The táo khuyết Watch Series 5 has been eclipsed by the Series 6, but it’s still packed with useful features & was once the best smartwatch you could buy.
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The táo khuyết Watch Series 5 was once our favorite smartwatch. It introduced an always-on display and compass to the company"s flagship wearable.
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The táo bị cắn Watch Series 5 was the first hãng apple Watch to sport an always-on display — và what a difference it made. In previous years, the táo bị cắn dở Watch"s face remained dark until you raised your wrist. Now when you glance down at your wrist, no matter what position it"s in, you can see the time, and whatever other information you"ve configured.
Size: 44mm / 40mmDisplay: 977 sq milimet / 759 sq mmThickness: 10.7mmProcessor: 64-bit dual-core S5 processorCapacity: 32GBDisplay: LTPO OLED Always-On Retina display with Force Touch, 1000 nits brightnessBluetooth: 5.0WiFi: 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz
It sounds a bit silly, that the hãng apple Watch can now tell you the time all the time, but it"s updates lượt thích this that have cemented the táo khuyết Watch"s leading position in our ranking of the best smartwatches right now.
Of course, the new apple Watch Series 6 now holds that title, with the hãng apple Watch SE not far behind in features (check out ourApple Watch 6 vs. Táo Watch 5comparison for more on that.) The Series 6 builds on the Series 5"s success with a brighter always-on display & blood oxygen monitoring.
Elsewhere, its standout features include the heart health diagnostic tools that we found essential in our táo bị cắn Watch Series 4 reviews —including the ECG app. It also benefits from the latest watchOS 7 software update, which introduces sleep tracking and new watch faces.
Read on for our full táo Watch Series 5 review. Và if you decide lớn pick one up for yourself, be sure to check out our complete táo khuyết Watch Guide for getting the most out of your smartwatch.
If you vì have your eye on an táo apple Watch, it might be worth waiting, as hãng apple has announced the release of the apple Watch Series 7. Apple has promised their latest watch will be their best yet, with a brighter screen, thinner display borders và faster charging.
Apple Watch Series 5: Price và availability
The Series 5 is no longer available khổng lồ buy new. Instead, the Series 6 starts at $399 (£399) for the smaller aluminum 40-millimeter mã sản phẩm with GPS. For an extra $100, you can splurge on a cellular-enabled watch (which also requires a monthly data plan from your wireless carrier for an additional cost). The larger 44-mm watch costs $429 (£429), and $520 (£520) with LTE.
Be sure to kiểm tra out our táo Watch deals page khổng lồ see the latest discounts on Apple"s smartwatches, as well as the best táo bị cắn Watch bands khổng lồ find the right straps for you.
MORE: Smartwatch buying guide
Apple Watch Series 5 review: Display
I’ve used almost every other smartwatch on the market, and most of them have always-on displays. But that just means you can always see the time — that’s it. Apple’s version of an always-on display is a little extra.
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The Series 5 doesn’t simply show you what time it is. When inactive, the display shows you a dimmer version of all the information on your watch face. I usually use the Infograph Modular watch face, which has six complications along with the time, so I have access to lớn my most-used apps (Workout and Messages) as well as bits of information like the weather and battery percentage. I can still see all of that when the display dims.
MORE: Your guide to lớn the best fitness trackers
The difference is even more stark with brighter watch faces lượt thích Meridian, which has an almost entirely white background that dims to black when you lower your wrist.
The display’s ambient light sensor can detect how bright your environment is & adjust itself accordingly, so the display is never too bright or too dark.
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When you’re using an app, the always-on display dims và blurs the background to lớn show you the time when it’s inactive. This applies to all but the Workout app, which still displays all of your metrics even when you’re not actively looking at the watch.
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The only difference is the time elapsed, which refreshes every second instead of counting milliseconds. This feature is incredibly useful while running, because I no longer have to fully raise my wrist khổng lồ see my pace or the time. Even in bright morning daylight, I had no problem seeing my stats on the darkened display.
To save battery, you can turn the always-on part off (just mở cửa the watch’s Settings app và toggle it off under Display & Brightness).
Apple Watch Series 5 review: Compass
I think I might have actually yawned when táo khuyết announced that one of the headlining features in the táo bị cắn Watch Series 5 is a built-in compass.
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It just didn’t thrill me the way the FDA-cleared ECG app did when the Series 4 was announced last year. But I realized just how useful the Compass ứng dụng could be when I wore the watch on a 2-mile hike through Runyon Canyon. I’m a new transplant to Los Angeles, where dozens of urban hiking trails are just a few miles from my doorstep. A compass isn’t really necessary on these trails, because I can usually see L.A. Landmarks like the Hollywood sign to orient myself. If I can see Griffith Observatory to the east and the ocean khổng lồ the west, I’m set.
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But Compass isn’t the only app that takes advantage of the watch’s built-in magnetometer. Táo is opening the Compass API khổng lồ third-party apps, and is also using it in its own Maps ứng dụng to enable a feature that shows you which direction you’re facing. This was incredibly useful after I parked at the base of Runyon Canyon Park & had lớn figure out which trail khổng lồ take. Maps consistently showed me which trail I was on and how far into the park I was, which helped me realize when I needed lớn cut the hike short & head back.
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I can see this feature being even more essential when camping or hiking in more remote areas. Thinking back to a time I got lost hiking in Sedona as a teen in the pre-smartphone area, this feature would’ve been a life-saver. (Not literally for me — I clearly survived —but for someone else.)
It should be noted that certain watch bands will interfere with the Series 5’s built-in magnetometer. Basically, any band with a magnet in it will throw off the compass’s ability to perform, so if you’re heading out for an adventure, leave the Milanese Loop or Modern Buckle at home.
Apple Watch Series 5 review: Battery life
I usually wear my táo bị cắn dở Watch from the time I wake up lớn work out in the morning ‘til the time I take it off to lớn go to lớn bed — usually around 16 hours a day. Older watches, particularly the Series 3 & Series 4, could last much longer than that, but I never wore them to lớn track my sleep & so I charged them every night.
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The táo bị cắn dở Watch Series 5’s always-on display doesn’t seem to be much of a battery drain — at least not as much as the Series 3’s cellular connectivity was when that watch debuted. After a full 14-hour day of putting the new watch through rigorous testing, which included installing apps, testing out Maps & Compass, logging my cycle, asking Siri various questions, and tracking a 3.75-mile run and a 2-mile hike as separate workouts, I was down to lớn 10 percent. Và I almost never use my watch that intensively.
MORE: Best cheap fitness trackers
I’ve resigned myself to charging my táo Watch daily. I wish I could squeak by on two days, just in case I forget lớn put it on its charging stand, but now it’s become a routine: plug in my iPhone lớn charge và put the watch on its magnetic charging cable just before bed.
Rival smartwatches from Samsung, Fitbit & Garmin offer multi-day battery life, but those watches also aren’t as fully featured as the Series 5. For now, it’s still a trade-off.
Apple Watch Series 5 review: Design
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The táo bị cắn Watch hasn’t seen a major redesign in, well, ever. The Series 5 looks identical to the Series 4 in every single way.
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Apple introduced a new titanium finish, which is lightweight to slip on & looks stylish in person, & brought back the trắng ceramic edition, which is a premium watch with a price tag ($1,299) to match.
The classic aluminum version is still the one most people will buy. & Apple is now allowing you khổng lồ customize the watch finish và band before you buy, instead of having to lớn take whatever comes in the box & then picking out the strap you actually want.
Apple Watch Series 5 review: watchOS 6
You didn"t need a Series 5 to gain some of the best new táo bị cắn dở Watch features. Most of what I love about using the Series 5 is the, watchOS 6, which was available as an over-the-air tăng cấp for the Series 3 & 4, too.
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My favorite features included the Cycle Tracking app for logging period flow and symptoms (more on that in a minute), the Calculator app, which saves relationships with a built-in tip calculator, the Noise tiện ích for monitoring decibel levels & the launch of an independent Watch tiện ích Store. And that’s not even half of the improvements apple delivered in this release. There was a lot khổng lồ love about watchOS 6.
I’m not surprised that it took so long for a Calculator ứng dụng to arrive on the watch, given that the ipad tablet still doesn’t have a native version, but I might never use my iPhone’s calculator again. The watch app’s tip calculator is a god-send, particularly because you can adjust the percentage and calculate how much each person owes for a group dinner. If you have a few drinks và forget how to lớn math, the hãng apple Watch does the work for you.
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The Watch phầm mềm Store is perhaps the most obvious game-changer, because you no longer need lớn install watch apps from your iPhone. This means that ứng dụng developers don’t have to lớn create game ios apps first và then make watch extensions, which should make watch apps more useful và specific.
Apple Watch Series 5 review: Cycle Tracking
Apple isn’t reinventing the wheel with Cycle Tracking, but the fact that women can now track periods on the best smartwatch on the market, in addition lớn all of the other features that make it great, is a welcome change.
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I’ve used similar features from Fitbit (see our Fitbit Versa Review) và Garmin, and the functionality is the same. You self-report your periods to lớn start, & then the watches can start accurately predicting when the next one will begin. I’m still in the early stages of using the hãng apple Watch’s Cycle Tracking app, so I haven’t tested out its predictions or notifications, but I appreciate the cấp độ of detail I’m able khổng lồ enter when it comes lớn period flow, symptoms và spotting. You can also địa chỉ details about ovulation demo results, cervical mucus chất lượng and basal toàn thân temperature in the iPhone Health app, & allow Cycle Tracking to predict your fertile window if you want to use the ứng dụng to plan or prevent pregnancy.
To get started with period-tracking, you’ll need to input đầu vào your information in the quả táo Health app, including details lượt thích the first day of your last period, length of your cycle and typical period length. Then you can start logging your period in the Cycle Tracking tiện ích on the watch, and even showroom the tiện ích as a complication on the watch face for easier access. I plan to keep it as a complication during my period & then swapping it out for another ứng dụng in between. (Thankfully, the complication icon is subtle, if you’d rather the always-on display didn’t announce the app’s presence khổng lồ the world.)
After a Privacy International study showed that popular period-tracking apps might be leaking information about your personal health and sexual activity lớn companies like Facebook, Apple’s on-device, hands-off approach khổng lồ health data makes its version of this feature even more compelling.
Apple Watch Series 5 review: Verdict
Compared lớn past táo khuyết Watches, which delivered then-groundbreaking features like GPS và water-resistance (Series 2), cellular connectivity (Series 3) và medical-grade health features (Series 4), the Series 5 is an incremental upgrade. But táo khuyết set the bar for smartwatches almost impossibly high — even for itself. Rival smartwatches may have had always-on displays first, but they lag far behind the táo khuyết Watch in almost every other way.
Caitlin is a Senior editor for Gizmodo. She has also worked on Tom"s Guide, Macworld, PCWorld & the Las Vegas Review-Journal. When she"s not testing out the latest devices, you can find her running around the streets of Los Angeles, putting in morning miles or searching for the best tacos.
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