Apple Watch series 5 - Review (Consumentenbond)

The Apple Watch is now in its fifth generation. The most important innovation? The screen is always on. But what makes the Apple Watch

series

5 worth it? Little has changed in the design of the Apple Watch. The screen is the same size as the Series 4 and the

watch

case also maintains the same size. The case is available in new titanium and aluminum versions. The biggest change is that the Apple Watch

series

5 screen is always on. With previous editions, the screen goes completely dark when the wrist hangs. Previously you would see a black square on your wrist. Now the light is dimmed and the colors and information of a sphere are visible.

As soon as you look at the

watch

, the light shines brighter and the colors are brighter. The Apple Watch feels more like a "real" watch. The first Apple Watch was primarily a pretty device to accompany the iPhone. Especially useful for receiving notifications on your wrist, so you don't always have to pick up the phone. The Apple Watch has now become a full-fledged sports watch. With the heart rate monitor and GPS you can easily record a run or cycle. Plus, track your activities, such as the number of steps, throughout the day. It is even possible to perform an ECG.

This way you will get a complete picture of your general condition and, if you want, your watch will challenge you to be active every day, in addition, with it you will be able to use more and more functions of your iPhone. Think about listening to music, making calls, giving an order to Siri, and (depending on your bank) also making contactless payments. But what about battery life now that that beautiful screen is always on? Apple claims the battery should last up to 18 hours on a charge. With moderate use, that seems about right. This is at the lowest possible screen brightness (brightness has 3 settings).

You'll likely need to charge your Apple Watch every two days. Our extensive smartwatch testing shows that the Apple Watch series 3 and 4 do not perform well in terms of battery life. On average, they last much less time on a charge than other smartwatches. Whether this also applies to the Apple Watch 5 will become clear in our test in the laboratory. The watch now makes navigation even easier. It has a built-in compass so you can easily see your viewing direction on the map. Just like the maps app on your phone, the maps rotate with the movement of your watch.

The Apple Watch series 5 has a new version of the operating system. Look at OS6. This version has a number of new features that are now available for Apple Watch series 3 and 4 and, later this year, series 1 and 2. This includes new watch faces. An App Store, so you can download applications from your iPhone without intervention. Cycle: an app for menstruation. And a decibel meter: with the microphone you measure how many decibels there are in the sound of your environment. As is often the case with software updates, not all new features work on older models. Finally, you should know that the Apple Watch series 5 can be used with an iPhone 6s with iOS 13 and higher.

The Apple Watch series 4 is disappearing from stores. The Apple Watch series 3 is offered for €229. Are you an ING customer? Starting this year you will be able to make contactless payments with your Apple Watch and Apple Pay. ABN-AMRO and Rabobank have indicated that they will also support Apple Pay in the future. There's not much new under the sun with the Apple Watch Series 5, especially when you compare it to the previous model. The screen is always on, so you will no longer have a black area on your wrist when you are not looking at the screen. That looks very good.

New features like the decibel meter and compass are a nice bonus. The Apple Watch Series 5 is a big step up from the Apple Watch Series 3. With the Series 4 disappearing from the range, the Series 5 is a very attractive candidate if you're looking for a new smartwatch. The 40mm model starts at €449 and the larger 44mm model costs three dozen euros more. Do you want to know more about smartwatches or are you curious about the test results? Please visit our website for more information. consumersbond.nl/smartwatch