‘Double Tap’: Incredible feature of new Apple Watch

Chock full of new features this is “the best Apple Watch” thanks to its superior screen and seriously better battery life.

Apple Watch comparison review. Picture: Elly Awesome.

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REVIEW

Apple has now released their new Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 to the public. I’ve had both devices since day one of their launch and these are my thoughts, along with a summary of their most notable features.

Apple Watch Series 9

The Apple Watch Series 9 is available in a variety of different colours and metals but this year Apple has decided to release a new colour – Pink Aluminium.
I’ve been wearing this for the past week, and I honestly think it’s an elegant, baby pink that’s fairly subtle while adding some fun to your wrist.

Design

The Apple Watch Series 9 now comes in Pink Aluminimum. Picture: Elly Awesome.

Aside from the colour change, one of the most notable changes to the Apple Watch would have to be its increase in screen brightness to 2000 nits.

This is a whopping double the brightness of Series 8 and it’s notably different, especially when interacting with the watch outdoors.

Series 9 is available in two watch face sizes – 41mm and 45mm – and this year I’ve switched from the 45mm to the 41mm model.

I thought I’d miss the screen size of the 45mm but so far it’s felt just as natural and easy to interact with.

Improved processing power

The Apple Watch Series 9 comes with double the brightness of the series 8. Picture: Elly Awesome.

Other major improvements in the Apple Watch Series 9 this year are down to Apple’s S9 SiP – a powerful chip which offers faster processing power, which aids in smoother on-screen animations and an interface with no noticeable lag. As well as an impressive all-day 18 hour battery life.

Siri

Additionally, Siri requests are now processed on-device which means you can ask Siri to start a workout without any delays, regardless of the speeds of your Wi-Fi or cellular connection.

I have definitely noticed and appreciated this improvement. Previously, at times, Siri would take ‘a beat’ before fulfilling a request.

Siri can also access health data from your device meaning you can ask Siri questions such as “How many calories have I burnt today?” or you could log your menstrual cycle by saying “Siri, my period started today”.

New Features

My personal favourite is the new ‘Double Tap’ feature. Picture: Elly Awesome.

Excitingly, Apple is bringing an incredible feature called ‘NameDrop’ to the watch later this year, with the watchOS 10.1 update.

This feature allows users to conveniently tap two watches together to exchange contact details. There’s also precision finding for your iPhone which allows your watch to act sort of like a compass, in helping you locate your iPhone.

And, my favourite, ‘Double Tap’, a feature that will allow you to use your watch when you’re unable to interact with the screen.

By tapping your pointer finger and thumb together twice in quick succession, you can use this feature to answer a phone call or control the primary button in-apps, ie. to play and pause music “hands-free”.

I’ve previously tested this feature, as it can be enabled in the accessibility settings on the Apple Watch 8, and it’s an incredible accessibility option for those who may need it and I think it will be seriously useful for many users.

Carbon Neutral

Finally, Apple has been proud to claim that the aluminium Apple Watch Series 9 paired with their Sport Loop band is certified as completely carbon neutral. This is because they have manufactured these watches with 100 per cent clean electricity, in addition to using 100 per cent recycled aluminium, 100 per cent recycled cobalt in the battery and the list goes on.

For a new Apple Watch Series 9 prices start at $649.

Apple Watch Ultra 2

The Apple Watch Ultra 2, is everything forementioned and more! This is the watch you want to purchase if you’re engaging in intense outdoor activities such as mountain climbing, diving, or endurance races like marathons.

This is due to its rugged design and additional software features which allow you to track these activities under a range of extreme conditions.

Otherwise, you might pick this watch as an everyday person if you just really want the best Apple Watch with a bigger screen, seriously better battery and beefed-up features.

New Features

The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is ideal for anyone who does high intensity outdoor exercise. Picture: Elly Awesome.

And even with the internal S9 SiP chip upgrade, which allows it to support the aforementioned Double Tap, iPhone precision finding, and on-device Siri, the watch maintains its insane 36 hour battery life. And this is all the while Apple increased the screen brightness from 2000 nits to 3000 nits.

Having worn its predecessor for at least six months straight, I have already been incredibly impressed by the Ultra’s battery life and screen brightness.

I honestly don’t do any activities which truly warrant owning an Apple Watch Ultra 2, but it’s a pleasure to wear and you only have to charge it every two to three days.

Though on smaller wrists it’s aggressively bulky, however, I think that kind of looks rad.

For those that are seriously considering the purchase due to the hardcore activities you partake in then it’s important to note that the watch has WR100 water resistance and an EN13319 certification (diving depth gauge standard).

It can also withstand waves and be used as a dive computer. You won’t notice any other major changes from the previous model, however, I’d like to mention it maintains its 86-decibel siren, which is useful to audibly alert people of your location in an emergency up to 180 metres away.

And it has the ‘Action Button’ which is a programmable additional button on the side – handy for quickly starting a workout, setting a waypoint or instantaneously turning the watch into a flashlight.

Also, the watch has better microphones, for calls in extreme or windy conditions, and louder speakers than the Series 9.

The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is seriously powerful and feature packed and it’s available now for $1399.

Elly Awesome is an Aussie tech and lifestyle vlogger | @ellyawesometech | YouTube