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Those that upgraded from S4 to S5, what’re your thoughts?

M

mrpetebojangles

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 22, 2017
22
14
Hey,

I’ve owned every  Watch from S0 to what I currently have, S4 Stainless Steel Space Black (which I love) and was sure I’d upgrade to a Titanium S5. Now I’m not too sure.

I thought always on would be a game changer, but I keep hearing mixed things. The more I think about, I’m unsure if the always on screen would be a benefit. Do I wanna be the guy with a glowy screen at all times. If I turn off the always on screen, what would’ve been the benefit of upgrading anyways.

Also I’m weary of scratches on Titanium. So I figured i might be interested in the space grey version, but it looks near identical to the aluminum.

So if you upgraded from S4 to S5, do you feel like it was worth it?
 
I did upgrade and I actually would prefer it not to dim. Maybe the S6 will solve it.
I’m finally very happy with the Apple Watch now, before the S4 was relegated to wear only for fitness duties.
 
Yes...and no. I have a S4 SB and added a S5 Nike. There are times when the AOD is useful inside, but it's pretty hard to read outside in the sun. But the real downside to me (which I've noted in another thread) is the delay it takes for the screen to fully activate from it's AOD state. It's just a second (maybe less) but if you're used to the speed of the S4 activation, it's pretty noticeable. It's close to a deal killer for me.
 
I upgraded from SB SS S4 to SB Ti S5, if you turn always-on off, only benefits are slightly better battery life and the addition of compass. I actually found the compass pretty useful, my car has a watch app that shows the location of where it was parked, having the direction arrow in the map is actually pretty useful. I also like how the Ti is noticeably lighter than the stainless, and I do prefer the matte material to the shiny SBSS. Does it look near identical to the aluminum? Maybe, but let's be honest, even with the SBSS, almost nobody can tell if it's stainless vs aluminum.

As you probably know, resale values of non-Aluminum models are not great, so upgrading from S4 stainless to S5 titanium might cost you around $300, are the differences worth that? Probably not, but only you can decide.
 
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I had an SBSS S4 and an SS S4. I upgraded the SBSS S4 to the SBSS S5. I kept the SS S4. My only reason was that I wanted one of them to be of the newer tech. AOD was never a want for me.
 
Yea, the delay for max brightness I could see being annoying.

Thanks for all the input.
If I can sell my s4 Stainless Steel for $450 (I know it’s reaching a bit) I’ll upgrade. If I don’t get any bites, I’ll just ride it out till S6.
 
Always on time is very useful.
I don't have to lift my arm to read the time.
 
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From my point of view , the big change this year was actually with the addition of the titanium casing and Apple returning the ceramic. I really don’t care about the ‘always on display’, [raise to wake] was more than efficient for me, and I don’t need to see the display when I’m not looking at it. But, I also like certain materials, which is why I was glad to see Apple introduce those casing options this year.
 
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No regrets. It feels like my S4 performance wise so that's no different. I really like the AOD, especially for discreet time checks in meetings at work. Battery life was terrible the first few days but it's fine now.
 
I have a S3 and got the S5 Cellular. I returned it because the battery life when used without phone nearby is horrible.
It might be better with later versions of WatchOS but I liked to use my two week return window (where no new updates where releases).
 
I upgraded from a S4SS to a S5Ti for the AOD and glad for that. Now it is finally a “watch” that it also a wrist computer and not the opposite. I also disabled the raise to wake option.
 
I upgraded from a SB SS S4 to Ceramic S5. I missed the Ceramic case and that along with the AOD facility was enough for me to upgrade. I don't regret it as the AOD is great and its preferable to having a timepiece actually showing the time on my wrist rather than a black slab of screen.
 
giornall said:
I'm actually thinking of getting an apple watch myself, which one would you say is the best? should I get the S4 or S5? Any recommendations are welcome.
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It depends what you want it for. The S3 is great value at the moment and I expect there are some great deals on remaining S4 stock. S5 of course has AOD which is great and a larger selection of case materials
Bear in mind, that the rumours are that the S6 will be a major upgrade with micro leds improving the battery life and sleep monitoring. It may have a case redesign as well.
 
I upgraded, but only because my carrier gave me a S5 for free to stay with them.
My thoughts, pretty much what I expected, it’s not a whole lot different to my S4, though I will confess, I do like the always on display. Totally not related to the difference between them, but as this is my first cellular model, that’s kind of nice, but something I’m still sure I could live without.
 
From s3 to s5. Nope. Returned it. Bad battery life. Not much improvement. Chip is already more than a year old now. Better to wait for s6.
 
I'm a Series 1 owner who bought a used and mint condition SSSB Series 4 for $350 on eBay (the Sports Band wasn't even used). To me the S5 is like the iPad 3 of Apple Watches. I remember getting burned by the iPad 3 (first to have a Retina Display but had the same CPU as the iPad 2). It was so sluggish after a year.

The S5 has the same processor as the S4 and the AOD hasn't been "perfected" based on all the comments of having a few seconds delay while waking up the watch from AOD mode. I have no problem buying a used S4 for half off and waiting for the S6 to give a proper performance boost and more mature AOD technology.
 
Kendo said:
The S5 has the same processor as the S4 and the AOD hasn't been "perfected" based on all the comments of having a few seconds delay while waking up the watch from AOD mode.
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This is so marginal I wouldn't even consider it an issue. I raise my wrist and maybe one second later the screen lights up.
 
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Not even remotely worth it coming from a S4. I only upgraded because I had a buyer ready to buy my S4 at a decent price. 'Gave' away my S3 for $200.
 
In my opinion AOD feature totally changes the watch experience, I found the "raise to wake" frustrating. Moreover I think it is not realistic to "wait for the next model"...since every year we may say that and then waiting forever ;)
 
Bazooka-joe said:
Fingers crossed. Mine continues to improve. 8 days in and hovering at just under 2.5% per hour battery usage. It does stay at 100% for 2 hours but after 10 hours light usage, I am at 77%
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As long as mine lasts me all day til bed while doing a workout I will be happy. However it dieing before bed wouldn’t be ideal
 
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