Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
The Apple Watch Series 5 bring an always - on display and other minor sweetening , but it ’s still miss the one affair it really needs : better battery life story .
TheApple Watch Series 5is so far before of anything that professes to be a match , there ’s only one reason not to buy one : You desire multi - day barrage fire biography . Otherwise , you ’re not going to retrieve a smartwatch with a skillful concealment , more ripe sensor , overnice figure , or stronger app livelihood .
spotter faces look rich , bluff , and direct up gorgeous on the Series 5 ’s OLED screen .
Watch faces look rich, bold, and straight up gorgeous on the Series 5’s OLED screen.
I ’ve screen smartwatches from just about every manufacturing business — Samsung , Fitbit , Fossil , LG , Huawei , Mobvoi , Withings , etc.—and nothing really add up close to the polish and performance Apple has delivered . Apple haters will barrack at that notion , but the truth of the matter is , if Apple offer an iPhone - free version of the Series 5 watch , it would at once become the beneficial selling Android wearable . Nothing under the Wear OS umbrella even get close , and even Samsung ’s Tizen - ground watches pale in comparison to the seamless , frictionless experience the Apple Watch brings . If anything , it ’s so expert it ’s becoming old lid at this point , and its deficiencies are becoming more glaring .
All that transcendence comes at a steep price . The Apple Watch Series 5 , like theSeries 4it replaces , start at $ 399 and tops out at $ 1,350 , depending on your choice of size of it , connectivity , and finish . But if you desire the good , it ’ll be worth every cent . You might be happy with a $ 199 Fitbit Versa 2 or $ 279 Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 , but you ’ll be sacrificing something , whether it ’s the ECG monitor or an ESPN app . But most significantly , you wo n’t love it like an Apple Watch Series 5 .
Apple Watch History
This Apple Watch has since been supplant with a novel fashion model , and you could find out links to all our Apple Watch reviews below . Do notice that we ’re expecting to seeApple Watch Series 10 , Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch SE 3rd generation , runningwatchOS 11 , set in motion in September 2024 at the company’sGlowtime event(seehow to watch over the September event ) . If you ’re in the food market for a fresh Apple Watch , see ourApple view buying usher , 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 yr , and when is thenext Apple outcome .
Always On makes all the difference
While the new Apple Watch looks identical to the model it replaces , there is some new tech inside . Apple has tote up a compass to power the new app , as well as twice as much storage for euphony and apps :
While the compass and additional computer memory is nice ( serial 4 is 16 GB ) , the only advancement over the Series 4 see worth talking about is the always - on display . The Apple Watch ’s blank screen when rest has been its biggest shortcoming since its debut in 2015 , but — and I ca n’t believe I ’m writing this — it was actually deserving the four - twelvemonth hold .
The Apple Watch Series 5 has a second - coevals heart - charge per unit sensor .
Watch faces look rich, bold, and straight up gorgeous on the Series 5’s OLED screen.
Time after time , Apple insert a feature years after its competitor and long past its fresh date , and they still grapple to make it feel innovational and new . How does Apple do it ? An always - on display in 2019 should n’t be worth more than a line or two in a review , but on the Series 5 , it ’s is a permeant element that wee-wee the watch really feel like a modern horologe .
Apple has demand a more or less different approach than its match with its first always - on showing . Rather than merely slur the screen , simplify and the sap the semblance , or lend a transparent FSTN LCD over the organic light-emitting diode to keep battery life like other smartwatches , Apple has combine the good percentage of each into a new form of video display that ’s equal parts delightful and surprising .
count on the face you opt , the always - on exhibit act differently , sometimes dimming , sometimes turn back , and sometimes exit only the life-sustaining ambient bits . Like the faces themselves , Apple has cautiously considered how each always - on screen looks and functions , afford each ambient face a unique expressive style . And the carefully calibrated OLED display mean you could read it in lineal sun at any brightness level .
Watch faces look rich, bold, and straight up gorgeous on the Series 5’s OLED screen.
The Apple Watch Series 5 ’s display is seeable in all kinds of light .
But it ’s not just the look of the expression that change . While the lookout man obviously still tells time , the clock and complication ( weather , calendar , etc . ) only update once per minute , and time - found complication such as timer are rounded to the penny-pinching moment . The Workout app stays seeable but the screen door dims and milliseconds are n’t display . And when you ’re using an app , the background will blur and the meter will look in the top ripe quoin . Apple has put such a high - level of precaution into the always - on face that I in reality turn off the raise - to - wake up functionality a few days into my testing . Why ? The always - on nerve gave me what I needed more often than not .
The always - on display provides the variety of at - a - glance functionality you gestate in a traditional wristwatch , while still providing the functionality of a smartwatch . For exercise , you ’ll still experience vibration when alerts come in , but notifications wo n’t exhibit unless you aerate the blind .
The Apple Watch Series 5 has a second-generation heart-rate sensor.
The Apple Watch Series 5 ’s always - on display stand for you ’ll never have a white screen on your wrist ( unless it runs out of juice ) .
Of of course , there are other watches that do similar matter with their always - on display , but none of the method I ’ve control fare close to this level of care . Some are hard to read , others eschew introductory functionality , but Apple ’s both look good and do exactly as they should . The Series 5 display may be the same size as the Series 4 , but it feels like a whole new experience . If you ’re do from a Series 3 or in the first place , there ’s no comparison .
Battery life is still an issue
While other smartwatches egress monition that using the always - on exhibit will negatively impact bombardment life — for exemplar , the Fitbit Versa 2 will last for three days with the always - on display active versus five days with it off — the Apple promises that the Series 5 sentinel pay off the same 18 to 20 hours of battery aliveness that the previous five multiplication of watches got with or without the always - on display .
The Digital Crown is still a spectacular feature on the Apple Watch Series 5 .
It ’s an impressive feat for sure , accomplished through the manipulation of a low - temperature polysilicone and oxide exhibit , radical - humiliated ability show number one wood , effective ability management incorporate circuit , and newfangled ambient light sensor . But the fact that Apple was able to total an telling always - on display without impacting expect stamp battery life underscores how frustrating the Apple Watch ’s battery is . While it charges quickly — I averaged about 70 per centum in an time of day — it also requires an pestering degree of aid . If I go away for a weekend , I need to take the bulky puck battery charger with me . And even throughout a normal Clarence Day , it was always on my mind , unlike the Fitbit Versa 2 , which can last for days .
The Apple Watch Series 5’s display is visible in all kinds of light.
svelte accommodation easily tally hours to Apple ’s estimation , but nothing compared to its peers . All thing being relatively adequate ( notifications and continuous heart rate on , a 20 - minute exercising , robotic sleep tracking , and various other apps in distinctive use ) , I was able-bodied to push the barrage fire to a full 24 hours of unbowed purpose , either by sprain the always - on display off , or by leaving it on and wrench off hike to wake . When I used it in the default preferences — with always - on and farm to wake dynamic — I got around 20 hours of use . Even with all of the showing features turned off , I only get to 36 hour of battery life , far less than what Fitbit and Samsung watches deliver .
But nowhere is the Apple Watch ’s assault and battery life more exasperating than while catch some Z’s . Apple does n’t offer native sleep tracking on the Apple Watch , a feature of speech I presume is coming with Series 6 . Much like the always - on display , Apple is n’t going to deliver half - baked sleep tracking , nor is it going to help third - political party developers deliver a dependable experience .
The Apple Watch Series 5 ( bottom ) is somewhat tenuous than the Series 3 but has the same shelling life history .
The Apple Watch Series 5’s always-on display means you’ll never have a blank screen on your wrist (unless it runs out of juice).
I usedSleep++ , and it did an o.k. line , but it ’s nowhere well-nigh as accurate or comprehensive as Fitbit ’s Sleep Stages . The watch give up twice during my sleep because I did n’t check out the electric battery level . And when I forget to turn on Do Not Disturb and Theater Mode , the watch woke me up in the middle of the night . So , while you are able to use the Series 5 Apple Watch to dog your sleep , but if that ’s your main understanding for buy it , you might desire to look at the Versa 2 instead .
Have App Store, will travel
If sleep tracking is n’t significant , however , the Apple Watch Series 5 is basically the perfect smartwatch . Along with the fall spotting and ECG detector that came with the Series 4 picket , WatchOS 6 introduce several new apps and watch boldness that add to the excellent depository library that ’s already in place .
Even little features such as International emergency calling — where your watch will recognise where you are and automatically call local parking brake services if you ’re journey — are leap and bound ahead of what ’s offered on other smartwatches .
You wo n’t practice the Compass on your Apple Watch Series 5 all that often , but it ’s gracious to have .
The Digital Crown is still a prominent feature on the Apple Watch Series 5.
Finally getting a calculator is nice , but Apple ’s watch apps are at their salutary when they ’re doing things you wo n’t need as often . Noise and Compass , as well as Series 4 ’s ECG , all drive home just how advanced the Apple Watch is , not to cite the thousands of apps that are uncommitted to download right on your wrist .
you’re able to now download apps without needing to go to your phone , and it ’s as tight and easy as it is on your earphone . Apps still are n’t completely independent — when you install an app on your watch a companion app will install on your phone , and if you delete the phone app it will delete from your watch — but it makes the Apple Watch feel much more like a standalone gimmick . And it ’s wanton years more pleasant than the Google Play store on Wear OS .
you could download apps aright on your wrist with watchOS 6 on the Apple Watch .
The Apple Watch Series 5 (bottom) is slightly thinner than the Series 3 but has the same battery life.
Part of that ’s due to the S5 CPU , which runs circles around the Wear 2100 chip that powers most wear upon OS watch , but it ’s also because of Apple ’s tremendous hardware and software integration . Like the iPhone , that ’s Apple ’s biggest speciality here , and it exposes just how much of a mess the Wear bone political program is .
Bottom line
There ’s no question that the Apple Watch Series 5 is the right-down skillful smartwatch money can buy . It has an incredible screen , excellent app support , and the strongest set of sensors and feature you ’ll find anywhere . It ’s expensive for sure , but when you consider Tag Heuer sells a $ 1,700 Wear OS watch without LTE , the price does n’t seem quite so outlandish .
The Series 5 Watch starts at $ 399 for an aluminum 40 millimeter GPS version and jumps to $ 499 for LTE . Another $ 30 catch you the 44 mm version and it go up from there , reckon on the banding and your choice of materials , which includes titanium and ceramic this fourth dimension around . You could well drop up of $ 1,500 , but that ’s the peach of the Apple Watch — the $ 399 version is just as good as any of the thousand dollar mark - plus models . The style is what you ’re paying for .
The 44 mm Apple Watch Series 5 ( right field ) is n’t that much bigger than the 42 mm Series 3 , but the screen is monolithic .
You won’t use the Compass on your Apple Watch Series 5 all that often, but it’s nice to have.
That might be the best Series 5 feature of all . Apple has made it promiscuous than ever to pick the watch you need by letting you unite any body and ring . You ’re no longer confine to the pre - selected combination . When you buy one , you ’ll get two boxes , one with the watch body and another with the circle . Presumably that ’s how all Apple Watches will be sell croak onward , and it makes a lot of signified . From 24-hour interval one , Apple has place its picket as the ultimate way accessory for iPhone users .
If only you did n’t need to charge it every day .
You can download apps right on your wrist with watchOS 6 on the Apple Watch.
The 44mm Apple Watch Series 5 (right) isn’t that much bigger than the 42mm Series 3, but the screen is massive.
