Hands-On With the Apple Watch Series 7

[rainafterthesun]

I like something, I get it.

I don’t know why people need to impose their opinions on others to a point where they’re just, what’s the phrase, dumping on someone’s koolaid?

when the five, six came out… I didn’t feel the need to upgrade so I didn’t say much.

this year I wanna and next few years I probably will skip.

 

[flur]

I just replied asking the same question. I upgraded from a series 4 and I can’t wait to have the AoD.

Please show me any reliable source that backs up this claim. I have seen many independent tests showing that it hardly makes a difference at all.

When you get your new watch, why not be your own reliable source? After having the watch for at least a week as always on, try it for a day or two with the feature turned off and see what your battery life is like. This is what I did and since I didn’t love the always on the way I thought I would, and got noticeably more battery life (for my use case), I kept the feature off. You may have a different experience because you have your own use case. No “reliable source” will be more useful to you than your own experience.

 

[WhiteHawk]

Sorry, I simply can't get excited about ANY Apple Watch. The iPhone helped me ween myself of any watch. What does the the watch do that the iPhone cannot? Even worse are the marketing messages about a new color. Who really cares what color it is?

As said by many till they’ve actually used one for a while, and I never ever wore any watch before.

 

[Rainshadow]

I’ve

This comment makes zero sense. Please elaborate why, and also why you would have to turn it off the “MOMENT” you got it? You’re coming from a series 4 so AoD is a key upgrade feature. I can’t figure out any downside. You’re not gaining any noticeable battery life by having it off, so what else is could it be? Genuinely curious.

elaborated 3 times now. #1 - if I’m not looking at it, I don’t want it on because I’m not looking at it lol. #2 - battery life. Yes. All reviews say it affects battery life. I don’t know how you could say it doesn’t. #3 I don’t want my wrist to glow while I work at night or in the dark… yes, even a little bit.

Plus, I’m not upgrading mostly because that’s still the only significant change along with the full screen.

 

[Botts85]

I’ve elaborated 3 times now. #1 - if I’m not looking at it, I don’t want it on because I’m not looking at it lol. #2 - battery life. Yes. All reviews say it affects battery life. I don’t know how you could say it doesn’t. #3 I don’t want my wrist to glow while I work at night or in the dark… yes, even a little bit.

Plus, I’m not upgrading mostly because that’s still the only significant change along with the full screen.

#1 - You have no idea how much you've trained yourself to wrist-flip to wake up your watch. I'd probably say 40% of the time I look at my Apple Watch, it's not "woken up" but the constant display subtlety tells me what I need. When I first moved to S5, I was waking the watch every time to look, since then, I've adapted to quick glances like a normal watch.
#2 - I actually noticed a battery life increase from my S4 to my S5. But I wasn't unhappy with the S4's battery life, so I have zero reason to want more battery life from killing always on.
#3 - That's what cinema or sleep mode is for. And it really gives off very little glow -- it's low enough to not be an issue if you aren't trying to go to sleep. I just checked with my SLR and I'm in a room at 2.5 EV right now, the watch glow is near imperceptible.

 

[phinsup]

I have a series 5, but don’t plan on upgrading. I’ll wait another cycle.

 

[svish]

The bigger screen on the 45mm looks very good.

 

[rp2011]

Proportions of the bands on the cases stick out like a sore thumb. Just so out of proportion that it makes the watches look goofy. Backwards compatibility is nice and all, but not at the expense of making the watches look silly. It’s time for Apple to give up on using the same watch band widths. The cases have gotten too big for the original watch bands

 

[Beards]

hardware wise, does the AOD require anything special?
I’ve always wondered why Apple never posted it over to earlier models as in aS4.

If the answer is simply to make owners upgrade to newer models, that then is one heck of a reason not to upgrade!

 

[SurferPup]

Big jump for moi with an upgrade from the series five. New health monitoring features - I don't use other than upon receipt of a new model then I lose interest. I'm healthy and require no computer to advise when medical intervention maybe required on a short term basis. I'm excited about a larger screen area, longer charge times, customised faces for the seven, brighter always on display, better wireless connectivity and an ultra wide band transmitter. More memory, faster processor, increased durability, fast charging, improved case styling and the choice of a blue coloured watch are a bonus. I look forward to the year Apple has a non visible FaceTime camera and satellite voice / data connectivity. That will be a leap forward for humanity with connectivity anywhere the wearer is based on this planet with just an  Watch on their person. Imagine this: Alex Honnold climbing El Capitan and his mum phones him on his watch, "Alex are you going to be home for dinner?"
Alex responds, "Yeah mum...", "Hey Siri, activate FaceTime camera.", "Check out this view, mum."

 

[addictive]

I never understand series 4 people who aren't upgrading yet. The always on display from series 5 was by far the biggest apple watch update ever

This 100%. I feel the AOD on series 5 transformed my enjoyment of wearing the Apple Watch more than anything.

 

[flur]

#1 - You have no idea how much you've trained yourself to wrist-flip to wake up your watch. I'd probably say 40% of the time I look at my Apple Watch, it's not "woken up" but the constant display subtlety tells me what I need. When I first moved to S5, I was waking the watch every time to look, since then, I've adapted to quick glances like a normal watch.
#2 - I actually noticed a battery life increase from my S4 to my S5. But I wasn't unhappy with the S4's battery life, so I have zero reason to want more battery life from killing always on.
#3 - That's what cinema or sleep mode is for. And it really gives off very little glow -- it's low enough to not be an issue if you aren't trying to go to sleep. I just checked with my SLR and I'm in a room at 2.5 EV right now, the watch glow is near imperceptible.

You know, you really can just let other people like what they like without trying to convert them to what you like.

 

[dontreadtoolate]

Upgraded from an AW6 to an AW7 yesterday. Note: I upgrade every year. The upgrade from AW6->7 is more noticeable to me than the upgrade from AW5->6.

First impressions:
- midnight is essentially black with maybe a hint of blue under bright light. It’s much darker than space grey.
- at the Apple store I was able to check out all of the colors in person: starlight is a bit rosy goldy (feminine is a word that comes to mind) green is visibly olive, blue is a fairly bright blue
- midnight goes well with bands (I have quite the collection!) that are blue, navy, dark green, grey, light grey and brown (leathers). It does not go well with black bands, because that’s the only time that the color of these black bands will make you realize that your watch is ever so slightly blue and the two colors won’t play well together.
- the bigger screen is definitely noticeable. Definitely! I worked out last night and all the numbers are bigger. The watch face is bigger. Got a few texts and it’s almost looking like a mini iPhone now. WatchOS 8 really makes use of the extra estate.
- the screen is brighter when it’s in always-on mode. Feels like always-on hasn’t kicked in yet when comparing to the aw6
- 45mm is as big as I will go with an AW. If they ever make a 46mm or bigger watch I will buy the smaller-sized watch. It’s not gigantic but it sort of feels like the screen covers the width of my wrist. It looks good, but I can’t go bigger. Note that I don’t have beefy arms. My body is more of the lean/athletic type.
- the watch is noticeably heftier. It’s not heavy, but the way it weighs when you walk with your arms down is different compared to the AW6
- battery charging speed: I was at 52%, put my watch on the USB-c charger, took a shower/brushed my teeth and when I came back my watch was at 96%. Amazing to me.
- the crown is tighter
- the speaker doesn’t distort as much when I use Siri

hope my first impressions help.

 

[Mw0103]

hardware wise, does the AOD require anything special?
I’ve always wondered why Apple never posted it over to earlier models as in aS4.

If the answer is simply to make owners upgrade to newer models, that then is one heck of a reason not to upgrade!

Yes; it requires the screen hardware able to do the 1Hz ultra-low refresh rate.

 

[Nekseller]

Got my Apple Watch S7 SS 45mm last night. I upgraded from a S4 SS 44mm. Totally worth it. The size and all the new features are amazing. In my opinion a very significant upgrade.

 

[Icehawk]

Yup. Think its time to finally upgrade from the 3. Get some fancy features.

 

[The Game 161]

The bigger screen size is great

 

[insomniac86]

I never understand series 4 people who aren't upgrading yet. The always on display from series 5 was by far the biggest apple watch update ever

Amen to that.
I’ve owned a S0, S2, S3 & S4, skipped 5 & 6 and waited for a newer design. And my goodness, S4 to 7 is a huge upgrade to me. The always on display is so much brighter than my wife’s S5. The fast charging is fantastic.

The decrease in bezel size is very welcome. IMO there as thin as what I originally expected the S4’s to be when they originally marketed the rounded to edge display.

The speed boost from the S4 is noticeable. Apps load instantly now, while the S4 could have about a 2 second delay. That of course was greatly decreased from the original watch taking up to 20 seconds to open an app! 😂

 

[insomniac86]

on a stainless steel series 4 and told myself I wouldn't upgrade without there being A> a major redesign or B>4 years pass. Looks like next year I'll take another look as this update seems a little lacklustre. Like most, I was really hoping for that flat edge redesign that was teased!

The flat edge design looked repulsive to me. I’m loving the soft curves on the S7.

 

[Guscat]

Amen to that.
I’ve owned a S0, S2, S3 & S4, skipped 5 & 6 and waited for a newer design. And my goodness, S4 to 7 is a huge upgrade to me. The always on display is so much brighter than my wife’s S5. The fast charging is fantastic.

The decrease in bezel size is very welcome. IMO there as thin as what I originally expected the S4’s to be when they originally marketed the rounded to edge display.

The speed boost from the S4 is noticeable. Apps load instantly now, while the S4 could have about a 2 second delay. That of course was greatly decreased from the original watch taking up to 20 seconds to open an app! 😂

Thank you for this post. I have an S4, and ordered an S7. I was sort of wondering if it was worth the upgrade, but you’ve answered my questions.

I’ve only owned an S0 and an S4. I am still waiting for a couple of apps to open on my S0.

 

[insomniac86]

2 reasons. Battery life and illumination of any kind in the dark. I often turn theater mode on anyway, but even days where I don’t, the screen almost never fails to turn on.

I don’t understand why anyone would want their watch using battery while they aren’t looking at it…

1. Because it often doesn’t trigger on when turning your wrist. Laying down in bed often doesn’t register at all if you raise your wrist.

2. People also wear watches for style.
Having a nice watch face always being illuminated instead of a black brick on your wrist looks much nicer.

 

[chairguru22]

I never understand series 4 people who aren't upgrading yet. The always on display from series 5 was by far the biggest apple watch update ever

For me it was the battery life initially. I heard it reduced it and some people even turned off that feature. I’m sure it’s a lot better these days. At this point, I’m waiting for S8. My S4 still works great.

 

[switz]

We have had iWatches for several years. My wife has a v5 (started with a v4) and I have a v6 (started with a V3). We both have the expensive stainless steel Milanese bands. The conversation to a different flat sided case perhaps as soon as next year tripped the scales so we each will order the v7 when we return from overseas and then we can reuse these existing bands. I have a starlight iPad mini v6 and the cooler match is not offensive to my "silver" band. My wife has the black stainless steel band, so we both will order the silverlight aluminum GPS + Cell service watches, small for her and large fo me.

We do not use the "always on" watch face as that was an unnecessary feature for us and was an issue in the earlier models for full day battery life.

 

[bavaria089]

I would love to upgrade, but there is no Edition Ceramic version.

I hope they will re-introduce a ceramic with the Series 8.

 

[livspop]

Upgraded frYup. Think its time to finally upgrade from the 3. Get some fancy features.

If you're coming from the 3, your mind will be blown! You should be anticipating the upgrade just like Ralphie was anticipating his Red Ryder BB gun in "A Christmas Story." Your eyes might actually pop out of your head if you're not careful cuz it'll be so beautiful 😂