The Apple Watch Series 11 adds the one thing most people actually want from a smartwatch: longer battery life.Otherwise the new model is a direct replacement for the Series 10, matching it in design, dimensions and features, with most of its upgrades coming from software. That makes it one of the very best smartwatches available, even if it hasn’t changed much.The Series 11 is also £30 cheaper in the UK, costing from £369 (€449/$399/A$679), and sits above the newly revamped £219 Watch SE at the low end and the £749 Ultra 3 at the high end.The Series 11 comes in space grey, which was a colour first introduced with the iPhone 5s in 2013. Everything that is old is new again. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The GuardianLike last year’s Series 10, the new model is only 9.7mm thick, which makes it a slim fit to the wrist, easy to sneak under cuffs and more comfortable at night. It is light, slim and easy to live with.The 2,000nit OLED screen is plenty bright for seeing indoors and out, remaining clear to read off-angle, which makes glancing down at the time or notifications easy. It is covered by glass that Apple says is twice as scratch resistant as before, although not as hard as sapphire, which is reserved for the more expensive titanium models.The new watch has the same S10 chip as last year’s model but now supports optional 5G and stronger reception for those times when you’re in the wilderness. The batteries have increased in capacity by 9% and 11% for the 42mm and 46mm watches respectively.The 46mm lasted a good two days in testing with sleep tracking but without exercise. Most people will just about be able to track two days and two nights before needing a charge, which takes 66 minutes using a 20W or greater power adaptor (not included), hitting about 70% in 30 minutes. If you do go out for a run, it will last about eight hours of tracking, which is long enough for a marathon or two.Specifications