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Those with the S5, are you happy with it?

heyyitssusan

heyyitssusan

macrumors 601
Original poster
Feb 9, 2014
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I currently have the S4 and have been planning on waiting till the fall to upgrade to the S6, however I’ve been thinking lately that if the S5 goes on sale again like it has been lately, and the next time I do see a sale that I might just grab one instead. While I do love tech and getting the newest gadgets I’ve come to realize that I don’t always need the newest model and that if I can save $100 + get more money for selling my S4, I’d be a happy camper. Then I can use that towards new watch bands or airpods etc.

Anyways, those with the S5, how are you liking it? how is the AWOD? I’ve been able to go a day with my S4 battery life, is it the same with the S5?
 
with AOD, I'm usually 20-40% at the end of a day (no workouts though)
or if I forget to take it off at night, it normally runs out between 10am and 2pm the second day.

when the 6 comes out, the 5 will more than likely go on sale,


This is only my theory, and I haven't seen it elsewhere.
I think the 6 is going to have a much bigger battery / longer life or faster charging.
2 upcoming features make me think that.
--On waking from sleep, the watch prominently displays it's charge​
--when the watch is fully charged, you get an alert on your phone,​

I have seen mentioned elsewhere that by removing force touch, it frees up space inside the housing for potentially more battery, or other features.

by bringing battery life to the forefront like that, It could mean you don't have to charge it every day.
You could make the decision if you need to charge your watch that day or not.

Although it could just be because of sleep tracking. Most people currently charge overnight, which sleep tracking will prevent. So it could just be an a way to remind people to put the watch on charge when they wake up, and the alert them when it's ready to put back on.
 
I'm very happy with my S5 (It's my first AW for several years) but I don't bother with the AOD - for me, it's not worth the battery hit as it's very responsive to the wrist wake gesture
Even with a workout or two, I'm typically over 25% at the end of the day (I'm normally awake and wearing the watch for 17-18 hours a day), but with the AOD I was running for a charger after around 16 hours
 
On a work day (I don't track exercises), I end up going to bed with about 58% (40mm)
I mostly disable all notifications and put it on DND. I use the apple watch mainly as a watch. It's not the prettiest watch but the bands definitely help.
I think the AOD is the feature that pushes it from black square on your wrist to a passable watch.
I had the Apple Watch from Series 1 to 5. Series 1-4 lasted about 1 month each before I felt it was a waste of money. For the Series 5, I'm coming up on a month and a half. Not the longest but still longer than the others.
 
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I came from an S3 and the battery life is equivalent. I normally put it on an 8am and I don’t optimize it for battery life in any way. I leave AOD on and use a complication heavy info graph face. I get at least a hundred notifications a day between email, messages, apps, etc. i use it in workout mode for 1.5 hours. By the time I take it off at around 10pm there’s 40% battery life. This is a 40mm S5.
 
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I’ve got to say I’ve only had mine around 2 weeks but so far I’m very impressed.
Battery life is great, most days I’m up at 6:30 and in bed by 11. I charge overnight and have around an hour of workout tracking a day, when it’s time to hit the sack I have over 40% remaining with AOD turned on. The display is the reason I wanted the S5. What’s the point in a watch that doesn’t show the time at all angles?
 
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I love my S5 but at this point I would say stick with the S4 until the new watch is announced. It will almost definitely go on sale once the new watch is released. You wouldn't want to regret skipping the S6 if it has some sort of killer feature.

The difference between the S4 and S5 is pretty minor unless the always on display is a huge deal for some reason. If you are using the 40 mm S4 then the S5 has better battery life (for some reason Apple didn't put the new battery design on the 44 mm). I get 36 hours easily with my 44 mm S5 but it depends on what you do with the watch.
 
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Wait for the next one. My S5 is great, but to be honest, except for the always on feature, I can't tell the difference from my S4. An S3 user would gain a good upgrade, but from 4 to 5 will be mostly unnoticable.
 
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I have series 5 and am very happy with it. I get great battery with it. Run Watch Cam, Dark Weather, Work out doors, Auto Sleep and all the fitness rings stuff. I also have always on set. I still have 40-50% battery end of day (8am to 11pm). Have just started charging up between 9pm and 10pm and sleeping with it on (display on). Still have approx 40% by 9pm when I top it off. Won't be upgrading any time soon.
 
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The S4 has better battery life. People will argue that you can always charge it while showering, using the bathroom, while eating and it's no disruption at all. Thing is, the S4 could make 2-days of normal use, the S5 can't.

Also, the always on display is pretty meaningless if you ask me.

I'm back in Garmin land for the long haul assuming Apple doesn't work some magic with the battery in the S6. Unfortunately, the recent OS update offered almost precisely nothing of value. "Look, I washed my hands for supper" and what appears to be a pretty basic sleep tracker.

I did like the S5 hearing additions, however.
 
DontGetTheCheese said:
Unfortunately, the recent OS update offered almost precisely nothing of value
Click to expand...

WatchOS animations are now very fast - there used to be a delay of about half a second after pressing the crown before anything happened, and the delay has been removed in watchOS 7b1. TBD if this is a bug, but the system easily feels much more responsive at present.
 
Love my s5 40mm. I wear it about 14-16 hours a day and always make it though the day without charging even if I did a decent length run outdoors with gps and streaming music. I came from a s3, and AOD is the best thing to happen to AW since GPS. Total game changer, and I couldn’t go back to an AW without it.
 
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I got my S5 for $100 off from Costco, and it's been great. I had the S4, and I love the always on display of the S5: I found it difficult to unobtrusively flick my wrist or tap the watch face to check the time in front of others, and it often failed. I love being able to see the time at a glance. The battery life has been great for me: not much different than the S4. I'm interested to see the S6, but I doubt it'll be enough of an upgrade for me to buy it. Still, if I had the S4 at his point, I'd probably just wait for the S6 to make my decision.
 
Pipper99 said:
I got my S5 for $100 off from Costco, and it's been great. I had the S4, and I love the always on display of the S5: I found it difficult to unobtrusively flick my wrist or tap the watch face to check the time in front of others, and it often failed. I love being able to see the time at a glance. The battery life has been great for me: not much different than the S4. I'm interested to see the S6, but I doubt it'll be enough of an upgrade for me to buy it. Still, if I had the S4 at his point, I'd probably just wait for the S6 to make my decision.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it’s a hard decision. On one hand, I just wanna grab one cause those sales can’t be passed up, but on the other hand, I’m wanting to see what the S6 has to offer
 
S4 had almost too good battery. It could have been way thinner. S5 has "ok" battery, it's really night and day compared to S4. If you disable always on display, the battery is same as S4. But then you could just buy an S4 instead.

I upgraded from S4 to S5. I'd never go back to a watch without always on display. You get used to it very quickly. With the S4, there were just too many times when the display didn't turn on (because I didn't move the arm enough or whatever), and those times are annoying.
 
I love my S5, but bear in mind I upgraded from a S0... Since we are so close to S6, might as well see what is around the corner maybe?...

Battery is good, but when I know I don't need the always on display, I just activate theatre mode sometimes to push the battery further. Sometimes I go almost 2 days on one charge with light use.
 
romanof said:
Wait for the next one. My S5 is great, but to be honest, except for the always on feature, I can't tell the difference from my S4. An S3 user would gain a good upgrade, but from 4 to 5 will be mostly unnoticable.
Click to expand...
You get a compass! If you use it, or use it for walking directions in maps it’s great!
 
johannnn said:
S4 had almost too good battery. It could have been way thinner. S5 has "ok" battery, it's really night and day compared to S4. If you disable always on display, the battery is same as S4. But then you could just buy an S4 instead.

I upgraded from S4 to S5. I'd never go back to a watch without always on display. You get used to it very quickly. With the S4, there were just too many times when the display didn't turn on (because I didn't move the arm enough or whatever), and those times are annoying.
Click to expand...

Omg, tell me about it.. there were times where I had to twist my arm multiple times or I’d give up and just tap on the display.
 
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My battery life has been the same using S0, S3, S4 and S5 - pushing anywhere between 36 and 48 hours (lately I have been putting it on the charger every morning when I get up just to be on the safe side), wearing it overnight, tracking my sleep. You have three big differences between the S4 and S5:
1) AOD
2) Twice as much storage (16 --> 32)
3) Built in digital compass.
AOD is amazing for workouts, HIITs, biking, yoga, planks, swimming - pretty much any activity that would require at least one of your hands being occupied at all times.
If you love taking your music with you, twice as much storage is amazing. On the other hand, I personally can't think of an occasion where I would find myself away from my iPhone to listen through 20+ gigs of music/podcasts any given time.
Built in digital compass is sweet (think hiking) - but it also does not really apply to the way I use my AW.
Having said that, if I were you, I would wait until the 6, or perhaps the 7, assuming that they will both be released within the next 15 months and see if there are any features appealing to you.
Hope it helps!
 
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I am a big fan of the alway–on display. This was the killer feature the watch needs.

But the battery life is bad. My two year old S3 was better. I usually leave it on the charger once I hit my goals until I go to bed (midnight or so). Wear overnight for sleep tracking with Autosleep. The next day it’s below 20% by 7pm.

I have done a complete reset/set up the watch as new and it didn’t get better. I guess that’s just how it is. 40mm here.
 
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