This is my next smartwatch.
The Apple Watch Series 12.
The Series 11 pick on this site was already overdue against my four-year-old Series 8. A day later Apple shipped a newer one with the same chip and a genuinely rebuilt sensor stack, so the pick moves again before I’ve spent anything.”
The sensor stack is actually new, the chip isn’t
Apple kept the S11 chip from the Series 11 and spent this generation on the Health Sensing System instead: a redesigned electrical heart sensor, an always-on optical sensor, and high-frequency background heart rate tracking. I’d rather the year the chip stays put be the year the sensors doing the actual health tracking get rebuilt.
A readiness score is a new number to obsess over
Four years of Series 8 data taught me I actually read this stuff. The new Readiness score is built from the higher-frequency HRV readings, and that’s exactly the kind of nudge that got me moving in the first place.
It keeps the phone in my pocket
Notifications land on the wrist and most of them need nothing more than a glance, same as every Watch before it.
| Display | Always-On Retina OLED, LTPO3, up to 2,000 nits |
|---|---|
| Chip | Apple S11 SiP (unchanged from Series 11) |
| Sensors | Redesigned Health Sensing System: 2nd-gen ECG electrode, always-on optical heart sensor, blood oxygen, wrist temperature |
| Battery life | Up to 24 hours normal use, 38 hours in Low Power Mode |
| Water resistance | 50m (swimproof), IP6X dust resistance, depth gauge to 6m |
| Case sizes | 42mm and 46mm, aluminium, titanium or ceramic |
| For Android wrists |
Samsung Galaxy Watch 8
₹32,999
|
Best Android watch, lovely displayStill needs charging every night |
|---|---|---|
| For the runners |
Garmin Venu 3
₹45,990
|
Two-week battery and serious sports trackingThe smart features feel a generation behind |
| My pick |
Apple Watch Series 12
₹56,900
|
The most complete health tracking I’ve worniPhone only, and it goes on the charger every single night |
Galaxy Watch 8, if you carry the S26 Ultra. The pairing is just as tight on that side.
How the redesigned Health Sensing System’s readings actually compare to four years of my own Series 8 data, and whether the Readiness score says anything my existing habits haven’t already told me, are things I can only judge once I’ve worn it.
That link is an Amazon.in search, not one exact listing: I haven’t pinned a specific product page until I’ve verified it matches this configuration. If you buy through that link I earn a small commission. It costs you nothing and keeps the picks independent. I accept long-term review units; they never buy the pick, and I say so when a unit was loaned.
Is it worth switching picks again before I’ve bought the Series 11?
Yes, mostly because nothing was spent yet. The chip is identical, but the sensor stack doing the actual health tracking is genuinely new, and that’s the part I use this watch for.
Does the unchanged S11 chip make this a skippable year?
Not for me. I don’t run apps that stress the chip; I read heart rate and sleep data, and that’s exactly what the rebuilt sensors improve.
Is the Ultra 4’s longer battery life worth ₹53,000 more?
Only if the nightly charging habit genuinely bothers you. I’ve already built that habit around the Series 8, so paying almost double to unlearn it doesn’t make sense for me.