Apple Watch Series 11 Aluminum & Titanium - Unboxing & Review 4K 60

The Apple Watch Series 11 offers minor upgrades over its predecessor, primarily focusing on enhanced durability, improved battery life, and 5G cellular capability, making it a significant upgrade for users with older models but less so for Series 10 owners.

• Apple Watch Series 11 offers minor upgrades, including 5G support, tougher glass, and 24-hour battery life.

• Design is identical to Series 10, with compatibility for all previous watch bands.

• Significant upgrade for pre-Series 10 users, but a subtle update for Series 10 owners.

The Apple Watch Series 11, available in aluminum and titanium, features a new space gray aluminum color, two times more scratch-resistant Ion-X glass, and a slightly heavier build. Key improvements include 5G cellular capability, extended battery life up to 24 hours, and faster charging, along with new watch faces like 'Flow' and 'Exactograph.' While older watch bands remain compatible, the overall changes are subtle, making it a modest upgrade for Series 10 users.

Models and Pricing

• 00:00:05 The Apple Watch Series 11 is available in aluminum and titanium variants, with the aluminum model starting at $399 and going up to $549 based on size, cellular connectivity, and band choice. The titanium version is priced higher, ranging from $699 to $1,049, with an even more expensive Hermes option also available. New colors for aluminum include an additional space gray, alongside silver, rose gold, and jet black, while titanium offers natural gold and slate.

Unboxing and Setup

• 00:00:48 The unboxing experience reveals that both aluminum and titanium models come with the same USB-C aluminum charging cable, similar to the Apple Watch Ultra 3. The setup process is streamlined, immediately prompting connection via an iPhone, allowing users to configure settings like wrist placement, text size, and health notifications, and introducing new gestures like wrist flick and double tap, available on watchOS 26. The depth app also automatically activates underwater to display current depth readings.

Design and Durability

• 00:04:07 The Series 11 maintains an identical physical design to the Series 10, including button placement, digital crown, and speaker grilles, with all old watch bands remaining compatible. A notable improvement is the new two times more scratch-resistant Ion-X glass for the display, and while there is no longer a stainless steel variant, the polished titanium model offers a similar aesthetic. The new watches are slightly heavier than their Series 10 counterparts across all models, which may be attributed to internal feature enhancements.

Performance and Battery

• 00:08:18 The Apple Watch Series 11 utilizes the same S10 system in package chipset as the previous year, but introduces 5G cellular capability for cellular models, an upgrade from LTE. Battery life has significantly improved to 24 hours from 18 hours, with a fast-charging feature that allows it to reach 80% charge in 30 minutes. Wi-Fi has also been upgraded to support both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, enhancing connectivity options.

New Features and Upgrade Recommendation

• 00:13:12 Aside from the new 5G capability, tougher glass, improved battery, and the incorporation of 40% recycled glass in the display, there are no major new sensors or additional features in the Series 11. New watch faces like 'Flow' and 'Exactograph' are introduced. For those with an Apple Watch older than the Series 10, upgrading to the Series 11 offers a dramatically thinner design and a larger display. However, for Series 10 owners, the upgrade is considered minor, primarily for the six-hour battery life increase, as the impact of 5G cellular on power efficiency is yet to be fully determined.