Health is wealth indeed with Watch Series 4
The apple watch series 4 dons the first redesign of the device since it was first introduced in 2015, and in keeping up with the changing times, it’s sleeker, bolder and, possibly, death-defying — quite literally. The most notable upgrades are on two fronts: hardware and software (read: everywhere). For starters, the Series 4 now comes in bigger sizes: 40mm and 44mm, compared to the Series 3’s 38mm and 42mm. While a hairline of a difference so to speak, it’s the actual interface that takes the cake: the displays are now 35 per cent and 32 per cent bigger respectively, which practically gives the new Watches bezel-less display. This will be critical for apps like maps, and a pleasure to the eye when it comes to photos. Apple promises up to 18 hours (again) of battery life, but GPS use is now up at six hours, the latter of which will definitely appeal to those who want to measure their performance over a long period of time.
With the Series 3 LTE, I could easily clear two days with a minimal number of calls taken and messages sent (read: using it as a garden-variety timepiece); sprinkle some more of that plus tinkering with other apps on it, and I’m down to over a day. In the really rare times that I used it for some sweaty activity, it still crossed the listed 18-hour finish line. With the Series 4, those figures went up to two-and-a-half days, a day-and-a-half and almost a day.
The back of the Series 4 has also been revamped, and I must say it’s more bespoke compared to its three predecessors. Gone are the circles that peppered Series 1 through 3 and replaced by a more elegant, simpler build.
You’ll be shelling out Dh450 more for the Series 4 compared to the Series 3. Some people may pause on the practically Dh2,000 asking price for the LTE version — especially now that Series 3 prices have dropped a bit.
On the health front, the Series 4 comes with a new electrical heart rate sensor, comprising electrodes built into the Digital Crown and the back. This enables the new Watch to perform some cool new — and potentially life-saving — things.
First, Apple decided to put in a critical feature to the Series 4: ECG measurement. ECG — electrocardiogram — is the method of recording the electrical activity of one’s heart that, in turn, will determine if there’s anything wrong with one of the most important organs in our body, including atrial fibrillation — the abnormal functioning of the heart — which could be signs of disease. The drill is pretty simple: put your finger on the Digital Crown, wait for the Watch to finish tracking your ECG and — voila! — you now have an ECG reading. It will be saved in the Health app of your iPhone, which you can share or print with your physician.
While the Series 3 introduced high heart rate notifications, the Series 4 returns the favour by now also alerting you of the opposite: low heart rate. As with the former, the Watch will alert you if there’s something (not) funny going on with your heart below a specified threshold for 10 minutes.
There’s also this new Fall Detection, which speaks for itself: if ever you fall, slip or get into any similar situation during anything you might be doing, the Series 4 will detect it — ‘hard fall’, as Apple terms it — and you can easily start a call to emergency services or, if you’re okay, ignore it. Now, if the Watch detects you motionless for a minute, then it will automatically start a call to emergency services. For good measure, a message with your location will also be immediately sent to your emergency contacts, which you have specified.
Working hand-in-hand with the hardware is Apple’s latest wearable software, watchOS 5. Activity competitions is now here challenge a friend for a certain activity; once he or she accepts it, you duke it out for seven days. You need to outdo each other by earning points via closing a certain portion of your activity rings, and coming out victorious earns you awards and bragging rights. The Workout app is even more intelligent with automatic detection. Started some activity but forgot to fire it up on your Watch? watchOS 5 will be able to detect it and happily start it up for you — and it will even give you retroactive credit for the time you worked out before it actually started tracking you.
The Apple Watch Series 4 bursts with a lot of excitement. And forget workouts for now: the health upgrades are the most vital signs (pun intended) that the company is transforming a device that is sometimes viewed as cosmetic into something more serious. The real downer for me here is that that ECG feature will only be available in the US at the first go. Nevertheless, it’s a more well-rounded Watch if, again, you’re willing to pay up (which I believe a lot people will still do).