Small changes have a big impact

Watch your back

Apple has been trying for years to make the watch a first class fitness tracker. What's really new – and for some slightly disconcerting – is Apple's willingness to turn the watch into a portable guardian.

Let's say you're ready to walk when you fall on your own feet. (Unfortunately, this is not unusual for me.) If the Series 4 Fall Detection feature is turned on, the watch will turn on and ask you if you feel comfortable. If you do not answer for one minute (with an unpleasant alarm sound), the watch contacts the emergency services and sends your predefined emergency contacts.

I have no shame, so I threw myself into this office more times than I wish, hoping to trigger this fall detection. No dice – the watch looks for specific changes in wrist movement and acceleration before it raises the flag, and it's sophisticated enough for false positives to be very difficult to find. As thoughtful as this feature sounds, it can only help you if you have enabled fall detection. The exception to this rule is if you are 65 or older, in which case the feature is enabled by default.

Having activated feature does not noticeably affect the battery life of the watch and it is difficult to trigger accidentally, so really, there is no reason do not to activate the first day. That said, the benefits of functionality are crystal clear to seniors and their caregivers – even short falls can seriously hurt seniors and, if they wear an Apple watch, they act as a LifeAlert powered ML pendant.

Starting this year, Apple Watch is now paying more attention to your heart. Heart rate monitoring has been an essential feature from the beginning, but monitoring is now set to warn you when your BPM is too high or too low while you are at rest. (These thresholds may differ from person to person so you can set your own range in the Watch app on your phone.) Fortunately, my heart tends to stay at around 60 to 65 beats per minute. these scary warnings. I hope you will not do it either.

As a heart rate monitor, the best days of Series 4 are yet to come. Despite all the talk of turning the watch into a laptop, you will not be able to use Series 4 until Apple activates this feature later this year. The same is true for the watch's ability to detect and report irregular heart rhythms. Both of these features were approved by the FDA just one day before their announcement on stage in Cupertino – a milestone. Outside of releases, just keep in mind that none of these smart features is meant to completely replace traditional diagnostics. it is better to consider them as early warning systems. I will come back to this criticism when these features are activated, but for the moment, you will simply have to listen to your heart yourself.

Battery life

Apple says both versions of the 4 series have a life of about 18 hours, but, as usual, the ball is quite important. I was able to wear the Apple Watch between 24 and 36 hours before needing a recharge. Obviously, this will change depending on the use of the watch, but even after whole days of constant patting and encouragement, I could still go to bed knowing that Series 4 would wake me up. morning.

If you are very careful to use the watch in moderation, you could have it reach 48 full hours. It does take work, though, and if you put the watch on its magnetic charger for about half an hour once a day, you should never have to worry about longevity. That said, it was not so long ago, I tested a premium smartwatch with nearly four days of battery life, so it would not be fair to say that the battery of the 4 series is the best in its category.