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- Apple Watch Series 4 review: the health-oriented smart health connected watch
Apple Watch Series 4 review: the health-oriented smart health connected watch
Features of the Apple Watch Series 4
Apple Watch Series 4: what's new
Our opinion
Price and availability
Buy the Apple Watch Series 4
Trader
Price (from)
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€ 749
Rakuten
€ 350
Commercial links. Non contractual prices. Please consult the merchant website.
Features of the Apple Watch Series 4
Weight30.1 g (40 mm model) and 36.7 g (44 mm model)
Payment systemYes
The Apple Watch 4 is a sports smart health connected watch with activity tracker. It is equipped with a GPS compatible with American (GPS), Russian (GLONASS), European (Galileo) and Japanese (QZSS / Michibiki) satellite systems. This new Series 4 model offers a new second generation optical reader as well as an electrical heart rate sensor capable of producing an electrocardiogram. We find the main sensors useful for outdoor or indoor sports (altimeter, accelerometer, gyroscope) as well as intelligent functions like Siri, an assistant that listens to you and obeys your orders. The Watch offers 16 GB of memory to store workouts, health data and more than 1,000 music tracks. On the Cellular model, a 4G chip and an eSIM card allow you to make or receive phone calls, communicate with other Apple Watch users, send emails and access various types of information without Smartphone.
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Apple Watch Series 4: what's new
Released in September 2018, the Apple Watch Series 4 is the fourth generation of Apple's smart health connected sports watch, a watch designed for sport and everyday life. It is full of sensors and offers many features, including sports functions, activity tracking, an mp3 player, a payment function, an intelligent assistant that listens and speaks. Read our detailed description of the Apple Watch 3 features for the basic functions of the Apple Watch 4.
This Series 4 model has been redesigned in terms of design, performance and functionality. In particular, it offers new functions to stay smart health connected, be more active and monitoring your health.
Design: more beautiful, a screen 30% larger and less energy-hungry
The Apple Watch 4 is available in 2 sizes, as for the Apple Watch 3, but with a slightly larger (40 and 44 mm instead of 38 and 42 mm) and thinner (10.7 mm instead of 11.4 mm). The 40 mm case is designed for a wrist circumference of 130 to 200 mm. The 44 mm one is suitable for wrist sizes from 140 to 210 mm. The small case is more suitable for thin wrists.
Apple has refined the edges of the watch and rounded the corners of the screen to follow the shape of the case. Result: a 30% larger screen, offering greater resolution and a superb look! The maps are easier to read, the calendar more detailed and practical, the images larger. The fully customizable screen can now display up to 8 shortcuts and the interface has been redesigned to display more information.
The retina OLED screen is now LTPO (Low Temperature Polycrystalline Oxid) technology instead of LTPS (Low Temperature Polycrystalline Silicon). This technology consumes 5 to 15% less energy and is more suitable for high resolutions and the design of flexible screens (rounded edges).
Finally, the Digital Crown is evolving to become "haptic", a clever term to say that it gives a more mechanical feeling (like on winding watches). It offers more precision for easier navigation.
New electrical heart rate sensor and electrocardiogram (ECG)
Great innovation of this model, a new electric heart rate sensor (in addition to the optical sensor) equips the Apple Watch. It is used to quickly and precisely measure the heart rate value and provide a graph similar to the electrocardiograms (ECG) and even to obtain a PDF version which can be communicated to a doctor if necessary. The idea is to identify atrial fibrillation (severe irregular heartbeat), the consequences of which can be serious (stroke, for example). The application has even been certified From novo by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the FDA (Food and Drugs Administration). De Novo certification is designed for "new" medical devices that do not have substantial equivalence but have a low risk profile.
The measurement is carried out by means of two electrodes, one located under the watch case and in contact with the wrist, the other on the digital crown. The user simply has to place a finger on the crown and wait 30 seconds, the time of the measurements.
The ECG obtained is however limited compared to a real EKG which takes many more measurements into account. The sensor will only be able to measure the heart rate to know if the heart is beating regularly or not, which can already detect certain problems. However, it will not allow a real diagnosis to be made. Also watch out for imprecise measurements that can create false positives. This tool is therefore to be used with caution and can of course in no way replace a consultation with a cardiologist!
Note that this functionality will only be available towards the end of 2018 and only in the USA. For other countries, it will be necessary to reach that Apple obtains the authorization of the competent authorities.
Fall detection with triggering of SOS alerts
The Apple Watch can now dial an emergency number and transmit the GPS position in the event of a prolonged fall.
Apple combines the use of a new gyroscope and a new, more efficient accelerometer (it can detect accelerations up to 32 g instead of 16 g) to detect falls (only sudden movements are taken into account). In the event of a fall, the watch will emit an increasingly loud audible alert and display an emergency call button (SOS). If the user does not cancel the alert within 60 seconds, the watch automatically dials an emergency number, transmits its GPS position, warns a predefined list of emergency contacts and displays a screen on the watch. medical card for emergency physicians, all without a phone (with the GPS and Cellular version of the Apple Watch).
New components and significantly improved performance
Apple is doing strong with this new model by replacing a good part of the components with new generation components and by integrating a chip twice as powerful without altering the battery life.
S4 chip up to 2 times faster: Apple is further improving its processor with a new S4 chip (fourth generation) with a 64-bit dual-core processor twice as fast! Navigation, fluidity and use of apps are significantly improved. The S4 chip is a SiP (Silicon in Package) which brings together the entire electronic system of the watch, including the processor.
16 GB of memory: the memory capacity is now 16 GB on the 2 models (GPS and GPS & Cellular), ie 8 GB more than on the GPS model of the Apple Watch 3. We can thus store more data and always 1000 music titles.
2nd generation optical cardio: Apple designs and manufactures its own optical sensors for its Apple Watch and these are known for their reliability. That of the Apple Watch 4 is a new improved version. In addition to this technical change, the watch now detects certain cardiac anomalies such as a temporarily weak pulse or arrhythmia and generates alerts. Data is also transmitted to the app Health and can be viewed in the form of a balance sheet.
Improved cellular connectivity: Also new, the back of the watch is made of ceramic and sapphire crystal, which facilitates the passage of radio waves and therefore offers better cellular reception.
Larger and 50% more powerful speaker: the Apple Watch 4 is equipped with a larger speaker and 1.5 times more powerful than the previous one. It offers significantly better audio quality, especially for making calls, using Siri or the new "walkie-talkie" function.
Microphone: to reduce echo during telephone calls, the microphone has been moved away from the speaker.
Other improvements: the watch is Bluetooth 5.0 compatible and its operating system switches to WatchOS 5 which includes all the latest news and fixes. It is equipped with a new, more efficient gyroscope and new accelerometer (8 times more measurements than before) for more complete and more precise measurements.
Improved sports functions
The Apple Watch 4 offers more data and displays to athletes. Improvements to the gyroscope, accelerometer and altimeter provide greater measurement accuracy and allow the addition of new types of training such as yoga and hiking. We can also benefit from new third-party applications for training in sports such as skiing, yoga (more than 180 workouts available), resistance workouts or for nutritional advice, follow the activity or challenge other athletes.
For running enthusiasts, the autonomy of the watch increases to 6 hours for outdoor outings. The watch shows the cadence. It displays the pace on the previous kilometer (handy to know if we are on time). Rhythm alerts have been integrated.
The Apple Watch 4 automatically detects the exercises and invites the user, by an alert, to start a recording without losing the data measured so far (retroactive credit). So you can forget to start a recording: the watch reminds you.
Finally, the Apple Watch can be paired with compatible devices (treadmill, stepper, elliptical, speed sensor, etc.)
New functions to encourage you to lead a healthy life
New apps have been designed to help you keep good habits or reach your goals: reminders to drink water, take a break or relax, advice to improve your sleep or better manage your diabetes, etc.).
Better activity monitoring
The Apple Watch 4 not only tracks your daily activity (calories expended, number of steps, distance, sleep analysis, etc.), it encourages you to move in various effective ways!
The watch analyzes 3 categories of movements and displays the progress for the day in the form of colored rings:
Move: the watch counts the calories expended during the day (cooking, garden, shopping, stairs, etc.)
Train me: the number of minutes of sustained activity is counted. The idea is to reach a given goal, knowing that 30 minutes a day significantly reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and weight gain.
Get up : the watch encourages you not to sit down to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, help lower blood pressure and restore energy. Ideally, get up at least a minute an hour and 12 times a day.
In addition to being able to share its activities with friends, the watch now allows you to launch challenges! To do this, simply invite a friend from your Apple Watch. A challenge lasts 7 days. The idea is to accumulate more points than the invited person and earn trophies that will appear on your iPhone. The watch sends alerts to indicate whether you are ahead or behind the competitor's score.
No change for autonomy: always 6 p.m.
The black point of the Apple Watch remains its autonomy which does not exceed 18 hours or even significantly less depending on the use made of the watch (telephony, music, GPS recording, etc.). This is a little, if not very fair, if you do sports except for short trips (less than 5-6 hours). That said, preserving 18 hours of battery life was already a feat for Apple in view of the improvements made to this watch. It is thanks to the optimization of its components, the screen in particular, that the apple brand has been able to reduce overall consumption and maintain identical autonomy.
Improved smart health connected functions
The Apple Watch already offers advanced smart health connected functions, such as 4G telephony (Cellular version), a Siri intelligent assistant that understands and responds to your oral requests, an mp3 music player to listen to songs stored on the watch or in streaming, contactless payment via Apple Pay. Apple is making some improvements, including:
A Walkie-Talkie application: it allows you to communicate with a person wearing an Apple Watch 4. Just press the watch screen to speak and release to listen.
Emergency calls: in the event of a prolonged fall, the watch calls an emergency number (see our description above).
An improved Siri assistant: Siri, the intelligent assistant who obeys the voice, no longer requires someone to say "Say Siri" to activate. Just raise your wrist and speak to make yourself heard. Siri also gets to know you and makes appropriate suggestions when and where.
Event management: the new Apple Watch allows you to manage your reservations (restaurant, etc.), a parking space (for example to extend the parking time via the PayByPhone app) and much more.
New bracelets and styles
Apple offers a new gold stainless steel finish with a matching Milanese bracelet (the other finishes are aluminum) and announces a new collection of bracelets that will be released this fall. All the straps remain compatible with older generations of Apple Watch.
Our opinion
The Apple Watch 4 represents a new advance for Apple and its versatile watch designed for everyone, whether one is sporty or not, provided however that they have an iPhone (the watch does not work with other brands of Smartphones ). It brings much more than a simple improvement to the Series 3. After 4G telephony, here are new functions specific to health. Apple has resolutely turned to the well-being of its users with a key medical certification for its electrocardiogram (ECG) and a fall detection and emergency call system which both aim to save lives. And that's not all: new clever functions allow you to motivate yourself to move, to challenge friends or to obtain suitable advice.
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But this watch also brings significant changes in terms of components: processor 2 times faster for more fluidity and responsiveness, larger and more precise screen, better quality of sound level and communications, increase in the number of measurements, new sensors , better measurement accuracy, improved design, all without affecting the autonomy of the watch.
If you have to choose between the Series 3 and the Series 4, apart from the price (€ 130 difference minimum), there is no photo: we would choose the Series 4 and especially the GPS + Cellular model for the 4G LTE chip and associated functions.
That said, with regard to health and well-being, these functions seem to us especially useful for the less athletic who need encouragement to move or who wish to be followed in their activity. Safety devices (fall detection) and the ECG, although potentially useful for everyone, are more suitable for the less young. However, there are probably not many of them buying an Apple Watch.
However, we chose the Series 4 rather than the Series 3 for technical improvements and the addition of sport and fitness features (enrichment of apps). We particularly appreciate the more harmonious design, the new screen size which makes it possible to display more shortcuts and more readable maps and photos, the fluidity and performance linked to the new processor, better measurement accuracy thanks to the new components.
Now, if the budget does not allow investment, the Apple Watch 3 remains a very good model.
Note that to use the Apple Watch 4, whether it is the GPS or GPS + Cellular model, you will need an iPhone. The Apple Watch Series 4 GPS + Cellular requires an iPhone 6 (or later) with iOS 12 (or later). The Apple Watch Series 4 GPS requires an iPhone 5s (or later) with iOS 12 (or later).
We liked
Health and well-being functions and monitoring including fall detection and ECG
Smoothness and responsiveness thanks to the processor 2 times faster
Improved and more precise components
30% larger screen
Improving sound quality and cellular connectivity
We'd have liked
More autonomy (6 p.m. only)
The possibility of using the Apple Watch with a phone other than the iPhone
Price and availability
The Apple Watch 4 is available since September 21, 2018 from € 429 (GPS model) and € 529 (GPS + Cellular model). The Apple Watch 3 has seen its price drop and is now available from € 299. Apple also offers more luxury "luxury" models (leather strap, etc.) at prices up to more than € 1,500.
Philippe Baudoin
Reproduction prohibited – Copyright © Sport Passion
Buy the Apple Watch Series 4
Trader
Price (from)
Baker
€ 749
Rakuten
€ 350
Buy the Apple Watch Series 3
Trader
Price (from)
Amazon
299 € 259
Baker
299 € 229
Commercial links. Non contractual prices. Please consult the merchant website.
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Photo credit: apple.com
AB SMART HEALTH REVIEW