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Apps AOD (Always On Display)

JemTheWire

JemTheWire

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 10, 2012
306
214
Manchester (UK)
I took the plunge an got my first AW last week. It’s a SBSS series 5. I have to say that I’m loving it.

I didn’t buy it because of the AOD, in fact I don’t use it. AOD that is!

I realise that I’m probably setting myself up to be flamed. But I just didn’t see the point of it. The way I see it is that I have to tilt the watch face towards me to view the screen anyway, so why enable something that can deplete the battery if it’s not really useful. To me at least.

Am I missing a trick here?
 
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For me at least, I'm getting 18+ hours battery with AOD on so (again for me) battery drain is not an issue.

Now being able to see the time without moving your wrist/arm is something I would not give up. Sitting in a boring meeting and want to know the time without looking rude? Just a quick glance down and your done.

I won't own a smartwatch that doesn't have AOD. If I wasn't going to use the AOD I would return the 5, save myself some money and buy the 4.
 
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I have all features turned on and have 40 to 50%battery life left at days end. Same as my previous S4. Glad your enjoying your watch.
 
I just didn't like wearing some blank screen. That's why I didn't buy a AW until S5.

I'm really not a fan of square/rectangle watches, but once it looked less like a black slab on my wrist all the time I warmed up to the shape.
 
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I’m with you. I have a series 5 and love it but I don’t use AOD. I’m glad that it’s an option for those who want it but there is a slight pause when the screen transitions from the resting state to normal state and it drives me bananas to use. I had to turn it off. I don’t really miss it and won’t be turning it back on.
 
Welcome to the wonderful techy world of Apple Watch :)

As already mentioned, AOD doesn't consume much battery. Battery life savings can be achieved by dimming the screen and lowering the refresh rate to 1Hz when not "in use". Personally I like the AOD, the arm tilt motion feels somewhat unnatural IMO, but to each their own.

You should try with and without AOD for a week and see for yourself which config you prefer.
 
The presence or lack of AOD wouldn't matter to me. It was neat when it was a new thing on the early Samsung watches and WearOS stuff, but if I'm looking at the time my wrist is already raised so it doesn't really make sense to have it. It is a neat way to get attention (oh cool what kinda watch is that?) in public, but I don't need to draw attention to myself.

Glad your S5 is working. I was convinced it was rushed and mine is full of hardware/software bugs.
 
I wear long sleeved clothes so my watch is almost never exposed, that’s why I chose to keep my S4 and not upgrade now. If I want to see notifications or the time, I need to raise my wrist anyway. Lately, I‘ve been using theater mode a lot because my watch also activates when I’m typing (programming) a lot, so... no need for AOD here. But I guess it would be nice to have when working out so you can constantly see your time or calories.
 
I am curious about the AOD can it be scheduled so that the hours you sleep it can be turned off? I wear my Series 3 to bed for the vibrating alarm and a glowing screen would annoy me when trying to sleep.

Also how bright is it? I imagine it’s going to have some kind of permanent glow to it due to it being an OLED rather than a reflective LCD that uses the surrounding light to be seen. Does it dim right down or does it adjust to the ambient light, so bright if you are in bright sun and dim in a cinema?
 
Stuey3D said:
I am curious about the AOD can it be scheduled so that the hours you sleep it can be turned off? I wear my Series 3 to bed for the vibrating alarm and a glowing screen would annoy me when trying to sleep.

Also how bright is it? I imagine it’s going to have some kind of permanent glow to it due to it being an OLED rather than a reflective LCD that uses the surrounding light to be seen. Does it dim right down or does it adjust to the ambient light, so bright if you are in bright sun and dim in a cinema?
Click to expand...

Yes, it adjusts to the ambient light. And when you wear your Watch while sleeping, you'll want to engage Theater Mode.
 
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the future said:
Yes, it adjusts to the ambient light. And when you wear your Watch while sleeping, you'll want to engage Theater Mode.
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Bit rubbish that you can’t schedule it, maybe if they add sleep tracking in a future update it will all be tied into that.

So if the AOD adjusts to the ambient light, is it dimmer than when you are actively using it ie: when you use it it’s at full brightness for the lighting conditions of where you are using it, then when it goes into AOD it drops down in brightness so as to not draw attention to it, and then when you use it again it goes back up again, or is it all one consistent brightness?
 
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Stuey3D said:
So if the AOD adjusts to the ambient light, is it dimmer than when you are actively using it ie: when you use it it’s at full brightness for the lighting conditions of where you are using it, then when it goes into AOD it drops down in brightness so as to not draw attention to it, and then when you use it again it goes back up again, or is it all one consistent brightness?
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Exactly. Automatically adjusts.
 
I would like a true AOD, not a dimmed watch face! Other smartwatches have it and still have good battery life.
 
Shanghaichica said:
I would like a true AOD, not a dimmed watch face! Other smartwatches have it and still have good battery life.
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Which smartwatch has a true AOD with good battery life?

There is a way to force my Galaxy Watch 46 mm to true AOD but it kills the battery in 10 hours.
 
techno-Zen said:
What? Are you from the future?
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Nah I saw this on the galaxy watch I had last year and the feature was years old at this point. Battery life was comparable to my series 4 and series 5 Apple watches.
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bp328i said:
Which smartwatch has a true AOD with good battery life?

There is a way to force my Galaxy Watch 46 mm to true AOD but it kills the battery in 10 hours.
Click to expand...
I used the AOD on my galaxy watch 42 mm when I had it last year. The watch lasted me the whole day just like my Apple Watches have done.

The galaxy watch is quite legendary for its battery life. I only want a full day out of a watch, no issues with charging mine at night. But even with the AOD people are getting 2 days for the 46 mm and a day and a half for the 42 mm. My dad has the 46 mm and he used the AOD and he gets through a whole day with his.
 
My Galaxy Watch Active won't make 8 hours with AOD on. It was always the first feature I disabled anyway since I'm already raising my wrist to see the time.

Work killed my Galaxy watch more because my wrist was always twisting as I was doing mechanic work. It ended the day with 56% with AOD off, and 18% if AOD were on.
 
Shanghaichica said:
Nah I saw this on the galaxy watch I had last year and the feature was years old at this point. Battery life was comparable to my series 4 and series 5 Apple watches.
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I used the AOD on my galaxy watch 42 mm when I had it last year. The watch lasted me the whole day just like my Apple Watches have done.

The galaxy watch is quite legendary for its battery life. I only want a full day out of a watch, no issues with charging mine at night. But even with the AOD people are getting 2 days for the 46 mm and a day and a half for the 42 mm. My dad has the 46 mm and he used the AOD and he gets through a whole day with his.
Click to expand...
But the Galaxy watch is not a true AOD, it dims just like the Apple watch.
 
bp328i said:
But the Galaxy watch is not a true AOD, it dims just like the Apple watch.
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It depends on the watch face. I had one that displayed the time digitally and it stayed on always.
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nickdalzell1 said:
My Galaxy Watch Active won't make 8 hours with AOD on. It was always the first feature I disabled anyway since I'm already raising my wrist to see the time.

Work killed my Galaxy watch more because my wrist was always twisting as I was doing mechanic work. It ended the day with 56% with AOD off, and 18% if AOD were on.
Click to expand...
My galaxy watch was new so I suppose the battery was fresh. It lasted the whole day but the week I used it for before I returned to the Apple Watch I was on training. So I was sitting down all day.
 
Shanghaichica said:
It depends on the watch face. I had one that displayed the time digitally and it stayed on always.
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Yes there are faces that give you all the same info BUT they all dim. I've actually made faces for the Galaxy watch and there is no way around it, they all dim.

It was a huge complaint about the Galaxy watch. People wanted a true AOD. There is no way Samsung (or any company for that matter) will implement one with current technology because it absolutely destroys the battery life.
 
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