Apple Watch: Aluminum vs Stainless Steel; Cellular or GPS only?
August 4, 2024 1:22 PM   Subscribe

You own an Apple Watch in aluminum or stainless steel. How did you choose? If you’ve owned both and prefer one over other, please tell me about it. I know cellular comes only with the stainless steel; is the cellular worth the additional monthly cost?
posted by conscious matter to Technology (10 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: You can definitely get the aluminum Series 9 (or the current SE) in cellular. You should be able to get the older Series models in cellular in aluminum too, but I'm less sure about the older SEs if you're looking at used/refurb units.

I moved to an Ultra, which is only available with cellular, from a Series 6 GPS. The nice things about having the cellular is the ability to just not have my phone with me sometimes. I can use it to stream music, take calls, work Apple Pay, and respond to text messages if I'm, say, going for a walk or something and I want to travel light. (Or, if my phone dies for whatever reason, I'm not completely left in the lurch.) In practice, though: I've gone for walks a few times sans iPhone but not very often. I keep service on it because it's just enough nicer, and the additional cost isn't too onerous for me, but as someone who generally wants to have my phone on me it's not that useful. Maybe I'd see more value if I did more errands without driving or more strenuous outdoor activities or something where I might really not want my phone on me for whatever reason.

I never considered the stainless watch - yeah, it's got a nicer case, but that's the only difference. At least with the Ultra there's significantl differences.
posted by mrg at 2:18 PM on August 4, 2024 [1 favorite]


Best answer: I have an aluminum Series 6 with cellular. I got the cellular because I wanted to go running without having to carry a phone, and it definitely worked as advertised, although sometimes it was a pain to get Bluetooth headphones to work with it (I can’t run with my AirPods, because they would fall out of my ears).

In the end, though, i realized that rather than costing $10/month, it was almost $16/month, because of the $5.71 of fees, which just didn’t seem worth it to me. I canceled and MAYBE wanted it once in the past 6 months.

In terms of stainless vs aluminum, I’ve definitely liked how shiny stainless looks— it definitely looks fancier, but it’s also less casual, so it’s a weird trade off.
posted by gregvr at 3:29 PM on August 4, 2024


Best answer: Honestly? I bought a cellular stainless steel series 9 and while I love the steel (it just looks like a proper watch to me, unlike aluminum) I haven’t even added a watch cell plan and I don’t think I’ve ever missed it. I think the use cases for cellular are all around running, etc where carrying your phone is a pain. But YMMV!
posted by rhymedirective at 4:32 PM on August 4, 2024 [1 favorite]


Best answer: I own an ancient series 3 aluminum (42 mm) non-cellular model and have done since about 2018. Well, technically, it's my third, because I smashed one and got a refurbished replacement, then got that replaced with another refurbished replacement under warranty because it got water in it. But it's still the same strap, so the same watch?

Anyway, I agonised over whether to pay the extra purchase and ongoing cost of the cellular model, but decided against it because I just couldn't see how it would be worth it to me. Over the time I've owned it, I've wished I had the cellular model maybe three times, but I don't remember ever actually needing it. The only use case I can think of where it would be worthwhile would be if I needed to have the phone with me for payment, but I can pay for anything using any one of several cards with the phone nowhere near, so I can't see any point.

I don't see the point of paying the extra cost for stainless, although it does look cool. But I have the darker colour and would maybe think differently if I wanted something silver. The silver aluminium watch does look a bit cheap in my view.
posted by dg at 5:37 PM on August 4, 2024


Best answer: I currently own a stainless steel Series 9, and had an aluminum Series 4 before that, both cellular. If I were to buy another one, I think I would go back to aluminum… it’s lighter, and I prefer the less glossy look. (And honestly, the only reason I have the stainless steel now is because Best Buy shipped me the wrong one twice, and it was easier to just keep the second one than try to exchange again… once I talked them out of charging me the difference, of course.)

As for cellular: it’s nice, but not truly necessary. I try to go as minimal as possible when I’m running or walking my dog, and having that link in an emergency without having to find a spot for my phone is worth the ~$10/month for me. I can only think of one time that it truly came in handy, though—when I was at the park alone and a tornado siren went off. I was able to pull up a radar map to verify no storms were around, so I finished my walk instead of running back to the car.
posted by boisterousBluebird at 6:19 PM on August 4, 2024


Best answer: One more possible point in favor of cellular: if this case ends up being any good/actually working, you essentially have a tiny phone without having to wear the watch on your wrist. Whether that ultimately defeats the purpose/convenience of the watch or not… 🤷🏻‍♀️
posted by boisterousBluebird at 6:37 PM on August 4, 2024 [2 favorites]


Best answer: I bought the original watch—I believe they call it Series 0 these days—in stainless steel. After it died (many years later the display popped off) I replaced it with an aluminum watch. Honestly I missed the extra weight and glossy finish of the steel one, but I can see that those things wouldn’t be worth the extra cost. My aluminum one died as well (fell off a window sill and shattered the display), and I doubt I’ll replace it with a steel one.

Regarding cellular: I never have reason to leave the house without my phone, so have never had need for cellular on my watch.
posted by ejs at 7:58 PM on August 4, 2024


Best answer: Having the cell plan might be useful if you’re worried about a vulnerable person living alone, and want to feel more confident around the fall detection/911 call option. Sometimes the GPS version unpairs from the phone, or the phone isn’t charged for whatever reason.
posted by cotton dress sock at 1:12 AM on August 5, 2024


Best answer: Cellular watch plans: there are a couple of companies where the cellular watch plan will add $5/month (ConsumerCellular is one). On most other providers, it's "$10" which ends up closer to $15 with taxes + fees. For $5 I like the extra security and it's worth it.
posted by soylent00FF00 at 6:51 AM on August 5, 2024


Response by poster: Thank you, everyone! Looks like aluminum noncellular for me.
posted by conscious matter at 9:52 AM on August 5, 2024


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