The Apple Watch Series 6 is by far the best smartwatch you can buy at the moment. This wearable category king has provided users with velvety haptics, buttery smooth performance, and trouble-free setup.
One of the reasons why Apple watches owns half of the wearable market is due to its obnoxiously seamless experience that users find enticing.
So what new features put Apple Watch Series 6 above its predecessors? One of the new features is the blood oxygen (SpO2) monitor, which is the first of its kind. Other features include a brighter always-on display, a faster chip, and an always-on altimeter.
However, Apple still sticks to its incremental process (and its 18-hour battery life). Other smartwatch manufacturers are also competing by taking several large leaps forward to make their products qualified to compete in the market.
The Apple Watch Series 6 is slightly brighter, faster, and cheaper than the previous model and also comes along with a new sensor that makes it the king of smartwatches.
It is available in two sizes, which are 40mm and 44mm. There are various varieties of colours and case materials to choose from. The aluminium case price starts at $379.
Some tests have been done on the 44mm graphite stainless steel Apple Watch Series 6, which cost about $699. The concluded result indicated that the Apple Watch Series 6 only supports an iPhone and not an Android phone.
Looking deeper into the new Apple Watch Series 6, the new watch is basically the Series 5 with a few tweaks and features here and there.
Although, the new features have their benefits, for example, the 2.5x brighter and always-on display or ambient mode, which is helpful outdoor, especially when it is sunny. It also comes with new colours, including red or blue aluminium.
The graphite-coloured stainless steel is said to have a gorgeous, dark lustrous quality to it. Due to its large collection of straps, it is safe to say that there is a strap for everyone’s taste which makes it comfortable to wear.
Apple added a few new band styles, which include the Solo Braided Loop and Solo Loop. These sized bands are without a clasp or buckle that stretch to pull on over your hand.
Battery and performance
The Apple Watch Series 6 uses Apple’s latest S6 chip, which is fluid, fast, and beats even the best performing smartwatches from rival manufacturers. The Series 6 chip is said to be 20% faster than the Series 5’s and the new Watch SE, although, users have not able to spot the difference.
The battery life is efficient if not class-leading. With the sleep tracking on overnight, two manual blood oxygen recordings, two manual ECG recordings, the always-on display, lots and lots of notifications, and a 25-minute outdoor run, the Series 6 is said to last for 36 hours between charges.
Sleep tracking overnight is said to consume 10 to 12% of battery life, while a 25-minute run is also said to consume about 4 to 5% of battery life. The Series 6 charges from flat to 80% in only 56 minutes and hits 100% at 83 minutes using a 2A USB power adapter which is way faster than the Series 5.
WatchOS 7
The Apple Watch Series 6 was released with the latest version of Apple’s OS for watches which is WatchOS 7, which also runs on the older series, starting from series 3, 4, 5 and Watch SE. This new software features a full on-device voice dictation, to convert your speech to text a lot faster.
It also features greater privacy and all without requiring an internet connection. This also includes when talking to Siri, message replies and other bits. A feature allowing a user to set a timer using Siri is now practically instant, putting Google’s Assistance and Samsung’s Bixby on their smartwatches to shame.
The integration between an iPhone and the Apple Watch is better than any other smartwatch with an iPhone. This includes Siri and Apple Pay.
There are several numbers of good third-party apps, which include Google Maps, Spotify, and Strava. Still, no dedicated WhatsApp app, so you can not start new conversations but only reply notification on your wrist.
To use some apps to their full capacity, connecting the watch to the internet is necessary. This is done either by having a 4G eSIM in the device or being on Wi-Fi. Once you are connected through any of these methods, then everything will work fine, including notifications from your phone.
Most of the watch’s functions, such as fitness tracking and health, also work offline. The watch tracks where you are when you go out for a run without your phone and gives you the stats you need.
Although, you won’t be able to see where you are on the Apple Maps and also get messages unless you have a 4G plan for your watch. The watch can only download songs from Apple Music to its 32GB of total space so you can listen to the already downloaded music offline but not on Spotify.
Health monitoring
On top of the electrocardiogram (ECG) and heart rate sensor from the Series 5, the Series 6 has a new sensor known as SpO2, which is used to measure the oxygen saturation of your blood.
To measure, you need to stay still with your wrist on a table and manually activate it. Note that you need to stay still for 15 seconds after activation.
In theory, the watch shows how well your lungs are working, how oxygenated your blood is or how well your body adapts to high altitude, which is where SpO2 sensors are used in the wellness setting. Quite a few triathlons or high-end running watches feature the sensor for that purpose.
The new sleep tracking is quite disappointing. However, it is restrictive and basic compared with rivals from Samsung, Fitbit, and Withings.
The Apple Watch does not offer smart-alarm functions that can wake you in the morning or provide estimates of your sleep pattern (deep, light, and REM sleep).
It tracks how long you are asleep and also forces you to use Apple’s sleep schedule function, which sets wake up time & a bedtime and turns on DND (do not disturb).
Price
The new Apple Watch Series 6 comes in two different sizes, various models and materials with the option of 4G that requires a compatible phone plan add-on and an eSIM.
The Nike versions or aluminum in 40mm size costs $479 with 4G and $379 for the standard model. The 44mm costs $509 with 4G and $409 for the standard model. All other Series 6 models are known to have 4G installed in them as standard.
The stainless steel model cost $699 (44mm) or $649 (40mm), while the Hermes starts at $1,199 and the titanium starts at $749.
