Have a series 6, used it in the pool (salted) the first time and the watch died. Had to get a replacement from them which took one week. I couldn’t do fitness tracking all that week. So, I am not planning to use the watch in water at all.

Anecdata comparison: My series0 is still functional (retired for a couple of years now) but I power it on once in a while just for kicks. I took it to the ocean about 10 times, swam with it several dozen times and showered with it hundreds of times.

YMMV I guess. But my series4 is doing great for 3y with similar levels of activity.

That’s why I use a cheaper sportwatch: it’s too expensive for “extreme” situations. Lost one while windsurfing, it’s at the bottom of the ocean. Fortunately the price wasn’t too bad, 140 euros, so less painful to replace. I won’t consider an Apple Watch until price comes below 150.

All anecdotal but I regularly swim laps (a few times a week), shower, and free dive with my Series 4.

Just last week jumped off a 30 foot cliff and the clasp came loose, it literally flew off my wrist and sunk to the bottom of the ocean. A friend helped me retrieve it, maybe 30-40 feet down. Perfect working order as of today!

I once did get some sand in the crown and needed to wash it out thoroughly but no other hardware problems in the 3 years I've owned it.

That’s weird, my series 4 that I bought on October 18’, use it every day (except in the shower) and of curse when I swim (we have a sea not an ocean but it’s the same) and I never had/have an issue

FWIW, I've swum and surfed with my 5 and 6 for countless hours with no problems what so ever. And Im awful at surfing so the watch has taken an absolute _beating_.

I never use that crown.. at least I never rotate it. They could get rid of it without any functionality loss, no?

It depends, I only use it to increase/decrease the music volume of the iPhone but can’t live without it