Series 4 to 8 - Question about blood oxygen and heart sensor

[ks-man]

My wife has a Series 4 and is considering upgrading due to wanting newer "health features". I was looking at Apple's comparison page and it looks like her watch has an electrical heart sensor and second generation optical heart sensor. The Series 8 has a blood oxygen sensor, electrical heart sensor and third gen optical heart sensor. Both have high and low heart rate nofications and irregular rhythm notification and ECG app.

It sounds to me like a lot of marketing and I question if those differences would even matter. The blood oxygen sensor and third gen optical heart sensor have been present since the Series 6. Do those even matter? Is she really going to see any major difference in health features going from the 4 to the 8. I originally thought she would get the SE but it looks like that has even less health features than the 4. I don't think she cares about any of the other features and thinks she mainly uses her watch for email, text and call notifcations.

Thanks for the help!

 

[deeddawg]

How often does she feel a need to check her blood oxygen presently, and does she have any need for the temperature monitoring / ovulation cycle tracking capabilities?

Otherwise the reasons for an upgrade would be larger, always-on display and snappier performance; and if those are not things which interest her, then there may be no reason to upgrade.

Speaking for myself, I don't presently plan to upgrade from my series 6.

 

[ssledoux]

I don’t remember the ECG app being on the series 4, but maybe I just don’t remember very well. I probably wouldn’t have used it much back then.

I use my ECG app a decent amount since I had my heart cath earlier in the year. My cardiologist (two of them actually) told me if I feel anything irregular to do the ECG and send it in to them to read. I figure it must be pretty worthwhile if two different groups of cardiologists recommended it.

I have found the 02 to be within a percent every time I’ve done it along with a regular sensor, so I find that pretty accurate as well.

I love the always on display, and the fall detection, and even crash detection in the 8 might be nice to have if you’re upgrading anyway.

 

[deeddawg]

I don’t remember the ECG app being on the series 4, but maybe I just don’t remember very well.

Apple says it's there - though I seem to remember the rollout to countries outside the US took a while.

 

[CWallace]

Yes the Series 4 has ECG capability - it was the first model with it.

I am on a Series 4 SBSS and I was planning to go to the Series 8 till it became clear it was going to be mostly the same as the Series 7, but ordered a Gold SS S8 to give it a try during the 15 days as the lack of OSD and the hour-long watchOS updates are annoying.

 

[shadow puppet]

The ECG app on the series 4 has become a lifesaver for me after a recent hospital stay for a bad bout with AFib & tachycardia. My Cardiologist told me to trust my watch more than my pulse oximeter for heart rate. I had no idea the iWatch 4 could do this previous to the recent iOS16 upgrade which also allowed me to update my series 4 OS. I'm grateful Apple still supports the 4.

 

[blw777]

I'm mostly a AW fan, but I am skeptical of the blood oxygen sensor. I have a pretty severe case of sleep apnea and I know from heavy duty medical measurements that my blood oxygen routinely goes well below 90% during those circumstances. My AW6 has never—ever—registered that low, in two+ years. I'm sure that the AW sensor has some value, but it seems to be pretty far off for me. This is quite different from other AW sensors, which mostly seem very accurate.