Apple Watch Series 9 vs Apple Watch Series 8 (2024)

The Apple Watch Series 9 is the latest wearable from Apple. It offers faster performance and a few new features that the last-generation Apple Watch Series 8 can’t match. But, in many ways, the two smartwatches are substantially the same. If you purchased a new Apple Watch in the last couple of years, you don’t need to upgrade. For anyone with an older fruit-branded wearable thinking about moving up to a new model, we’re here to help you answer an important question. Which is a more worthwhile investment: a new Apple Watch Series 8 or the company’s latest, the Series 9? Let’s get started.

Price

The first decision to make when you’re buying an Apple Watch is what size you want: 41mm or 45mm. Generally, the size of your wrist and whether you like the look of a larger watch sitting on it will inform this decision. There’s no difference in function or battery time between the two sizes. It’s just a matter of screen real estate.

The 41mm Series 9 starts at $399, while the 45mm model starts at $429—the same price that the Series 8 costs when it was released, in 2022. Add cellular connectivity into the mix and the price goes up by $100, no matter the size. If you want a wearable with a Stainless Steel case, be prepared to pay an additional $200. Opting for Stainless Steel means getting an Apple Watch with cellular connectivity: $699 for the 41mm model, and $729 for the 45mm model.

Paying $399, for the base model Series 9 is a lot of money, for a lot of people. Happily, while Apple no longer sells it in its retail or online stores, The Series 8 can still be found new, online at outlets like Amazon, for a reduced price. As there’s little difference in the functionality of the Series 8 and the Series 9 Apple Watch, this lower-cost alternative can be an attractive option. That said, investing in a last-generation Apple Watch means missing out on the new features offered by the Series 9: Double Tap gesture control and on-device processing of some Siri commands without a connection to the Internet.

So, the choice is a less expensive Apple Watch or one that knows a couple of extra tricks and could last you longer. We feel that, depending on your financial situation and needs, this one’s a toss-up.

Our pick: Draw

Design

The design of the Apple Watch has remained largely unchanged for a number of years. If you were hoping that the Series 9 would come with a radical redesign, the disappointment has no doubt set in by now. Fortunately, the Apple Watch’s current look is pretty handsome. Both the Series 8 and the Series 9 have nicely rounded corners and a sleek build. They should look great on any wrist, especially since they’re available in two different sizes—41mm and 45mm—with multiple band options.

There is one difference though—colors. Both come in Midnight, Starlight, Silver, and Product(RED) aluminum, but the Series 9 adds a Pink option. If you go for the stainless steel model, you’ll get a choice between Gold Silver, and Graphite, no matter whether you go for the Series 8 or Series 9.

And of course, with literally hundreds of Apple-branded and third-party watch bands out there, you’ll never be short of ways to customize your watch to give it a style, all your own.

Our pick: Draw

Display

Both the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Series 8 devices boast a display resolution of 326 pixels per inch, which is relatively crisp. These displays are protected by a sheath of Apple’s Ion-X front glass (or Sapphire front crystal glass on Apple’s pricier Stainless Steel models). We’ve never had a problem with the durability of the glass on the Apple Watch—although Reviewed senior editor Séamus Bellamy discovered that it is possible to scratch the sapphire front crystal… but he can be a little rough on his stuff. Where display durability is concerned, the current and last-generation Apple’s wearables are in a dead heat.

Now, let’s talk about screen brightness.

The Apple Watch Series 9’s display offers a peak brightness of 2,000 nits—double that of the Series 8. This doubling of display brightness equates to the new Apple Watch being a little easier to see in direct sunlight. That’s a welcome improvement.

Our pick: Apple Watch Series 9

Performance

The chipsets in the past three generations of Apple Watch didn’t change very much. Reviewed’s electronics team, who have tested a variety of Apple Watches over the years, didn’t notice significant changes in performance from one model to the next. This changes with the Apple Watch Series 9, however. The wearable’s S9 SiP (System in Package) chip is a serious step up from the S8 chip found under the hood of the Apple Watch Series 8. Apple says the S9 chip offers a 30% performance boost over the previous-generation chip.

This is an impressive advancement but it may not have a huge impact on day-to-day life. The Series 9’s not a speed demon compared to the Series 8. But it does enable a few features, like the Double Tap gesture and the ability to use Siri, for some tasks, without an Internet connection (more on that in a bit). It may also mean that the Apple Watch Series 9 could support more updates of watchOS than older Apple wearables have been able to, giving it a longer lifespan. This last bit, however, is pure speculation—never gamble on unconfirmed features when making a big purchase like a premium wearable.

Our pick: Apple Watch Series 9

Fitness-tracking

Like many smartwatches these days, the Apple Watch Series 8 is an excellent fitness-tracking device, allowing users to watch metrics like their heart rate, blood oxygen levels, step count, and even take a one-lead ECG to test for arrhythmia. For those looking to track their performance as athletes, it comes packed with a huge range of workouts and sports activities to help keep the data the wearable records, accurate. The Apple Watch Series 9? Same deal.

It’s the first Apple Watch in a long time to offer no new fitness-tracking sensors or hardware that its predecessor was lacking.

You should know, however, that Apple is adding new fitness features to both wearables through watchOS 10. These include things like support for third-party cycling computers and more detailed maps for hikers. And, they both still integrate with Apple’s premium fitness training platform, Apple Fitness+.

Our pick: Draw

Features

The Apple Watch has long offered great features that integrate with other Apple products and services, with support for Apple Music, Apple Reminders, News, Apple Fitness+, and Apple Health. They also support notifications sent from your iPhone and boast a user-friendly interface that’s easy to navigate.

But, thanks to its superior S9 SiP processor, the Apple Watch Series 9 gets two features that the Series 8 can’t match. The first is the addition of offline Siri. With the Series 9, Siri can respond to some requests without contacting the cloud at all. For example, it can start timers and control music, right on the device. This makes the wearable a little less frustrating to use when Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity—including that provided by the iPhone it’s paired with—aren’t available.

The second big new feature is the addition of Apple’s Double Tap gesture, which allows you to tap your pointer and thumb together, twice, to control aspects of the Apple Watch’s OS and apps without needing to interact with the watch itself. This could come in handy for things like controlling your watch while carrying groceries or declining a call without raising your arm, during an important meeting. Similar interactions have been available via Apple’s accessibility features for some time now. But Double Tap removes some of the complexity from setting the wearable up for gesture control, opening it up to additional users.

Our pick: Apple Watch Series 9

And the winner is... the Apple Watch Series 9

The Apple Watch Series 9 is the best Apple Watch ever made. It bests its predecessors with a number of new features, a more powerful processor, and a brighter display—all desirable upgrades. Its older sibling, the Apple Watch Series 8, is a great smartwatch and offers cutting-edge features that make for a modern and high-tech experience overall. But the Apple Watch Series 9 goes a step further, even if only incrementally.

Most will be fine with the Apple Watch Series 8—and those with a Series 8 shouldn’t upgrade to the Series 9. Not only that, but if you’re on a budget the Apple Watch Series 8 is now a great deal, considering the fact that it offers largely the same features and is now available at a discount. Those with an older device, however, may want to consider skipping straight to the Series 9 for its additional performance and the additional year of OS upgrades it will receive.

Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.