Apple Watch Series 6 Review, Price, Release Date, Battery Life, Colors, Case, Display
The Apple Watch Series 6 may seem like an incremental upgrade, but the introduction of blood oxygen monitoring is a game-changer. And the brighter always-on display is welcome.
GOOD
- Blood oxygen (SpO2) app
- New colorful casings
- Brighter always-on display
- Faster charging
NOT GOOD
- Same 18-hour battery life
APPLE WATCH 6 QUICK SPECS
- Starting price: $399 (GPS), $499 (GPS + Cellular)
- Sizes: 40mm, 44mm
- Battery life: 18 hours
- Water resistance: Up to 50 meters
- Music storage: 36GB
- Sensors: ECG, SpO2, heart rate, altimeter
Apple Watch Series 6 Review
Apple Watch 6 is the best smartwatch you can buy. It wows users with buttery smooth performance, velvety haptics, and a hassle-free setup. Almost everything about the Apple Watch experience is obnoxiously intuitive, and that's a big reason why it owns almost half the market.
The Apple Watch 6 offers blood oxygen (SpO2) monitoring for the first time, a great always-on display, an always-on altimeter, and a faster chip. Rival smartwatch makers are making big leaps with their products, while Apple sticks to its incremental process (and its 18-hour battery life).
The watchOS 7 software update also brings some useful tools, including Apple Watch sleep tracking. There are also many new watch faces and watch bands. Unless you're jumping from a Series 4 or older to an Apple Watch 6, the combination of fresh hardware, software, and accessories provides a more substantial upgrade.
This review of the Apple Watch 6 shows how Apple maintains its lead and justifies the $399 starting price — plus the 2021 Tom's Guide to Health and Fitness Award. We named it the best smartwatch overall.
However, if you're thinking about buying an Apple Watch 6, you might want to hold off on a couple of weeks; Apple may announce its successor, the Apple Watch 7, in mid-September.
Apple Watch 6: What I like
Blood Oxygen App: I'm happy to report that I've got a 99% blood oxygen level reading (above 95% is considered normal, although my father, a former EMT, says he doesn't want me below 98) want to see), and that the Blood Oxygen app is pretty complete. It provides a brief blood oxygen summary and walks users through taking readings on-demand.
Always Bright Display: Indoors, it's clear that the Apple Watch 6's display is brighter than the Apple Watch 5's, as advertised. Outside, in direct sunlight, the difference is less noticeable. However, when I looked at some side-by-side images it looked like the Apple Watch 6's screen was actually brighter.
New Watch Faces and Third-Party Complications: Apple launches all-new watch faces that will really blow you away with infographics. I'm a fan of the bold design of the typograph face, though the Stripes, Memoji, and Artist options are great for showing off your personality, too. However, the good 'old modular faces are better than ever for added support for third-party complications.
Apple Watch 6: What I don't like
Same battery life: Apple Watch 6 is rated for 18 hours, just like Apple Watch 5, and Apple Watch 4, and Apple Watch 3. Maybe we can reduce the daily charge on Series 7?
Solo Loop Band: The stretchy, clap-less band seemed like a great replacement for a traditional sport band, but I quickly reverted to the classic strap. I think I may have the wrong solo loop size (you'll need a printable measuring tape to trace yours), but I still don't enjoy pulling it on my hand. And it seems I'm not the only person having problems.
Apple Watch 6 Price & Availability
The Apple Watch 6 starts at $399 for the GPS-only model and $499 for the GPS + Cellular variation. The larger 44mm model, meanwhile, will start at $429.
One thing to note, the Apple Watch 6 will not ship with a power adapter as part of the company's new sustainability initiative.
Apple Watch 6: Design & Display
Apple Watch 6 looks like some previous Apple Watch models, squircle shape, digital crown, and all. It looks as wide as we've come to expect—there are still few competing smartwatches that sit as flush on your wrist as the Apple Watch.
As far as the finish is concerned, the Apple Watch 6 comes in Exclusive Blue and Product Red casings. I'm a big fan of the Apple Watch's foray into color tech territory, though silver, gold, and space gray are still sleek.
The rumored switch from OLED to MicroLED displays didn't materialize, though the screen once again offers an Always-on setting that lets you capture the time at a glance. Apple says the Always-On setting is more than twice as bright this time around, and that's well above my visual observations. It's not worth trying to quantify, but it certainly looks sharper than the Series 5 in side-by-side comparisons.
Apple Watch 6 review: Blood oxygen (SpO2) monitoring
Blood oxygen sensors can measure the oxygen saturation level of your blood. As with pulse oximetry, SpO2 monitoring in the Apple Watch 6 will let users know their blood oxygen concentrations with 15-second on-demand readings, as well as periodic background checks.
Apple says a measurement of 95%-100% is considered ideal. Levels below normal blood oxygen concentrations often indicate underlying health issues, such as sleep apnea. It can also be a symptom of silent hypoxia, a life-threatening condition that can exacerbate the effects of respiratory illness.
When I told my father, a former EMT, about the Apple Watch's Blood Oxygen app, he acknowledged the importance of pulse oximetry. He says this is the first reading he took when answering a call because it is less subjective than pulse or blood pressure data.
Apple isn't the first company to integrate SpO2 monitoring into its healthcare facilities by any means, but you can bet if it's ready to release its own implementation, the company believes it's right. Is. I recorded a blood oxygen level of 99% or 100%, which matched the reading I'd get from a traditional, finger-based pulse oximeter.
Apple Watch 6: Sleep tracking
You will no longer need one of the best Apple Watch apps for sleep tracking. I've spent several weeks with Apple Watch sleep tracking. It's not quite as practical as Fitbit's snooze-monitoring software, but it does emphasize the benefits of successfully setting sleep goals and establishing a bedtime routine. If you're the kind of person who likes to lock down your activity rings, you'll appreciate the challenge that comes with getting 7 hours of sleep.
As I'm sure you, readers, can relate, spending most of my time at home over the past months has sabotaged my sleep schedule in ways I never thought possible. But Apple Watch sleep tracking reminds me to go to bed at the same time every night, and I feel like I get more restful zzzs.
Apple Watch 6: Other watchOS 7 features and Apple Fitness Plus
Where Apple is gaining an edge over the best fitness trackers is in its preset workout library. The watchOS 7 update adds dance, functional strength training, core training, and cool-down activity tracking to the Apple Watch arsenal.
It also supports Apple Fitness Plus, which becomes available to Apple Watch customers in late 2020. The workout subscription service offers 10 types of classes taught by real trainers. Apple Fitness Plus costs $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year, although Apple Watch 6 buyers will get 3 months free. See how to set up Apple Fitness Plus.
A hand-washing timer, mobility metrics, and watch face sharing are among other notable watchOS 7 upgrades. I don't think the hand wash timer performs well. Mobility metrics are excellent for helping older users keep track of things like walking speed, stride length, and step asymmetry. Watch face sharing is neat, though I'm not getting close enough to anyone these days to be able to see (and steal) their screen setup.
Apple Watch 6: Battery life
The Apple Watch 6 is rated for the same 18-hour battery life as the earlier Apple Watch Series 5, Series 4, and Series 3. However, as expected, I didn't even get a full 18 hours on days doing GPS-guided workouts. We would really like to see some improvement in this area, but for now, daily changes are still needed.
On the bright side, the Apple Watch 6 can be fully charged in 90 minutes. It takes close to 2 hours to fully charge my Apple Watch 5.
Apple Watch 6: Decision
Yes, there isn't much difference between the Apple Watch 5 to the Apple Watch 6, but a SpO2 monitor is a device you might find worthwhile, especially with the increasing emphasis on personal health.
Thanks to its clean software, slim design, and seamless ecosystem integration, Apple is slowly doing away with Apple Watch upgrades. Users don't care if Apple isn't the first for every feature, as long as the feature is there.
The competition, however, is more reassuring than ever. Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 and Fitbit Sense are some of the recent Apple Watch alternatives with SpO2 and ECG worth your consideration. Even the $279 Apple Watch SE - a somewhat different version of the Apple Watch 6 - is attractive, though you'll miss out on many of the marquee sensors.
Check out our Apple Watch 6 vs. Apple Watch SE as well as our Apple Watch 6 vs. Apple Watch 5 and Apple Watch 6 vs. Apple Watch 3 face-offs for upgrade advice.
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