Review: S3 42mm -> S5 44mm

[Freakonomics101]

Review:
S3: GPS
S5: Cellular but not activated

I have to say I don’t regret the move! Speaker is much louder, apps open faster and surprisingly battery life is the same (AOD off). Apps opened decently fast on the Series 3 and battery life was great. Apps seem to open up instantly on the Series 5. Also, I am enjoying the bigger screen!

Main reason why I upgraded is fall detection. I have health issues and live by myself so fall detection is a great security blanket for me.

The 3 was GPS. The 5 is cellular. Unfortunately Visible doesn’t support the Apple Watch yet but I’m hoping they do at some point.

No regrets with my purchase!!!

 

[oeagleo]

Review:
S3: GPS
S5: Cellular but not activated

Main reason why I upgraded is fall detection. I have health issues and live by myself so fall detection is a great security blanket for me.

The 3 was GPS. The 5 is cellular. Unfortunately Visible doesn’t support the Apple Watch yet but I’m hoping they do at some point.

One good thing about the Cellular version, is that if you live in the US (Not sure about the rest of the world), it will automagically call emergency services (911) even if you don't have it connected to any specific carrier. Another layer of confidence, that's why even though my carrier doesn't acknowledge the watch, it will still call in an emergency.

 

[locovaca]

I’m curious on why you were surprised that battery life is the same. That’s actually very disappointing to me. Your S3 has probably 2 years of wear and tear on the battery and the S5 supposedly has a more efficient processor and screen. Congrats on your purchase, though!

 

[Freakonomics101]

One good thing about the Cellular version, is that if you live in the US (Not sure about the rest of the world), it will automagically call emergency services (911) even if you don't have it connected to any specific carrier. Another layer of confidence, that's why even though my carrier doesn't acknowledge the watch, it will still call in an emergency.

It does?! Even with it not connected to my iPhone? That’s awesome! Shoot... Well... now I’m not so concerned about having a cellular plan with it right away but would still be useful in some cases. Would be really useful if I could stream via Spotify... but I found out I can’t.

I’m curious on why you were surprised that battery life is the same. That’s actually very disappointing to me. Your S3 has probably 2 years of wear and tear on the battery and the S5 supposedly has a more efficient processor and screen. Congrats on your purchase, though!

Actually my Series 3 wasn’t even a year old (purchased 04/22/2019, birthday present to myself lol). The Series 5 has a bigger screen but not sure on the size of the battery. I mean, it’s not worse. I’m happy with the same. I was getting over 2 days out of my Series 3. I’ve only had the watch for 4 days so maybe I’m making an early judgement.

I’m afraid to turn on AOD thinking it’ll hurt the battery life. Plus, it’s kinda pointless cause all it does is dim the screen. Why not make the whole screen black with the time displayed in white or light gray?? I don’t care for complications when I’m not looking at it.

 

[locovaca]

Good to know about the age of your S3. I bought mine S3 launch day and it still does fine but I’m holding out for the S6 now.

 

[Ericdjensen]

What's the point of an S5 if you're not gonna leave the AOD on?

It lasts all day for most people

 

[FenC]

Why not just turn on AOD and see how it goes? What's the worst that could happen? You lose fall detection that you didn't even have previously at the end of a day because the battery has run out. As said above it lasts all day for most people, and you might realise AOD is actually an awesome addition.

I'm unsure what you mean about it being pointless because it dims the display - what would you have it do? It shows whatever watch face you're using less brightly (to save battery) and at a much lower refresh rate. The key for me is "watch face". If you choose a face that looks like a watch then it looks like a watch. Leave it on whatever face makes it look most like you visualise AOD should work. Personally I use Meridian or California, and have Infograph between them so I have an attractive face on the watch all the time and I can swipe one face to the side to get all the complications from the most information dense face available when I need it.

Otherwise you could have saved some cash and bought an S4.

 

[Freakonomics101]

What's the point of an S5 if you're not gonna leave the AOD on?

It lasts all day for most people

Why not just turn on AOD and see how it goes? What's the worst that could happen? You lose fall detection that you didn't even have previously at the end of a day because the battery has run out. As said above it lasts all day for most people, and you might realise AOD is actually an awesome addition.

I'm unsure what you mean about it being pointless because it dims the display - what would you have it do? It shows whatever watch face you're using less brightly (to save battery) and at a much lower refresh rate. The key for me is "watch face". If you choose a face that looks like a watch then it looks like a watch. Leave it on whatever face makes it look most like you visualise AOD should work. Personally I use Meridian or California, and have Infograph between them so I have an attractive face on the watch all the time and I can swipe one face to the side to get all the complications from the most information dense face available when I need it.

Otherwise you could have saved some cash and bought an S4.

I got over 2 days with my Series 3 and can with this one. I’ll try out AOD and see the results. Also, there wasn’t an option to buy the Series 4. It was either the 3 or 5. I would have bought the 4 if they had it to save money.

If there was an option to have a black screen with the time displayed in white, I would love that.