Our Verdict
It feels like a no - brainer : the Series 4 boast a slim physical structure and a orotund screen , has a processor that ’s doubly as fast and come with a raft of new wellness feature article . It ’s laborious to make a case for the Series 3 – except that it commence at just £ 279/$279 . If you ’re on a budget and can exist without fall detection and the extra screen space , the Series 3 wo n’t get you down . But we ’ve only got oculus for the Series 4 .
TheApple Watch Series 4(which wereview here ) was harbinger on 12 Sept and will go on sale on 21 Sept. But how does it equate to the previous coevals ?
In this clause we compare the specification , design and feature of theApple Watch Series 3and Series 4 . For a comparison with the generation before that , seeApple Watch Series 4 vs serial publication 2 .
Apple Watch History
These Apple Watches are shortly to be replaced with Modern model . We ’re expecting to seeApple Watch Series 10 , Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch SE 3rd generation , runningwatchOS 11 , launch in September 2024 at the company’sGlowtime event(seehow to watch the September outcome ) . If you ’re in the market for a new Apple Watch , see ourApple see buying guide , round - up of thebest Apple Watch deals , and advice on whether you shouldbuy Apple Watch now or wait . You might also be concerned in what othernew Apple productsare coming this year , and when is thenext Apple event . you’re able to find links to all our Apple Watch review below
Price & Availability
The Apple Watch Series 4 set out at £ 399/$399 with GPS , or $ 499 with cellular . You ’ll be able to pre - orderfrom Apple ’s websitefrom Friday 14 Sept , and it will go on sales event on 21 Sept.
The Series 3 – which has been uncommitted since fall 2017 – gets a price cut to fete the launch of the Series 4 . It now begin at £ 279/$279 whenbought from Apple . Take a aspect at our roundup of thebest Apple Watch dealsfor the cheapest lieu to buy .
Design & Build
The Series 4 has a larger screen – 30 % larger , in fact , with the dimensions up from 38 mm and 42 mm to 40 mm and 44 mm .
But it ’s not bulkier to conciliate these displays . In fact , because of modest bezels and a slight body , it ’s lower in volume than the senior gadget .
The Series 4 also stimulate a redesigned Digital Crown ( which now provides haptic click feedback for more accurate scrolling ) a smuggled ceramic back ( which grant radio waves to penetrate , thereby better cellular response ) , and a shift mike and upgrade verbalizer , meaning better call quality and 50 % more good volume .
We ’re very fond of the Series 3 conception , natty red telephone dial and all , but the Series 4 count like a significant melioration in this domain . Here ’s what the 3 looks like :
And here ’s the Series 4 , complete with its new dynamic flame face .
The screen now goes almost to the edge of the dead body , you see : there ’s very small bezel at all , and the cover curves at the corner to bosom the chassis more closely .
Colour options
One last design alteration deserving mentioning : there ’s a new atomic number 79 untainted sword finish . The full set of Series 4 material / colour combinations is as follows :
The ceramic Edition version of the vigil has been dropped , in other word .
Specs & Features
We have n’t been given a full spectacles list for the Series 4 , but we have it away two things : its S4 central processor is a fortune quicker than the premature propagation ( double as fast , in fact ) ; and its stamp battery life is the same , rated at 18 hour . The latter is we suppose pretty impressive , given that it ’s slimmer and has to power a full-grown screen , but we could n’t help being a second thwarted .
But features ? That ’s a different matter – we know plenty about those .
Fall detection
Apple calls its unexampled smartwatch an levelheaded shielder for your wellness . One elbow room in which it ’s commence your back is a new fall - detection feature , which works out when you ’ve taken a tumble and , if you stay still for a worrying amount of time afterwards , shout the hand brake services .
Apparently the spatial relation of your arms when return is identifiably different to their situation when slip or perform other less serious activeness . This is how the lookout man decide what ’s going on .
Here’show to use fall detection on the Apple Watch .
Heart monitoring
The Apple Watch Series 3 has a heart rate monitor , and among other thing this can be place to warn you if it detects a prolong elevated heart rate when not practise . But heart monitoring is greatly expanded in the Series 4 .
Most straightforwardly , it now looks for and warns about miserable center rates too , which can also be a preindication of health problems . And it notice atypical heart calendar method of birth control , a warning planetary house of atrial fibrillation .
The most interesting feature article , though , is a full - on ECG role . There are electrodes in the Digital Crown and a new electrical sensing element in the watch ’s underside , and these think that by touch a fingertip to the dial you may get an ECG reading . By train recitation at times of unusual heart bodily function – readings which are stored in the Health app – users will be better able to talk over outlet with their doctor ; often physician have trouble diagnose heart complaint which appear infrequently and not when the patient is examined .
Watch faces
Apple has fare up with a clustering of new watch face for the Series 4 . Some are simply design to make the most of the extra CRT screen space , such as a customisable face with way for an extraordinaryeightcomplications , or another with thumbnail of your lie with ones that can be tapped to call or message them .
But some just seem to have been added because they look lovely . There are new dynamic cheek , with fire , water , liquid metal and vaporization graphics , and a new Breathe grimace that offers three calming , beautiful variations on the ventilation life .
Verdict
It feels like a no - brainer : the Apple Watch Series 4 feature a slimmer body and ( thanks to better economic consumption of the available chassis infinite ) a large screen , has a processor that ’s double as fast and amount with a hatful of new health features include declination detection and more sophisticated inwardness sensors . It ’s grueling to make a casing for the Series 3 – except that it now gets a price cutting and starts at just £ 279/$279 .
If you ’re on a budget and can survive without tumble espial and heart monitoring ( or belike more pertinently , can do without quite so much screen space ) then the Series 3 wo n’t let you down . It ’s a more than decent smartwatch with a gracious pattern . But we ’ve only got eyes for the Series 4 .
