REASONS TO BUY
Fantastic all-in-one device
Stellar heart rate monitor
Fast charging
Highly customizable
Comfortable
Reliable altimeter
REASONS TO AVOID
Expensive
Short batter life
No elevation data for climbing activities
Requires an iPhone
Apple Watch 9 Review
An all-around powerhouse of fitness trackers, except when it comes to battery life, this device is also a full-featured smartwatch
Credit: Matt Lighthart
RELATED: Best Fitness Trackers of 2024
Our Verdict
There's something distinctly Apple about the way the Series 9 watch handles everything: it tracks your fitness automatically, it provides insight into your performance or health when you need it, and navigating the menus sometimes feels like the operating system is reading your mind. Also, it looks like something you would actually want to wear. For these reasons, the Series 9 earned our Editor's Choice for best overall fitness tracker. We acknowledge the battery performance leaves something to be desired, but we also recognize that the Series 9 lifts a lot of weight not only in the gym but also at the office, at home, and around town. The Apple Watch SE Gen 2 was our previous Editor's Choice winner, and it is still a great choice at a lower price and earned an Honorable Mention from our testers, but the Series 9 offers a lot more performance in terms of battery life, screen quality, and overall functionality.
Editor's Note: The Series 9 is the most recent Apple Watch that we tested for a November 2024 update on top-performing fitness trackers. After we completed our testing, Apple released the Series 10, which we look forward to running through the same battery of tests as the Series 9. Check back for a review of the Series 10 in the near future.
Compare to Similar Products
 This Product Apple Watch 9 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards |  Best Overall Fitness Tracker |  Best Value for Athletes |  Top Pick for Light and Simple | Top Pick for Minimalist Lifestyle Tracking | Best on a Tight Budget |
| Price | $399 List $349.00 at Amazon | $300 List $199.99 at Amazon | $160 List $121.70 at Amazon | $239 List $215.10 at Amazon | $50 List $49.99 at Amazon |
Overall Score  |
|||||
| Star Rating | |||||
| Bottom Line | An excellent fitness tracker for multi-sport athletes and Apple aficionados, this device provides a ton of function beyond just recording biometrics and serving as a workout partner. The only drawback is a short battery life | An excellent fitness tracker for athletes at an affordable price | A great fitness tracker from a brand that is synonomous with fitness tracking, this device offers function at a good price | An innovative device that integrates fitness tracking and lifestyle tracking while also being low-profile | The device offers a lot of function and value, although it has some limitations related to heart rate monitoring and health tracking |
| Rating Categories | Apple Watch 9 | Garmin Vivoactive 5 | Fitbit Charge 6 | Whoop 4.0 | Amazfit Band 7 |
| Fitness Impact (30%) | |||||
| Health Impact (30%) | |||||
| Ease of Use (20%) | |||||
| Battery (10%) | |||||
| Fit (10%) | |||||
| Specs | Apple Watch 9 | Garmin Vivoactive 5 | Fitbit Charge 6 | Whoop 4.0 | Amazfit Band 7 |
| Measured Weight | 1.69 oz | 1.26 oz | 1 oz | 1.03 oz | 1 oz |
| Measured Display Diameter | 34.0 mm | 38.0 mm | 19.4 mm | 28.0 mm | 21.9 mm |
| Heart Rate Average Beats Per Second Off | 1.6 | 4.4 | 15.4 | 11.2 | 15.9 |
| Manufacturer Stated Battery Life | Up to 18 hours Up to 36 hours in Low Power Mode |
Up to 11 days 5 days display always-on |
7 days | 4-5 days dependent on usage | Heavy Usage: 12 Days Typical Usage: 18 Days Battery Saver Mode: 28 Days |
| Built-In GPS Tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Screen Type | OLED Up to 2000 nits |
AMOLED | AMOLED | na | AMOLED |
| Measured Charge Time | 1.20 Hours | 1.70 Hours | 1.60 Hours | 2.5 Hours | 1.75 Hours |
| Heart Rate Monitor | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sleep Tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Altimeter (Elevation Tracking) | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Did a single charge survive a 3 day weekend? | No | Yes | Yes - highly depends on usage | Yes | Yes |
| Sensors | Electrical heart sensor and ECG app, Third-generation optical heart sensor, High and low heart rate notifications, Irregular rhythm notifications, Sleep stages, Temperature sensing, Compass with Waypoints and Backtrack, Always-on altimeter, High-g accelerometer, Ambient light sensor | GPS, Glonass, Garmin Elevate Wrist Heart Rate Monitor, Pulse Ox Blood Oxygen Saturation Monitor, Compass, Accelerometer, Thermometer, Ambient Light Sensor | Heart rate monitor and tracking, built-in GPS, SPO2 monitoring, 3-axis accelerometer, temperature skin, blood glucose tracking and NFC | 5 LEDs and 4 photodiodes | BioTracker™ 3.0 PPG biometric sensor (supports blood-oxygen, 1PD + 2LED), 3-Axis acceleration sensor, geomagnetic sensor |
| Memory | 32 GB | 4 GB | 4 GB | Up to 14 days (without syncing to phone) | Not mentioned |
| Connectivity | Available cellular connectivity Works with Apple Watch For Your Kids (GPS + Cellular models) |
Bluetooth®, ANT+®, Wi-Fi® | Apple iOS 15 and higher Android 10 or higher |
Apple iOS 16 or higher iPhone 6s or higher Android OS 10.0 or higher |
Android 7.0 and above, iOS 12.0 and above |
| Water Resistance | 5 ATM (50m) | 5 ATM (50m) | 5 ATM (50m) | -10m for up to 2 hours (band) -1m for up to 2 hours (with battery pack) |
5 ATM (50m) |
| Notifications | Text, call, push notifications including ability to call/text from watch | Text, call, push notifications | Text, call, push notifications | Can function as an alarm but does not give notifications | Text, call, push notifications |
| Alarm Clock Function | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Music Control | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Color Options? | -Aluminum (5 colors) or Stainless Steel (3 colors) -an absolute plethora of bands available |
-4 colors | -3 colors | -28 standard colors plus the option to create your own custom band (how fun!) -can add a custom engraving to any band option (add $25 to price) |
-5 colors |
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Our Analysis and Test Results
The Apple Watch Series 9 is well-known as a smartwatch, but in this review, we scrutinize just the fitness and health tracking capabilities. We compared it and tested it side-by-side with several dedicated fitness trackers from popular brands. Suffice it to say that the Series 9 is more than just a sleek little band on your wrist; it will go to the mat for you and will legitimately help you stay fit and healthy.
Performance Comparision
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Fitness Impact
The Series 9 is one of our favorite fitness trackers from the perspective of a dedicated athlete: it is accurate, it records a ton of data, you can easily monitor your stats during a workout, and it offers excellent analysis of workouts. It is also well-suited to anyone who just wants to record their activity and see their progress over time even if they aren't training for a major event or race.
GPS
Apple offers two options for GPS with the Series 9: GPS that functions with cellular service or GPS that functions outside of cell range (using satellite radio signals). The Series 9 also includes a compass tool and a feature that allows the user to navigate back to the starting point of a run or hike (in case you get lost!).
The Series 9 has an excellent altimeter for hikes, runs, and rides, but it doesn't yet track our vertical in climbing. We hope Apple will include this feature in future updates.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw
Elevation
The Series 9 includes an altimeter, which “did a great job of tracking elevation gain during runs,” according to our lead tester. It also “consistently tracked elevation gain and loss during mountain bike rides.” Unfortunately, it didn't show elevation gain during our climbing workouts. We hope Apple will add this feature to future updates of the climbing activity setting.
An internal accelerometer allows the Series 9 to track distance on treadmills.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Step Tracking and Distance Precision
In our multiple test trials for step counting and distance precision, we discerned an impressive 0.19% error rate in counting steps and a 5.67% error rate in distance precision.
We loved having the Series 9 on our wrist during mountain bike rides: the screen is bright and we could easily monitor heart rate, speed, and ascent rate while we were riding without having to swipe through menus.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw
Cycling Tracking
We want a fitness tracker that can accurately track our rides and make it easy to monitor our heart rate even while pedaling up a rocky trail. The Series 9 exceeded these expectations and was a favorite of our lead tester.
We love the post-workout summary on the Series 9: information is displayed clearly and we can easily scroll through to look at specific data.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw
Workout Tracking
“Overall, this is one of the best trackers for auto-detecting exercise sessions,” shared our lead tester. “It never failed to detect runs or long walks, and it also impressed me with detecting mountain bike rides!” The only thing it didn't reliably detect was short, low-intensity walks, but in all honesty, we typically don't log short walks during our training, so this wasn't a dealbreaker for us. We loved the ability to customize workouts or create our own, particularly when designing interval workouts.
Most of the fitness trackers we tested include motivational feedback as well as options for connecting with others.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw
Activity Tracking
With the Series 9, there's an absolute sea of activities available for tracking. Once you start an activity, you can monitor heart rate, steps, distance traveled, calories, and active versus inactive time. There are also the well-known Apple daily progress “Rings” for movement, exercise, and standing.
Community
As far as interaction with the broader fitness community, the Series 9 doesn't offer as many activities as Fitbit products do for joining with other fitness enthusiasts. You can share activities with friends, however, and select the data you want others to see (although they must also be Apple Watch users). We are fans of the allocation of badges that Apple awards for completing challenges and competitions. We also liked the small celebrations announced by the Series 9 when we completed a challenge or simply responded to the stand notification.
Apple knows how to pack a lot of incredible tech into an elegant and relatively slim package.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw
Health Impact
In terms of health impact, a good tracker offers accurate monitoring of health information while also providing helpful feedback that guides you in making healthy decisions regarding movement, exercise, diet choices, sleep, and stress. The Series 9 performed a bit erratically in this metric. In some areas, it led the pack. In other areas, like sleep monitoring, it stumbled in a few key aspects.
There is an assortment of sensors for recording stats during workouts or monitoring your health throughout the day (and night!).
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Heart Rate
“I love how responsive this tracker is,” shared our lead tester. “It does a great job of detecting changes quickly and is impressively consistent with detecting max HR in a workout.” Another quality that emerged in our extensive testing was that heart rate data is easily accessible at all times, whether working out or just doing our daily activities.
Diet
We had high expectations for the diet tracking feature in the Series 9, but our lead tester felt that it is “quite lacking.” You can log information, like milligrams of cholesterol or caffeine, but we felt that the app needs to be more user-friendly and helpful in this area. There is the option to download a compatible food diary app, but this requires extra steps for the user.
Sleep Tracking
There are some sleep features that our lead tester liked, like Wind Down Time and Sleep Goals, but she was disappointed that Apple doesn't provide an easy-to-understand sleep score. You can access a lot of data for sleep, but it is a little tricky to know when simple adjustments to sleep hygiene are having the desired effect on sleep quality.
The Apple Watch features an EKG monitor (here noted as sinus rhythm) along with sensors that monitor blood oxygen, heart rate variability, skin temperature, and stress levels.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Additional Health Indicators
We love seeing that the Series 9 can provide a broad spectrum of health information such as blood oxygen, EKG, skin temperature, stress, VO2 Max, and training load. It also includes options for menstrual tracking and a standing/inactivity reminder. We were further impressed by the analytics for doing a deep dive into your body's walking ability; we haven't seen this level of detail in any other tracker. There are also options for evaluating your stress levels and taking advantage of guided mindfulness and meditation.
The Series 9 includes a variety of tracking functions as well as an integrated meditation app.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Ease of Use
A fitness tracker needs to integrate into your lifestyle and monitor activity and workouts without requiring a lot of input to get started or to use on a daily basis. It should also be comfortable since you'll most likely sleep with it each night, and the battery should be robust enough that it never misses tracking a workout.
Getting Started
Our lead tester found it “truly incredible how fast and easy it was to set up and pair this band with my phone.”
The Series 9 works with two iPhone apps: Health stores your overall wellness data and medical history, while Fitness handles your workouts and activity goals.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Phone App
Apple provides individual Watch, Fitness, and Health apps for viewing and customizing features for the Series 9. After logging tons of workouts and reviewing our data, we didn't feel that the Fitness app provided the in-depth analysis that we expected it would. It does provide information on what we did and when, but it doesn't include heart rate or sleep data; we have to switch to the Health app for that. We can appreciate that Apple is compartmentalizing tracked data, but we felt like we had to go through an adjustment period before we understood how our data was organized. Overall, this seemed a little disjointed to us since the Series 9 is intuitive in every other way.
The rounded bezel and relatively low profile of the Series 9 don't get hung up on backpack straps.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Wearability
The Series 9 has a wonderful, seamless form that worked well for us whether we were at work, in the outdoors, exploring our limits in a HIIT workout, climbing laps at the gym, or enjoying some downtime on the couch. It occasionally snagged on tight sleeves, but it didn't fight with us when we were putting on a backpack.
We tested the 41 mm version of the Series 9 (as compared to the 45 mm version), but we still found the screen to be big enough to view data while on a run or navigate with an online map.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Display
From its visual elements to its user controls, the Series 9 is quintessentially Apple. We absolutely loved how responsive the screen is to 360 degrees of gestures, and the metal crown and single button make it possible to navigate menus in a way that is nothing short of brilliant. When we were charging up a trail, we could simply lift our wrist and get a quick reading on heart rate and pace, and if we wanted to get some quick info on our sleep quality, we could simply ask Siri and receive an exact answer.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw
The double-tap feature (done with the watch-wearing hand and doesn't involve even touching the screen!) offers a lot of functionality.
With double-tap, Apple once again makes interacting with the Apple Watch delightfully intuitive.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Connectivity
The connectivity features of the Series 9 are where we had to square up with the fact that this isn't just a fitness tracker. It is also a tiny iPhone on our wrist: you can make calls, can receive text messages and video, there is a tiny QWERTY keyboard for texts and emails (or you can dictate), you can also translate text and voice, access your calendar, listen to music or podcasts, and on, and on.
No surprises here: the Series 9 connects seamlessly with your iPhone and a variety of apps.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
And, yes, Strava friends, your workouts seamlessly upload. The one thing that the Series 9 absolutely cannot do, however, is connect to an Android phone.
Subscriptions
The Series 9 doesn't require a subscription per se; you just need an iPhone. However, the Fitness app has limited free workouts; full access involves an additional fee.
The weight of the Series proves that breakthrough technology doesn't have to a burden.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw
Water Resistance
Like most fitness trackers, the Series 9 is rated to five atmospheres, so you can swim, sail, surf, kayak, waterski . . . you name it, and track your activity. Also, the screen never accidentally toggled a feature or paused an activity when it came into contact with water.
The Apple Watch charging puck attaches magnetically to the bottom of the watch. It is the easiest and most secure charging arrangement of any fitness tracker in the lineup.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Battery
Battery longevity is the Series 9's Achilles heel. It didn't pass our informal test of lasting through three three-day weekends without a charge. This is a situation where all of those awesome apps and the smartwatch function are a double-edged sword–-the Apple magic simply takes a lot of juice. However, we really, really like the charger, which attaches magnetically to the back of the watch. The total time to reach 100% from zero charge was 1.2 hours, which is pretty good in our book.
There are a ton of different bands that can customize your Apple Watch. Although it may seem plain looking, we loved how the Series 9 fit with the simple velcro band.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Fit
Our lead tester has small wrists and is one of the most always-on-the-go athletes we know. She didn't experience pressure points or chafing from the Series 9 in all of the workouts and testing she put it through. In fact, she shared that “it's easy to forget I'm wearing it during daily use.” However, she did notice it when wearing it to track her sleep. We tested the 41mm version (there is also a 45 mm version) which is available in aluminum in five colors or stainless steel in three colors. We tested the velcro strap, which we liked for the simplicity and ease of adjusting, but there are a plethora of bands to choose from.
The Apple Watch Series 9 is a fantastic fitness and lifestyle tracker.
Credit: Matt Lighthart
Should You Buy the Apple Watch 9?
If you want all the metrics of a top-tier fitness tracker but don't want to look like you are wearing a fitness tracker, then you couldn't do better than the Apple Watch Series 9. It is also a truly superb choice for anyone in the Apple ecosystem, whether a hard-core athlete or simply a health-aware individual who appreciates the elegant design and sophisticated integration that define an Apple product
What Other Fitness Trackers Should You Consider?
If you are on a budget and want a fitness tracker that will fit with your lifestyle and guide you towards making good health choices, then you'll be interested in the Amazfit Band 7 or the Fitbit Charge 6. For those who appreciate both sophisticated tracking and an understated style, the Oura Ring Gen 3 combines rich features with a design that harmonizes with your daily life.
—
Genaveve Bradshaw and Brian Pidduck
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