When I reviewed the Apple Watch Ultra last year, I concluded that even though it was designed for people who are far more active and adventurous than I am, I wanted one anyway because of the larger screen, more premium build, and longer battery life. In the year since I realized there are apparently many others like me, because I have seen a lot of Apple Watch Ultras out in the wild, on the arms of people who are clearly not mountaineers, extreme sports athletes or deep sea divers. I concede the cities I frequent — Los Angeles, San Francisco and Hong Kong — are privileged wealthy cities that can't be used as a reflection of the world, but I've heard enough anecdotes from colleagues and industry peers from other states that I think it's safe to say the Apple Watch Ultra has wide appeal in the states, and that with Apple products, consumers always gravitate towards the priciest/best model.

This puts the standard Apple Watch series in a weird spot. Overnight, it became a mid-tier product in Apple's family of wearables, and when there is a superior version of the same thing released at the same time, it's natural for reviewers and consumers to focus the most of their excitement on the best product. I attended Apple's recent launch event, and the post-keynote crowd rush all went towards the iPhones or Apple Watch Ultras, the Series 9 sat there with no attention.

But after wearing the Apple Watch Series 9 for the past week across a couple of countries, I am reminded that while it no longer garners buzz and excitement, it's an extremely polished and capable product, and in my opinion, the Apple product that is most superior to rivals.

About this review: Apple provided me an Apple Watch Series 9 for review; the company had no input in the article.

Design and hardware

Same look and feel, but new brain

The Apple Watch Series 9 from the outside almost looks identical to the Series 8, or the Series 7, or even the Series 6. Apple has stuck with its tried-and-true sleek "squircle" dome design for nearly a decade now, and while a fresh new look would be nice, I can't deny that this design works very well. The screen does get much brighter, up to 2,000 nits, which is double the previous generation's maximum brightness. I've been wearing the watch in very sunny Thailand without much shade the past few days, and the brighter screen definitely came in handy.

Everything else, like hardware dimensions, weight, screen size/resolution, and build material (glass front, ceramic back, and either aluminum or stainless steel casing) are identical to the last couple of Apple Watches. The rotating crown is still simultaneously useful and annoying to me (the back of my palm always accidentally presses it when I'm doing pushups). All the sensors on the back remain identical too. Basically, if you've seen an Apple Watch the past few years, you've seen this new one.

The big upgrade is in the brain: the new Apple Watch 9 runs on a new chip, the Apple S9. It's worth noting that this is really a new silicon, unlike the last two Apple Watches which came with silicon named S7 and S8 but were just rebranded S6 chips.

The S9 chip is obviously "faster, more powerful," and all the usual marketing mumble jumble. But unlike most silicon upgrade, there's actually a tangible, noticeable improvement: the Apple Watch 9 can now run Siri on-device, without needing the internet. This, too, has come in handy as my cell reception has been spotty in Thailand the past few days. I was still able to summon Siri to do basic tasks like set an alarm, start a timer, or do simple currency conversion, all without a cell signal.

The new chip is also more battery efficient, but you won't see longer battery life in the real world because the screen and extra features also suck more power. Everything evens out for similar battery life, meaning this is a watch you still have to charge at least once every 24 hours.

I suppose it's worth mentioning that this Apple Watch 9 is the first Apple product to go entirely carbon-neutral — if you use it with a sports loop band. This net-zero process includes switching to all recycled packaging for the watch; to the aluminum casing being crafted out of recycled materials; to using recycled cobalt for the battery. Apple says the rest of its products will eventually go this route, but the Apple Watch is the first to get there.

Software and performance

A more colorful watchOS 10

The Apple Watch 9 ships with watchOS 10. My colleague Mahmoud has done a deep dive review on this new software that will soon make its way to older Apple Watches too. Long story short, this OS brings some significant aesthetic overhaul, including new system apps that are more colorful with more vivid animations.

There's a new dedicated page for Apple Watch widgets, easily accessible via a scroll of the digital crown. You can sort the widgets however you see fit, and one of the best uses for me is I can quickly see the weather or my Activity Rings without jumping into those specific apps.

There's a major new software feature, one that is made possible by the new S9 chip: Double Tap. The Apple Watch 9 can detect when you press your thumb and index finger together in rapid succession (with the arm wearing the watch) and use that motion to trigger an action on the watch. The fact that your fingers aren't actually touching the watch at all, yet it can detect the motion is highly impressive. Apple says it uses a combination of machine learning from the S9 chip, with the optical heart rate sensor and gyroscope to accurately tell when you have just tapped your fingers. Unfortunately, this feature is not available for the masses yet (it's coming in October via a software update). But I did get to try the feature at the demo booth of the Apple launch event, and it worked very well. I mean, this is Apple we're talking about, I have no doubt the double tap gesture will work as advertised.

Elsewhere, the Watch 9 can track workouts automatically and accurately, but this is nothing new. That's been the case with Apple Watches for at least half a decade. I particularly like that the Apple Watch can detect when I'm walking faster than usual for a sustained period of time and begin tracking it. The Apple Watch is also very accurate with step count and stairs climbed from my years of testing.

I am, sadly, no longer as active as I used to be, so I have not taken advantage of the fitness tracking much during my week of testing. But other existing Apple Watch features that make life easier for me remain here. For example, I love the ability to respond to messages (from WhatsApp, WeChat, Slack, etc) directly on my wrist, via very accurate voice dictation or an intelligent keyboard. I say this every time I review a smartwatch, but I only want to wear a smartwatch if it allows me to check my phone less. This is something many smartwatches from Android brands still cannot get right. On the Google Pixel Watch, half the time it'll ask me to pull out my phone just to check some basic fitness stats. Xiaomi and Huawei make elegant and beautiful smartwatches, but both can only mirror phone notifications, not let me respond. On the Apple Watch, I can sometimes read entire emails directly on the wrist. The Apple Watch saves me from pulling out the phone to do small, quick tasks.

I have no real complaints about the Apple Watch experience, other than battery life. This is why the Apple Watch Ultra is so popular — I think consumers with means to spend would rather pay more to get a watch they don't have to charge every night.

Should you buy the Apple Watch Series 9?

You should buy the Apple Watch Series 9 if:

• You're an iPhone user on the market for a new smartwatch under $500
• You use Siri often but you live in areas with bad data reception
• You're on an older Apple Watch looking to upgrade

You should not buy the Apple Watch Series 9 if:

• You own the Apple Watch Series 8, and you're not bothered by the slower Siri
• You have the means to pay for the Apple Watch Ultra 2

The Apple Watch Series 9 is at once a boring and necessary upgrade. The watch is completely overshadowed by the prettier, more premium, more capable Ultra model, and doesn't really improve enough over the Apple Watch Series 8 to be groundbreaking, but the introduction of a new chip does future-proof the watch, and knowing Apple, this is the same that will be in the next two to three years of Apple Watch so you might as well jump on board when it's new.

I think on-device Siri and the double tap gesture are both useful upgrades and will make your experience even better, and ultimately, the Apple Watch is sort of review-proof. Any iPhone user who wants a smartwatch is going to buy the latest Apple Watch that fits their budget. It almost doesn't matter if the upgrades are big or small. Yeah, this Apple Watch is more of the same — but it's more of the same best smartwatch around.