Apple Watch Series 7

https://www.apple.com/apple-watch-series-7/

by kumarvvr • 5 years ago

139 284 5 years ago

apple.com

rootusrootus5• 5 years ago

Underwhelming. I guess I keep my Series 4 another year.

gmwahl• 5 years ago

For me, there's enough from the Series 4 to 7 to make it worth upgrading.

droopyEyelids• 5 years ago

It sounds like you two may place different value on some aspect of these devices

smoldesu2• 5 years ago

Apparently, the Series 3 is so similar that Apple decided to keep selling it another year.

rootusrootus5• 5 years ago

What's the feature that makes it most compelling for you? Screen size? I'll grant that going from 3 to 4 was a pretty big screen bump -- maybe this will be similar, in which case it could pique my attention.

The always-on display is appealing, I've been looking forward to getting that ever since the Series 5 was released. But it won't be enough by itself to get me to put down the cash.

I was hoping for thinner, and sorta hoping to see a design update along the lines of the iPhone 12/13.

r00fus3• 5 years ago

I was about to say same, but I think one of my family would like a watch and my series4 makes a great handmedown.

deegles• 5 years ago

Still waiting for the blood glucose monitoring. I wonder what tech remains to be developed.

Nathanael_M• 5 years ago

Is there a way to non-penetratively monitor blood glucose?

kumarvvr6• 5 years ago

Looks like a bare minimum update.

I honestly don't know what else can be added to it.

minimaxir3• 5 years ago

The big screen + keyboard might be the headline feature, and as silly as it sounds it may be enough.

tshaddox2• 5 years ago

Why is that silly? The screen size increase is significant, and it’s hard to imagine a more noticeable or useful improvement to a smart watch.

zepto3• 5 years ago

A 20% screen size increase is pretty significant.

There are a huge range of sensors they can add in future.

BitAstronaut5• 5 years ago

There are a huge range of sensors they can add in future.

It would be worth an update at that point.

kumarvvr6• 5 years ago

In the given form factor, what sensors could be added, without dropping existing ones?

I guess, one way would be to introduce special categories of watches, such as medical ones, that drop gps and others for oxygen / ECG or new sensors.

dont__panic• 5 years ago

I know I'm in a very different demographic from the average Apple user because I just don't understand the appeal of a big, bright OLED screen on my wrist. I still wear my Pebble Time Round every day. If it ever dies I'll get a Garmin with an always-on non-backlit display that looks great in the sun and lasts for days.

IMO I'd rather see this tech used to shrink the size of the watch to make it thinner, rather than expanding the size even larger. It's a supplementary device, the idea that you might use a keyboard on it is laughable. I wonder if we'll see the same size creep in the watch space that we've already seen with phones...

frumper• 5 years ago

They didn't increase the case size, just reduced the bezel. That means there is probably less space to use for more sensors.

thecosas3• 5 years ago

"In the future" is a long time.

Short-term, more likely that they would build integrations with existing stand-alone sensors. For example, glucose readings from Dexcom G7.

dougmwne3• 5 years ago

I am waiting for a fully standalone version that does not require an iPhone at all and can get me through the day with its more basic capabilities. Would love to be able to stop carrying a phone on most days. The current capabilities are close but would need to add a camera, even if it wasn't particularly amazing.

apfsx• 5 years ago

If I recall correctly I think there's actually a company[1] that has added a camera to the apple watch. I have no idea how it works though. Maybe the camera wristband + cellular Apple Watch would achieve what you need.

[1] https://www.wristcam.com/

joegahona• 5 years ago

A camera is not a "need" for me. I'm still waiting for a standalone watch so I can ditch my phone entirely.

theshrike795• 5 years ago

Samsung tried the watch camera thing and buried it really fucking fast.

The creep potential is a lot bigger than its usefulness.

handrous• 5 years ago

Yep—my phone's gone the day they announce that, as in, I won't have one anymore at all (well, the watch will be my phone, I guess). The only thing that'll even make me hesitate, maybe, is the camera, but ultimately that won't be enough.

cgy12• 5 years ago

What kind of features do the cellular version of the watch not have that you would need to be truly standalone? It gets pretty close for me... I can take calls, view and respond to texts, listen to music, track my workouts, etc. all without carrying my iPhone. While still requiring the watch to be connected to the iPhone for system updates, installing apps, etc. is not ideal, that doesn't preclude somebody from using the watch without also carrying an iPhone at all times.

nradov3• 5 years ago

An radio for ANT+ sensors would be helpful if they want to compete against Garmin in the fitness market. There are a lot of sensors like heart rate monitors, bicycle power meters, running foot pods, etc which work best with ANT+ and support Bluetooth poorly or not at all.

mft_3• 5 years ago

Totally agree with your point, though Apple’s modus operandi would more likely be to create their own protocol and expect the manufacturers to adopt it…

HPsquared• 5 years ago

Front-facing camera would be nice.

minimaxir3• 5 years ago

It was rumored the Series 7 had production issues; the "later this fall" basically confirms it.

The complete lack of tech specs is weird despite that though.

theshrike795• 5 years ago

Apple hasn't flaunted the tech specs of Watches ever.

Usually we find out the specs when iFixit cracks one open.

judge2020• 5 years ago

https://support.apple.com/kb/SP826?locale=en_US

mdasen• 5 years ago

I feel like Apple often talks about the processor. The Apple Watch 6 had the S6 processor that they boasted about.

runawaybottle• 5 years ago

The watch was never really useful enough. We are plateauing on wearable and mobile device tech atm, and we pretty much need to put all hands on deck to make AR happen.

BitAstronaut5• 5 years ago

I purchased mine for fitness tracking but the feature I ended up liking the most is the Apple Maps integration.

toxik4• 5 years ago

Huh. Somebody actually likes this? I find it super distracting when I’m driving. But I have a phone mount so I can see the directions ahead of time.

micromacrofoot• 5 years ago

The watch was never really useful enough for you, let's not forget that Apple sells a ridiculous amount of the things. More than long-standing traditional watchmakers.

keymone• 5 years ago

you're kidding. fitness tracking, music and podcasts during walks/runs, less intrusive notifications, taking calls and receiving messages with GSM module, heart rate monitoring including arrhythmia and other issues.

right now the only thing you can possibly complain about is battery life, but personally i found it to be a routine/habit building exercise to just put the thing charging when i'm showering after morning walk.

swalsh4• 5 years ago

I think there's potential for a whole new category in this space for wearable EEG's which really only 1 company is playing in at the moment. There's a million possibilities with the right hardware and software.

haney3• 5 years ago

I keep hoping they're going to announce battery life that lasts longer than a day, not this time...

gnicholas6• 5 years ago

Yep, I'm hanging onto my Pebble until that happens. The battery life is deteriorating, but I can still get 5 days out of it if I put it in airplane mode overnight.

dimitry12• 5 years ago

Oh, that's a nice hack!

theshrike795• 5 years ago

Not going to happen.

The only upgrade that makes sense is 7 days.

2-3 day battery life means that people will forget to charge, because there is no routine. And then they run out of battery and blame Apple for shitty battery life.

45 minutes from 0 to 80% isn't that much. You won't be ending many days at 0% and don't need a 100% every day.

Hamuko5• 5 years ago

2-3 day battery life makes sense with sleep tracking, since you can sleep a couple of nights with it before you have to charge it.

haney3• 5 years ago

I know there are limits to battery technology but I'd much rather see the watch track towards 7 days than see additional sensors / a larger brighter screen.

This may be compounded by the fact that the watch needs its own special charging cable, my main pain point is that I always forget to pack the watch charger when I travel so my watch always dies if I'm going for a night.

paxys2• 5 years ago

2-3 day battery life is perfect for weekend trips without worrying about charging.

tommi• 5 years ago

45 minutes can be a lot if you keep it in hand over night for sleep tracking. You'd then need a to find a 45 minute slot every day to charge it and be consistent with it. With one day battery life you can't forget to charge it every morning for example. Or what if you didn't bring a charger with you for an overnight trip? Anything less than a full two day battery life is a deal breaker for me.

wrycoder• 5 years ago

Since I wear my 6 at night, I need to charge it in the morning. That takes about an hour. The last 10% is at about one quarter of the bulk charging rate.

If life interferes, and I have to pull it off the charger after 40 minutes, the watch typically won’t make it through the following night.

Two days would be helpful. Either that, or cut the charging time down to 30 minutes, which is about the time it takes me to get ready in the morning.

dkdbejwi383• 5 years ago

I imagine that in the near to medium future at least, they'll optimise for fast charging. 45 minutes to 80% is good, but 20 minutes to 80% would mean that you could just charge it while having a shower and it should be practically fully charged.

nradov3• 5 years ago

Several of the higher end Garmin smart watches have battery life longer than 7 days (depending on GPS use).

alphabetting• 5 years ago

Is it really that low? My fitbit sense gets around 4 days but I just use it for health tracking and nothing else.

haney3• 5 years ago

Sometimes I get it to go 36 hours but that's only with very light use

Etheryte• 5 years ago

Likewise. I suppose an always-on display is a big boon for most customers, but I would like if I had the option to opt out of that and get considerably longer battery life instead. Conceptually I really like the watch with all the health-related sensors and such, but until the battery life improves, it's hard to be convinced.

adeelk93• 5 years ago

Then turn it off? It’s in the display settings

Jtsummers4• 5 years ago

You can opt out. I have, my wife hasn't. It definitely has an impact on the battery life (we both have the series 6). My watch easily makes it a full 24 hours, I charge it in the mornings when I work from home, or in the evening when I'll be at the office the next day. Hers lasts about 18 hours right now, though I also suspect that the fact she drops it on the charger both in the morning and as soon as she gets home from work has impacted the battery life in her case.

I wouldn't like it for camping or long hiking trips (not day hikes since I'd be able to charge it at some point easily enough), the Garmin's are definitely better for that if you want something for tracking your hike and heart rate.

Eric_WVGG• 5 years ago

You can. My Series 6 lasts about 36 hours per charge.

mcintyre1994• 5 years ago

Did they actually make the battery a lot bigger to support always on? I have one from before they added always on, and its battery life is also naff.

Razengan2• 5 years ago

I would like if I had the option to opt out of that and get considerably longer battery life instead

If you would really like that you would have clicked on display settings and realized that they’ve had the option to opt-out since the day Always-On Displays were announced.

philliphaydon5• 5 years ago

How long do you want/need it? I have the series 6 and get around ~30 hours. I've been wearing it since 9am and it's now 2:52am, it's still 55% remaining.

It turned out to be more battery than what I thought (18 hours?!?)

moonchrome3• 5 years ago

Do you use workout tracking ? If I went to the gym it would significantly impact my galaxy watch.

These days I use a withings scanwatch hybrid - it lasts 20 days and is more low-key than a giant screen on your hand. But still has ECG/HR/activities/sleep and notifications (so I can keep my phone muted all the time l). The only feature I'm missing is find my phone.

ngcazz• 5 years ago

My Series 5 definitely lasts longer than a day…

kerng• 5 years ago

Do you use it for anything?

jjtheblunt• 5 years ago

my series 6 definitely lasts way longer than a day, and i use it for tracking gps on hikes almost every day. i think being judicious with screen brightness is very impactful.

mehrdada• 5 years ago

I just use two watches and alternate every night.

jaypeg25• 5 years ago

I wish it had a charger similar to the Whoop fitness band. It's a separate battery that you place on top of the band while wearing it, so it can charge while you're sleeping or even while you're just wearing it throughout the day.

scrollaway• 5 years ago

Same. Not into smart watches until they have a week long charge at least.

The Steel HR from Withings is the perfect middle ground for me. Doesn’t look like a slab, 3 weeks charge, still some smart features.

gfiorav• 5 years ago

It charges to 80% in 45 mins. I don't wear it overnight, but some friends who do, charge it in the office without much of an impact to usage.

For me it's never been a problem, it wouldn't have changed my usage pattern to have 1 week of battery.

t0mas88• 5 years ago

I charge it when I shower and get ready to go to bed, then put it back on to wear overnight because I like the sleep tracking. Never runs out of power.

pwagland• 5 years ago

The challenge, at least for those that want to use the watch for sports, is not the "daily" use, but that the watch runs out of juice so quickly when using its location tracking, aka GPS sucks battery.

So, the reason that I want longer battery life is not, per se, to charge once a week, but so that I can use it on a longer run, and not be afraid that the battery will give out as I get close to the finish line.

spike0213• 5 years ago

My issue is that I wear it overnight and through the day. And what happens is that around an hour before bedtime, the battery gets to 20-30% but since I'm not constantly checking, I forget about that and don't take it off my wrist to charge it.

The only low battery notification I get is at like 10%. It'd be handy (heh) at least if we could get better notification reminders that align with our schedules to know when exactly to charge the watch so there's enough power for a night of sleep.

tw04• 5 years ago

I feel like a broken record but I'm in the same boat. I can't stand a watch that has to be charged daily or is useless. After switching from an early android wear with ~30 hours of battery life to a Garmin watch I just can't imagine being stuck with nightly charging anymore. Countless times I forgot the charger at home on a trip and basically had a fancy bracelet for the week. I don't understand why there seems to be 0 focus on extending battery life, I can't see buying an Apple watch until they get it to at least a week with normal wear and 3+ days if I'm doing hour+ fitness activities every day.

xchaotic• 5 years ago

same here - I went for 600km MTB marathon and Garmin devices lasted the whole trip. I had to bring a charger for my iPhone though :(

rcarmo• 5 years ago

My series 5 lasts from after breakfast to when I wake up the next day (I sleep with it, it charges while I eat, shower and dress). If that isn’t all day, I don’t know what is.

But I miss my Pebble’s ability to last the week…

tomjen3• 5 years ago

Or at least decently fast charging. The new onePlus can get you 0 to 100 in 30 minutes.

Knock it down to 20 minutes and you can charge the watch while you shower in the morning.

Tagbert5• 5 years ago

It does last longer than a day, but not a full 2 days; more like 30 hrs or so (even with sleep tracking). Using GPS does ding the battery quite a bit.

bradlys• 5 years ago

Is the reason for an underwhelming update related to supply chain issues? It seems like such a lackluster update compared to all the rumors.

SV_BubbleTime3• 5 years ago

It can't help.

I'm looking at -no joke- 100 week lead times on an ARM cortex m4 we have in an existing product.

ctoth• 5 years ago

Practically, does this mean that cheap consumer electronics junk (think Bluetooth speakers, or streaming sticks, or cheap Chromebooks) will become scarce soon?

natebleker• 5 years ago

I'm seeing the > 52 weeks for every microcontroller I'm using in designs including old 8051's and MSP430's.

tunesmith• 5 years ago

I was wondering the same - another article claimed they were aiming for the ability to measure blood pressure, but were having trouble with it. I can't imagine how that works, it'd literally squeeze my wrist?

jaywalk3• 5 years ago

It doesn't squeeze at all. It's something about measuring the speed of the blood flow optically and determining blood pressure based on that.

msie4• 5 years ago

I stopped using an Apple Watch after my Series 1 broke. I bought a cheap Casio watch:

- display always on

- at least 5 years battery life (edit: 10 years!)

- no accidental switching of watch faces

- no PTSD from notifications

I look at that watch with joy everyday.

Daniel_sk• 5 years ago

Most basic Casio watches last at least 10 years on one battery.

msie4• 5 years ago

Even better!

kumarvvr6• 5 years ago

PTSD from notifications hit hard.

I thought a phone was addictive, but at-least you could put it in your pocket / bag / car and keep a distance.

A watch is like that tightly hugging tail-wagging dog.

"Look at me, look at me, look at me !"

toxik4• 5 years ago

So why don’t you disable the notifications you don’t like?

moonchrome3• 5 years ago

I find the opposite to be true - with a smart watch I can glance at what the notifications are about and avoid reaching for my phone for way longer.

dexter89_kp32• 5 years ago

I find this complaint surprising. You can turn notifications off. I have everything disabled apart from health metrics on my watch.

spike0213• 5 years ago

I don't get the problem here. You're able to select which notifications are allowed to come through to the watch.

I only have notifications from a few apps allowed to come through, and out of those I also filter them with the in-app settings to only get ones I'm interested in getting pinged about.

I never get more notifications than I can handle, and especially not ones I don't want to be harassed by.

dwighttk• 5 years ago

Just turn off those notifications

lostlogin• 5 years ago

It baffles me that notifications are on by default. It’s also weird to complain that you didn’t turn them off, but each to their own.

msie4• 5 years ago

I believe I did turn them off but after some update they got turned back on. I got tired of maintaining/troubleshooting my watch like any other computer. Also, I accidentally scratched the display which couldn't be repaired without much expense. I don't want to wear something that precious/fragile on my wrist.

swalsh4• 5 years ago

I guess it's a matter of perspective. I could never replace my smart phone with a flip phone... because I don't really use it as a phone. In the same way I don't really use my smart watch as a watch. My smart watch is a fitness tracker first, and the watch part is a bonus feature.

konart• 5 years ago

But no voice recording. I bought mine mainly to have a recorder one tap away. Don't really care about them showing time.

dntrkv2• 5 years ago

Stopped using my calculator after it broke and bought an abacus.

- Always on

- Infinite battery life

- No accidental resets

- Looks pretty on my desk

I look at my abacus with joy everyday.

kennywinker• 5 years ago

I think you're being satirical, but actually I've always wanted to learn to use an abacus - and I suspect the knowledge would actually be useful in enhancing my understanding of small math operations and making my on-the-fly calculations more accurate. Better isn't always better.

s0rce• 5 years ago

I have a mechanical watch which is similar.

msie4• 5 years ago

Good luck with that!

appletech77783• 5 years ago

That's why that famous model number (can't look up at the moment) for $12 will never die, it's fashionable, cool, practical, and no one know if you're wearing the one you got when you were 12yr old or you vanity seek and seen a celeb in GQ and thought yeah minimalist man I'll dip that trust fund twelve dollars and have it air delivered. Decent watch for a watch, apple watch can potentially disrupt the medical scene though so thats my interest in these new devices (cgm, EKG,sleep) but fully agree on the casio

appletech77783• 5 years ago

I was really hoping for a cgm, this would be game changing for type 1 diabetics, tech is ready or near ready. What can one do to advocate for this? It was rumoured, guess they don't have a vote system (accepting the flaws with such)

snarf212• 5 years ago

What is your source for the tech being "ready"? I'm sure they are trying but it is extremely difficult. Also, CGM will require FDA approval. You can't make a mistake or people die. If your measured pulse or respiratory rate is wrong, it is nbd. If your steps are wrong, who cares. Glucose is different. We are just now getting to CGMs that don't require frequent recalibration.

appletech77783• 5 years ago

Why will people die, it isn't an automatic insulin pump, surely the same issues exist in pricks and existing cgm tech at existing reliability levels. I'm mobile at the moment but they was an article about only one company would provide the cgm tech and apple had invested, there some reason too the analyst suspect cgm - I've made it sound quite flimsy but it wasn't (or at least didn't sound so) will find and report back.

Perhaps same with pricking, if it doesn't correlate with how you're feeling test again, cgm can provide a guide and if in doubt prick. I still think at 99% confidence it would be game changing

laacz• 5 years ago

What warrants such geoblocking for Apple Fitness+? Content does not seem to be very specific or have overly difficult copyright rules.

gleenn• 5 years ago

Maybe more relatively to the languages they have available? Also, licensing video content also tends to be per country.

philliphaydon5• 5 years ago

Don't think it's to do with Language. Malaysia is on the list for the next lot of countries, but not Singapore.

leodriesch2• 5 years ago

They will release it to a lot more countries and have subtitles in 6 different languages, audio english only. So I'm not sure if the language barrier is the difficulty.

jagged-chisel• 5 years ago

Cultural differences in sensitivity to the appearance (clothing, gender, race, etc) of those appearing on screen seems to me a plausible explanation.

pilsetnieks2• 5 years ago

They're adding Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE but not, for example, Sweden, Norway or Denmark. I don't see anything plausible in that.

That's not even to mention features like ECG that are certified EU-wide, yet only available in half of the EU countries, 4 years after launch.

These country limitations are truly mind-boggling. It's as if they put a map on a dartboard when making these decisions.

paxys2• 5 years ago

Music licensing is probably the biggest one.

leodriesch2• 5 years ago

They already have Apple Music available in a lot more countries, so I don't think that is the issue.

tsywke44• 5 years ago

are smart watches worth it? I’d be using the fitness, health, and sleep functionality.

Love ”passive” features where it just works in the background with zero input and collects statistics, such as step tracking.

emsy• 5 years ago

I’d recommend to get a fitness watch then. The Apple Watch is so much more, but for fitness enthusiasts the battery life is probably more important than the smart features (which fitness watches mostly lack).

TrueGeek• 5 years ago

I didn't think so but I had to borrow my wife's for a week to do some testing on a mobile app. I really enjoyed it and ended up keeping it. The ability to start Spotify without taking my phone out of my pocket, open the garage door as I approach the house on my bike, see text messages and know I can ignore them, etc.... It really makes me use my phone less.

It was a Series 3 and eventually died. I plan on getting this new Series 7 once it's available to purchase.

dangoor• 5 years ago

I really like the Apple Watch. Beyond the fitness/health functionality, I love the on-wrist notifications (which I've tuned to only include the things I want there), and I also really like using Apple Maps for directions and having the watch guide me. Stuff like having my groceries and todos on my wrist are handy, as is being able to see my next-up meeting.

swalsh4• 5 years ago

I've found the sleep function super valuable, it let's my quantify how small changes can affect me sleep. The smart alarm is also useful (wakes you up while you are in a light sleep cycle as opposed to deeper sleep).

As a runner, i've found the heart rate data useful for gaining insights.

twistedanimator• 5 years ago

I like it because I can login to my iMac without typing the password when I'm wearing it.

762236• 5 years ago

Whoop. It has been great for life style adjustments that improve my health.

gamesbrainiac2• 5 years ago

Very underwhelming release.

gamesbrainiac2• 5 years ago

Very underwhelming release for Apple Watch.

disneygibson2• 5 years ago

Is it just me or is the writing on this page distractingly bad? Who approved this paragraph?

You don’t need to raise your wrist or touch the screen to see the time or other information and complications on your watch face, because the display is always on. And now it’s 70% brighter indoors when your wrist is down.

mttjj• 5 years ago

What’s wrong with it?

disneygibson2• 5 years ago

It’s poorly written and a borderline run-on sentence. It sounds like it was written by a non-native speaker of English.

jaywalk3• 5 years ago

It's weird how they only show the colors for the aluminum version. They announced the colors for stainless steel and titanium as well, but they're nowhere to be found on Apple's website.

catchmeifyoucan• 5 years ago

I'm very skeptical of Apple's Water friendly claims. I bought a series 4, and took it once in the ocean. The water seal will fail after a year or so, and out of warranty.

I have a watch sitting on my shelf, and digital crown no longer works. Was very upset.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/swimming-killed-my-seri...

sweetheart• 5 years ago

FWIW, I've swum and surfed with my 5 and 6 for countless hours with no problems what so ever. And Im awful at surfing so the watch has taken an absolute _beating_.

apples_oranges• 5 years ago

I never use that crown.. at least I never rotate it. They could get rid of it without any functionality loss, no?

SalimoS2• 5 years ago

It depends, I only use it to increase/decrease the music volume of the iPhone but can’t live without it

ako• 5 years ago

That’s why I use a cheaper sportwatch: it’s too expensive for “extreme” situations. Lost one while windsurfing, it’s at the bottom of the ocean. Fortunately the price wasn’t too bad, 140 euros, so less painful to replace. I won’t consider an Apple Watch until price comes below 150.

SalimoS2• 5 years ago

That’s weird, my series 4 that I bought on October 18’, use it every day (except in the shower) and of curse when I swim (we have a sea not an ocean but it’s the same) and I never had/have an issue

r0m4n0• 5 years ago

All anecdotal but I regularly swim laps (a few times a week), shower, and free dive with my Series 4.

Just last week jumped off a 30 foot cliff and the clasp came loose, it literally flew off my wrist and sunk to the bottom of the ocean. A friend helped me retrieve it, maybe 30-40 feet down. Perfect working order as of today!

I once did get some sand in the crown and needed to wash it out thoroughly but no other hardware problems in the 3 years I've owned it.

r00fus3• 5 years ago

Anecdata comparison: My series0 is still functional (retired for a couple of years now) but I power it on once in a while just for kicks. I took it to the ocean about 10 times, swam with it several dozen times and showered with it hundreds of times.

YMMV I guess. But my series4 is doing great for 3y with similar levels of activity.

sinatra• 5 years ago

Have a series 6, used it in the pool (salted) the first time and the watch died. Had to get a replacement from them which took one week. I couldn’t do fitness tracking all that week. So, I am not planning to use the watch in water at all.

gokhan• 5 years ago

What's the alternative for Android? After broken straps and finally a dead screen with my Fitbit Versa, I don't want to buy another Fitbit again. How about Garmin? Any other?

swalsh4• 5 years ago

I recently purchased a Galaxy Watch 4. It is similarly specced as the apple watch, but it has quirks. It uses the new Wear OS, which is great, but compared to what i've seen from the Apple Watch, i'm not sure it's in the same league software wise. The Apple Watch just seem superior in software and hardware quality.

drewr• 5 years ago

Love my Garmin Instinct. It's just enough of a GPS smartwatch. Super durable, waterproof, great battery life, modest price.

sz4kerto• 5 years ago

My 3.5 year old Garmin can easily track activity for 18 hours with normal GPS mode (high accuracy) and probably much longer with power saving (less frequent data recording).

I don't think it's a great smartwatch, but I don't know because the last thing I need in my life is a device on my wrist with push notifications.

pilsetnieks2• 5 years ago

If there's one problem I have with Garmin, it's that I open the watch page on their website and I'm presented with a wall of products (I counted 27 different watches.) In addition to that what should be just a different app is a distinct product. If I'm a swimmer who also plays golf, I need two watches. If I also run, I need another. If I also want a smart watch that looks good, I need a fourth.

That part Apple does get right.

driscoll42• 5 years ago

I have a Garmin 945, lasts a whole week and love the thing.

zenbob• 5 years ago

I replaced my Fitbit Versa with a Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music and have been a huge fan. Many day battery, GPS for runs etc, can play music and podcasts from the watch.

farnsworth2• 5 years ago

Galaxy Active 3 is fine, but the software and android app are just meh.

wilsonfiifi• 5 years ago

How do you get the galaxy to show stairs climbed on the home screen?

glogla• 5 years ago

Xiaomi MiBands are surprisingly good at what they do, especially for the money. Not a premium product by any stretch but still nice. I like it especially because it looks more and more like a simple bracelet with each iteration, instead of trying to be watch, huge watch or mini-ipad like the others.

The bands also last way longer than any fitbit I had.

Of course, you health data is probably going straight to CCP but then you already have Android.

josefresco• 5 years ago

I like my Mi Band 4 also branded as an AmazFit. They actually have a whole line of watches some with more traditional watch designs: https://us.amazfit.com/collections/smartwatches-bands

drewg1232• 5 years ago

I have a 645M that's almost 4 years old (purchased Jan 2018). It has outlasted by a factor of 2x my previous smart watches in terms of taking physical abuse. It still has nearly a week of battery life when not using GPS, and variable if using GPS.

The one drawback to it is that on iOS, the notifications suck. I have no control over what apps can send notifications to my watch; its all or nothing. Back when I had a Pixel on Android, I could control which apps could send notifications to my watch. I'm assuming there is some API limit to 3rd party watches in the Apple ecosystem that prevents Garmin from being able to filter out notifications.

AnonC3• 5 years ago

The one drawback to it is that on iOS, the notifications suck. I have no control over what apps can send notifications to my watch; its all or nothing. Back when I had a Pixel on Android, I could control which apps could send notifications to my watch.

I have experience with Apple Watch since Series 3, and what you say about notifications isn’t true (if I’ve understood it right). If you go into the Watch app on the iPhone, then into Notifications and into the specific Apple app, you see a “Mirror my iPhone” and a “Custom” option. For third party apps, you see the list below (in the Notifications screen) with a toggle for mirroring your iPhone (or not). You can control this for each app. The scheme for third party apps is not (yet) as rich as it is for Apple apps, but you don’t have to suffer through every app on the iPhone where you have setup/allowed notifications also sending notifications to the watch.

emmanueloga_• 5 years ago

Looking at the processors behind the watch, it seems like Snapdragon 4100+ is the latest and greatest for Android [1].

I've been using a TicWatch Pro 3 and I'm pretty happy with it, although I'm not a "smartwatch poweruser", if there's such thing.

1: https://www.smartwatchseries.com/a-list-of-snapdragon-4100-s...

symlinkk• 5 years ago

I still don’t see the value of these beyond workout tracking

hirvi74• 5 years ago

I like mine for sleep monitoring and heart rate monitoring, but that's my main usage.

My watch did save me when my phone fell down an elevator shaft. I didn't have a phone for about 4 days, so I was able to use my watch to make phone calls with Apple to get a replacement.

threshold7• 5 years ago

This product has a huge flaw. I’m not charging my watch every day. I just won’t. My $13 Casio has been running for 9 years without a charge and hasn’t lost 1 minute. No, Apple, you can’t have $400 for that.

rootusrootus5• 5 years ago

This gets rehashed every time the topic comes up. It charges fast enough that you can wear it 24/7 and just put it on the charger while you shower.

Comparing it to a Casio that doesn't do anything other than tell you the time is pointless.

threshold7• 5 years ago

Pointless? That’s what a watch is for. To tell the time. Or were you thinking of composing email on that tiny screen? What exactly else would you do with it?

Buckworthy• 5 years ago

They were totally silent on the processor. Did not mention it anywhere. Couldn’t find it on their site. You can’t compare Series 7 watch. Something’s going on.

valine2• 5 years ago

It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve gone a year without a processor update. The series 5 had no performance gain over the series 4.

giarc• 5 years ago

Related to chip shortages?

nicce• 5 years ago

At least on Series 6, processor is more than enough. Batterylife improvements with new provessor is another story.

testmasterflex2• 5 years ago

Can someone sell me an Apple Watch?

What is a feature you can’t live without?

strange_quark• 5 years ago

Having music and podcasts without taking my phone with me to go for runs or bike rides and still having the ability to make a call in case of emergencies.

dntrkv2• 5 years ago

Personally, the wallet, health tracking, and music w/o phone is enough to justify the purchase for me. Actually, jogging / exercising without my phone is enough to justify the cost.

lotsofpulp• 5 years ago

Notifications on my wrist let me receive phone calls/alarms without waking up my partner. That is probably my big reason, but since I use it for that, I also use it for run tracking and fitness+ app.

6gvONxR4sf7o2• 5 years ago

I can detach further from my phone because notifications go to my watch. I hate being tethered to my phone, so that's the killer feature for me. With the cellular model, I leave the house without my phone sometimes, which is nice. When I worked in the office, the phone stayed in my bag most of the day.

akamaka• 5 years ago

How realistic is it to go out all day with just the watch, and no phone?

Hamuko5• 5 years ago

It pushing me to be active, Siri and Wallet are probably the ones that I use the most. Instantly getting to glance notifications doesn't hurt either. And while Siri may have trouble understanding me properly, I still use it constantly to control the house and set timers since I can do it by simply lifting my wrist.

frakkingcylons• 5 years ago

This all applies to other smart watches: getting the vibration on my wrist for notifications is the killer feature. When I travel without it, I miss so many notifications because I didn’t feel my phone vibrate. Similarly, having the vibration on my wrist makes a big difference in not sleeping through my wake up alarms. I can’t recall the last time I slept through one.

dexter89_kp32• 5 years ago

Gamifying my exercise and workouts, also making it more social.

The5thElephant• 5 years ago

Ever since getting my Apple Watch I basically don't use my wallet anymore since Apple Pay is so convenient and ubiquitous where I live.

I look at my phone less because I just glance at my wrist for new notifications and don't get hooked into a whole 15 minutes of distraction.

Using Siri is surprisingly easy and not awkward when you can just lift your wrist and speak quietly into the watch.

diebeforei4853• 5 years ago

Unlocking my Face ID iPhone while wearing a mask, using time-of-flight from the watch on my wrist.

It works perfectly.

testmasterflex2• 5 years ago

What’s time-of-flight?

r00fus3• 5 years ago

Nice 2FA 2nd factor, quick spoken messages ("tell wife on my way"), Apple Pay (killer app - much easier than phone or wallet), Strava/workouts, plays music/audible on AirPods or BT headset, opens my garage, can lookup calendar without opening phone or PC.

tillcarlos• 5 years ago

Autosleep app. The best sleep tracking I've used so far.

By using it for around 3 months I figured out patterns that lead to better sleep. Highly recommended.

valine2• 5 years ago

Those bezels are crazy thin. I can’t think of any other product that has such thin bezels while still being uniform all the way around. Clearly some R&D went into that display.

post_break• 5 years ago

I like how they copied flick type after booting it off the Apple watch for being a keyboard...

acrispino• 5 years ago

Response from Kosta Eleftheriou, founder of FlickType:

https://twitter.com/keleftheriou/status/1437845736951992321

bdz• 5 years ago

Apple Watch Series 7 will start at $399 (US)

Is this the same price as Series 6, right? Been waiting to buy one and might as well get the new.

bzudo• 5 years ago

Does anyone use their Apple Watch for golf? I'm thinking of gettin the 7, but was wondering how good the GPS is that sort of thing.

mikestew3• 5 years ago

I don't play golf, but I do run a hell of a lot. I also recently have been swapping back and forth between my Garmin Fenix 3 HR (yes, several years old) and my Apple Watch 6 on runs. It would appear that the more recent Apple Watches have upped their GPS game (or maybe its software, dunno). Whereas previously the Garmin would track more accurately in general (say, measured against race mile markers), and certainly more accurately on twisty trails and the like, than my old AW4. But now I'm annoyed by the fact that the Garmin shorts me on distance more than the AW6; looking at tracks, the AW6 hews closer to the actual trail than Garmin does. I believe DC Rainmaker had similar results, or at least confirmed that the AW does better than it used to.

Of course, Garmin's more recent watches are probably better now, too. And they have golf functionality. But as it concerns the AW, it would appear to me that it is as good as anything else these days.

mft_3• 5 years ago

DCRainmaker is pretty good at comparing the various sensors on different sports watches.

This is for the series 6 Apple watch: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2020/09/apple-watch-series-6-fir...

orangepanda• 5 years ago

Maybe they watched StuffMadeHere

nixpulvis• 5 years ago

This website is horribly broken. Scrolling down seems to work well-ish, but scrolling back up breaks everything and my eyes are left dazed and confused.

hdjjhhvvhga• 5 years ago

So much marketing and yet after scrolling through the whole page, my only reaction is, "meh..." - even though I know all these incremental improvements are great.

jagger27• 5 years ago

I just wish they could figure out a way to get the sapphire display on the aluminum models. My stainless steel Series 5 doesn’t have a single visible scratch on it and I’ve worn it every single day since launch. My previous aluminum S3 display was horribly scratched in the same timeframe.

I guess it’s good in that I don’t want to upgrade because it still looks new.

diebeforei4853• 5 years ago

That would increase the price [and weight] of the aluminum models, which makes it harder to sell because aluminum is not a premium material that can command a higher price.

gnicholas6• 5 years ago

It's nice that the watch can tell how fast a tennis serve is, but I don't know anyone who wears a watch on the hand that they hold their racquet in.

Also, the watch presumably can't tell how fast the ball is served, which depends on the racquet speed and whether you make good contact with the ball.

nanidin2• 5 years ago

Also, the watch presumably can't tell how fast the ball is served, which depends on the racquet speed and whether you make good contact with the ball.

I think I disagree here. It should be possible to build a model that infers things like racquet speed and where the ball made contact with the racquet based on accelerometer data. At the end of the day you have an arm attached to a racket moving at some speed, that impacts a ball that is relatively not moving.

A straightforward model could calculate the lost momentum in the arm + racquet, assume the ball's mass, and work backwards to the ball's velocity from there. I'm assuming there is more ML magic behind Apple's implementation though.

gnicholas6• 5 years ago

To mix a metaphor, all good serves are the same; all bad serves are bad in their own way. A model might work well for people who generally serve well, or for an individual person who serves badly in a particular way. But how do you make a model that works for many different types of people, and many different types of serves?

It would be great to see if the data that the Apple Watch generates is similar to what speed guns show. That would make a great experiment for a high schooler!

IkmoIkmo• 5 years ago

Pretty sure that was SwingVision, an app based on real-time video analysis of your swing, rather than the hardware on your watch. The watch is just a screen to relay feedback to the user.

https://swing.tennis/

gnicholas6• 5 years ago

That would seem much more plausible! If that's the case, I wasn't the only person who was fooled; Ars Technica is reporting that:

the Series 7 can measure users' tennis serve speed or the distance of a golf drive, and "Hey Siri" prompts can tell users how far they've biked.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/09/the-apple-watch-gets...

NoPicklez• 5 years ago

I was really hoping that apple would implement a "stress" or "body battery" type feature like Garmin and Whoop have. Adding more health metrics is cool, but taking those metrics and telling me what they mean is much more informative.

As we know the watch OS already calculates the HRV and respiratory rate for us so it would be great if they added a "stress" and/or "recovery" time feature. The watch already records Heart Rate, Heart Rate Variability, Respiratory rate and Resting Heart Rate, which are commonly used in these metrics.

Understand that there are third party apps that try to do similar however I think this is an area that Apple is lacking in compared to other smart watches.

Apple Watch Series 7

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