Apple Watch Series 5 vs Apple Watch Series 9

Every spec side by side, from each maker's published figures.

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Watch Series 5 compared with Watch Series 9

	AppleWatch Series 5	AppleWatch Series 9
Overview
Released
Released	September 2019	September 2023
Display
Case sizes
Case sizes	40 mm or 44 mm	41 mm or 45 mm
Panel
Panel	LTPO OLED	LTPO OLED
Peak brightness
Peak brightness	1,000 nits	2,000 nits (better)
Always-on display
Always-on display	Yes	Yes
Display detail
Display detail	Always-On Retina LTPO OLED with Force Touch; 40mm 324 x 394 pixels and 759 sq mm; 44mm 368 x 448 pixels and 977 sq mm; screen dims with wrist down	Always-On Retina LTPO OLED display, edge to edge; 326 ppi; up to 2,000 nits maximum and 1 nit minimum brightness
Screen protection
Screen protection	–	Ion-X front glass (aluminium cases); sapphire front crystal (stainless steel cases)
Health and fitness
ECG
ECG	Yes	Yes
Blood oxygen
Blood oxygen	No	Yes
Skin temperature
Skin temperature	No	Yes
Sleep apnoea alerts
Sleep apnoea alerts	No	Yes
High blood pressure alerts
High blood pressure alerts	No	Yes
Body composition
Body composition	No	No
Fall detection
Fall detection	Yes	Yes
Crash detection
Crash detection	No	Yes
GPS
GPS	Single-band	Single-band
Water resistance
Water resistance	50 m	50 m
Sensors
Sensors	Electrical and second-generation optical heart sensors; compass, barometric altimeter, accelerometer up to 32 g-forces, gyroscope and ambient light sensor	Electrical heart sensor; third-generation optical heart sensor; temperature sensing; compass; always-on altimeter; high-g accelerometer; high dynamic range gyroscope; ambient light sensor
Health features
Health features	ECG capability; Cycle Tracking and Noise apps in watchOS 6	ECG app; Blood Oxygen app; sleep apnoea notifications and hypertension notifications (added in later watchOS updates); irregular rhythm notifications; high and low heart rate notifications; sleep stages; Cycle Tracking with retrospective ovulation estimates; Medications; Mindfulness; Noise
Fitness features
Fitness features	GPS/GNSS and GymKit; Compass app shows heading, incline, latitude, longitude and elevation; Activity Trends on iPhone	Custom interval workouts; Heart Rate Zones; Race Route; stride length, ground contact time and vertical oscillation; automatic track detection; multisport workouts; Backtrack; pool and open-water swimming with SWOLF and automatic stroke detection; cycling Functional Threshold Power, power zones and cadence with Bluetooth accessories; GymKit
Safety features
Safety features	Fall detection and Emergency SOS; international emergency calling on cellular versions in supported regions, even without an activated cellular plan	Emergency SOS; international emergency calling; Crash Detection; Fall Detection
Battery and connections
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 18 hours	Up to 18 hours
In low-power mode
In low-power mode	–	Up to 36 hours
Mobile data option
Mobile data option	Yes	Yes
Works with
Works with	iPhone	iPhone
Chip
Chip	S5	S9
Storage
Storage	32 GB	64 GB (better)
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery	Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery
Charging
Charging	Magnetic charging cable and USB power adapter	Fast charging to 80% in about 45 minutes
Connectivity
Connectivity	W3 wireless chip; Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n at 2.4GHz; Bluetooth 5.0; cellular versions add LTE and UMTS; requires iPhone 6s or later with iOS 13 at launch	L1 GPS, GNSS, Galileo and BeiDou; 4G LTE and UMTS (GPS + Cellular models); Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n); Bluetooth 5.3; second-generation Ultra Wideband chip with Precision Finding for iPhone 15 and later; Apple Pay
Design
Weight (lightest version)
Weight (lightest version)	30.8 g (better)	31.9 g
Software
Software	watchOS	watchOS
Case materials
Case materials	Aluminium, stainless steel, titanium or white ceramic; ceramic and sapphire crystal back; 50 m rating under ISO 22810:2010 for shallow-water swimming	Aluminium or stainless steel case; water resistant to 50 m (swimproof); IP6X dust resistant
Size
Size	40mm 40 x 34 x 10.74 mm, aluminium 30.8 g, steel 40.6 g, titanium 35.1 g or ceramic 39.7 g; 44mm 44 x 38 x 10.74 mm, aluminium 36.5 g, steel 47.8 g, titanium 41.7 g or ceramic 46.7 g; case weights exclude bands	41mm is 41 x 35 x 10.7 mm, 31.9 g (aluminium, GPS), 32.1 g (aluminium, GPS + Cellular) or 42.3 g (stainless steel); 45mm is 45 x 38 x 10.7 mm, 38.7 g (aluminium, GPS), 39.0 g (aluminium, GPS + Cellular) or 51.5 g (stainless steel); lightest is the 41mm aluminium GPS
Bands
Bands	Apple Watch Studio offers case and band choices within collections; Nike includes exclusive faces and Nike bands; Hermès includes leather bands and exclusive faces. Nike reached stores 4 October 2019	Fits 130–200 mm wrists (41mm) or 140–245 mm wrists (45mm)
Colours
Colours	Silver, Space Grey or Gold aluminium; steel, Space Black (DLC) or Gold (PVD) stainless steel; natural or Space Black titanium; White ceramic; Nike Silver or Space Grey; Hermès steel or Space Black steel	Aluminium in Pink, Midnight, Starlight, Silver and (PRODUCT)RED; stainless steel in Gold, Silver and Graphite
In the box
In the box	Watch and band, magnetic charging cable and USB power adapter	Apple Watch Series 9, strap, Apple Watch Magnetic Fast Charger to USB-C Cable (1 m)