Apple Watch Series 5 review: A better, more independent timepiece - Ars Technica

At this point, we all know what an Apple Watch is and what it does well. Apple knows that, too. So with the $399 Apple Watch Series 5, the company homed in on small features that could make a big difference when using the Watch on a daily basis.

You won't find a radically different looking smartwatch here, nor will you find a smartwatch with a lot of new moving parts or even a dramatically upgraded CPU. The Series 5 and watchOS 6 refine little details and push the Apple Watch even closer to being an independent device—and this is quite possibly the closest it will ever get to separating itself from the iPhone.

I've spent about one week with the Apple Watch Series 5 so far, and I can tell you up front that everything you liked about the Series 4 (and all models before it) still stands. Given that overlap, let's instead focus on the new features and improvements, which are almost all (unsurprisingly) solid but may not warrant an upgrade for those happy with their Series 3 or Series 4 Watches.

New hardware

Always-on Retina screen

There's little difference in hardware between the Series 5 and Series 4 Watches, but the parts that are different may be very appealing to some users. Namely, the Apple Watch Series 5 has a new display sub-system that allows its OLED panel to remain on all the time. The display itself is the same LTPO panel that's on the Series 4, but the Series 5 has new and improved internals that help the display support an always-on mode without sacrificing battery life.

According to Apple, the Series 5 has an ultra-low power display driver, a new power-management circuit, and a new ambient light sensor. All of those components work together to power the display all day long, allowing you to see information (most importantly, the time) even when your wrist is turned downward.

All of these changes are internal, so users won't "see" them in action, but they might notice the improvements when they observe the Series 5's display brightness. Previously, the Apple Watch's display would go completely black when not in use, turning on when a user turns their wrist upward to check the time. Now, the Series 5's display will still turn on full brightness when you check the time, but it will automatically dim (not turn off) and lower its refresh rate when you put your wrist down.

The display will also automatically adjust in brightness depending on your environment. The new ambient light sensor is essentially always on, whereas in previous Watch models it was not. The always-on display uses this ambient light sensor to constantly check the brightness of your environment so it can dynamically adjust the screen's brightness appropriately.

Apple Watch Series 5

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For example, if you're in a particularly dark room like a movie theater, the always-on display will not shine too brightly so as to distract you or others around you. The Apple Watch still has theater mode that you can enable at any time to prevent distractions like this in specific environments, but the convenience of the Series 5 is that you don't have to do that, and you can still check the time just by glancing at your resting wrist.

But as anyone who has used an Apple Watch (or any other smartwatch) knows, the display shows much more than the time. It can show information via complications (depending on your selected watch face) and via app and smartphone alerts. Apple had to reconfigure many of these things to make them both compatible and appropriate with an always-on display.

The company edited aspects of almost every watch face available for the Series 5 (all of which are designed by Apple because it still does not allow third-party developers to make watch faces) so that they don't draw excess power when you're not actively looking at them. The new Meridian watch face, striking with its white background and black and red crawling watch hands, will basically invert its color scheme when your wrist is turned down. The white background turns black and the black hands turn white and become more visible, allowing the watch to retain its design and continue to show the time while consuming less power.

When a notification from your smartphone arrives on your wrist on the Series 5, it will still cause the watch to vibrate and make a noise (if you have sound turned on), but the details of that alert will not appear on the screen until you turn your wrist upward. That means you won't have to worry about peeking eyes around you reading information from a text message or a sensitive email if they look at your watch.

Complications, or those tiny spaces on watch faces that display information from various apps, didn't need as much reconfiguration because they were so small that they could remain largely untouched and not draw excess power. However, like smartphone notifications, there are some complications that display information, like the next meeting on your calendar, that you may not want the world to be able to see. To fix that, Apple added the new high-sensitivity complications mode that you can toggle on or off—when on, it blurs out sensitive complication information so only you can see it when you turn your wrist upward and actively look at the Watch's display.

Battery life

An always-on display is a feature beloved by many wearables users, and many will rejoice that the Apple Watch finally has it. But the Apple Watch has one of the most accurate raise-to-wake features I've ever used in a smartwatch, so I never found myself dreaming of an Apple Watch with an always-on display.

Still, others have been dreaming of such a feature, and it certainly makes the Watch a better timepiece. Smartwatches are often criticized for doing things that humans don't necessarily need while neglecting the most inherent aspect of a watch—the ability to tell time. So the Apple Watch Series 5, for its always-on display alone, is likely the best version of the smartwatch that Apple has ever made, particularly for timepiece purists.

Apple claims the Series 5 will continue to get 18 hours of battery life even with its always-on display, and I'm pleased to say that my Series 5 lasted almost exactly 18 hours (I wore it all day, through the night, and into the next day only taking it off to shower).

But I was more excited about the fact that you can turn off always-on mode whenever you want. This will make the Series 5's display act like that of the Series 4—the panel will only turn on when you raise your wrist. Considering the battery life remains roughly the same as the Series 4 when the Series 5 has the always-on display active, it's possible to get even more than 18 hours of life with the Series 5 if you turn off the always-on display mode.

Apple says that users shouldn't expect huge gains in battery life if they do this, and in our talks, representatives appeared convinced that Series 5 users would love the always-on display mode so much that few would opt to turn it off. But for those who do turn it off, I found that you can gain many hours of battery life depending on how much you use the Watch.

My Series 5 delivers all of my smartphone alerts to my wrist (in addition to call and text alerts), and I track at least one hour of exercise per day with it. I don't make calls using LTE very often, and I keep audio listening to my iPhone rather than my Watch. With my regular use (plus a little extra attention while I was testing out all the new watchOS 6 features) and always-on display mode turned off, I wore the Watch all day and all night and got roughly 33 hours of battery life.

Apple may be correct in assuming that those who buy a Series 5 will never want to turn off always-on display mode because it indeed makes the Watch look and feel more like an actual watch. It presents fewer compromises when using it purely as a timepiece rather than a device that can do much more. But for those who do often take advantage of the other things the Apple Watch can do, turning off always-on display mode paves the way for things like more convenient sleep tracking and easier periods of extended use.

Now, users essentially have two battery-saving methods: turning the always-on display mode off and the existing power reserve mode, which I've often used on previous version of the Watch to preserve some power overnight to use the next morning when I didn't have the charger with me.

The new Apple Watch Series 5.

Valentina Palladino
California, one of the new watch faces in watchOS 6.

Valentina Palladino
The Series 5 has an always-on display thanks to new and improved display internals.

Valentina Palladino
External changes in hardware are almost nonexistent.

Valentina Palladino
The new Compass app uses the new magnetometer to show your direction, and it integrates with Maps to help you get around.

Valentina Palladino
The new on-Watch app store lets you download apps directly from the Watch.

Valentina Palladino
Developers can now make independent watchOS apps as well, eliminating the need for companion iOS apps.

Valentina Palladino
Wearing the Series 5 will feel almost identical to wearing the Series 4.

Valentina Palladino
But the always-on display makes the Apple Watch a much better traditional timepiece than it was before.

Valentina Palladino

Compass and international SOS

The Series 5 has the same CPU and GPU as the Series 4 did, so the only other internal changes come in the new built-in compass (magnetometer) and improved cellular bands. The new Compass app uses the magnetometer to show you which direction you're facing, and, with Apple Maps integration, it can show you which direction you're moving when you're navigating to a destination.

The Compass app itself also lets you set a bearing, so if you're hiking to a specific location and know roughly which direction to go, you can set that bearing in the app and it will switch from pointing north to that direction instead. Apple also created a Compass API so developers can make use of the magnetometers in ways they see fit.

The improvements to the SIP and cellular bands allows the Series 5 to make use of its SOS feature in more than 150 countries now. If you find yourself in a bad situation, or the Watch's fall detection kicks in when you fall off your bike during a cycling workout, users with cellular Series 5 models can now call emergency services in various countries.

Cosmetics

Aside from the few hardware changes detailed above, the Apple Watch Series 5 has a few new case materials you can choose from. Aluminum and stainless steel models in the typical 40mm and 44mm case sizes are still available, but now you can choose from titanium and ceramic cases as well.

The silver titanium Watches have a satin finish, making the difference most apparent when looking at them next to stainless steel models of the Watch. These models are slightly lighter than the stainless steel models as well. White ceramic is your only color option, but that's the point—ceramic is one of the only materials that can get as close to a pure white color as possible for a device like this.

Naturally, springing for a Series 5 with a fancy case material will cost you. Titanium Watches start at $799, and ceramic Watches start at $1,299. By contrast, aluminum Series 5 devices start at $399 while stainless steel models start at $699.

We should note that Apple removed the Series 4 Watch listing from its online store. It's unclear if Apple retail locations still sell the Series 4, but it's clear that Apple wants users to transition to Series 5 as quickly as possible. As we noted, there are very few differences in hardware between the Series 4 and the Series 5, so it's understandable that Apple would want anyone buying a brand-new Watch to get the Series 5.

All watchOS 6 features that are not dependent on the always-on display technology, the compass, and the improved cellular band will be available on Series 4 devices (Series 3 devices as well, and the software update will support Series 1 and 2 Watches later this fall)—so if you bought a Series 4 last year, you don't need to spend another $399 to get most of the new software features. Apple does, however, still sell the Series 3 Watch, and the company recently brought down its price to $199.

Specs compared: Apple Watch Series 5 vs Apple Watch Series 3
Device	Apple Watch Series 5	Apple Watch Series 3
Price	Starts at $399	Starts at $199
Sizes	40mm, 44mm	38mm, 42mm
Processor	S5 chip, 64-bit, dual-core	S3 chip, dual-core
Storage	32GB	8GB, 16GB
Display	LTPO OLED Retina with Force Touch and Always-On mode	OLED Retina with Force Touch
Water resistance	Up to 50 meters	Up to 50 meters
Sensors	32 g-force accelerometer, improved gyroscope, ECG electrodes, optical heart rate monitor, GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, barometric altimeter, low-power ambient light sensor, magnetometer, enhanced cellular bands (on LTE models)	16 g-force accelerometer, gyroscope, optical heart rate monitor, GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, barometric altimeter, ambient light sensor
Siri	Written and verbal	Written and verbal
Connectivity	W3 chip (Bluetooth 5.0), Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz, optional LTE and UMTS	W2 chip (Bluetooth 4.2), Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz, optional LTE and UMTS
Battery life	Up to 18 hours (with always-on display mode turned on)	Up to 18 hours

What's new in watchOS 6

Watch-ified iPhone apps

WatchOS 6 doesn't change the fundamental look and feel of the Apple Watch, but it does bring some iPhone features to your wrist in the form of new native iOS apps. Now, you'll have access to Watch-versions of the Calculator, Voice Memo, and Audiobook apps, and my favorite of the three is definitely the Calculator app.

The UI harkens back to the physical calculator watches of yesteryear—which is cool in itself—but I love the new tip feature. Simply input the amount of your restaurant bill, and the Calculator app will spit out the appropriate tip amount. You can use the Digital Crown to change the tip percentage and the number of people by which you're splitting the bill, and it will tell you exactly how much each person has to pay for the tip and pay in total.

The watchOS Voice Memos app is similarly handy, but it will be most used by those who need to record interviews or lectures or those who often have bursts of creativity and want to save their thoughts quickly. The UI consists only of a red record button, so you only need to tap it to start a recording and tap it again to end the recording. Yes, the app continues to record even when your wrist is turned downward, and all voice memos are saved to the Watch and synced with your iPhone.

You'll want to wait until that recording is on your iPhone before you delete it from your Watch—deleting a recording before it syncs will get rid of it for good. However, you can delete a recording from your Watch and it will still be saved in the Voice Memos app on your iPhone as long as the syncing process has completed. You'll also want to listen to long voice memos from your iPhone, because doing so on the Watch only works when the screen is completely on.

You cannot listen to a voice recording when the always-on screen is "idle" or when your wrist is turned away from you, either. Doing so will automatically pause the recording until you physically press play again on the Watch's screen.

The new Audiobooks app lets you download and listen to any audiobooks you buy from iTunes. This does not include audiobooks you may have from other sources that are accessible in iTunes—you're limited to audiobooks purchased from iTunes itself. That's an unfortunate limitation, but it's an expected one coming from Apple. However, it's worth noting that other audiobook providers like Audible have watchOS apps that let you download and listen to books in a similar way.

An all-new app in watchOS 6 is the Noise app, which measures the decibel levels of your environment in real-time using the Watch's microphone. The app will show the changing noise levels in a bar graph and tell you how long you can safely be in that environment before you risk damaging your hearing. You can also enable noise alerts that will let you know if you're in a potentially dangerous environment with too-loud sounds.

Anyone with hearing sensitivity will find this useful, but others may ignore the app entirely. I measured noise levels a few times during my time with the Series 5 Watch mostly because I was curious how loud my TV is when it's at our preferred volume level.

Streaming audio

Another new, sound-based feature of watchOS 6 is the streaming audio API that developers can use to allow users to stream audio over Wi-Fi or cellular directly from the Apple Watch. Essentially, this means that if you have a reliable Wi-Fi connection on your Watch or have a cellular Watch model, you don't need to download audio content to the Watch's onboard storage in order to listen to it.

How useful this is in practice, however, will depend entirely on developers and how they use the API. Take an app like the meditation subscription service Headspace: if you subscribe, you have access to numerous audio chunks in the iOS app, and now the company can make some or all of those audio files accessible in the watchOS app.

You can choose a 5-minute meditation session directly from the Watch and, with a pair of Bluetooth headphones connected to the Watch, listen to that meditation without actually downloading it. This will also work for live audio programs like sportscasts, so subscribers could listen to the radio broadcast of a baseball game using the At Bat watchOS app.

It's also only possible to stream audio in this way with paired Bluetooth headphones—you can't use the Watch's speakers to listen to audio for long periods of time. That would likely drain the battery quite quickly as well, so this limitation is probably for the best.

A few of the new watch faces available in watchOS 6.

Valentina Palladino
The Cycle app lets you quickly log menstrual symptoms and details from your wrist.

Valentina Palladino
The tip function in the on-Watch calculator app is incredibly useful.

Valentina Palladino
Other new apps in watchOS 6 include the Noise app, the Voice Memos app, and the Compass app (only available on Series 5 devices).

Valentina Palladino
The on-Watch App Store is surprisingly easy to browse and navigate.

Valentina Palladino

On-watch App Store

WatchOS 6 also brings the App Store to your wrist. Instead of searching in the Watch iOS app, now you can browse, search for, and download watchOS apps directly from the Apple Watch. Going into testing the Series 5, I wanted to know a few things about the on-watch App Store: how easy is it to browse via the wrist? How limited is it in information and capabilities? And how many apps can we expect to be Watch-only?

The first two points were answered more easily than the third. The on-Watch App Store is surprisingly easy to use, as Apple makes it simple to find Watch-ready apps with spotlights and curated lists by category. You can scroll through all of those options or use the top search bar to either dictate or scribble a specific app or kind of app you're looking for.

And selecting an app is just like selecting an app to learn more about it in the iOS version of the App Store. Apple managed to stuff a lot of information into this physically tiny screen space by using tappable boxes. Each app profile page has a description, screenshots, information about the iPhone and iPad apps (if available), a what's new section for the latest updates, ratings and reviews, and in-app purchases information.

It's convenient that you don't have to go searching for any app information while using the on-Watch App Store. Browsing will require some patience as you tap and scroll incessantly, but that's the case most of the time if you're using the Apple Watch as your primary device. This App Store only shows Watch-capable apps, so the only reason I'd browse it is to find an app you want to use primarily on your Apple Watch. That's something you can already do in the iOS App Store, but it's nice to have the option to do so on the Apple Watch, too.

Of the many watchOS apps in the App Store, most of them are companions to iOS apps, and there's nothing wrong with that. If you download an app for the first time from your watch, you'll see the iOS app pop up on your device shortly after. You can choose to delete these apps, but they usually provide a fuller experience than the watchOS app provides.

But watchOS 6 does introduce apps that don't require a companion iOS app. Developers can create standalone watchOS apps now, but I confess that I couldn't try any—because I had a hard time finding any. Apple doesn't currently have an "only on watchOS" spotlight in the on-Watch app store, and all of the apps I downloaded or searched for had companion iOS apps.

Nevertheless, there are a ton of new tools in watchOS 6 that developers can take advantage of when making watchOS apps, and I'm eager to see these in action. Since these tools are available for all watchOS apps, not just standalone ones, I was able to see one new feature at use in Calm's watchOS app: continuity keyboard. When asked to input your Calm account password, users now have the option to do so with the continuity keyboard, which opens up an alert window and the keyboard on your connected iPhone so you can more easily type in your credentials. When you press Enter on your iPhone, the Apple Watch registers that input, gives off a slight vibration, and signs you in if it's the correct password.

So while the on-Watch App Store and standalone watchOS apps push the Apple Watch further into the realm of Independent Device, Apple has also put systems and tools in place that make it easier to use the Apple Watch if you have your iPhone nearby. In addition to features like continuity keyboard, you still need to use your iPhone to set up the Apple Watch initially, initiate software updates, and so on. That will probably never change.

The Apple Watch remains, fundamentally, an accessory to prevent you from needing your iPhone to execute every daily digital task you have. The device still excels at that. And with watchOS 6, it's even more poised to be the device you turn to when you don't want to pull out your iPhone.

Activity Trends and Cycle tracking

Just like every other Apple Watch model, the Series 5 tracks all-day activity and now can help you track menstrual cycles, with new features in iOS 13 and watchOS 6. The Activity app in iOS 13 also has the new Activity Trends feature, which examines your past year's worth of activity and compares it to the most recent 90 days of activity to find ways you can improve. Depending on how much you exercise and how often you wear your Watch in general, you'll see more suggestions in the "worth a look" section compared to the "needs more data" section.

Apple was right to include such a feature because most wearable companion apps provide suggestions based on collected data to help people get healthier and achieve or advance their goals. However, I was not surprised that my suggestions were not very detailed despite the countless hours I've logged wearing my Apple Watch (when I'm not testing a new wearable, it's my default smartwatch that I wear every day except on Sundays—even my wrist needs a break).

Activity Trends told me to try to burn 585 calories per day because, in the past 90 days, my average daily calorie burn was 539 calories—less than my average daily calorie burn for the past year, which was 566. Since Apple's Move metrics take into account "everything from light household chores and slow walks to biking or working out at the gym," the app basically suggested I find more ways of moving around throughout the day. If I achieved a Move goal of 585 calories burned per day, Activity Trends estimated that it would take me 11 weeks to move that trend back in the positive direction.

New Activity Trends in iOS 13.

Valentina Palladino
Workout breakdowns look largely the same.

Valentina Palladino
Cycling tracking appears in the Apple Health app.

Valentina Palladino
You can choose what you want to track, and every cycle, track period flow, symptoms, and more.

Valentina Palladino
Like most cycle tracking apps, Apple's predicts period days, fertile windows, and more.

Valentina Palladino

That's all well and good, but I wanted more detail and insight. The Exercise trend gave me a bit more of what I was looking for, suggesting one brisk walk each day to push my daily average exercise minutes up from 40 (what they have been for the past 90 days) to closer to 44 (the average from the past year or so). Nevertheless, I would have liked more specific, actionable insights like the Activity app on the Watch sometimes provides when you're close to hitting your move goal, or when you need to stand during the hour to hit your daily stand goal.

The Apple Watch collects a vast amount of health data, and I simply wish Apple used it more productively. The company has made the Apple Watch's activity tracking features so comprehensive yet easily digestible for most users that I often go months without opening the Activity app on my iPhone. That's both good and bad—it's great that we can get advice like take a 10-minute walk to fill your Move ring for the day delivered to your wrist, but it's less than ideal that, when we turn to the iPhone app, we see little more than what we see on the Watch itself.

Activity Trends add to the value of the iOS app but currently not enough. I'd love to see Apple turn those trends into actionable training plans: let users select one of the trends that are "worth a look," give them specific instructions that can swing that trend upward, and then push alerts and reminders to their wrist to complete those directions every day. That would turn Activity Trends into more than just a page in the iOS app that users will likely look at once and never again. Anyone who wants guided programs similar to this will want to consider Garmin's or Fitbit's wearables for now.

Users will not even currently turn to the Activity app when they want to track their menstrual cycles because that feature lives in Apple's Health app—an understandable choice. Apple may have been late to the menstrual-tracking party, but its solution is one that takes into account how other apps do it and puts a very Apple-y spin on it.

The UI is minimalist, and the learning curve to use it is small. You can tap on the grayish ovals that represent each day to quickly add when you've had your period, or you can turn to the more detailed options below the calendar slider to add things like daily symptoms, sexual activity, basal body temperature, and more. The list of symptoms you can track is quite large (it even includes hot-flashes!), and those who often experience no bleeding for any number of reasons will appreciate the "no flow" period tracking option.

The watchOS version of Cycle tracking comes in its own app that you can use to discreetly log symptoms. You can also choose to receive alerts about cycling start dates, ovulation periods, and more. I received only one or two alerts from the app during the time I tested the Series 5, and since they are mostly text-based, no one around me would be able to distinguish them from a calendar alert or a notification from another app.

Same great hardware, even better software

Apple worked out most of the Apple Watch's kinks with the Series 3, and since then the company has been adding improvements that make the Watch a more convenient and phone-freeing accessory. The Series 5 isn't as much of an upgrade as the Series 4 was from the Series 3, but nevertheless, it's still the best smartwatch you can get if you're an iPhone user. The always-on display and watchOS 6 improvements only hammer home that fact, even if some users will be more excited about the former than others.

I suspect those who buy a Series 5 will be enamored with the fact that it is arguably the best timepiece Apple has made because of the always-on display. It's worth the upgrade if you're coming from a Series 1 or Series 2 device (or an aging, non-Apple smartwatch), but it's not necessary for happy Series 4 owners to upgrade. The rest of the Watch's core features remain the same, so unless that always-on display is what you've been wishing for, you can stick with your current Watch for now. (After all, you will get all watchOS 6 features that aren't tied to new hardware components.)

The decision is a bit tougher for Series 3 owners as the Series 5 widens the gap between these two devices. However, the reasons I'd recommend updating come with the Apple Watch Series 4, too—namely ECG measurements and fall detection.

While Apple will inevitably continue to try to improve the Apple Watch's hardware, the device's software continues to be why I often recommend the Apple Watch to iPhone users who want a solid wearable. It's the most intuitive on-wrist computing experience you can get, and that experience is made better by Apple's attention to detail in every iteration of watchOS.

You'll likely always need an iPhone to use an Apple Watch, but with every update it continues to get easier to leave that iPhone behind and remain connected to the most important aspects of your digital life by using the Apple Watch.

The Good

Solid build quality and design.
Always-on display mode doesn't impact 18-hour battery life.
Always-on display mode can be disabled.
Accurate internal sensors (heart rate, GPS, etc).
On-Watch app store is easy to use and useful.
Cycle tracking is thorough and discrete with watchOS app.

The Bad

Activity Trends isn't as detailed as it should be.
Still no native sleep tracking.
Not many Watch-only apps yet.
Only works with iOS devices.
Expensive.

The Ugly

No third-party watch faces.

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https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/09/apple-watch-series-5-review-a-better-more-independent-timepiece/

2019-09-25 12:00:00Z
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Darota Sima

Rabu, 25 September 2019