The Apple Watch took eleven tries to last a full day, but the Series 11 manages it

Apple Watch Series 11 The Apple Watch Series 11 is classic Apple iteration: sturdier glass, longer stamina, smarter workouts, and a cautious step into preventative health. It still delivers everything that defines the lineup, including powerful performance and seamless iPhone integration, and for anyone on a Series 8 or older, it’s a worthwhile upgrade. Apple doesn’t rewrite the playbook each fall; it just adds footnotes. The Apple Watch Series 11 is another careful revision, making reviews feel more like progress reports than breaking news. Still, refinement isn’t a bad thing when the smartwatch lineup is already one of the best (unless you have an Android phone, unfortunately). With improvements in battery life and fresh health insights, Apple inches its flagship wearable closer to a genuine all-day health companion. A familiar look that’s subtly stronger Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority For all my grumblings about repetition out of Cupertino, I still get joy from unboxing a new Apple Watch. At first glance, the Series 11 looks nearly identical to last year’s model. It’s slim, lightweight, equally comfortable, and still stylish enough to wear in most scenarios. I tried the new Space Gray, which is muted and classy, but nothing to write home about. As for durability, it’s still rated for water resistance up to 50m and IP6X dust resistance. The Apple Watch Series 11 looks a lot like last year's model, but now with stronger glass and an updated UI. However, aluminum models like the one I tested now feature tougher Ion-X glass with a ceramic coating to better resist everyday scratches (titanium versions stick with sapphire crystal). I didn’t take an exacto blade to mine, but after a week of normal wear and workouts, it still looks pristine. Below the glass, the domed display is bright and crisp, topping out at the same 2,000 nits, which is more than bright enough for all conditions. Where the Series 11 feels freshest is in WatchOS 26, which leans into Apple’s new “Liquid Glass” design language. Think translucent layers and glossy transitions. Animations are snappy, navigation is smooth, the app grid is gloriously neater, the control center now supports third-party actions, the Notes app is finally synced, and there are two new watch faces up for grabs. I’ve been wearing the new Flow watch face, which is minimal in data but maximal in hypnotic charm. It’s not my go-to for workouts, but for day-to-day wear, it’s funky and fun. Gesture controls also feel smoother, including a new Wrist Flick gesture: a quick turn of the wrist away from your body dismisses notifications, mutes calls, silences timers and alarms, or drops you back to the watch face. It feels natural when your hands are full or if (like me) you’re covered in cooking ingredients and you need to shut up a timer. Paired with Double Tap, it makes one-handed use feel much smoother. Overall, the software updates aren’t revolutionary, but they add up to a watch that feels polished. And since most WatchOS 26 features roll back to older models, they don’t necessarily skyrocket the Series 11’s value. Finally, all-day stamina Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority That, of course, brings me to the time on wrist. It only took eleven generations, but the Apple Watch can finally make it through a full day, officially speaking. For years, Apple Watches have shipped with 18-hour battery life claims, which tapped out around 24 hours and forced owners to juggle charging around workouts, sleep, and busy schedules. The Series 11 finally breaks that ceiling with a full 24-hour “all day” claim. The Apple Watch Series 11 finally breaks Apple's 18-hour battery life streak. Throughout this review, I’ve clocked well over 24 hours on a single charge, even with Always-On display, sleep tracking, and workouts in the mix. My 46mm model lasts just under 40 hours before needing to be plugged in, meaning I can collect two nights of sleep tracking if I time things right. For example, I took the watch off its charger at 6 PM on a Sunday, and didn’t need to recharge until late morning on Tuesday. Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority Low Power Mode helps stretch things much further, and fast charging is even faster. Apple claims the Series 11 can give you about eight hours of use from a 15-minute top-up, and in practice, 8 minutes took my watch from 0 to 18% battery, and 15 full minutes got it to 35%. In the following 30 minutes during which I grinded, poured, and drank a coffee, that number climbed to 87%. By the one-hour mark, the watch reached 100%. The addition of 5G connectivity on cellular models also helps. By moving data more efficiently, it reduces the battery penalty of streaming and messaging on the go. Sports tracking with smarter layouts Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority The Workout app got a long-overdue update with a revamped layout and four new corner icons. They don’t reinvent fitness tracking, but they chip away at the friction between me and my post-workout treats of beet juice and animal crackers (follow me for more workout tips). Two of the icons launch tools like Pacer, Race Route, or a custom interval session without digging through menus. Another adds media controls, blending music and workouts more seamlessly. If, like me, you like to drown out the sound of your own breathing, it’s a welcome addition. Apple Music users get automatic playlist or podcast suggestions, while Spotify and other third-party apps still work fine, just without the predictive perks. WatchOS 26 also introduces a revamped workout app with seamless media integration, cleaner navigation, and Apple's Workout Buddy. The final corner houses Apple’s hyped Workout Buddy, an AI coach that chimes in with motivation and pacing cues. On paper, it’s exciting; in reality, whether it inspires or irritates depends on your tolerance for a robot pep talk mid-run. Personally, I’m not into it. Sure, one of the three voice options sounds like Orlando Bloom, but I don’t want even Legolas talking to me mid-workout. I also wish it would auto-pause my audio, and that it didn’t require you to run with your paired phone ot work. Still, some users will find it useful, and AI is saturating the market. Despite lacking the Ultra’s dual-frequency GPS, the Series 11 still holds its own in real-world tracking. Routes look clean even in tough environments, and accuracy is more than adequate for most athletes. I tested the watch against a variety of competitors and was particularly surprised to see how well the device stacked up against Garmin’s Venu 3, which is typically a very reliable GPS watch. As you can see on the map above, the devices tracked generally similar paths, but the Apple Watch did a better job sticking to my actual route rather than dipping into lawns and structures. Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority Likewise, the optical heart rate sensor also delivery highly reliable readings at rest and during workouts.The map above shows the watch closely aligning with my dedicated chest strap during circuit training. This workout included tricky exercises for some watches, like weight lifting and rowing, and the watch still kept up with my chest strap. The devices even recorded the identical average heart rates at the end of the workout. Health tracking, new and nudged Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority The Series 11 leverages the same old sensor package to offer new tricks. The most notable health upgrade this year is hypertension notifications. By analyzing long-term trends in your heart and activity data, the watch can nudge you if it suspects elevated blood pressure. It’s not a replacement for a cuff or a diagnosis, but it could be an early red flag to check in with your doctor. The feature requires about a month of data before alerts kick in, so its real-world usefulness will take time to prove itself, but it’s another sign of Apple leaning harder into preventative care. Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority Sleep tracking also got a lift with a new Sleep Score, distilling your night into a single, easy-to-read number. The score takes into account how long you slept, the balance of your sleep stages, how often you stirred, and overnight heart data. Each morning you receive a single score from 0 to 100 alongside a plain-language rating (Very Low, Low, OK, High, or Excellent) and a three-category breakdown, titled Duration, Bedtime, and Interruptions. The tool is not as in-depth as Oura’s Sleep Score, which folds in things like latency (how long it took you to fall asleep) and recovery markers such as heart rate variability, but it offers enough context to make Apple’s sleep tracking more actionable than before. Notably, you don’t need an Apple Watch to access your Apple Health sleep score. The app will pull data from any device synced to Apple Health that tracks sleep stages. It also retroactively gives sleep scores, so if you want to see how terribly you slept last October, that’s ripe for review as well. The health-centric tweaks make the Series 11 more of an all-day, all-night health companion. Competitors, of course, have been here before. Fitbit has long offered nightly sleep scores, often paired with more detailed insights. Samsung’s Galaxy Watch line already dabbles in blood pressure monitoring (though it still requires calibration with a cuff). Apple’s approach is more cautious, but also more polished, prioritizing simplicity over depth. Apple Watch Series 11 review: The verdict Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority The Apple Watch Series 11 isn’t a revelation, just another refinement. The highlights are sturdier glass, longer battery life, smarter workouts, and one more nudge into preventative health, some of which will roll back to older watches. For Series 10 owners, that’s hardly a reason to trade in. For anyone with an older model, it’s the kind of quiet progress that makes the upgrade worthwhile. Meanwhile, the new, third-gen Apple Watch SE (on the product's website) is no longer the “bare-bones” option it once was. It now runs on the same S11 chip as the flagship models and, for the first time, includes an Always-On Retina display. It skips some advanced sensors, but at a much lower price, it delivers nearly the same day-to-day experience. At the other end, the Ultra 3 ($914 at Amazon) remains Apple’s endurance monster. It brings a larger, brighter 3,000-nit display, dual-frequency GPS, satellite connectivity, multi-day battery life, and rugged titanium construction. The Series 11 is another worthwhile device out of Apple, but it's not likely worth the upgrade from a Series 10. Stacked against rivals, the story is the same. Garmin still crushes endurance, Samsung keeps swinging for Samsung exclusives, Google gets better and better. Apple keeps iterating. This sounds boring until you realize it’s also why the Apple Watch remains the most polished, reliable choice for iPhone users, and why it’s still a shame there’s not even a token effort at Android support even after all these years. Apple Watch Series 11 24-hour battery life • UI refinements and Wrist Flick gesture • Hypertension notifications MSRP: $399.00 The Apple Watch Series 11 is classic Apple iteration: sturdier glass, longer stamina, smarter workouts, and a cautious step into preventative health. See price at Amazon Positives Finally features a 24-hour battery life claim Finally features a 24-hour battery life claim Improvements to fast charging Improvements to fast charging Tougher glass on aluminum models, sapphire on titanium Tougher glass on aluminum models, sapphire on titanium watchOS 26 delivers UI refinements and Wrist Flick gesture watchOS 26 delivers UI refinements and Wrist Flick gesture Smarter workout layouts and media integration Smarter workout layouts and media integration Hypertension notifications and Sleep Score Cons Design is nearly unchanged Design is nearly unchanged Workout Buddy AI coach is polarizing (and doesn’t pause audio) Workout Buddy AI coach is polarizing (and doesn’t pause audio) Battery is better but not multi-day except in Low Power Mode Battery is better but not multi-day except in Low Power Mode Sleep Score may be simplistic for some Follow