The Apple Watch is now on its fifth iteration and over the course of the last half-decade has become the de facto smartwatch in the minds of most people.
If you’re a heavy Apple user and count an iPhone and a Macbook or iPad among your possessions then it’s the unrivaled choice if you’re looking for a smartwatch. The only caveat I would put on that is heavy sports fanatic or those wanting to track sleep will need to look elsewhere – more on that later.
With the Series 5, which was launched alongside the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro, Apple has iterated on what was a big refresh last year. The differences are minimal and Apple has actually dropped the Series 4 from its line-up as the Series 5 takes over at the head of the table.
A side note here: If you’re on a budget, the Series 3 has received an appealing price drop down to £199 (for the 38mm case) – putting it right in among the price-conscious wearable devices from the likes of Fitbit, Samsung and Huawei.
The Series 5 meanwhile has prices starting at £399 for the aluminium model with a 40mm case. That goes up to £429 for the 44mm case and the price climbs higher if you go for the stainless steel or the titanium or ceramic models. Start throwing in some fancy straps and you can quickly end up with an aggressively expensive piece of wrist candy.
Easily the biggest change for this generation of Apple Watch is the introduction of an always-on display. You no longer have to lift your wrist to wake it up, which can save the wearer a fair amount of effort. Never again will you have to try and surreptitiously lift your wrist during a boring work meeting or dinner event to see how much longer the torment will last.
Apple says the Series 5 has the same 18-hour battery life as previous models. It’s unaffected by the always-on display because of the ability to lower the refresh rate. The screen can drop from 60Hz right down to 1Hz, making it power efficient when not in use. Other tricks are employed – such as swapping a white display to a black one or removing the second hand from certain clock faces when your wrist isn’t raised.
Other new features include a built-in compass, which is particularly useful when orientating yourself using Apple Maps, and a new Noise app. The Noise app uses the Watch’s microphone to detect the decibels in your surrounding area. If they get too high, it’ll ping you a notification to get out of the Steel Panther gig and go visit the library instead.
Previous health-focused apps are still present and accounted for. The Series 5 will monitor your heart rate and can take an EKG of your heart health for you. It also has Fall Detection which can be linked to the emergency services. If triggered, it gives you a 30-second countdown when it fails to detect motion before sharing your location with the emergency services. These features may seem trivial, but they could save your life one day.
The Series 5 runs on the newly-released watchOS 6, which is also coming to every other Apple Watch bar the first version. It brings with it the aforementioned Noise app as well as a Cycle Tracking app for women. Apple points out this shouldn’t be used as a benchmark for contraception or fertility, but it is helpful for female wearers wanting to track their period. Other new apps include Voice Memos, Calculator and a dedicated app for Audiobooks.
For the first time, you can access the Apple Watch app store directly from the device itself. I didn’t find myself using it that often – but it’s nice that you no longer have to go through the iPhone if you want to add some functionality.
Despite the vast gulf Apple has been able to create between itself and other smartwatch makers, the Apple Watch Series 5 is not a perfect device.
As mentioned, there’s a claimed 18-hour battery life on the Apple Watch and I found that it didn’t even make it this far. To be fair, I’m a fairly heavy user. I activate the GPS once a day for the cycle commute to the office and regularly use the Watch as a remote control for music playback. I also found the Voice Memos to be handy as I record reminders to myself.
Less industrious wrist computers will last you longer simply because they don’t do as much. If you just want to measure your health information and get a few notifications, you can pick up something like the Honor Band 5 or the Fitbit Versa 2 which both have longer batteries. Similarly, if you’re really into long-distance running or hiking, you may be better poised to go with a Garmin or Polar dedicated running watch. They’re the big, chunky Bear Grylls-esque timepieces that are great for alpine dirt tracks but not so good for the office meeting room.
Another thing to point out is the Apple Watch doesn’t have any kind of sleep-tracking. It’s an understandable omission as night time is generally when you’ll be charging the device. And also (especially if you opt for the 44mm casing) it’s not the most comfortable thing to be wearing at night.
However, given the importance of good sleep in maintaining overall health, I’d want Apple to make this a top priority for any future versions of the Apple Watch. Perhaps some kind of synced fabric bracelet that you could slip on at night that would relay the information to your Watch or iPhone each morning?
That being said, I’m still impressed with the versatility of the Apple Watch and won’t hesitate to recommend it as an accessory to any iPhone user. If you’ve got the Series 4, then the Series 5 isn’t a meaningful upgrade. But if you’re on a Series 3 or even an original Apple Watch I’d certainly suggest making the jump.
If you’re on a budget, then the Series 3 is still very capable and if you’re an Android user, then you’re going to need to look elsewhere – perhaps over at what Fitbit or Samsung offers.
But the Apple faithful will find the Series 5 very much to their liking. It improves on what was already a fantastic product offering the right balance of connectivity, fitness and fashion. Now let’s just hope sleep tracking makes an appearance in the near future.