Apple Watch Series 10 battery life: How long does it last and how to improve it

Apple’s latest smartwatch delivers a wide range of improvements, including a bigger display, a more powerful chipset, and a brand new watchOS. Where the device doesn’t deviate from its predecessor is battery life. Find out everything you need to know about battery life on the Apple Watch Series 10 and what you can do to improve it.

As we have unfortunately come to expect from the Apple Watch line, the Series 10 features a battery life claim of up to 18 hours. With Low Power Mode, Apple stipulates that the watch can stretch to 36 hours of use between charges. These specs are not what we were hoping to see from the tenth generation, but they’re also fairly conservative. Our real-world experience is that the device actually outperforms Apple’s listed specs.

During our Apple Watch Series 10 review, the device easily lasted more than 24 hours on a single charge. This included a night of sleep tracking, fitness tracking an hour-long GPS workout, and heavy use exploring new software features. Battery life will always vary depending on device usage, but generally speaking, you can expect the Series 10 to last at least one full day.

To further alleviate power needs, Apple significantly improved charge times on the Apple Watch Series 10. According to the company, the watch will charge from 0 to 80% in just 30 minutes and reach a full charge in 60 minutes. In reality, we found charging the device to be even more efficient than the company’s estimates. With a fast charging cable, the watch powered up from 0 to 100% in less than 50 minutes, hitting 55% charged in 20 minutes and 82% in 30 minutes. These specs make for a highly convenient charging routine.

As on any wearable, it is possible to stretch the battery life of your Apple Watch Series 10 with smarter, intentional usage and settings. Consider the power-saving tweaks below.

Disable always-on display

• Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch and tap Display & Brightness.
• Scroll down to and tap Always On, then tap the toggle to disable the always-on display.

Enable Low Power Mode

• Press the side button on your Apple Watch to open the control center, then tap your battery percentage.
• Tap Low Power Mode, then scroll down and tap Turn on.
• You can also set your watch to remain in Low Power Mode for one, two, or three days.

Reduce your Apple Watch notifications

• Open the Watch app on your paired iPhone.
• From the My Watch tab, Tap Notifications.
• Scroll down to the list of mirroring iPhone alerts and toggle off notifications you do not need on-wrist.

Utilize Do Not Disturb mode

• Press the side button on your Apple Watch to open the control center, then tap the moon icon.
• Tap Do Not Disturb and tap On, or choose from the list of possible durations.

Utilize Theater mode

• Press the side button on your Apple Watch to open the control center, then tap the Theater icon (two drama masks).

To further support battery life savings, ensure your device is running as efficiently as possible by keeping software up to date. To do so, ppen the Watch app on your paired iPhone, and from the My Watch tab, tap General, then tap Software Update and download any available updates.

Despite failing to improve battery life from the previous generation, Apple’s Series 10 specs still fall comparably close to the leading competition.

In the past, Google’s Pixel Watch line has delivered attrocious battery life, but the latest Pixel Watch 3 offers users a much better multi-day experience. Depending on usage, Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 7 lands at about two days between charges. The most impressive Wear OS options in terms of battery life are Mobvoi’s TicWatch Pro 5 and the OnePlus Watch 2 and 2R, all of which outperform both Samsung and Google’s offerings.

Of course, Wear OS watches are not compatible with iPhones. A powerful smartwatch that does feature iOS support though is Garmin’s Venu 3. Though it doesn’t pack as many smart features as other devices, it does feature fantastic nearly week long battery life.