of Michigan, and the Earth Well being Group to give individuals the option to take part research studies from across the U.S.

Apple Health Report

Jeff Williams, Apple’s main operating officer claimed:

“We consider passionately that know-how can perform a function in strengthening overall health results and encouraging men and women to reside a much healthier working day, and we are thrilled about the a lot of approaches customers are benefiting from our wellbeing and health and fitness options, and by the strategies 3rd-get together developers, institutions, and corporations are applying Apple technological know-how to advance overall health and science.

Our eyesight for the long term is to continue on to produce science-dependent technologies that equips men and women with even extra facts and functions as an intelligent guardian for their well being, so they’re no longer passengers on their own wellbeing journey. As an alternative, we want people today to be firmly in the driver’s seat with meaningful, actionable insights.”

It is also described that the

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How Apple is empowering people with their wellness information

How Apple is empowering people with their wellness information
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Which Fitness Tracker Is Best For You? Apple Watch vs. Fitbit vs. Oura vs. Garmin vs. Whoop

Which Fitness Tracker Is Best For You? Apple Watch vs. Fitbit vs. Oura vs. Garmin vs. Whoop

I have two watches on my left wrist, another on my right arm, a ring on my finger and a sensor embedded in my bra. No one should ever wear this many fitness trackers simultaneously. But in this moment, I am letting the latest heart-rate-sensing, sleep-capturing, workout-recording wearables from Apple, Fitbit,

Garmin,

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Whoop and Oura capture all my data, to see which ones do the best job.

Whether you are training for a race or trying to lose the Quarantine 15, a fitness tracker can provide a helpful motivational nudge. But choosing the right one depends on your preferred activities and health goals—and requires an understanding of what data is most useful to you.

New trackers are much more than pedometers and heart-rate monitors. They also measure blood-oxygen levels, a sign of overall health and altitude acclimation. And they capture heart-rate variability, the difference in time between each heartbeat, which can provide feedback about your body’s ability to recover from exercise. But how accurate are the metrics?

The Right Metrics

Studies have shown that wrist-based wearables’ optical sensors—which beam light onto the skin to detect pulse—are generally accurate during rest, but less so during workouts with unpredictable movement, such as strength training.

The data can still be valuable. Zakkoyya Lewis-Trammell, an assistant professor of kinesiology at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, said that while wrist-based trackers aren’t clinical devices, she considers them a reliable tool for comparing day-to-day changes.

One helpful approach: Pick metrics that are as close to the sensor’s data as possible—such as resting heart rate over time, said Seth Martin, a cardiologist at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Avoid obsessing over things like calories burned, which is just a calculated guess, he added.

A new metric popping up in wearables looks at whether your body is primed to work out. Fitbit and Oura call it “Readiness.” On Garmin, it’s “Body Battery.” Whoop assigns you a “Strain” score. Several Apple Watch apps, including Training Today, offer similar measurements. A high score means you’re ready for intense exercise; a low score indicates your body needs rest.

A new metric uses heart-rate variability to assign a score: High means ready for exercise, low means get some rest; from left, Garmin, Oura, Whoop and Fitbit.



Photo:

Nicole Nguyen/The Wall Street Journal

It isn’t as valid for people who have diabetes, heart disease or who are pregnant, Dr. Lewis-Trammell said. In those cases, she said, the data should be brought to a physician for evaluation.

For people who do outdoor workouts, GPS accuracy is important for logging distance. Dr. Lewis-Trammell found Garmin devices have a better GPS than others. I confirmed this in my own testing.

On one ride testing the wearables’ GPS-tracking capabilities, the Apple Watch and Garmin tracks were very close to my actual route. The Fitbit didn’t lock a GPS signal until about half a mile into my workout, so it displayed less total mileage. It also cut corners (literally) and showed me riding through neighbors’

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