Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Is Always On Display worth it?

B

Beatbeckham

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 23, 2011
186
1
Norway
Hey!

Apple Watch SE is rumored to be annouced at the tuesday event and will probably be without Always On Display, as it is a internal upgrade from AW 4.

I am buying a new Apple Watch for the first time.. So, I'm curious. Is it worth buying the new AW6 for the Always on display? Battery life is an important aspect of course.

Is it worth buying the newer version because of the always on display?
 
  • Like
Reactions: KeanosMagicHat
Depends. For me it is. I want my watch to do its primary function first and foremost. That function is to be a watch. I never liked the look of just a black square that only showed the time after you moved your arm. I like glancing at the time, the weather, or any other complication. I wear my watch 22hrs a day and I only charge it before bed. I get alerted when it’s above 90% and then I put it back on. I go to bed with DND and theater mode on. I don’t charge it when I wake up because it’s sill between 75%-90 depending on when I took it off the charger. Keep in mind that I’m disabled so I don’t do any workouts. I also never use it to listen to music/podcasts/books. I rarely ever get it below 20%.
 
  • Like
Reactions: George Dawes, Pirate!, FenC and 1 other person
It’s worth it for me.

I did recently make a feature suggestion to Apple though via their feedback app.

When you are in an Apple Watch app say Spotify for example and the screen dims it displays the time only in the top right corner, rather than your full chosen Watch face and complications.

I’d love to be able to seiect this as my default always on display.

Gives me the key info I need (the time), good for battery life and also for privacy too.

A0A7846C-21C7-4D5B-9418-CF91792BD4BE.jpeg
 
Beatbeckham said:
Of course, but someone who had AW4 and AW5 would be able to give their opinion?
Click to expand...

This is a very diverse topic. There’s two sides to this. The first side, is others will tell you that AOD was a ‘game changer‘ experience and that the S5 was totally worth the upgrade, therefore justifying the money they spent.

The other side to this, is AOD is a menial feature, that the only real main reason you would upgrade from the S4 to the S5 is because of AOD, but really isn’t necessary unless you absolutely have to have it.

Here’s how I see it, it’s a nice feature that Apple added, that probably should’ve been added a while ago, but they didn’t. The fact that Apple likes to ration their features on an annual basis when they introduce a new watch, doesn’t make it compelling to upgrade from the S4 to the S5 strictly for AOD, and I think the average consumer would probably agree with me on that.

However, If you were considering maybe changing an Apple Watch casing material and you wanted AOD, that seems like it Would be more meaningful, as you’re looking at other things to justify your purchase versus just ‘one feature‘ that I find rather trivial.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tennisproha
Beatbeckham said:
Is it worth buying the newer version because of the always on display?
Click to expand...

If you want your watchface visible at all times (time + complications) then YES. Note that complications might not display up to date info or anything useful in Always On mode due to the nature of the info or lack of support by specific app.

If you want to see your active app in Always On mode then NO. What it does it just blurs your app view so you cant see any of its onscreen data and puts a super simplistic digital clock over it. So thats pretty useless. I expected Apple to at least show the app snapshot with the last active view and give developers some means to make their apps take some advantage of Always On mode and maybe thats coming in the future but for now its pretty simple (dumb).

If you use stock Workout app then YES. It is probably the ?only? app that actually works in Always On mode and gives you some useful and up to date info and its pretty handy to have and very useful during workouts.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tennisproha and mk313
Beatbeckham said:
Hey!

Apple Watch SE is rumored to be annouced at the tuesday event and will probably be without Always On Display, as it is a internal upgrade from AW 4.
Click to expand...
The AW5 is basically an AW4 with double base storage.
Literally same display (only difference is display driver and power management IC).
The Apple S5 chipset is also 100% equal to the S4 chipset except that the S5 chipset has a built in compass.

Cheaper apple watch will have AOD display and imo, it's not worth it.
 
If most of your day you sit at a desk with your hands outstretched on a keyboard, then YES.

A lot of people subscribe to cable TV only for one reason, sports. They know it’s a relatively silly reason not to become cord cutters but they can’t help the fact that they need their sports. AOD is kind of like that.

And for me, battery life is the same as my wife’s Series 4. So there is no battery impact.
 
  • Like
Reactions: rsfrid
As the owner of a Series 4 and 5, this has been my experience. I definitely think that the AOD improves the experience. To what degree...well, I can’t say that it’s earth shattering. Unlike what others have said, I absolutely notice the battery life being worse than my series 4. The series 5 makes it through the day, but it ends much lower than the Series 4. I suppose some would say that’s enough. I’m just one of those people that doesn’t like letting my batteries get super low.

As others have said, I also really wish third party exercise apps could use AOD. I have a few that I like a lot, but I almost never use them now because I like the screen to stay on with the Workout app.

Truth be told, the only reason I got a Series 5 is because I found an amazing deal on it. Otherwise, my plan was to wait for the Series 6. With what I paid for the Series 5, I felt highly confident that I could break even on it, should I end up wanting the Series 6.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tennisproha
perezr10 said:
And for me, battery life is the same as my wife’s Series 4. So there is no battery impact.
Click to expand...
There is only no battery impact compared to the Series 4 if you disable AOD. It’s been well documented and from my own personal experience I know there is a percentage of the battery consumed by AOD. It’s logical though really when we consider the screen is illuminated and this in turn consumes battery power.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HMI
PaladinGuy said:
Unlike what others have said, I absolutely notice the battery life being worse than my series 4. The series 5 makes it through the day, but it ends much lower than the Series 4. I suppose some would say that’s enough. I’m just one of those people that doesn’t like letting my batteries get super low.
Click to expand...
I don’t believe others when they say they are noticing no difference in battery consumption. Like yourself I do notice a clear difference and I’m on my second AWS5 now after the first one was replaced as it had a faulty speaker. Both watches consumed the same amount of power over a 7am to 10pm period. When I had AOD enabled I was ending the day with 35%-40% battery. With workouts it was often in the twenties. Since I have disabled AOD I am ending the day on 67%-71% on average. My wife’s S4 is roughly the same too. This can’t just be a weird coincidence as an illuminated screen will naturally consume battery power.

If I really have had two brand new watches with faulty batteries, should I contact Apple for a replacement?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fayette3001
After using AOD for weeks, I decided to try turning it off and I’m already noticing a big difference in battery drain. No matter the tech Apple implements a screen that is always on will drain a battery faster. It’s just a matter if battery life is worth the trade off.
 
I had an aluminum Apple Watch 5. I sold it because I decided I wanted the stainless steel watch.

As for battery life, I wasn't overly enthralled with my first one (aluminum), but my second one (stainless) gets much better battery life, at least as good as I got with my Apple Watch 4. I don't think it has to do with the outer shell material, it's my guess that the later Watch 5s were either improved or corrected.

I suspect that both the people who complain about AW 5 battery life and those who say AW 5 battery life is just fine are both right and that it just depends on when the watch was purchased.
 
KennyJr said:
I had an aluminum Apple Watch 5. I sold it because I decided I wanted the stainless steel watch.

As for battery life, I wasn't overly enthralled with my first one (aluminum), but my second one (stainless) gets much better battery life, at least as good as I got with my Apple Watch 4. I don't think it has to do with the outer shell material, it's my guess that the later Watch 5s were either improved or corrected.

I suspect that both the people who complain about AW 5 battery life and those who say AW 5 battery life is just fine are both right and that it just depends on when the watch was purchased.
Click to expand...
My first was bought in October 2019 and the replacement came in March 2020. The second is fairly recent so is this something that was corrected within the last few months?
 
IMO it looks dumb wearing a blank screen around, so it’s worth it to me. I didn’t get any AW prior to the S5. The battery lasts all day and then some
 
  • Like
Reactions: bevsb2 and JBaby
Ericdjensen said:
IMO it looks dumb wearing a blank screen around, so it’s worth it to me. I didn’t get any AW prior to the S5. The battery lasts all day and then some
Click to expand...

Completely agree. And that was a major reason why I didn’t get one before. I hadn’t worn a watch in decades and I wasn’t going to go back to wearing one if it was just going to be a black square on my wrist.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ericdjensen
Ericdjensen said:
IMO it looks dumb wearing a blank screen around, so it’s worth it to me. I didn’t get any AW prior to the S5. The battery lasts all day and then some
Click to expand...

JBaby said:
Completely agree. And that was a major reason why I didn’t get one before. I hadn’t worn a watch in decades and I wasn’t going to go back to wearing one if it was just going to be a black square on my wrist.
Click to expand...
Do either of you understand that the screen is only black when it’s not moved? Even with AOD turned off the screen is constantly illuminating as you move your arm (even slightly) and especially if you raise your wrist to look at the time. As both of you have admitted this is your first AW, you probably don’t fully understand the technology.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Beards
The-Real-Deal82 said:
Do either of you understand that the screen is only black when it’s not moved? Even with AOD turned off the screen is constantly illuminating as you move your arm (even slightly) and especially if you raise your wrist to look at the time. As both of you have admitted this is your first AW, you probably don’t fully understand the technology.
Click to expand...

You shouldn’t assume people are stupid just because their opinion differs from yours. I’m very familiar with how an Watch works. Just because I didn’t have one doesn’t mean I didn’t know people with them. It also doesn’t mean I’ve never worn one either. If you had read my earlier post you’d know I’m disabled. I don’t move a lot. To activate my watch requires me to move my entire arm or tap the screen. Both are inconvenient if I’m driving my wheelchair. I wear my Watch on my right wrist which is also my driving hand. But even if none other that were the case I still see people with Watches and guess what. They are always just little black squares on wrists. I didn’t want that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back