Technologies

Apple Watch Series 9 Review: New Tricks Make for a Minor Upgrade

With Double Tap and a faster Siri, the Apple Watch Series 9 is slightly easier to use. But it otherwise has a lot in common with the Series 8.

When it comes to the new Apple Watch Series 9, which starts at $399 (£399, AU$649) and is available now alongside the Apple Watch Ultra 2, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. That’s my biggest takeaway after spending a few days with the Series 9, which has an upgraded chip that powers faster Siri performance and new gesture controls called Double Tap.

It’s these additions that separate the Series 9 from last year’s Series 8, and they make the Apple Watch more convenient to use. But they’re not monumental enough to convince recent buyers to upgrade.

My time with the Series 9 so far suggests that new features like Double Tap may not show their usefulness right away. However, they could become helpful in the long run.

Double Tap takes some getting used to, and it’s not compelling enough on its own to justify buying the Series 9. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find myself using it to dismiss a notification and easily navigate back to my watch face here and there. (The version of Double Tap I tested was a preview, which I accessed on a separate review unit running an early software build of the feature.)

Siri’s most appealing update, the ability to answer health-related questions now that it can process data locally instead of in the cloud, isn’t coming until later this year. Yet if it works as promised, it could make the Series 9 a much more useful health tracker.

The Series 9 doesn’t have everything on my wish list. For example, I was hoping for longer battery life and the Apple Watch Ultra’s Action button. But as is the case with the iPhone 15, it will be a solid upgrade for those with an older model. That’s especially true for frequent Siri users and those who primarily use their Apple Watch for exercise and wellness tracking.

Apple Watch Series 9’s new Double Tap gesture

An Apple Watch Series 9 on someone's wrist

Apple rarely adds new gestures to the Apple Watch, so I was eager to try Double Tap. Just as the name implies, you trigger this feature by tapping your index finger and thumb together twice. Doing so allows you to dismiss a notification, pause your timer or access widgets from the watch face, among other actions. It’s programmed to perform whatever the primary action in a notification is, whether that be casting aside your standard reminder or replying to a text message.

The Apple Watch already supported a similar gesture through its AssistiveTouch accessibility mode. But Double Tap is baked into the Series 9’s user interface across the board, and its chip enables the watch to support this feature all day without impacting battery life. The pinching feature that’s included as part of the watch’s accessibility options, meanwhile, is meant to be customized based on a person’s needs.

Double Tap has a bit of a learning curve, but that could be because I’m using an early version of it. I most frequently use Double Tap to dismiss notifications, stop timers and send text messages hands-free. This was particularly useful while brushing my teeth before bed, since I like to check the time and my exercise progress before hitting the sack. When a notification was blocking my watch face, I pinched my fingers together to dismiss it without having to put down my toothbrush.

It’s a simple use case, but one that highlights the promise behind Double Tap. Being able to dictate a response to a text message without touching the watch could also be useful in situations when my hands are full, such as when I’m cleaning, cooking or even gripping the subway pole during my commute to work.

My biggest issue with Double Tap, however, is that it just doesn’t feel intuitive yet. We’ve been conditioned to tap, swipe and speak to our devices over the last two decades. Even though Double Tap came in handy during that one instance while I was brushing my teeth, my instinct usually tells me to tap my watch’s screen. It’s going to take time to break that habit.

Double tapping can also look awkward to those who aren’t familiar with it. When I tested the Apple Watch Series 9 over the weekend, a friend began giving me strange looks when I started pinching the air with my fingers.

Double Tap doesn’t feel as game-changing as other user experience-related updates the Apple Watch has received over the years, like the Series 5’s always-on display. But who knows — maybe it’ll start to feel natural. After all, everyone thought AirPods looked goofy at first, but now they’re everywhere. Double Tap doesn’t feel like a reason to upgrade, but we’ll know more when the feature fully launches.

Siri gets a speed boost on the Series 9

An Apple Watch with Siri activated on someone's wrist

Another benefit from the Series 9’s new S9 processor is a faster Siri experience. Siri can now answer requests slightly faster for two reasons. First, certain queries that Siri doesn’t need to rely on the internet to answer, like setting alarms or timers, now happen on the watch. Dictation is also supposed to be up to 25 percent more accurate, which should mean Siri understands you correctly the first time.

Coming from the Series 8, I noticed a difference. I use Siri daily for setting alarms and timers, especially when I’m stretching before a workout. I often repeat myself when using my Series 8 or the Series 6 I bought roughly three years ago. That hasn’t happened as much on the Series 9 so far.

I also timed how long it took for Siri to respond to certain questions on the Series 9 compared to the Series 8. For this test, I only asked questions that Siri could answer without plucking an answer from the web. Siri was faster on the Series 9 in almost every scenario, as you can see in the table below.

Series 9 vs. Series 8: Siri response times

	Series 9 (in seconds)	Series 8 (in seconds)
«Set a timer for 5 minutes»	1.73	2.52
«Cancel my timer»	1.66	1.74
«Set an alarm for 9 a.m.»	1.81	1.93
«Start an outdoor walk»	3.39	3.32
«Stop my workout»	2.33	3.06
«Cancel my alarm»	1.94	2.2

Siri will soon be able to answer health-related queries, which should make it easier to quickly parse all the activity and health metrics your watch gathers throughout the day and night. But it won’t be launching until later this year.

I’ve been waiting for a feature like this because finding what I’m looking for in Apple’s Health app isn’t always intuitive. Manually logging activity data and finding specific metrics, like exercise minutes for the past week, can take a couple of taps. Using Siri should hopefully make queries like these much faster and more convenient.

It’s also nice to see Siri playing a larger role on the Apple Watch. Smartwatches aren’t ideal for long touchscreen interactions given their small size, so they present an opportunity for voice assistants like Siri to shine.

Apple Watch Series 9 is better at finding your iPhone

An Apple Watch Series 9 using the new Precision Finding feature on someone's wrist.

If you’re anything like me, the Apple Watch has been a godsend for tracking down your misplaced iPhone when it slips between the couch cushions. Apple made the watch an even more useful iPhone locator, thanks to the second-generation ultra-wideband chip inside. Not only can you ping your iPhone, but the Series 9 will show an estimate of how far away you are from your phone, along with a nudge in the right direction.

The catch, however, is that this feature only works if you have an iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Pro, since those are the only Apple phones to also have the new ultra-wideband chip. That means unless you plan to buy a new iPhone along with your Apple Watch, you won’t be able to use it.

To put the Apple Watch’s new Precision Finding feature to the test, I had a friend of mine hide my iPhone 15 in my apartment while I waited in another room. He chose a difficult hiding spot; tucked underneath my living room carpet, a place where my phone is never likely to end up, even by accident. But the Apple Watch pointed me to the exact corner where my phone was hidden almost immediately, and I was able to track it down in less than five minutes.

To be fair, the audible chime that my iPhone emitted when being pinged by my Apple Watch also played a big role in helping me find it. That feature is already available on existing Apple Watches and iPhones. But being able to see how many feet away I was from my phone added an extra layer of confidence that I was looking in the right direction. This could be helpful if I lost my phone in a noisy environment like a restaurant.

The new chip also brings tighter HomePod integration, allowing you to see media suggestions at the top of your watch’s widget stack when you’re within 4 meters of the device. While these new features are limited to those who own the iPhone 15 or a HomePod, I’m glad to see Apple finding new ways to put ultra-wideband to use. It’s something I’ve been hoping to see in future Apple Watches, as I wrote back in 2022.

Same health and wellness as the Series 8

The Series 9 inherits the same health and safety features as the Series 8. That includes the ability to take an ECG, temperature sensing, blood-oxygen detection, high and low heart-rate notifications, irregular heart rhythm notifications, sleep stage tracking, fall detection and crash detection. It’s also rated for the same degree of dust and water resistance as last year’s Series 8.

The Apple Watch’s broad selection of health metrics is exactly what you might expect of a smartwatch at this price, and it’s likely more data than most people need. But I’m still waiting for more features aimed at rest and recovery, a key area where other wellness and sports devices from brands like Oura, Fitbit, Garmin and Whoop excel over Apple. These gadgets can analyze bodily markers and activity trends to assess how well rested you are, which can be easier to decide whether it’s time for a workout or a rest day. However, Apple doesn’t charge a subscription fee to access all health insights, unlike Fitbit, Oura and Whoop, which require memberships to get the full experience.

No Action button and the same battery life as Series 8

The Apple Watch Series 9 on someone's wrist.

The Series 9’s theme is seemingly focused on convenience rather than new health features. That’s why I was hoping the Series 9 would gain the Apple Watch Ultra’s Action button, a programmable key that lets you perform tasks like starting a workout or a stopwatch with just a tap.

While keeping certain features exclusive to the Ultra line is understandable given its higher price, the Action button feels like it should be part of the broader Apple Watch experience. The Ultra already has plenty of other features to distinguish it from the Series 9 and SE, including a bigger and brighter screen, longer battery life, a more durable design and a depth gauge, among other extras. The Action button would have fit nicely with the Series 9’s other upgrades aimed at helping you navigate the watch more easily.

The Series 9 has an always-on display, just like every flagship watch model since the Series 5, which is a key feature that separates it from the less expensive $249 Apple Watch SE. While the overall design is the same, Apple reduced its carbon footprint to make the Series 9 paired with a Sport Loop band the company’s first carbon neutral product.

It’s also rated for the same 18-hour battery life as the Series 8, which means it should last for one to 1.5 days on a single charge, depending on how you’re using it. On one hand, that’s impressive considering the Series 9 has a brighter screen and a more powerful processor.

But I wouldn’t mind sacrificing some of these new features, like a brighter screen or faster Siri, if it meant having longer battery life. I often find myself choosing between wearing my Apple Watch to sleep or leaving it on the charger overnight so that it’s ready to log my morning walk and afternoon workout. Having a battery that lasts for more than a day and a half means I wouldn’t have to make that decision.

Since I’ve been switching between my main Series 9 review unit and a separate unit with an early version of Double Tap, I haven’t been able to get a solid sense of the Apple Watch’s battery life. But I’ll update this review accordingly with more details.

Apple Watch Series 9: Final thoughts

The Apple Watch Series 9 against a gray background

The Series 9 feels like a minor upgrade over the Series 8. New features like Precision Finding and faster Siri performance make the Series 9 a better smartphone companion. But it’s not worth it unless you’re a first-time buyer or have the Series 6 or earlier.

Coming from an older watch like the Series 6, you’ll have plenty to gain. In addition to what’s new on this year’s model, you benefit from a larger screen with a keyboard, a temperature sensor and noticeably faster performance compared to a 3-year-old watch. If you have an Apple Watch SE and are craving more health metrics, the Series 9 is also a worthwhile upgrade.

Like many recent Apple Watch updates, such as the Series 8’s temperature sensor, there’s potential for the Series 9’s new features to evolve and become more helpful over time. It signals a promising direction for the Apple Watch, aligning with the tick-tock pattern Apple has seemingly followed over the last several years. Apple typically alternates between bringing new health sensors to the watch and launching updates related to convenience and the general user experience. This year happens to be the latter.

But right now, the Series 9 feels like a refreshed version of the Series 8 rather than an entirely new generation.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, July 12

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for July 12.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s one of those long Saturday puzzles, and a few clues are tricky. Read on for the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Havana’s home
Answer: CUBA

5A clue: Last word in many bowling alley names
Answer: LANES

6A clue: Lots and lots
Answer: SOMUCH

7A clue: Left-leaning social media site
Answer: BLUESKY

8A clue: Hepburn of «Breakfast at Tiffany’s»
Answer: AUDREY

9A clue: Word after «break» or «banana»
Answer: BREAD

10A clue: Car loan figs.
Answer: APRS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: They always shoot their shot
Answer: CAMERAS

2D clue: Brand-new
Answer: UNUSED

3D clue: Woman with «the good hair,» in a famous Beyoncé lyric
Answer: BECKY

4D clue: In need of moisturizer
Answer: ASHY

5D clue: «We can’t hear you back here!»
Answer: LOUDER

6D clue: Drink noisily
Answer: SLURP

7D clue: ___ ghanouj
Answer: BABA

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for July 12, #292

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for July 12, No. 292

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition has one of those classic purple categories, where you probably won’t figure it out before you’ve answered all the others. Need help? Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Show Me State.

Green group hint: Old Line State.

Blue group hint: Gridiron greats.

Purple group hint: Names begins with a certain creature.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Missouri teams.

Green group: Maryland teams.

Blue group: Hall of Fame football coaches.

Purple group: Sports people or terms starting with an animal.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is Missouri teams. The four answers are Blues, Cardinals, Chiefs and Royals.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is Maryland teams. The four answers are Maryland, Navy, Orioles and Ravens.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is Hall of Fame football coaches. The four answers are Levy, Madden, Noll, and Shula.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is sports people or terms starting with an animal. The four answers are batter, Catchings, Cowherd and dogleg.

Technologies

CNET Daily Tariff Price Tracker: I’m Watching 11 Key Products for Changes, Here’s What’s Happened

The deadline for the start of Trump’s heaviest tariffs has been delayed until next month, leaving consumers stuck with more uncertainty over prices.

For the last three months, tariffs have been a hot topic, leaving consumers and businesses alike worried: Will they hike prices and by how much? It’s a question more relevant than ever this week, as President Trump punts another major deadline down the road and price-slashing Amazon’s Prime Day sales wind down as the week ends.

Amid those worries, I’ve been tracking prices every day for 11 key products likely to be hit by tariff-induced price increases, and the answer I’ve come to so far is this: Not so much, at least not yet. The winding road of tariff inflation still stretches before us into an uncertain future, so the threat of price hikes continues to cloud the horizon.

To date, I’ve seen two noteworthy price increases, one for the Xbox Series X and the other for a popular budget-friendly 4K TV. Some other products — including Apple’s popular AirPods and printer ink — have gone on sale for brief periods.

CNET Tariff Tracker Index

Above, you can check out a chart with the average price of the 11 products included in this piece over the course of 2025. This will help give you a sense of the overall price changes and fluctuations going on. Further down, you’ll be able to check out charts for each individual product being tracked.

We’ll be updating this article regularly as prices change. It’s all in the name of helping you make sense of things, so be sure to check back every so often. For more, check out CNET’s guide to whether you should wait to make big purchases or buy them now and get expert tips about how to prepare for a recession.

Methodology

We’re checking prices daily and will update the article and the relevant charts right away to reflect any changes. The following charts show a single bullet point for each month, with the most recent one labeled «Now» and showing the current price. For the past months, we’ve gone with what was the most common price for each item in the given month.

In most cases, the price stats used in these graphs were pulled from Amazon using the historical price-tracker tool Keepa. For the iPhones, the prices come from Apple’s official materials and are based on the 128-gigabyte base model of the latest offering of the iPhone 16. For the Xbox Series X, the prices were sourced from Best Buy using the tool PriceTracker. If any of these products happen to be on sale at a given time, we’ll be sure to let you know and explain how those price drops differ from longer-term pricing trends that tariffs can cause.

The 11 products we’re tracking

Mostly what we’re tracking in this article are electronic devices and digital items that CNET covers in depth, like iPhones and affordable 4K TVs — along with a typical bag of coffee, a more humble product that isn’t produced in the US to any significant degree.

The products featured were chosen for a few reasons: Some of them are popular and/or affordable representatives for major consumer tech categories, like smartphones, TVs and game consoles. Others are meant to represent things that consumers might buy more frequently, like printer ink or coffee beans. Some products were chosen over others because they are likely more susceptible to tariffs. Some of these products have been reviewed by CNET or have been featured in some of our best lists.

iPhone 16, 128GB
Duracell AA batteries, 24-pack
Samsung DU7200 65-inch TV
Xbox Series X
Apple AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C case
HP 962 CMY Printer Ink
Anker 10,000-mAh, 30-watt power bank
Bose TV speaker
Oral-B Pro 1000 electric toothbrush
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook, 256GB
Starbucks 28-ounce ground dark roast coffee

Below, we’ll get into more about each individual product, and stick around till the end for a rundown of some other products worth noting.

iPhone 16

The iPhone is the most popular smartphone brand in the US, so this was a clear priority for price tracking. The iPhone has also emerged as a major focal point for conversations about tariffs, given its popularity and its susceptibility to import taxes because of its overseas production, largely in China. Trump has reportedly been fixated on the idea that the iPhone can and should be manufactured in the US, an idea that experts have dismissed as a fantasy. Estimates have also suggested that a US-made iPhone would cost as much as $3,500.

Something to note about this graph: The price listed is the one you’ll see if you buy your phone through a major carrier. If you, say, buy direct from Apple or Best Buy without a carrier involved, you’ll be charged an extra $30, so in some places, you might see the list price of the standard iPhone 16 listed as $830.

Apple’s been taking a few steps to protect its prices in the face of these tariffs, flying in bulk shipments of product before they took effect and planning to move production for the US market from China to India. A new Reuters report found that a staggering 97% of iPhones imported from the latter country, March through May, were bound for the US. This latter move drew the anger of Trump again, threatening the company with a 25% tariff if they didn’t move production to the US, an idea CEO Tim Cook has repeatedly shot down in the past. This came after Trump gave a tariff exemption to electronic devices including smartphones, so the future of that move seems in doubt now.

Duracell AA batteries

A lot of the tech products in your home might boast a rechargeable energy source but individual batteries are still an everyday essential and I can tell you from experience that as soon as you forget about them, you’ll be needing to restock. The Duracell AAs we’re tracking are some of the bestselling batteries on Amazon.

Samsung DU7200 TV

Alongside smartphones, televisions are some of the most popular tech products out there, even if they’re an infrequent purchase. This particular product is a popular entry-level 4K TV and was CNET’s pick for best overall budget TV for 2025. Unlike a lot of tech products that have key supply lines in China, Samsung is a South Korean company, so it might have some measure of tariff resistance.

After spending most of 2025 hovering around $400, this item has now seen some notable upticks on Amazon, most recently sitting around $450. This could potentially be in reaction to Trump’s announcement of 25% tariffs against South Korea this week.

Xbox Series X

Video game software and hardware are a market segment expected to be hit hard by the Trump tariffs. Microsoft’s Xbox is the first console brand to see price hikes — the company cited «market conditions» along with the rising cost of development. Most notably, this included an increase in the price of the flagship Xbox Series X, up from $500 to $600. Numerous Xbox accessories also were affected and the company also said that «certain» games will eventually see a price hike from $70 to $80.

Initially, we were tracking the price of the much more popular Nintendo Switch as a representative of the gaming market. Nintendo has not yet hiked the price of its handheld-console hybrid and stressed that the $450 price tag of the upcoming Switch 2 has not yet been inflated because of tariffs. Sony, meanwhile, has so far only increased prices on its PlayStation hardware in markets outside the US.

AirPods Pro 2

The latest iteration of Apple’s wildly popular true-wireless earbuds are here to represent the headphone market. Much to the chagrin of the audiophiles out there, a quick look at sales charts on Amazon shows you just how much the brand dominates all headphone sales. For most of the year, they’ve hovered around $199, but ahead of Prime Day sales this week they are currently on sale for $149.

HP 962 CMY printer ink

This HP printer ink includes cyan, magenta and yellow all in one product and recently saw its price jump from around $72 — where it stayed for most of 2025 — to $80, which is around its highest price over the last five years. We will be keeping tabs to see if this is a long-term change or a brief uptick.

This product replaced Overture PLA Filament for 3D printers in this piece, but we’re still tracking that item.

Anker 10,000-mAh, 30-watt power bank

Anker’s accessories are perennially popular in the tech space and the company has already announced that some of its products will get more expensive as a direct result of tariffs. This specific product has also been featured in some of CNET’s lists of the best portable chargers.

Bose TV speaker

Soundbars have become important purchases, given the often iffy quality of the speakers built into TVs. While not the biggest or the best offering in the space, the Bose TV Speaker is one of the more affordable soundbar options out there, especially hailing from a brand as popular as Bose. You can currently get this model at a healthy discount for Prime Day, down to $200 from $280.

Oral-B Pro 1000 electric toothbrush

They might be a lot more expensive than their traditional counterparts but electric toothbrushes remain a popular choice for consumers because of how well they get the job done. I know my dentist won’t let up on how much I need one. This particular Oral-B offering was CNET’s overall choice for the best electric toothbrush for 2025.

While this product hasn’t seen its price budge one way or another most of the year, there is a $10 coupon listed on Amazon right now.

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook

Lenovo is notable among the big laptop manufacturers for being a Chinese company making its products especially susceptible to Trump’s tariffs.

Starbucks Ground Coffee (28-ounce bag)

Coffee is included in this tracker because of its ubiquity —I’m certainly drinking too much of it these days —and because it’s uniquely susceptible to Trump’s tariff agenda. Famously, coffee beans can only be grown within a certain distance from Earth’s equator, a tropical span largely outside the US and known as the «Coffee Belt.»

Hawaii is the only part of the US that can produce coffee beans, with data from USAFacts showing that 11.5 million pounds were harvested there in the 2022-23 season — little more than a drop in the mug, as the US consumed 282 times that amount of coffee during that period. Making matters worse, Hawaiian coffee production has declined in the past few years.

All that to say: Americans get almost all of their coffee from overseas, making it one of the most likely products to see price hikes from tariffs.

Other products

As mentioned, we occasionally swap out products with different ones that undergo notable price shifts. Here are some things no longer featured above, but that we’re still keeping an eye on:

Nintendo Switch: The baseline handheld-console hybrid has held steady around $299 most places — including Amazon — since it released in 2017. Whether that price will be affected by tariffs or the release of the Switch 2 remains to be seen. This product was replaced above with the Xbox Series X.
Overture PLA 3D printer filament: This is a popular choice on Amazon for the material needed to run 3D printers. It has held steady around $15 on Amazon all year. This product was replaced above by the HP 962 printer ink.

Here are some products we also wanted to single out that haven’t been featured with a graph yet:

Razer Blade 18 (2025), 5070 Ti edition: The latest revision of Razer’s largest gaming laptop saw a $300 price bump recently, with the base model featured an RTX 5070 Ti graphics card now priced at $3,500 ahead of launch, compared to the $3,200 price announced in February. While Razer has stayed mum about the reasoning, it did previously suspend direct sales to the US as Trump’s tariff plans were ramping up in April.
Asus ROG Ally X: The premium version of Asus’s Steam Deck competitor handheld gaming PC recently saw a price hike from $799 to $899, coinciding with the announcement of the company’s upcoming Xbox-branded Ally handhelds.