As you all know, the most recent version of the Apple Watch is Series 5. However, this device is somewhat similar to its previous generation of Smartwatch i.e Apple Watch Series 4. In addition to that, this device comes with subtle new features like ‘always-on, ‘noise level checker’, menstrual cycle tracking, ‘compass’, ‘cellular-connectivity’, ‘purchase and sell anything with the help of Apple Pay’.
Since this smartwatch is the latest device from the giant brand, therefore it includes plenty of advanced features that are new and also includes the ones that were already available in its previous version.
New Features that Makes Apple Watch Series 5 Unique:
As it is mentioned earlier, the Apple Watch Series 5 has a few upgrades in terms of features from its predecessor. You will get reviews of the new features that the current generation of Apple smartwatch offers. Take a look below to know them in detail.
Always-On
One of the key features that this smartwatch has is ‘Always-On’, this one lets you see the time without having to perform any such wrist twist to wake the device like the previous generations of Apple Watches.
This feature works because of the new OLED display technology with which the device has been made. The ‘Always-On’ feature basically lowers the brightness and slows down the display and along with that, it also freezes the animations. Although the backlight of the display gets dimmer, you can always see the time with ease.
This Always-On feature of the Apple smartwatch takes full advantage of the new Operating System ‘WatchOS 6’. You will get various types of watch faces by always remaining active along with this device which can appear in the background in the loop when the display shows the time.
Compass
The second hardware upgrade feature that comes with the Apple Watch Series 5 is the compass. Having a compass within the smartwatch allows you to easily navigate in the right direction without taking out the phone using the Maps application.
Due to the compass device within this smartwatch, you can now be able to see a blue marker that shows the direction where you are headed, which is the same as the one on the iPhone. Although this feature shows accurate directions, it can get glitchy whenever you come out from the subway or restaurants.
Battery Life
The battery life of the Apple Watch Series 5 is the main concern of anyone, who will be using the device for day-to-day needs. Now, you might think that the battery life of this smartwatch will not be as good as its predecessor, due to the fact that ‘always-on’ display drains half of its charge.
This is actually somewhat right because if you use the device constantly, then at the end of the day, the charge left within the battery will be half. The following tasks that mostly drains the battery of this device are when you go for a run that uses GPS and listens to music simultaneously.
The best thing about the battery life of this device is that it keeps 18 hours of charge that Apple claims. With every new iteration of the Apple Watch, the battery life gets extended. Therefore, the Series 5 device has the highest battery capacity among the rest of the other models.
Music Feature Upgrade
With the new Apple Watch Series 5, you will get upgrades within the Music application. The upgrades that the Music application has is that you can download audio and podcasts directly to the smartwatch and hear them without a phone.
However, the main problems of this upgrade are that you can listen to songs that are downloaded into the smartwatch. In order to stream and listen to any audio, you need to activate the LTE data capabilities of the smartwatch (the data capabilities feature is present only with the expensive model).
Brand New Operating System for the Series 5 – WatchOS 6
The Apple Watch Series 5 comes along with the brand new operating system which is the WatchOS 6. This OS is available for all the other versions of the Apple Watch Series starting from 1, 2, 3 and 4.
There are new features that you can get with this Operating System. Some of those features are noise meter, period cycle tracking, app store. In addition to this, there is a specific feature available with this OS which is ‘Activity Trends’.
This feature lets you use the device for ninety days before it can keep track of your day-to-day activities. There are some design changes available with this OS like the ‘Now Playing’
Now have a glance at these features in detail to know more about it.
App Store
Since the Watch is a separate device in itself with a standalone OS, therefore the availability of an App Store to get applications that are specific to this smartwatch is very necessary. With the App Store within the Watch, you can download and install any application in your smartwatch easily.
For searching any applications within the App Store, you can utilize your voice. However, there is also another way to search an application for the device which is by writing individual letters on the screen, that is, by using the ‘Scribble’ input option.
To get any applications from the App Store for your Watch, you need to log in to the Store using the Apple ID from the phone. Until and unless you do so, there is no way for you to download any application.
Some applications that you install into the smartwatch requires the main version of that specific software on the smartphone to function properly. To find any applications on the Series 5 Watch, you need to scroll, but doing that gets cumbersome after some time due to small screen size. Before to choose any best smartwatch, you should check existing user reviews.
But, as the App Store of the Apple Watch is specifically made for this device only. Therefore, you cannot access any software of this device from the App Store of the smartphone.
Menstrual Cycle Tracker
This is a new feature added to the Apple Watch Series 5 device. This feature comes in the form of a dedicated application that is available from the health application. With the ‘Cycle Tracking’ application, all the women users can set up notifications regarding their menstrual cycle like when it will begin and even check the time period of the fertility.
If there are any type of changes in your cycle routine or you have experienced any symptoms, then you can put those changes on the ‘Cycle Tracking’ application.
The user interface of this application is quite easy to use. During the start of your period cycle, all you need is to tap the icon present in the application for all the days it continues. There are three options to keep track of the blood flow that is as follows – ‘Light’, ’Medium’ and ‘Heavy’.
Noise Tracker
Another good feature that is available with this smartwatch is the capability to track the level of surrounding noise since the ‘Noise meter’ application comes by default with the device. The benefit of having a noise tracker is that this feature acts as the protection system and will help you to keep the hearing at a moderate level.
With the help of this application, there is a possibility for you to know if you are in a loud environment. Also, the noise tracker application helps you to check how the regular environment affects the hearing.
However, this watch provides a noise level on a regular basis. But there is no way for you to know for which specific environment the noise will be more.
Detailed Specifications of Apple Watch Series 5
Here, you will get the detailed specifications about the Apple Watch Series 5. There are two types of Series 5 watches – one is with both ‘GPS + Cellular’ and the other with only ‘GPS’.
Display
There are two types of displays for the Apple Watch Series 5 – 44mm and 40mm.
For 44mm
- Resolution: 368 * 448 pixels
- Display Area: 977square mm
For 40mm
- Resolution: 324 * 394 pixels
- Display Area: 759 square mm
LTPO OLED Always-On Retina display with Force Touch
1000 nits brightness
Processor
- S5 with 64-bit dual-core processor
- It contains a W3 chip.
Connectivity
- The GPS + Cellular model of this device can work with both the following technologies: ‘LTE’ and ‘UMTS’.
- It supports 802.11 b/g/n wireless network in 2.4 GHz speed
- This device also supports the Bluetooth 5.0
Dimensions
For 44mm
- Height: 44mm
- Width: 38mm
- Depth: 10.74 mm
For 40mm
- Height: 40mm
- Width: 34mm
- Depth: 10.74mm
Battery Power
- Charging cable that is magnetic
- USB power adapter
- It has a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that is built-in with up to eighteen hours of charge.
Weight
For 44mm
- Stainless Steel: 47.8g
- Aluminum: 36.5g
- Ceramic: 46.7g
- Titanium: 41.7g
For 40mm
- Titanium: 35.1g
- Stainless Steel: 40.6g
- Ceramic: 39.7g
- Aluminum: 30.8g
Final Verdict
After using the Apple Watch Series 5 for two weeks, what I feel is that this brand new device is quite expensive. Even though ‘Always on’ is one of the best features that is added to the device and there are some others too, there are no other significant changes.
With quite less price, you can get the Series 4 smartwatch that can provide you with similar or more performance than the latest generation of the device.