The single reason to get the Series 11 over the Series 10.

There’s only one reason to get the Series 11 over the Series 10, and this feature is for the cheaper aluminum models. The aluminum models this year have a tougher display that is twice as resistant to scratches compared to the Series 10 and lower:

The cover glass of aluminum models of Apple Watch Series 11 offers 2x more scratch resistance. Made from a unique Ion-X (ion-exchanged strengthened) glass — a custom, proprietary glass that is already the toughest in the industry — the display is now treated with a breakthrough Apple-designed ceramic coating that bonds to the glass at an atomic level through a physical vapor deposition process, significantly hardening the surface.

I haven’t seen any tests online of this new glass, but if it is anything like the new Ceramic Shield 2 on the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air, this display will be great for aluminum lovers who worry about a display that easily gets scratched. Every single aluminum Apple Watch that I purchased in the past 10 years got scratched without fail, no matter how much I tried to baby the watch.

Besides that bullet point, the only other three upgrades for the Series 11:

1. 5G vs LTE

2. Dual band Wi-Fi 4 (2.4GHz and 5.1GHz) vs standard (single band?) Wi-Fi 4 on the Series 10

3. 24 hour battery life vs 18 hour battery life.

99% of people don’t care about 5G on an Apple Watch, and 99.9% of people won’t care about the Wi-Fi upgrades. The battery upgrades are negligible and are not due to a significant increase in battery size, but more a function of the parameters used for testing as observed by MacRumors’ forum users:

As spotted by a user on the MacRumors forums, the primary difference between the two test scenarios in Apple's official documentation is the inclusion of sleep tracking in the Series 11's evaluation. Apple states that the 24-hour figure is based on 300 time checks, 90 notifications, 15 minutes of app use, a 60-minute workout with music playback, and six hours of sleep tracking. The comparable Series 10 test lists the same parameters but does not include sleep tracking.

While Apple does not break down the exact battery drain of each activity, sleep tracking is generally a low-power feature, allowing older Apple Watch models to be worn overnight without fully depleting their charge. Many users have pointed out that Apple Watches have long exceeded the company's stated 18-hour battery life in real-world use, with most users comfortably achieving overnight tracking. This suggests that the six-hour increase is primarily a result of Apple adding sleep tracking to its official scenario, rather than a significant increase in real-world battery life.

If you’re deciding on getting an aluminum Apple Watch, go for the Series 11 since the upgraded display is worth the extra money compared to a discounted Series 10.

If you’re deciding on a titanium Apple Watch, go for the Series 10 since you can save at least $100 compared to the Series 11. Right now you can get a Slate Titanium with Milanese Loop on Amazon for $629 vs $799 for the Series 11.

If you’re among the elite few who heavily relies on Apple Watch’s cellular connection, get the Series 11.