Apple Watch 4 practice: the bigger it is, the better it is

Apple has announced a redesigned Apple Watch Series 4, with a larger screen, a faster processor and an integrated EKG scanner. The display is frankly beautiful – it's not enough edge to edge, but this makes the 3 Series very cramped. The colors are bright and vibrant on a completely black background – and although I'm not a fan of the busy new clocks, I could see people were starting to get more information about them.

This is the main benefit for me, but for Apple, the main benefit is that it offers much better health features, including fall detection and improved heart rate monitoring.

Inside the Apple Watch Series 4, there is a new 64-bit dual-core S4 processor, custom-designed to improve performance. Apple claims that the latter watch should be twice as fast as previous models, which will facilitate the loading time of applications and the general use of the Watch interface. In our brief period with the Apple Watch Series 4, I can not say I noticed it was much faster than before, but it will take a lot more testing.

Although there is a new processor, there are also many other hardware changes under the new screen. An updated accelerometer and gyroscope combine to allow the Apple Watch Series 4 to detect falls. If you have fallen and are motionless for a minute, this new Apple Watch will automatically call the emergency services for you. It's not a feature you'll use every day, but it's ready and ready if you need it. Nor is it something that I tested here in the practical area. Sorry.

Apple Watch Series 4 will also test your heart rate for irregularities that appear to be atrial fibrillation and send you alerts for a checkup. However, Apple has taken a step further thanks to the possibility of taking an electrocardiogram (ECG). The latest Apple Watch will be the first EKG product offered directly to consumers, and you can simply open an app and put your finger on the digital crown to trigger the EKG scan.

Unfortunately, this feature was not available so we could try the demo units here. Another thing I could not do was replace my old Apple Watch bracelet with the new Series 4 case of different size. Apple says that groups should still be widely compatible, but I bet some will just look slightly at new watches – especially third-party groups.

In addition to the display, Apple has also revised the digital crown on the side of the device. And you can really feel it, a little stuttering just under your finger that is almost mechanical. I do not know how long Apple engineers have been working on that, and I do not really know if that conveys some sort of real information with its small vibrations.

The speaker is also more powerful and the back of the watch is now smooth black ceramic.

All of these hardware changes mean that there is clearly a bigger screen, but the Apple Watch Series 4 is actually thinner than previous models and it will always work with all existing bands. This is good news if you are upgrading the original model for three years.