Apple Watch Series 9 vs Apple Watch Series 8: Price, Specifications Compared

The Apple Watch Series 9 is offered in two display sizes — 41mm and 45mm — available in aluminium and stainless steel built.

Written by Richa Sharma | Updated: 2 October 2023 10:00 IST

Apple Watch Series 9 vs Apple Watch Series 8: Price, Specifications Compared

Photo Credit: Apple

Apple Watch Series 9 comes with a "Double Tap" gesture

Highlights

Watch Series 8 GPS debuted in India at the starting price of Rs. 45,900
Both smartwatches get the Always-On Retina LTPO OLED display
Watch Series 9 comes with a "Double Tap" gesture

Apple Watch Series 9 was launched at the recently held 'Wonderlust' event by the company, which also saw the debit of iPhone 15 series and Apple Watch Ultra 2. The Watch Series 9 was released in 41mm and 45mm display screen variants, and was claimed to be Apple's first carbon-neutral product. It succeeded last year's Apple Watch Series 8 launched at the company's 'Far Out' event. In terms of design, the wearables share similarities. However, Watch Series 9 has received significant upgrades over the Watch Series 8 in terms of specifications.

In order to understand the differences and similarities between the two wearables, we have compared Apple Watch Series 9 with its predecessor, the Watch Series 8.

Apple Watch Series 9 vs Apple Watch Series 8: Price in India

The Apple Watch Series 9 is offered in two display sizes — 41mm and 45mm — available in aluminium and stainless steel built. For the aluminium finish, the 41mm dial size wearable is priced at Rs. 41,900. Whereas, the stainless steal body for the same dial size costs Rs. 70,900.

[Sponsored] Samsung Galaxy S24: The Ultimate Camera Phone With Smarter On-Device AI

For 45mm display, the stainless steel body finish is being sold at Rs. 75,900, while the aluminium finish is listed at Rs. 44,900. One can avail Watch Series 9 in aluminium body in in Midnight, Pink, (Product) Red, Starlight, and Silver colour options, where as the stainless steel look is offered in Gold, Graphite and Silver variants.

On the other hand, Apple Watch Series 8 GPS was released in India at the starting price of Rs. 45,900, while the Apple Watch Series 8 Cellular costed Rs. 55,900. It was also offered in 41mm and 45mm case sizes, with choice between Gold, Graphite, Midnight, Red, Silver, and Starlight colour variants.

Apple Watch Series 9 vs Apple Watch Series 8: Specifications

Last year's Apple Watch series 8 was launched in GPS and cellular options. It is powered by S8 SiP with 64-bit dual-core processor, along with a W3 wireless chip and first-generation Ultra Wideband chip. Meanwhile, the Apple Watch Series 9 is claimed to be 60 percent faster than its predecessor. It comes equipped with the new Apple S9 SiP process with a second-generation Ultra Wideband (UWB) chip.

Both smartwatches get the Always-On Retina LTPO OLED display with up to 2,000 nits brightness. In terms of battery, the Watch Series 8 as well as Watch Series 9 are claimed to offer up to 18 hours of battery life, which increased to 36 hours of battery life using the low power mode.

The Watch Series 9 comes with a "Double Tap" gesture that lets users do various actions including answering or ending a call, stoping a timer, or snooze alarm. It can also be integrated with HomePod. In further specifications, the smartwatch gets cycling and hiking features, new watch faces and mental health support 2, over the Watch Series 8 which offer SpO2 tracking, heart rate monitoring, atrial fibrillation (AFib) detection, and ECG monitoring.

The Apple Watch Series 9 runs watchOS 10, while the Apple Watch Series 8 was launched with watchOS 9. In terms of storage, the latest model offers 64GB storage, while Watch Series 8 is available with 32GB storage capacity.

Are affordable smartwatches worth it? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Apple Watch Series 9 GPS vs Apple Watch Series 8 GPS comparison

	Apple Watch Series 9 GPS	Apple Watch Series 8 GPS
Key Specs
Strap Material	Silicone	-
Dial Shape	Rectangle	Rectangle
Display Type	OLED Retina	OLED Retina
Ideal For	Unisex	Unisex
Display Size	-	41mm
GENERAL
Brand	Apple	Apple
Model	Watch Series 9 GPS	Watch Series 8 GPS
Release date	September 12, 2023	September 7, 2022
Model Name	Watch Series 9 GPS	Watch Series 8 GPS
Dial Shape	Rectangle	Rectangle
Strap Material	Silicone	-
Size	Regular	Regular
Interchangeable Strap	Yes	-
Water Resistant	Yes	Yes
Water Resistance Depth	5ATM	-
Usage	Fitness & Outdoor	Fitness & Outdoor
Ideal For	Unisex	Unisex
PRODUCT DETAILS
Sensor	Compass, Always-On Altimeter, optical heart rate sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope and Ambient light sensor	Compass, Always-On Altimeter, third-gen optical heart rate sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, and Ambient light sensor
Compatible Device	iOS	-
Notification	Yes	Yes
Battery Life	18 hours	18 hours
Rechargeable Battery	Yes	Yes
Battery Type	-	Lithium Ion
CONNECTIVITY FEATURES
Call Function	Yes	Yes
Bluetooth	Yes	Yes
Messaging Support	Yes	-
Email Support	Yes	-
Call Features	International Emergency Calling	International Emergency Calling
Other Connectivity Features	Emergency SOS	Emergency SOS
PLATFORM AND STORAGE FEATURES
Operating System	watchOS	watchOS 9
Number of Cores	dual-core	-
Processor Name	S9	-
Internal Memory	64GB	-
CAMERA AND DISPLAY FEATURES
Display Type	OLED Retina	OLED Retina
Backlight Display	Yes	Yes
Other Display Features	LTPO OLED Always-On Retina display, up to 2000 nits of peak brightness	LTPO OLED Always-On Retina display
Display Size	-	41mm
FITNESS AND WATCH FUNCTIONS
Step Count	Yes	Yes
Calorie Count	Yes	Yes
Heart Rate Monitor	Yes	Yes
Altimeter	Yes	Yes
Compass	Yes	Yes
Calendar	Yes	Yes
Alarm Clock	Yes	Yes
Date & Time Display	Yes	Yes
Language	English	English
Number of Buttons	2	-
Other Fitness Features	Blood Oxgen Sensor, ECG sensor	Blood Oxgen Sensor, ECG sensor
AUDIO AND VIDEO FEATURES
Speaker	Yes	Yes
Gesture Control	Yes	-
Microphone	Yes	Yes
Voice Control	Yes	-

Apple Watch Series 9 GPS

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Strap Material Silicone

Dial Shape Rectangle

Display Type OLED Retina

Ideal For Unisex

More Apple Smartwatches

Apple Watch Ultra 2

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Display Size 49mm

Compatible OS iOS

Dial Shape Rectangle

Display Type OLED Retina

Ideal For Unisex

More Apple Smartwatches

iPhone 15

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Big upgrades over the 14
Excellent ergonomics, build quality
Very good all-round performance
Apple ecosystem benefits

Bad
Relatively slow charging
Expensive
Still a 60Hz display

Read detailed Apple iPhone 15 review

Display 6.10-inch

Processor Apple A16 Bionic

Front Camera 12-megapixel

Rear Camera 48-megapixel + 12-megapixel

RAM 6GB

Storage 128GB, 256GB, 512GB

OS iOS 17

Resolution 1179x2556 pixels

More Apple mobiles Apple mobiles price in India

Apple Watch Series 8 GPS

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Display Size 41mm

Dial Shape Rectangle

Display Type OLED Retina

Ideal For Unisex

More Apple Smartwatches

Apple Watch Series 8 GPS + Cellular

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design and comfort
Tracking accuracy
Software and ecosystem
Battery life

Good
Solid build quality, crisp display
Accurate fitness, sleep tracking
IP6X dust, and 50m water resistant
Fast charging
Useful advanced health and safety features

Bad
Inconsistent SpO2 tracking
No battery life improvements

Read detailed Apple Watch Series 8 GPS + Cellular review

Display Size 45mm

Dial Shape Rectangle

Display Type OLED Retina

Ideal For Unisex

More Apple Smartwatches

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch Series 9 vs Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch, Watch Series 9 vs Watch Series 8