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Should you spring for the latest and greatest Apple Watch, or stick with an older model for another year?
After spending 10 days with the Apple Watch, testing it in a bunch of different ways, and even taking it on a vacation to Disney World, this is the #CultOfMac #Review of the Apple Watch Series 5. The good, the bad, and the best bets as to whether you should upgrade.
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#AppleWatch
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0:00
What's going on everybody, Ian here for Cult of Mac and for the last week and a half or
0:09
so I've been testing out the new Apple Watch Series 5. I took it with me on a family vacation to Disney World because I thought it would be
0:16
logical to test it out in a situation where I need my hands to be free and need to do
0:20
a lot more communication and use the watch a lot more heavily for a bunch of different
0:24
things all to determine whether or not the Apple Watch Series 5 is worth the upgrade
0:29
this year. Now, from a hardware perspective, the Apple Watch Series 5 looks almost exactly like the
0:34
Series 4. There are a couple of new case options, most notably the new titanium option, which looks
0:39
ever so slightly different than the aluminum option, but it's kind of a brushed metal look
0:44
and the return of the ceramic edition model at the high end of the price range, which
0:47
looks really good, but it's very pricey for a piece of technology you're going to wear
0:51
on your wrist for like a year. Outside of that, there's almost nothing visible between the Series 4 and Series 5 except for
0:58
the new Always-On Display. Now the Apple Watch Series 5 has the Always-On Display, which means that even when you're
1:04
not flipping your wrist up to look at it, you can still glance down and see the time
1:08
weather, date, things that don't change very frequently. Now some things like the second hand and the ambient noise levels, which we'll get to in
1:15
a second, don't update when the watch is in its passive mode, so you'll only see the current
1:20
hour and minute or just a blank space where the noise levels are, but things that are
1:24
more static don't change as frequently, just show live data all the time
1:28
Now some watch faces also will do things like invert the colors, which is pretty clever
1:32
so that your watch isn't blinding the people around you or you when you're in the darker
1:36
environment when you're not looking at it, but then when you flip your wrist up, it will bring all those colors back to full to show you whatever your watch face is like in full color
1:45
Now in practice, and for me personally, I've gotten so used to flipping my wrist up that it's kind of second nature, but it's nice to have the Always-On Display, mostly in the
1:52
event that my watch doesn't register that I flipped my wrist, and I don't have to do
1:56
that awkward wrist wiggle thing to get it to wake back up. Instead, what I'm usually looking for is the current time, and that's always there with
2:02
the Always-On Display. So it's one of those little quality of life changes that's made something that was already
2:06
really good just a little bit better. The Series 5 also has a compass built in, and it's a true magnetic compass, meaning
2:12
it's super accurate, and theoretically it would work to help you find your way out of
2:16
an unfamiliar forest or theme park. Now in my testing, I tried to open it up to use it to find my way, and while I'm sure
2:23
it would have been helpful if a compass was what I really needed, to me it seems more
2:27
like a novelty than a necessity. As it pertains to using the Apple Watch on vacation, most of the things that I found
2:32
most useful weren't actually hardware-related features. In fact, almost everything I like about the Apple Watch comes down to its software and
2:39
its integration with iOS. As we move around the theme parks, one of the big things I use my watch for is making
2:44
phone calls, receiving phone calls, or sending or receiving text messages. And that stuff works as it always has
2:51
You can use Siri to send a text or make a phone call. You can dictate or scribble out an iMessage right on your wrist without having to pull
2:57
your phone out of your pocket, meaning you don't have to put down all the things you're carrying or let go of a stroller or get in people's way
3:03
You can just quickly flip your wrist up, say whatever it is you need to say, and keep moving
3:08
It makes it really convenient to move around while still staying connected
3:12
Now, much like last year when I reviewed my wife's Series 4 Apple Watch on our family
3:16
trip to Disney, I tried to use the walkie-talkie feature again this year, thinking maybe the
3:20
newer hardware would make a difference. And in practice, it didn't. When the watch would connect, it took forever, and more often than not when I tried to use
3:29
walkie-talkie, it would just say could not reach the other person and would fail
3:34
So basically, if you're looking for a fast, efficient way to communicate, and you think walkie-talkie sounds like it might be it, it's probably not
3:42
Another big thing I like about the Apple Watch is that I use it for fitness tracking, and I have for the last four and a half years
3:47
And while I wasn't actively going out on a workout or run or anything like that while
3:51
I was at Disney, it was nice to know how many steps I was taking, how many calories I burned
3:56
and how active I was as we moved from food cart to snack stand
3:59
Because at Disney, you tend to consume a lot of calories, but if you're walking around
4:03
you're also burning a lot of calories. And so knowing that I was being active enough to justify having yet another cheese dog from
4:09
Casey's Corner was really nice. And while the fitness and activity stuff isn't new in Watch OS 6 or with the Apple Watch
4:16
Series 5, there is a new health feature that I did find myself enjoying quite a lot on
4:21
our vacation. One of the marquee features of Watch OS 6 is the new Noise app
4:25
And as we moved around Disney World, it was one of the things I found myself looking at constantly
4:30
You know, theme parks can be notoriously noisy, and at Disney World, as you come around corners
4:34
there can all of a sudden be a parade, or loud music happening, or a ride can get unexpectedly noisy
4:40
And being able to see what those noise levels are and know whether or not I'm potentially causing damage to my hearing or my family's hearing, and especially a child's hearing
4:47
is really important. Having the Noise app and the loud noise notifications can be really helpful in preserving and protecting
4:53
your hearing, especially in those situations where everything is right on the edge of being
4:57
too loud. Now, aside from being concerned about the overall loudness of things and whether or not I was
5:03
causing damage to my hearing, I also just really enjoyed looking at the Noise app to
5:07
see what the levels of sound were as we moved around different parts of the park
5:11
To no one's surprise, much of Disney World is right on that threshold of being almost
5:15
a little too loud. Now, it is worth noting that much like the ECG feature that was released last year with
5:20
the Series 4, the Noise app is also a Series 4 and Series 5 only feature, and is almost
5:26
a more compelling reason to upgrade if you're on a Series 1, 2, or 3 to the newer watch
5:31
than the always-on display, because there's a lot of value in knowing whether your heart
5:35
health or your hearing health are in good condition more so than whether you can see
5:39
the time without having to move your wrist. For me personally, I've been using the Series 3 for the last two years, so going to the
5:46
Series 5 felt like a pretty big jump both in functionality and in design
5:50
The larger 44mm display on the Series 5 that I got, while only 2mm bigger than my 42mm
5:56
Series 3, is a 5% increase in screen size, which makes apps and the UI itself feel very
6:02
very different. And I think that's even exaggerated more with the space black stainless steel case, because
6:08
it allows this display to kind of roll right into the casing, making it seem even bigger
6:13
Not everything with the Apple Watch Series 5 was a 5-star experience though
6:18
Over the course of our trip, I was consistently concerned about battery life
6:22
With my Series 3, I could easily go 24 hours and still have about 30% battery life left
6:28
without ever having to take it off and top it off during the middle of the day
6:32
With the Series 5, I was lucky if I could go like 13 or 14 hours and feel like I had
6:37
enough battery to go out and do anything else for the remainder of the day
6:41
Meaning, I couldn't use it for sleep tracking or a morning alarm clock. And it was always just one of those things that I kept looking at and worrying about
6:48
whether or not my Apple Watch was going to die, or whether I was going to have to start
6:52
paying more attention to my phone in my pocket instead of having my watch to give me those alerts about when somebody was calling or texting
6:58
Now, I'm not sure if this is actually an issue entirely with the Series 5 or with WatchOS 6
7:03
because I'm also noticing some slightly worse battery life on my Series 3, where it's dying
7:09
a little bit quicker than normal since the update to WatchOS 6
7:12
But I have seen a lot of people talking on Twitter about how battery life is a consistent issue and their concern that, you know, maybe the Series 5 isn't performing like it's supposed to
7:20
There's a lot of speculations that it could be the Always-On Display or something with the cellular or, you know, a bunch of other factors that could be playing into whether
7:27
or not it's working properly. But ultimately, if Apple can't figure it out, this is a huge step back in overall performance
7:35
with the Series 5. So what does all this mean for you
7:39
Basically, if you have a Series 3 watch or older and you're thinking about upgrading
7:42
the Series 5 is pretty good in most regards. Yes, there is the concern about battery life, but again, my hope is that that will improve
7:49
with the next iteration of WatchOS or, you know, the next update to WatchOS
7:53
So that hopefully shouldn't be a big issue. If you're an Apple Watch Series 4 owner, I don't know that the Always-On Display is
8:00
worth the upgrade. And my guess is the compass probably isn't the sales thing for you either
8:06
So if you're on the Apple Watch Series 4, maybe hold off. But then again, if you've got matches and money, feel free to start a fire
8:13
Now if you're new to the Apple Watch and you're thinking about getting your first Apple Watch ever and you're not sure whether to get the Series 3, which Apple is still selling new
8:21
or the Series 5, I would definitely hit up an Apple Store and see the difference between
8:25
the two. But the Series 3 is a really, really good Apple Watch
8:29
It has 90% of the features, if not more, than the Apple Watch Series 5 and it's half the price
8:35
So for that, it might be worth looking at the Series 3 unless you really, really feel
8:41
you need that Always-On Display or you're really ready to jump into the most modern
8:46
newest, coolest Apple Watch out there. Ultimately, I'm really enjoying the Series 5 Apple Watch, but I'm also kind of a tech
8:54
nerd like that. Now a lot has changed and a lot of convenience and a lot of personal fitness things have
8:59
happened for me over the last four and a half years that I really attribute to the Apple Watch
9:04
But at the same time, I know that the Apple Watch isn't for everyone and not everyone has those same aspirations or interests
9:10
There are literally thousands of combinations of Apple Watch, case, watch face, and bands
9:15
that can kind of fit everyone's personality. So it's definitely worth considering the Apple Watch as a device for you if that's something
9:22
that you're interested in. But it doesn't have to be the Series 5
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I really like the Series 5, but the Series 3 is a really great watch and may work just
9:30
as well for you. Let me know what you guys think of the Series 5 and the Apple Watch in general in the comments
9:36
down below. If you're a Series 4 owner, let me know if you're upgrading and why or why not
9:41
Make sure you give the video a thumbs up if you're digging this Mickey Mouse red with the space black case
9:45
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9:50
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9:54
I'm Ian for Cult of Mac. Thanks for watching and I'll see you guys in the next one
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