I tend to upgrade every two years too and think I’d get bored pretty quickly if I was getting incremental upgrades every 12 months. I’d rather not go through the hassle as often if I can help it.
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Series 6 is more like Series 5S
- Thread starter Donnation
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@xxBlack are you saying you're disappointed that you're seeing similar battery usage on the S6 as the S5?
Were you expecting something different given the two watches are listed as having the same battery life?
Watch Manuals and Downloads - Apple Support
Manuals, technical specifications, downloads, and more for Apple software and hardwaresupport.apple.com
as I Said without workout the S6 has a better battery than the S5 (in my case) (2.6-2.9%/h vs around 3.5-4%/h on S5) so I expected that in workout the better would also be better. But there it’s the Same.
@xxBlack are you saying you're disappointed that you're seeing similar battery usage on the S6 as the S5?
Were you expecting something different given the two watches are listed as having the same battery life?
Watch Manuals and Downloads - Apple Support
Manuals, technical specifications, downloads, and more for Apple software and hardware
I think he was expecting something different because Apple said there was much better battery management during workouts. I see the same thing as xxBlack as they S5 and S6 seem to have the same battery drain during workouts.
I asked in the store yesterday about differences, the guys working the watches didn’t nearly even come close to mentioning all the things you did lol.
Colors they had in stock were fugly, buyer beware. See the watch in person you want to buy, some of these colored ones I didn’t care for at all.
So i finished my second workout. 30 min stairmaster but this time WITH my iPhone. Although I don’t know how much my S5 drained, I drained 3% in 30 min which I think is Great. Would be 6%/h and that would be around 16h of workout till the battery dies.
- AW connected to iPhone
- AirPods connected to iphone
- checked a few times my calories and Pulse
- received 2 messages
- AW connected to iPhone
- AirPods connected to iphone
- checked a few times my calories and Pulse
- received 2 messages
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Seems like a workout (and active HR monitoring during that workout) doesn't have too much of an impact on battery life. However, either LTE (especially with weak signal) or playing music straight from the watch does! (your prior workout)
Battery life in my S6 is NOT exactly the same. In fact, it is significantly better than my S5 for the simple fact that my s5 is now a year old and no longer holds a charge like it once did.
This fact alone makes the s6 a win in my book.
This fact alone makes the s6 a win in my book.
So i started with 77% would I have my phone with me all the time (90 min workout) I would have lost around 9%. Let’s say 12% because I wrote my sets down er . I would be around 65% with 4-5h left till I go to bed. 5h x 2.9 = 14.5% ; 65% - 14.5 = 50%. Would finish the day with 50% so maybe 1 1/2 - 2 days battery life with everything on except background refresh. Wow!
I‘m still happy if I can get through the day with a workout without phone
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my AW5 was 1 month old. Even there the S6 is better.
I‘m still happy if I can get through the day with a workout without phone
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my AW5 was 1 month old. Even there the S6 is better.
Only reason I bought the S6 (never owned watch before) was BECAUSE of the O2 sensor. That was the upgrade that finally made the watch worth it to me for all its health and vitals features.
IMO apple watch strengths are its health features and hope Apple keeps going this direction. Everything else is a gimmick and cant replace the phone...im not looking at my emails or messages on the watch thats silly.
IMO apple watch strengths are its health features and hope Apple keeps going this direction. Everything else is a gimmick and cant replace the phone...im not looking at my emails or messages on the watch thats silly.
Thanks - I didn't catch that claim, so hadn't expected such.
My experience with workouts (outdoor running) though is that LTE and music via BT headphones seems to be the greatest draw. While perhaps the HRM and other workout functionality is more efficient, perhaps the LTE is occluding any gains?
As someone still using a Series 3, if I had to upgrade today I'd probably go with the SE or try to find a good deal on a Series 5 over the Series 6. The blood oxygen measurement seems fairly unreliable from what I've heard, and even when it works I don't really see the value in it since it's specifically not meant to be used for medical purposes.
I assume next year might be another big design change though, so I honestly might just wait until then.
I assume next year might be another big design change though, so I honestly might just wait until then.
For me the oxygen measurement is interesting because yesterday it dropped to 92% while I slept. Yes it can be a wrong measurement but if it appears every day I maybe don’t breach well while I sleep. According to my GF I snore sometimes. Let’s see the next couple of weeks how the measurements will be.
I have a feeling this feature might make a lot of people worry that may not need to and lots of doctors visits will be scheduled in the coming months.
Well I think I use it quite heavily - use it for sleep tracking (Auto sleep), exercise, notifications, calendar reminders etc. It has stayed on my wrist every night for 3+ years now. While you maybe right about the incremental improvements on the new watches, a couple of things are keeping me with the S2:
1. I don't see the speed improvements unless I have a new watch side-by-side to compare - otherwise this is my reality and I am used to it.
2. My S2 still works and like most of my electronic tools, I intend to run it until it stops performing to my expectations before buying a new one (typing this on a 2012 rMBP).
Or it might be just another incremental update.
Given the watch band ecosystem, I believe it very unlikely that Apple would make a design change incompatible with bands produced in the past two to three years.
What sort of design change are you expecting?
They changed the design before without making the current bands incompatible, I don't see why wouldn't they be able to do that again.
As for design changes, I don't have any specific expectations but since we're now at the third year of this same design, it seems like a fair assumption that they might want to make some changes, just like when they went from the S0-3 design to the S4.
I didn’t say they wouldn’t make a design change, just that any such change likely wouldn’t be incompatible with existing bands. I suspect the folks dreaming of a round watch body may be waiting a while.
and just as a matter of opinion I’m not sure I see the S4 to S4 as much of a design change. A change certainly but not something I see as substantial in terms of case shape/size. Your opinion may be different.
Just me but I consider upgrades on a what’s there aspect and generally don’t concern myself with what might be next. Especially when there’s nothing announced it on a roadmap. Again, just me.
I'm definitely not waiting for a round watch, I prefer the squared design and a square display is better for showing information.
Different sizes, rounded display, thinner case. It was the biggest redesign to the watch to date, probably on par with any of the redesigns to the iPhone prior to the X. Short of completely overhauling the watch from the ground up, I'm not sure what else they could have done.
Okay.
I've owned S2, S3, S4, & S5. So I'm familiar with the differences. Thanks though.
I only made it to 26 hours with about 10% remaining. That is a serious drop from my Series 5 under watchOS 6. I’m not ready to make any conclusions yet though. I’m still mucking around with watch faces and other features way more than normal.
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PS Teardown shows bigger battery and Taptic Engine (which I have noticed - no one mentions that - it is a bit stronger)
Ifixit Teardown
Ifixit Teardown
