Aluminum or Stainless?

[judyg951]

I'm having a hard time deciding. What is the difference. I'm not a fan of bigger watches so I'm planning on the 38mm.
I'll be at an Apple Store tomorrow to compare, but just wondered what people here thought.

 

[DragonPrime120]

I'm having a hard time deciding. What is the difference. I'm not a fan of bigger watches so I'm planning on the 38mm.
I'll be at an Apple Store tomorrow to compare, but just wondered what people here thought.

I would get the stainless, it has an extremely scratch-resistant sapphire screen and a ceramic back (although aluminum watches have ceramic backs if you get the LTE+GPS). I had an original sport, but I switched to stainless mid cycle. I got space black steel again with Series 2, and now again with Series 3. I think you'll appreciate the material difference. But if you get Steel, I'd get the black, since it hides the scratches that steel can get.

 

[asuandy]

Another vote for stainless, but I would get the regular stainless. Most scratches can be buffed out.

 

[hank moody]

Stainless

 

[wxnats]

I would get the stainless, it has an extremely scratch-resistant sapphire screen and a ceramic back (although aluminum watches have ceramic backs if you get the LTE+GPS). I had an original sport, but I switched to stainless mid cycle. I got space black steel again with Series 2, and now again with Series 3. I think you'll appreciate the material difference. But if you get Steel, I'd get the black, since it hides the scratches that steel can get.

What bands do you have for your black SS? I ordered a S3 Black SS; I’ve been looking at some 3rd party brown leather (with black lugs) bands that I like.

 

[jbachandouris]

I also also vote for silver SS, but bear in mind re-sale values for the SS models is really bad, so bear in mind when you try to sell it, you will take a bigger loss.

 

[testcard]

Stainless Steel. You might find that the 38mm is smaller than it appears in photos.

 

[Mabus51]

Stainless. It looks better than an overpriced Fitbit, the sapphire crystal is resistant to scratches, and you can respectively wear it as a nice watch. I recommend the black version over the silver. The screen just looks like one piece on the black model and others have said it hides minor scuffs.

 

[Phonephreak]

Stainless all the way. Love mine

 

[TorontoSS]

I’m going to be unpopular but I went from stainless to aluminium when I went from series 0 to 2. I found it not to have scratches on the body and with the stainless steel I had many but I have scratches on the sides of the face now.

I appreciate how light it is as well. That being said, I wear other watches on more formal days which are stainless steel too. I found when I moved to this Watch, the stainless steel did not have a good re sale value as someone above has mentioned.

 

[gatorknight904]

I have had both aluminum and stainless....

with that being said...I will always pick stainless going forward.

 

[pnizzle20]

my s2 was alum, new one is space black stainless, man its so damn nice. Stainless for the win all day.

 

[captain poopers]

SS for me simply for the Sapphire face. I'm hard on watches and I can handle a scuffed body, but a scuffed face would drive me insane.

 

[Xarthan]

I went Stainless this time (Got Aluminum for S0, S2) mainly so I don't have to worry about getting scratches on the screen. I was pretty careful with my past two watches, but things do happen out of your control, with the Sapphire Screen, I just don't have to be as careful now.

 

[BeatCrazy]

I had regular aluminum for S0, now have black stainless for S3 w/LTE.

The black stainless looks much more premium than aluminum, very modern and almost a "one piece" design of the case and crystal. Yes, it is heavier, but if you're already used to wearing a watch, you'll be fine.

The main thing I didn't like about aluminum was how badly the crystal scratched. Mine looked pretty bad after 1.5 years.

 

[Luba]

The Sapphire screen is actually not much more scratch resistant, I just saw a scratch test video and apple’s sapphire screen scratched at level 6-7, compare to other traditional Watch with sapphire that scratches at level 8-9.
Stainless steal does look better if you are after the more real Watch look.
[doublepost=1506474244][/doublepost]Found it, here you go, shows apples sapphire is not as hard as others:

Interesting video, but at Mohs 6 and 7, it might be the coating that's scratched. What do you think? The line through 12:00 is Mohs 6, and 1:00 is Mohs 7, and finally the scratch line through 2:00 is Mohs 8. After he puts a flame to the screen to burn away the coating, at 12:00 and 1:00 it looks more like smudges. I don't see scratch lines. At 2:00 I do see scratch lines. Also if the flame burned away the coating completely why do we see different tones (colors) on the screen? Should it all that's left be the scratches?

Take a look and tell me what you think? I want to be wrong since then I would save money getting the aluminum with the Ion-X Glass, plus with the Ion-X Glass the screen is slightly more clear than the sapphire, since the Ion-X Glass reflects ambient light less.

 

[HDFan]

Interesting. The original watch sapphire face as tested by Consumer Reports did not scratch on their hardest pick (9).

I just sold my Series 2 black stainless and the purchaser told me that he could find no scratches or signs of wear anywhere. And that watch was constantly banging into things for a year.

I had the silver stainless. The scratches were very visible and it drove me crazy. Not interested in spending my time buffing them out. Lots of scratches on my black stainless band (as I said, I'm very hard on watches), but you have to look really hard to see them.

 

[Applemacfan]

Interesting video, but at Mohs 6 and 7, it might be the coating that's scratched. What do you think? The line through 12:00 is Mohs 6, and 1:00 is Mohs 7, and finally the scratch line through 2:00 is Mohs 8. After he puts a flame to the screen to burn away the coating, at 12:00 and 1:00 it looks more like smudges. I don't see scratch lines. At 2:00 I do see scratch lines. Also if the flame burned away the coating completely why do we see different tones (colors) on the screen? Should it all that's left be the scratches?

Take a look and tell me what you think? I want to be wrong since then I would save money getting the aluminum with the Ion-X Glass, plus with the Ion-X Glass the screen is slightly more clear than the sapphire, since the Ion-X Glass reflects ambient light less.

I see, that’s is very possible. I’ll leave and comment to him and see if he can confirm that. You have very good eyes.
Another thing I found in a study was the sapphire screen performed worse under strong light, which I remember my old S0 stainless steel had that issue, I wonder if the new S3 has improved?
If the scratches were just on the coating, I might even consider to switch to black stainless myself!

 

[Treebark]

If you go stainless, and the silver variety, get something like Cape Cod Metal Polishing cloths so you can easily keep it polished / shiny: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...ia-20&linkId=2e2510156c64574a3dbfa09fe5a34492

Personally I wish they offered the sapphire on the aluminum case. My wife has the stainless, but I prefer the lightness of the aluminum. If you don’t like big watches, you may prefer the aluminum too. The size isn’t different, but the heft certainly is.

 

[Luba]

If you go stainless, and the silver variety, get something like Cape Cod Metal Polishing cloths so you can easily keep it polished / shiny: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...ia-20&linkId=2e2510156c64574a3dbfa09fe5a34492

Personally I wish they offered the sapphire on the aluminum case. My wife has the stainless, but I prefer the lightness of the aluminum. If you don’t like big watches, you may prefer the aluminum too. The size isn’t different, but the heft certainly is.

Good points, it's true it's only a matter of grams, but the aluminum feels like nothing while with the steel you do feel it. I don't mind, as I have steel for two years, and it looks like I'm going to have Space Black steel this time. If I had ordered the Space Gray with Gray sport band, I might have gone with Space Gray. Or if the Nike Space Gray was available now. But I have Space Black setup with cellular and don't think I want to delete cellular and set it up on another AW. Space Black does look a bit better IMO than the Space Gray, especially with the Red Dot. I think the Red Dot looks a bit better with black. I had a small number of very fine scratches on steel, wasn't worth polishing out, but with Space Black I don't think those very fine scratches would even show up because of the DLC coating on the Space Black.

In a way, I think the Ion-X glass vs sapphire is a tie. The Ion-X display is a bit more clear to look at, but the sapphire is more scratch proof. Sapphire most likely scratches at Mohs 8, while Ion-X glass scratches at Mohs 6. I don't know if Mohs 8 vs Mohs 6 is a big difference or not, in real life. Some have posted they were really careful and were shocked to discover a scratch on Ion-X.

 

[Applemacfan]

Good points, it's true it's only a matter of grams, but the aluminum feels like nothing while with the steel you do feel it. I don't mind, as I have steel for two years, and it looks like I'm going to have Space Black steel this time. If I had ordered the Space Gray with Gray sport band, I might have gone with Space Gray. Or if the Nike Space Gray was available now. But I have Space Black setup with cellular and don't think I want to delete cellular and set it up on another AW. Space Black does look a bit better IMO than the Space Gray, especially with the Red Dot. I think the Red Dot looks a bit better with black. I had a small number of very fine scratches on steel, wasn't worth polishing out, but with Space Black I don't think those very fine scratches would even show up because of the DLC coating on the Space Black.

In a way, I think the Ion-X glass vs sapphire is a tie. The Ion-X display is a bit more clear to look at, but the sapphire is more scratch proof. Sapphire most likely scratches at Mohs 8, while Ion-X glass scratches at Mohs 6. I don't know if Mohs 8 vs Mohs 6 is a big difference or not, in real life. Some have posted they were really careful and were shocked to discover a scratch on Ion-X.

This will be the first time I try the Ion-X Glass. I had a SS Apple Watch 1, and the screen cracked after a short drop on tile floor. My wife dropped her Ion-X many more times and no cracked at all. The weight itself might has a lot to do with it. My screen was also a lot harder to see under sunlight compare to hers. I still like the premium feel of the SS and sapphire, but since now I'm much more active I am afraid I will break another sapphire screen.

 

[Luba]

This will be the first time I try the Ion-X Glass. I had a SS Apple Watch 1, and the screen cracked after a short drop on tile floor. My wife dropped her Ion-X many more times and no cracked at all. The weight itself might have a lot to do with it. MY screen was also a lot harder to see under sunlight compare to hers. I still like the premium feel of the SS and sapphire, but since now I'm much more active I am afraid I will break another sapphire screen.

Do you mean series 0 steel? Direct sunlight on my steel AW0 washed almost everything out. 1000 nits on the AW2 made a big difference. Looking forward to hearing about your experience with the Ion-X!

 

[staggerlee41]

I sat out on Watch until 2 came out. Water resistance and GPS were what I really was waiting for. Finally I jumped in late spring this year when I found a sale on them.

I wasn't sure how well I'd like it given that i have and enjoy traditional watches. What I've found is that I really don't take it off my wrist, except to charge or whilst in the shower.

I think how you intend to use it and wear are important considerations. Personally speaking, I wanted notification features and wanted a watch that I could wear whist being active more than I wanted a proper looking dress watch. The sport fit the bill for me just fine to get my feet wet and determine how much I'd enjoy it. At time of purchase and to this day, I covet the stainless silver case. Even with traditional watches, that's my go to.

The debate between Sapphire crystal vs XIon is much like traditional watches if my interpretations and research are accurate--please correct me if I'm wrong. Sapphire Crystal vs. Quartz. Quartz is generally going to be more impact resistant, but more prone to scratches. Sapphire, while being more scratch resistant is more prone to impact. It's a trade off I suppose.

This leads me to a question. Is it possible to pair more than one Watch with iPhone and keep the activity data consistent? Effectively merging the data between multiple Watches.

Thinking through the scenario of having one Watch for activity and general wear and one to wear for more formal settings. Can you tell Watch 3 has me thinking? lol

I'm also curious as to what the OP decided after the visit to Apple Store.

 

[Xarthan]

Yup, I basically had three watches on my account when the series 3 came out and it sync'd all the data across the watches great. They even have this nifty feature that knows which watch you are wearing so the notifications, etc will go to the right one.

 

[staggerlee41]

Thanks for your feedback on this. It's great to know Apple considered these aspects when creating Watch and the OS. This is something I'll be giving consideration to going forward.