Apple Watch Series 5 Review Roundup: Always-On Display Solves Biggest Complaint, But Little Else to Warrant Upgrading

[ericg301]

Have not had to upgrade my Rolex in 27 years, it has an always on display and the battery never runs out.... by the time people finish 27 years of Apple watch upgrades you'll be out the price of a new Rolex, have a watch that is worth nothing and still have issues with its performance.... BTW, my Rolex is worth more now than when I bought it......

cool.

can your rolex track your heart rate? detect your EKG? tell you how many calories you burned? notify you of texts? MAKE phone calls?

you're comparing apples to oranges here. while they both are "watches," they couldn't be more different. there's a place in this world for both.

 

[blcamp]

The new Series 5 has 32gb storage, compared with 16gb for my current Series 4... I have 14 apps installed in addition to the stock apps, plus a dozen music albums (142 songs)... and I still have over 7gb free. Not seeing any need to upgrade.

 

[Beemers916]

I've never been put off by the display turning on/off, never in a situation where I need to be covert, or need to check my watch at some weird angle while holding a side plank or busting out a Warrior's Pose Looking forward to scoring a killer deal on an S4 (that would be a 44mm in SG, Wifi only, if you're selling )

Walmart has them for $329 brand new right now

 

[mlody]

Can always on display be disabled?

 

[GadgetBen]

I’m on the same boat. The Series 0 never appealed to me because I couldn’t swim laps with it, so I waited for the 2.

While my Series 2 still functions fine, the S5 is the first update that has me interested. Sometimes while I’m on a run, having to turn my wrist and tap the screen to see my distance, pace, etc. is annoying.

I am a little disappointed we’re not at 20 hours of battery life yet and the lack of built in sleep tracking, but I usually charge my watch while I shower and it’s good to go. What’s Apple doing with Beddit anyways?



If it makes you feel better that you spent money on a S4, sure, tell yourself that. However, this is the biggest upgrade yet for AW.

It really isn’t. Name me all of the new features that S4 won’t have after new Watch OS drops?

You’ll be stuck on case designs, always on display and a compass.

 

[timber]

I don’t even know why Gruber reviews Apple Watch as he rarely wears one. He’s clearly not a fan, which is perfectly fine. Does he feel he has to review every product Apple releases?

You seem to be assuming that he runs that blog just for fun...

 

[Woodcrest64]

Now we just need like at least 4 days battery life and its near perfect.

That's why I'm still holding on off on purchasing the Apple Watch. I don't want to have to charge it every night before going to bed just so I can have a silent alarm work for me. I want to be able to track my health for close to 24 hours a day with little interruption. The only other way around this would be to have it charge faster like 0-80% in 30 minutes.

 

[OllyW]

The watch enthusiast site Hodinkee are a lot more postitive in their review...

For me, it’s pretty simple: This is the Apple Watch I've always wanted. The matte titanium case is the perfect middle ground for me between the sometimes-a-bit-much white ceramic and the highly polished steel, and the always-on display makes it feel more natural and watch-like in daily use. I've said it before and I'll say it again: It's very clear to me that the days when the Apple Watch is nearly indispensable are coming – and probably faster than we think.

 

[MrGimper]

The question is, is the always-on screen mode actually useful other than showing the time. I understand that there is an always-on mode for every face that's dimmer and more limited? If so, you have to raise your wrist to do anything useful anyway?

 

[jona2125]

I've been using the 5 since yesterday and can agree that it's really just okay. I wouldn't consider it compelling, Apple just wants to sell you something new but there's nothing whopping to consider upgrading for unless you're all the way back on a 2 or possibly 3. Still waiting for them to make something that isn't so gimmicky like adding MST and custom watch faces or even a watch face store where people can submit designs. It's just a very placid device to me for now.

 

[joonyaboy]

I‘d gladly take 24 battery life over everybody seeing my notifications and the contents of my complications.

They can’t see the notifications, they “wake” up when you raise your arm to look at the watch. Not to mention you can turn AOD off and get even longer battery life.

 

[bbeagle]

Quote
Traditional compasses spin randomly when you bring a magnet near them. Series 5's compass won't do this, because it uses the gyroscope to see if you're actually moving. The compass won't be fooled by a magnet because it can tell the watch itself isn't spinning around. Smart.

Yet a few days ago we had an article stating that Apple has confirmed on their own website that some of their own watch bands with magnets can cause interference....

Those are completely different things.

If your watch is sitting still, the compass won't change with or without a magnet interfering. It's just a simple thing Apple programmed in this ONE case. If you're moving your arm, while bringing a magnet near the watch, then yes, the magnet will interfere.

If your watch is moving (on your arm while you're walking around), of course the magnets on the band will interfere.

 

[deeddawg]

Have not had to upgrade my Rolex in 27 years, it has an always on display and the battery never runs out...

Awesome!

How is it as a running watch, providing heartrate, pace, and logging the GPS track of your run?

Does it also show your position on a map while you're out on the lake in your fishing kayak?

 

[techno-Zen]

I guess i'll wait to try out WatchOS6 before impulse buying a titanium S5

 

[realtuner]

The new Series 5 has 32gb storage, compared with 16gb for my current Series 4... I have 14 apps installed in addition to the stock apps, plus a dozen music albums (142 songs)... and I still have over 7gb free. Not seeing any need to upgrade.

I have 1GB left, and that’s because I had to limit my music.

 

[ani4ani]

Well.... I have a series 1. So might be time to upgrade.....

I would, you can pass down your series 1 through the generations

 

[MauiPa]

The premise that you would upgrade a watch every year ia a bit ridiculous at the offset, so is anyone surprised? Is this a bad thing, or a BFO (blinding flash of the obvious)?

My Series 3 still works great, two-day battery life. I would like the ECG function but I can wait.

 

[bbeagle]

Most people still don’t own an Apple Watch. Upgrading is irrelevant.

Most people don't stream music or videos either. So, is streaming irrelevant too?

 

[macduke]

I'm looking forward to additional medical sensors in future versions. Not worth an upgrade from Series 4. Hope the titanium becomes a permanent addition.

was that new screen really neccesary? Back in the day my galaxy watch 3 had an AOD and it lastet about 2 days.

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't those things a lot bigger and chunkier compared to the Apple Watch?

 

[deeddawg]

If your watch is moving (on your arm while you're walking around), of course the magnets on the band will interfere.

Aren't those magnets on the band statically placed relative to the watch?

I used to have an iphone7 case with embedded magnets which worked with a magnetic car mount. They never caused any issue with the iphone7's compass.

This hubbub seems to largely be people not understanding the difference between "may" and "will".

 

[gnasher729]

Yeah this is a very very good upgrade for anyone on Series 0 thru 3.

It’s funny when reviewers say “not worth the upgrade” as if only people with the Series 4 are looking for a new watch.

Exactly that. Series 4 users are exactly the ones who are _not_ looking for a new watch. They'll buy a Series 7 watch when it's released.

 

[Arndroid]

"solves my single biggest complaint about Apple Watch since day one. Its not perfect," he says, "but it's more than good enough. No other feature or improvement to Apple Watch to date has ever made me this happy."

Wow, this was your single biggest complaint since day one? Not no built in cellular, not GPS, not battery life.

This?

Dufus...

A watch not always telling time is reasonable for biggest complaint. If the iPhone only was able to make phone calls occasionally that would be a huge problem with the phone.

 

[jmgregory1]

My wife and I have held off on getting Apple Watches, mainly because we both love our current mechanical watches (I have a Seiko Automatic - 15+ years old and she has a 20+ year old Tag Heuer). But the improvements Apple has continued to make to the AW may have hit the inflection point for both of us - and likely we’ll get one for her mom as well.

 

[rosegoldoli]

This is what has held me back for so long from picking one up... I have yet to meet in-person an Apple Watch owner who is very satisfied with their purchase. The strongest endorsement I've heard is "Yeah, it's fine I guess..."

very interesting because i always hear how the apple watch is a fantastic device and see it everywhere!

must not be talking to much people i guess

 

[gnasher729]

What percentage of people actually upgrade their watch every year? It seems like a product to upgrade every 2-3 years and if that’s the case this is a huge difference between the S2 and S3 and the 5. I for one will be getting the 5 because it finally look more like a traditional watch.

I replaced the watch before my current watch after 13 years. Since with mechanical watches, the only worthwhile upgrades cost a lot more than the watch you have currently, and the watch I had was quite expensive, I had no money to upgrade, and replacing wasn't worthwhile. (If I had £2,000 spare cash lying around, it would have been upgraded).