Apple Watch Series 3
The best smartwatch around but you pay for it – and if you buy the 4G option, it’s another £5 per month
SCORE ✪✪✪✪✪ PRICE From £274 (£329 inc VAT) from apple.com/uk
The Apple Watch divides opinion. People either live by it, can’t see the point of it or baulk at the design (and the price). Yet, Apple recently announced that it now sells more watches than any other brand in the world. It shows no sign of relaxing its hold on that top spot either, with the Series 3 including one potential game-changer: 4G.
Not that you can see much difference between the Apple Watch Series 3 and its predecessors. The 1.65in screen remains obstinately square, while the power button and Digital Crown again sit on the right-hand side of the face. Still, it doesn’t take Sherlock to spot this is a Series 3 versus the Series 2: that Digital Crown is now bright red, a move that’s surely more to do with status – so people know you own the latest model – than style or utility.
In terms of physical dimensions, it’s rinse and repeat. You still have the choice of 38mm or 42mm faces, with the latter offering a slightly higher resolution than the former, but whichever you choose the Watch will look chunky on the wrist.
The 4G question
Your first decision is whether you want a version of the Apple Watch 3 with 4G. Let’s start with the prime benefit: it frees you from your phone when exercising. You can stream music, use all the fitness apps, ask Siri to send a message and take calls with your phone safely tucked in your locker.
There isn’t a physical SIM card inside – the Watch 3 uses eSIM technology – but you must use the same supplier as your iPhone (and yes, it must be an iPhone). Your Watch 3 will have the same number as your phone, with messages duplicated across the two.
At the moment, EE is the exclusive UK partner for the watch, and it’s hoping to lure people over with the promise of six months of free, unlimited data, after which you’ll pay £5 per month for up to 10GB of data. That’s on top of the extra £70 the 4G version costs versus the standard Apple Watch Series 3.
Speed boost
The 4G chip isn’t the only newbie inside the Series 3. It also features the Apple S3 processor, a dualcore chip designed to open apps more quickly and make graphics smoother. The Watch is slick, but not noticeably better than previous models. You can now enable Siri by saying “Hey Siri” without touching the Digital Crown, but Siri isn’t as accurate as Alexa or Google Assistant in my experience. Plus, so many commands require you to unlock your phone (such as sending a WhatsApp message), that I found little use for Siri on the Watch. The new processor, and ever-so-slightly larger battery, don’t equal better battery life. Apple still quotes an 18-hour runtime, giving you “90 time checks, 90 notifications, 45 minutes of app use, and a 30-minute workout with music playback from Apple Watch via Bluetooth”. This sells the Watch 3 a little short. At the time of writing my 38mm Watch is on 42% and this after using it from 5.30am the previous day, taking it off at 10pm and with 30 minutes of exercise, for a total of 24 hours so far. On another occasion, it managed to survive two days, with an hour of moderate exercise. Not much different from previous Watches. The Watch 3 still charges using Apple’s proprietary MagSafe charger, and doesn’t work with Qi-enabled plates like the iPhone 8 Plus does. If you want wireless charging, you’ll need to buy the Magnetic Charging Dock for £79.
Soft upgrades
“Still, it doesn’t take Sherlock to spot this is a Series 3 versus the Series 2: that Digital Crown is now bright red”
Apple Watch 3 runs watchOS 4 with an updated Heart Rate app that lets you track your pulse more accurately than before. You can also choose to receive a notification when your heart rate becomes elevated above a threshold while inactive, which could be a sign of a heart condition.
Other watchOS 4 features include a Siri watch face that shows the “information users need most throughout the day”, a new Workout app with a clearer display and, with GymKit, you’ll soon be able to sync your Apple Watch 3 to compatible gym equipment. As part of the refresh, the Nike Run Club app has been updated to add Audio-Guided Runs, voiced by Nike coaches and athletes, and the Cheers feature lets friends send audio-based cheers.
As with previous models, the on-watch apps are limited. To get any real insight into your activity or heart data you must open the Health app on your phone. And while it is possible to send simple replies to messages, you’ll still need your phone for the legwork.
Concerningly, some major developers have pulled their apps from the Watch App Store in recent months – Google Maps and Twitter are both gone – claiming that notifications are mirrored, so a standalone app is no longer needed. It’s not a killer. Apple Maps is available (even if it is a substandard alternative to Google) and Twitter posts still get pushed to the device.
Fitness tracking
The Apple Watch Series 2 shifted towards being a fitness-focused wearable, and the Series 3 continues this trend. I’m now more acutely aware of how much - or how little - activity and exercise I’m doing.
All the action happens in the Workout app, and it’s as fully featured a piece of wearable fitness software as I’ve ever come across. You can track a huge number of different activities, from gym sessions to hiking and cycling, but it’s the small touches that make the difference. For instance, you can combine workouts by stopping one and starting another, and the app will pause if you stop at traffic lights while running.
But it’s swimming where the Apple Watch 3 comes into its own. I’m never going to stop being nervous about submerging an expensive piece of kit in chlorine-laced water, but the Apple Watch 3 works just as well in water as out of it; even the touchscreen continues to operate, making it easy to start and stop workouts.
I love how the watch tracks laps and length (it still can’t detect stroke types, though), while the added heart rate data gives you an all-round summary of your activity – a boon for anyone trying to lose weight or improve their times and fitness.
With the advancements in software, the Apple Watch 3 moves closer in terms of accuracy and function to the Garmin Swim, for example, while offering more smartwatch and day-to-day features.
Super models
Sold? Now comes the tricky part: choosing which model is right for you. The standard Apple Watch 3 comes in gold, silver and black aluminium, while the stainless steel model comes in black and silver only. Want something more fancy? The Hermes model starts at £1,149, or perhaps you want the exclusive Nike watch faces and straps? Well, good luck choosing: there are countless new Watch straps from Nike, Hermes, and Apple, including a range of quick-drying, Velcro sport bands.
I’ve been testing a gold aluminium Watch 3 with a light pink silicon band, which I’ve found to be a lovely combination: it’s more subtle and feminine than the Watch Series 1 with blue leather strap I had previously. If you’re looking for a more striking combo, the white ceramic case on the Apple Watch 3 Edition with a bright purple band looks great. There are myriad customisation options to help you match your style (and budget).
For swimming, I recommend the material sport band over the standard fluoroelastomer. It fits perfectly on the wrist, is fully adjustable thanks to the Velcro, and although it looks like it would be rough, it’s soft and dries so quickly you can see the water leaving the band in seconds.
Time to buy?
The biggest bugbear I had with previous Apple Watches was their reliance on the phone. Apple Watch 3 solves this. Yes, you’ll need to spend £399 for the 4G model, plus an EE contract, but it’s likely to have a much longer shelf-life and will be genuinely more useful than before.
It isn’t cheap, though. If you buy directly from EE, you can get an Apple Watch 3 for £25 a month with no upfront cost but a 24-month contract. The most expensive package costs £25 a month, with £159 upfront, for the 42mm Stainless Steel Case with Soft White Sport Band model.
The Apple Watch 3 additionally comes in a GPS-only model for £329, but I recommend spending the extra for the additional features. Note that all models require iOS 11 on the connected device, while the Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS + Cellular) requires an iPhone 6 or later.
The Apple Watch 3 is a great smartwatch. But if the price looks too high, you’re not bothered by the GPS, cellular or the swim-tracking features, there may be a better option. The Apple Watch (known as Series 1) might be all the smartwatch you need, and it costs a much more reasonable £249.
SPECIFICATIONS
38mm: 1.5in, 340 x 272 touchscreen 38.6 x 33.3 x 11.4mm (WDH) 42g. 42mm: 1.65in, 390 x 312 touchscreen 42.5 x 36.4 x 11.4mm (WDH) 53g. Shared: Dual-core Apple S3 processor 16GB storage 802.11n Wi-Fi Bluetooth 4.2 GPS watchOS 4 1yr RTB warranty