Apple Watch Series 4 Review & Rating

There is more question: the Apple Watch Series 4 is the smartwatch to beat. The latest iteration of Apple's popular portable systems offers a wider display, better cellular connectivity and more advanced heart rate monitoring than previous models. It even gives the dedicated fitness trackers a run for their money thanks to advanced health parameters and future readings of the ECG. The only things that have not improved are the battery life, which remains the same, and its price, starting at $ 399 and increasing if you want a cell model (or another bracelet). But in this case, you get what you pay for. Series 4 benefits from our choice of editors thanks to its smartwatch experience and its forward-thinking health functions.

A very nice penny

Series 4 prices start at $ 399 for a GPS version only and $ 499 for cell phones, both with an aluminum case. This is for the 40mm version. For a 44mm model, prices rise slightly to $ 429 and $ 529. The aluminum case is available in gold, silver and gray space. If you want a stainless steel case, the starting price increases to $ 699 for 40 mm models and $ 749 for 44 mm models only. Keep in mind that opting for a cellular model will also entail additional charges from your wireless service provider. You must also have an iPhone. Considering that the new XS and XS Max phones start at $ 999 and $ 1,099 respectively, it's just not economical to be an Apple user.

As for groups, there are plenty of options, including Apple's own chewy rubber sport Seashell buckle and fabric sport Loop, as well as the Milanese stainless steel buckle, illustrated in this review. You get a sport Buckle or shell sport Loop in the starting price, while a Milanese loop costs more. There are also countless groups of third-party watches on the market. If you are upgrading from a previous Apple Watch, your existing groups should work properly.

More screen, better cell

The 4 Series marks the biggest change to the design of the Apple Watch since its launch in 2014, in the form of a larger screen. The watch is available in housings 40 mm and 44 mm high, ranging from 38 mm to 42 mm. That's about 30% more real estate screens, which, at a glance, does not seem very important. There is less scope, but I had a hard time seeing a lot of change between the 38mm 3 Series and our 40mm 4 Series.

The difference became much more obvious after using Series 4 for a few days. You can see more information at a glance, which makes reading easier, especially when it comes to text messages and notifications. applications. And you can now adapt eight complications – applets that do something other than tell the time – on a dial, instead of five. The extra screen also allows the animations to stand out. The effects in The dial of the Fire and Water watch, for example, is really fascinating.

Visually, other design changes from Apple are relatively minor. For cellular versions, the controversial red dot on the digital crown has been softened into a more subtle red ring. It also exceeds less. Haptic feedback was added when you use the crown to scroll, producing a slight vibration that makes it look more like a physical mechanism, but I found it a little too subtle to make a difference. The microphone has been moved just under the crown, which helps to improve call quality. And the speaker is louder, making phone calls and Siri easier to hear.

The most noticeable change inside is the control of the heart rate. The optical sensor located under the watch is now surrounded by an electrode. This will allow electrocardiogram readings in Apple's next ECG application. The 4 Series also sports an improved accelerometer and gyroscope, essential for the new fall detection function.

Another improvement is the processing power, thanks to the new S4 chip with 64-bit dual processor, which is really visible in the loading times of applications.

The quality of the calls is even better. We really liked the Series 3, the first standalone cellular Apple Watch, but it was plagued by call loss and poor sound quality. In testing series 4, I made several phone calls, none of which dropped. And the new location of the microphone contributes to the quality of the calls, just like the speaker, for a more intelligible experience at both ends.

One of the things that has not improved is the battery life. Series 4 still has the same 18 hour estimate as its predecessors. Apple is talking about battery life all day, and it's true that the watch does not die over a long day, but you still have to recharge it every night, which adjusts the tracking sleep outside the equation. As such, Apple does not include its own sleep tracking application, although you can download a third-party application if you wish to try it.

A new operating system and applications

Phone calls are not the only way to communicate with Apple Watch, thanks to the Walkie Talkie app introduced with watchOS 5. Walkie Talkie allows you to have a one-on-one conversation with n & # 39; anyone in your contacts with Apple Watch. Just touch the name of a contact, save a transmission and send it. It's a fun feature that mimics the two-way radios of yesteryear (minus the live look, given the recorded messages), and I can see that this can be useful in heavily populated areas like concerts or conventions. It is limited to the number of your friends who have an Apple Watch (it is compatible with the 1 series as long as it runs under watchOS 5), but it's a fun new approach to voicemail.

Siri has also been enhanced with watchOS 5. You can integrate the voice assistant into applications, like Citymapper, and anecdotally, the face of the Siri watch seems to learn your routines faster than on watchOS 4. And instead to say "Hey Siri," you can now simply lift your wrist, although I found that it only worked about two-thirds of the time.

With regard to smartwatch application ecosystems, Apple remains by far the most extensive. Although it still lacks some key players like Spotify, you can find apps like American Airlines, Citymapper, Delta, Lyft, Neato Robotics, Philips Hue, Strave and Uber, among many others. Comparatively, apps available for Google porteros, Fitbit OS and Samsung Tizen watches are fewer and of varying quality. WearOS has the biggest offer of the three, but placing them on your watch is not as simple as it should be. It's easier with Samsung's Tizen watches, which include some applications that Apple misses, like Spotify and Speedo. Fitbit offers are the least developed of the bouquet, but includes big names like Deezer and Pandora.

Apple has added music streaming earlier this year via Apple Music. It is limited to playlists that you first create on your phone, but watchOS 5 brings a Podcast application, which offers more multimedia options to anyone looking for a standalone laptop.

Apple goes all-in on health

The most important novelty may be the FDA-approved FDA-based heart rate monitoring. When the ECG application arrives later this year, you can put your finger on the digital crown for 30 seconds to receive an ECG reading that you can export to PDF to share with your doctor. As this feature is not yet available, we have not tested it, but we will update this revision with our results as soon as it is released.

How we test fitness trackers

More passively, you also receive notifications if your heart rate is too low or too high at rest. It's a more preventive feature, and since I'm pretty healthy, I've never received any warning.

With the enhanced accelerometer and gyroscope of the 4 series, Apple has also introduced fall detection. According to Apple, if the watch detects a sudden drop and subsequent inactivity, it will trigger an emergency SOS call. I did my best to trigger this feature but was unable to. I am not entirely sure of the nature of the fall, but I can at least say that it is not easy to deliver false positives if you fall on the couch or on a mattress. This feature does not necessarily replace the watch with a dedicated medical alert device, but it does provide some security.

The new accelerometer and gyroscope also translate into excellent accuracy in fitness testing. In a treadmill of one mile at 3.5 miles per hour, the watch recorded 2,097 steps over the 2,200 Yamax SW-200 Digi-Walker, for a negligible difference of 1.9%. Likewise, for one kilometer controlled at 5.0 mph, he recorded 1,990 steps at Yamax 1,985, for a difference of only 0.25%. It's better than what we see on many dedicated fitness trackers.

Heart rate monitoring has also been shown to be accurate in the tests, but this is somewhat misleading. During the controlled treadmill tests, the Apple Watch was still at 5 to 10 beats per minute of a Polar H10 chest strap, which is great. For the resting heart rate, however, the watch battery does not last long enough to wear it to sleep, which is necessary for an accurate assessment of your resting heart rate. For this reason, Apple Watch reported that my resting heart rate was 67 bpm, compared to 60 bpm for the Fitbit Versa, which I could wear to sleep.

WatchOS 5 also brings fitness improvements in the form of more advanced metrics, automatic tracking of activities and competitions with other Apple Watch users. You can now track measures such as pace, timing alerts, real-time splits, and milestones. Automatic detection of training sessions has proven to be an immediate success-Walks recorded by the Fitbit Versa was not still recorded by Series 4. However, the watch has recorded short sprints to catch the trains, while the fitbits tend to record only activities exceeding 15 minutes. And you can challenge other Apple Watch users to see who is the most active, which can motivate you to take the stairs rather than the escalator. These features make Apple Watch a viable alternative to a dedicated fitness tracker.

The best smart watch, period

With the series 4, Apple widens the gap between its portable smartwatches and other brands on the market. Despite its low battery life and high cost, you benefit from a wide and accurate display, a fast processor, optimal call quality, and features. exceptional fitness monitoring and innovative cardiac capabilities. Other devices on the market have some of these features, but none can claim them, or do it in an elegant case. And do not forget that Apple still has the largest ecosystem of third-party smartwatch applications by far. All this combines to make it the first Apple watch to win our choice of publishers.

If you already have an Apple Watch, should you upgrade? It depends. If you own a Series 3, I would not rush to exchange it unless you use it to make calls all the time or to see the upcoming ECG feature as an indispensable feature. But everyone with a series 1 or 2 watch will see significant improvements here, and it's a great choice for first-time smartwatch buyers–provided that they are also iPhone users.