Apple Watch Series 11 long-term review: Refined with improved health tracking, enhanced battery life

It's really hard to fathom how, despite the compact form factor, Apple has been able to fit more things with each new iteration. With the Watch Series 11, which looks similar to the predecessor, the Cupertino-based company has done it again by incorporating several big upgrades - faster cellular network support, much longer battery life, hypertension detection and more.

I have been using the Watch Series 11 for the last four months, and here are my thoughts on Apple's most advanced smart wearable to date.

Design, build quality and display

As noted earlier, the Watch Series 11 retains the smooth, curved lozenge-shaped design elements of the predecessor. But, it is slimmer, sturdier and brighter than any iteration before.

The silicone strap of the Watch Series 11 is soft and smooth, ensuring there is no discomfort while wearing it all day.

The cover glass of aluminium models of Apple Watch Series 11 is said to offer 2x more scratch resistance. The display is made from a unique Ion-X (ion-exchanged strengthened) glass — a custom, proprietary glass with breakthrough Apple-designed ceramic coating that bonds to the glass at an atomic level through a physical vapour deposition process, which significantly hardens the surface. The titanium models continue to have a sapphire front crystal, the most scratch-resistant and crack-resistant material covering a display on a smart wearable.

Apple Watch Series 11.

The Watch Series 11 come in sizes-- 46mm and 42mm. Our review unit is the former. It sports a beautiful, vibrant LTPO3 wide-angle OLED-based retina display with up to 2,000nit peak brightness and supports the Always-on feature. The screen is super bright, and all notifications are legible to view even from waist height.

Eco-friendly Apple Watch

While all aluminium-based models have long been made using 100-per cent recycled metal for the outer enclosure, for the first time, all the titanium models of the Watch Series 11 are built with repurposed material.

Another first is that Apple is using advanced 3D printed technology, and this helps the company require just 50 per cent of the raw material than before.

Apple Watch Series 11.

Performance

Apple Watch Series 11 is powered by a 64-bit S10 dual-core processor with a 4-core Neural Engine and comes with a bevvy of advanced health tracking sensors, which rival brands can hardly match.

It boasts of an electrical heart sensor in addition to a 3rd gen optical heart sensor, temperature sensor, depth gauge, always-on altimeter, a compass, a high dynamic range gyroscope, a microphone with voice isolation technology and a loudspeaker, which comes in really handy while answering calls directly on the watch while jogging outdoors with the iPhone left in the home.

Apple Watch Series 11 supports hypertension notification.

Besides the ECG, irregular heart rate notification, wrist temperature, blood oxygen, and respiratory rate features, the Watch Series 11 boasts all-new hypertension detection (in select regions only, as it is still under FDA review) and Sleep health improvements.

The watch’s powerful sensors can capture data during sleep, like heart rate, wrist temperature, blood oxygen, and respiratory rate. Now, with watchOS 26, Apple Watch can help users understand the quality of their sleep and how to make it more restorative with a new sleep score feature.

Apple Watch Series 11 tracks heart rate and vitals with good accuracy.

The Vitals on Health app, it offers the most insightful data on the body's health metrics. It also offers any outlier, an unusual sign of deviation from regular baseline readings.

Besides Hypertension and Sleepscore features, another first coming with the Apple Watch Series 11 is 5G cellular support. It does a good job with a better call network signal during calls and faster response to messages.

Also, thanks to the powerful compass and other tracking features, Apple Watch can offer waypoints, backtrack and elevation view so that users can return to the starting point of the outdoor trek. This comes in handy for users who, for the first time, go trekking in unfamiliar places. It will guide you back to a safe location.

God forbid, if you fall into a ditch in a forest and get immobilised, it offers a SoS emergency feature, which offers the option to call or send messages with the location details to loved ones or emergency responders for quick help.

Apple Watch Series 11 supports body health tracking.

Also, I'm loving the new WhatsApp support for Apple Watches. You can now finally receive WhatsApp call notifications. Thanks to the standalone WhatsApp Messenger app for Watches, users will be able to see chat history, and have an engaging exchange of texts on WhatsApp right on the wrists, but offcourse I used voice chat. Even the keypad is good.

The watchOS 26 brigns visually appealing Liquid Glass user interface. It offers refreshing user experience to operate the watch.

The watchOS 26 brings Liquid Glass UI on Apple Watch Series 11.

It supports hand gestures. The double tap makes good use of the advanced Neural Engine of the S10 SoC to process data from the accelerometer, gyroscope, and optical heart sensor with a new machine-learning algorithm. The algorithm detects the unique signature of tiny wrist movements and changes in the blood flow when the index finger and thumb perform a double tap.

Apple Watch Series 11 support sleep score feature.

It offers hassle-free interaction on the Watch without the need for the other hand to touch the screen to perform primary tasks such as answering calls or silencing the timer, and similar stuff.

Double-tap gestures can be used to view a message from a notification, scroll through longer notifications with an additional double-tap, reply using dictation, and send a message. It can also be used to control music, podcasts and audiobooks. And, it can even be used to take a picture with an iPhone

In India, Apple Watches support 5G network service offered by Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone.

Add to that, it boasts of a third-generation Apple W3 wireless chipset and a second-generation Ultrawide band chip, which ensure, super strong wireless connectivity with the paired iPhone. And, this comes in handy in finding the misplaced handset or vice versa.

Thanks to the efficient S10 chipset and optimised watchOS 26, Apple Watch Series 11 offers up to 24 hours of battery life, six more than the predecessor.

With power mode on, it can last for up to 38 hours. It also supports fast charging, with just 15 minutes providing up to eight hours of battery life. And, with 30 minutes, it can reach 80 per cent.

Thanks to the smart feature, Apple Watch knows if it will be able to last the night or not. If it has low charge, it will intuitively notify the user to charge for a few minutes so that it can last the entire night and track the heart rate, sleep and body temperature to assess the body fitness.

Final thoughts

With each new iteration, Apple Watches set new benchmarks with advanced health tracking capabilities and offer deep insights into body fitness. This year too, the Watch Series 11 continues the legacy.

Besides the new hypertension detection, sleep score insights, native activity ring app, smart reward mechanism with virtual badges, and subtle motivation tricks to nudge the owner to complete the target for the day continue to impress me.

Apple Watch Series 11.

Add to that advanced hard fall detection, car crash detection, and irregular heart rhythm, which are gold standards in the industry. I may not have faced such a situation during the review period, but these features have saved thousands of lives worldwide.

Last but not least, the environmentally friendly manufacturing process is a very compelling reason to buy the Apple Watch Series 11. It is currently at the top of my recommendation list for people looking for an all-rounder smartwatch.

Apple Watch Series 11 is available in aluminium in a new space gray, as well as jet black, rose gold, and silver, and also in polished titanium in natural, gold, and slate with prices starting at Rs 46,900 in India.

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