Buying new watch: Apple Watch 4 or 5?

[FocusAndEarnIt]

Hi all,

Apple Watch 2 user here. I was all set to buy Apple Watch 5 sport 44mm, but now decently unsure what to do with a huge question mark on battery life. I can get the AW4 for $380 new ($50 off locally) or full price $429 for AW5. Battery life is important to me. AOD sounds cool, but i would rather have a longer battery. Those with AW5: is the battery life comparable with AOD turned off? How is AW4 battery life on watchOS 6?

thoughts appreciated!

 

[trinec]

For just 50 bucks I rather take the new one, just for a longer support time.
Else even series 3 should do a great job and save much money.

 

[BillGates1969]

I would honestly go for the new AW4. I upgraded from AW4 to 5 purely because I wanted to go back to Stainless Steel, not for the AOD. If I could have got a SS AW4 for cheaper I would have. I also got my SSG AW5 at Apple Employee friends and family discount as my friend works for Apple, so the discount made it cheaper than any new SS AW4 from a third party.

With regard to battery, mine has settled down and seems more or less the same as the AW4. I don't use AOD all the time - only on certain circumstances though.

 

[myapple2019]

Hi all,

Apple Watch 2 user here. I was all set to buy Apple Watch 5 sport 44mm, but now decently unsure what to do with a huge question mark on battery life. I can get the AW4 for $380 new ($50 off locally) or full price $429 for AW5. Battery life is important to me. AOD sounds cool, but i would rather have a longer battery. Those with AW5: is the battery life comparable with AOD turned off? How is AW4 battery life on watchOS 6?

thoughts appreciated!

The other question you need to ask yourself will be if you want a normal looking watch that always display time as a normal digital watch (series 5) or just a wrist computer with a time feature which in majority of time displays nothing like a mini black box on your wrist and only can display time when you raise your wrist or tapping it (series 4 and older). You get what you pay for. It is your decision.

 

[deeddawg]

Go for the 5 given the small spread in price.

In all likelihood the battery life issue is software (WatchOS6) and will be addressed -- many AW4 users report similar issues.

 

[SHKLMRE]

That’s such a small price difference, I would go for the series 5

 

[cannono]

How long will you keep the Watch? I’d personally get 5 for those prices

 

[staggerlee41]

There is part of me that says go for the 5 given the small difference in cost between the two. On the other hand, there doesn't seem to be much difference in hardware between the 4 and 5 from the recent teardown that was published. AOD, compass, slight increase in battery (though AOD may make battery life difference moot) and an increase in storage from 16 to 32GB.

Teardown Suggests Apple Watch Series 5 Components are Close to Identical to Series 4

The internals of the Apple Watch Series 5 are almost identical to the internal components of the previous-generation Apple Watch Series 4, according...

www.macrumors.com

From my readings, Watch OS 6, much like iOS 13 seems to be a mixed bag, some are reporting bugs, some are reporting good experiences, battery life seems to surface in conversations with both. I'd imagine that with S4, you would have the option to stay on 5.3.1 which is quite stable. If you went with S5, you might have to limp through a few versions of 6 until it improves.

Either way, this will be a nice and noticeable upgrade from your S2. Especially for OS updates!

 

[deeddawg]

There is part of me that says go for the 5 given the small difference in cost between the two. On the other hand, there doesn't seem to be much difference in hardware between the 4 and 5 from the recent teardown that was published. AOD, compass, slight increase in battery (though AOD may make battery life difference moot) and an increase in storage from 16 to 32GB.

JMHO but those two alone would be worth the added money. Remember, music storage seems to be limited to 1/4 of the storage capacity, so for offline listening the watch will sync up to 4GB or 8GB of music depending on S4 vs S5.

 

[FocusAndEarnIt]

I'm leaning towards the AW5, but am a bit scared by these battery reports. My job sometimes has me waking early and working long hours into the night, and my AW2 was able to keep up with me. I don't care too much about on AOD as I do about battery. If AW5 battery life is similar with AOD off, then I think I will go with AW5. The compass would be a nice add but not sure if I'd ever practically use it, and I stream everything via Spotify so I'm not sure if the storage would really be touched. That being said, might as well get those benefits if I can to future proof the purchase.

 

[futurist101]

If you plan on keeping the watch for 2 or more years I would get the AW5. I think the difference in cost of $50-60 is justified by the AOD by itself imo. I am no longer annoyed by the regular need to pull up my wrist to see the time or fitness info during a workout. That small change is enough to justify the cost for me.

Note: And the AOD does look a hell of a lot better than a blank screen when it's idle.

 

[max2]

Thanks everyone this helps a lot!

 

[djgcue]

I went from a Series 2 SS to a Series 5 aluminum. I also got in on the Series 4 SS from Best Buy, but I decided to keep the 5 and return the 4. For me, the AOD function is more important to me than the SS or sapphire display. In addition, I got a good deal on 5 on Veterans Day using my military discount at Target.

 

[jettie1767]

I'll go with the AW5. I actually upgraded to the AW5 from the AW4. My AW5 has been on my wrist for 12 hours and it's at 48%. Not bad but definitely need to recharge every night for me.

 

[jazzer15]

I went from a Series 2 SS to a Series 5 aluminum. I also got in on the Series 4 SS from Best Buy, but I decided to keep the 5 and return the 4. For me, the AOD function is more important to me than the SS or sapphire display. In addition, I got a good deal on 5 on Veterans Day using my military discount at Target.

This is interesting to me as I just received a Series 4 SS from Best Buy myself and have been contemplating whether to return it and get an aluminum 5 (This is my first AW). I posted a thread not long ago regarding the SS 4 vs aluminum 5 and most people who responded seemed in favor of the SS 4. I'm still not sure as each has its pros and cons. Enjoy your new AW 5.

 

[staggerlee41]

This is interesting to me as I just received a Series 4 SS from Best Buy myself and have been contemplating whether to return it and get an aluminum 5 (This is my first AW). I posted a thread not long ago regarding the SS 4 vs aluminum 5 and most people who responded seemed in favor of the SS 4. I'm still not sure as each has its pros and cons. Enjoy your new AW 5.

Honestly, I think you did very well getting the deal from Best Buy, that's a fantastic deal and a great watch. The most noticeable difference is the AOD but if you use Raise to Wake it comes very close. As a long time traditional watch wearer, I was used to looking down at my watch to read the time but got used to the black display of AW. Keep in mind if you do return it, BB has a restocking fee. Plus if it's been activated on an LTE network that could potentially cause a wrinkle also.

 

[jazzer15]

Honestly, I think you did very well getting the deal from Best Buy, that's a fantastic deal and a great watch. The most noticeable difference is the AOD but if you use Raise to Wake it comes very close. As a long time traditional watch wearer, I was used to looking down at my watch to read the time but got used to the black display of AW. Keep in mind if you do return it, BB has a restocking fee. Plus if it's been activated on an LTE network that could potentially cause a wrinkle also.

Yes, thanks. I think the restocking fee only applies if the box has been opened, which mine hasn't. But I take your point about the deal on the SS4 watch.

 

[44267547]

BB has a restocking fee. Plus if it's been activated on an LTE network that could potentially cause a wrinkle also.

Just to clarify, Best Buy does _not_ have a restocking fee for the Apple Watch GPS Model (Assuming receipt is valid/presented) . However, you are partially correct, if it’s an LTE model and it has been activated by the carrier, then the restocking fee would apply.

https://forums.bestbuy.com/t5/Other...port/Return-Apple-Watch-Series-3/td-p/1287942