Apple Watch Sequence 8
MSRP $399.00
“Highly effective, snug, and acquainted. The Apple Watch Sequence 8 is not a revolution in Apple’s portfolio, but it surely’s nonetheless the perfect smartwatch you should buy.”
Professionals
- Glossy, snug design
- Show is massive and beautiful
- Glorious well being options
- Quick cost speeds
- WatchOS 9 is healthier than ever
- Automobile crash detection
Cons
- Temperature sensors are restricted
- Virtually similar to the Sequence 7
In 2022, the Apple Watch is a identified amount — and some of the recognizable merchandise in Apple’s portfolio. That’s why if you have a look at the Apple Watch Sequence 8, you’ve a fairly good concept of what to anticipate. It’s certain to be straightforward to put on, have loads of well being options, and provide the perfect software program you could find on any smartwatch.
After carrying the Apple Watch Sequence 8 for some time, I can confidently say that every one of these issues are true. Carrying the Sequence 8 has jogged my memory numerous my Apple Watch Sequence 7 I’ve worn for the previous yr as a result of, effectively, the Sequence 8 is virtually similar to it. It’s similar to the iPhone 14 in that means. Apple didn’t reinvent the wheel with the Apple Watch Sequence 8, and that’s as a result of it’s already thus far forward of the curve that it doesn’t have to.
Name it “boring” or “bland” if you would like, however that doesn’t cease the Apple Watch Sequence 8 from being the perfect smartwatch cash can purchase.
Apple Watch Sequence 8 design
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What’s occurring with the Apple Watch Sequence 8’s design? Effectively, it appears like an Apple Watch. Apple’s had a really clear and targeted design strategy ever for the reason that authentic Apple Watch debuted in 2014, and whereas new fashions have improved issues over time, the final aesthetics haven’t modified very a lot. When you’ve a design basis that’s this good, it’s comprehensible why that’s.
Whether or not you get the Apple Watch Sequence 8 within the 41mm or 45mm trim (the model I’ve), each really feel improbable to put on all day lengthy — and even all through the evening should you’re keen on sleep monitoring. The watch sits comfortably on my wrist, the squircle form is one I personally love to have a look at, and a WR50 score supplies waterproofing for as much as 50 meters of submersion.
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Apple’s execution of the Apple Watch’s design can be as wonderful because it’s ever been. Whenever you scroll by way of menus or notifications, the Digital Crown feels great to work together with. Urgent the facet button beneath it provides nice tactility to swap apps or open Apple Pockets. Whenever you’re able to placed on a brand new watch band, Apple’s band system is among the many best to make use of.
Should you’ve by no means preferred how the Apple Watch appears, the Apple Watch Sequence 8 doesn’t do something to alter that opinion. However should you do like how the Apple Watch appears and feels, the Sequence 8 is extra of what you’re keen on.
Apple Watch Sequence 8 display
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The standout function of the Apple Watch Sequence 7 was its bigger display and slimmer bezels, enabling you to see extra content material on the tiny show than ever earlier than. The Apple Watch Sequence 8 recycles that very same design, and identical to final yr, it creates a really spectacular viewing expertise. Watch faces have room to shine, notifications creep out to the very edges of the display, and navigating apps/menus by no means feels restrictive — particularly on the bigger 45mm mannequin.
And it’s not simply the scale of the display that’s so spectacular. Colours pop with vibrancy, textual content is definitely readable, and the 1,000 nits of peak brightness guarantee you may simply learn the watch even in broad daylight.
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Whenever you’re not interacting with apps or notifications, the Apple Watch Sequence 8 has an always-on show to point out a dimmed model of your watch face always. The Apple Watch has had an always-on show for the reason that Sequence 5, so whereas it’s nothing new, it nonetheless stays considered one of my favourite Apple Watch options. With the ability to subtly look down and see the time, climate, and different information while not having to lift my wrist is enormously handy — and one of many greatest lacking options from the cheaper Apple Watch SE 2.
Apple Watch Sequence 8 well being and exercise
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The marketplace for well being/health trackers in 2022 is crowded, to say the least. From Fitbit, Garmin, Oura, Amazon Halo, Whoop, Amazfit, and extra, the myriad of choices to trace your day by day exercise usually feels overwhelming. Regardless of all of that, Apple has carried out an unimaginable job of constructing the Apple Watch’s well being and exercise suite really feel concurrently approachable, intuitive, and complete.
The crux of exercise monitoring on the Apple Watch Sequence 8 revolves round your exercise rings — extra particularly, your Transfer, Train, and Stand rings. Every one encourages you to burn energy, carry out X quantity of train minutes, and rise up and stand all through the day. It’s some of the recognizable exercise metrics round and has created one thing of a cultural phenomenon to “shut your rings” day by day.
New Exercise views in WatchOS 9 Apple
Should you’ve ever used an Apple Watch, you’ll know exactly why that’s. Aiming to shut your rings every day is enjoyable, difficult, and a transparent metric to work towards. It’s nonetheless not nice at selling restoration days, however third-party apps (like Gentler Streak) assist to fill that void.
To measure your ring progress all through the day, the Apple Watch Sequence 8 information an enormous array of well being metrics. It tracks your steps, distance, resting and lively power, and 24/7 coronary heart fee. There’s additionally an ECG app to get on-demand ECG readings, a SpO2 sensor for handbook and automated blood-oxygen degree monitoring, and sleep monitoring to measure the standard of your slumber at evening. You should use all of those options should you’d like, decide and select those you need, or ignore all of them.
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Whereas well being monitoring on Apple Watch Sequence 8 is almost similar to earlier fashions, Apple’s WatchOS 9 software program does add a couple of nifty additions. Some workout routines now present coronary heart fee zones in real-time, making it a lot simpler to gauge the depth of your exercises. Talking of exercises, WatchOS 9 means that you can create customized exercise routines which you can tweak with customized time, distance, calorie, and pacer objectives. And when it comes time to relaxation up, WatchOS 9 provides sleep phases to point out you ways a lot time you’ve spent in REM, Core, and Deep sleep (vital information that was beforehand lacking in WatchOS 8).
Apple Watch Sequence 8 temperature sensors
Joe Maring/Digital Traits
That mentioned, there may be one new {hardware} addition to the Apple Watch Sequence 8’s well being toolkit — a pair of temperature sensors. Utilizing one sensor on the again and one other beneath the show, the Apple Watch Sequence 8 tracks your wrist temperature and shows these readings within the Well being app in your iPhone. It’s worthwhile to allow sleep monitoring and put on the Sequence 8 for about 5 nights earlier than it establishes a baseline, however as soon as that’s carried out, you’ll see a brand new Wrist Temperature part within the Well being app.
Per Apple’s web site, wrist temperature adjustments may be associated to your “weight loss program and train, alcohol consumption, sleep atmosphere, or physiological elements akin to menstrual cycles and sickness.” It’s a neat metric to have, however I additionally don’t know what to do with it. I see my wrist temperature within the Well being app, however there’s no steering about what these numbers imply. My temperature was 1.05 levels increased on September 19 however 0.59 levels decrease on September 26. There’s most likely some that means to that, however I do not know what it’s. I’ll give Apple credit score for doing one thing out of the field with its temperature sensors (in contrast to the Galaxy Watch 5), however I’m far more keen on seeing what third-party apps do with this information.
Apple
There may be one other facet of the Sequence 8’s temperature sensors, but it surely’s not a function I’ve been capable of take a look at. After carrying the Apple Watch Sequence 8 for 5 nights, customers who benefit from Apple’s Cycle Monitoring app will see retrospective estimates for after they final ovulated — one thing probably very useful for household planning.
Apple Watch Sequence 8 automotive crash detection
Apple
There’s one other Apple Watch Sequence 8 function I haven’t been capable of take a look at, and it’s one I’m hoping that I by no means will. Just like the iPhone 14, the Apple Watch Sequence 8 provides automotive crash detection. Should you’re ever in a extreme accident, the Sequence 8 will ask should you’re OK with a immediate to name emergency companies. Should you don’t reply to that immediate inside 10 seconds, the decision is routinely positioned for you.
The function seems to work fairly effectively on this yr’s iPhones, so it’s secure to imagine it’s simply nearly as good on the Sequence 8. Whereas I’m crossing my fingers that I (and anybody else with a Sequence 8) by no means have to make use of automotive crash detection, it’s reassuring to know that it’s there — simply in case.
Apple Watch Sequence 8 WatchOS 9
Metropolitan watch face on Apple Watch Sequence 8 Joe Maring/Digital Traits
Whenever you purchase an Apple Watch Sequence 8, WatchOS 9 is the software program powering it proper out of the field. As talked about above, WatchOS 9 improves the well being/health expertise with new exercise metrics and higher sleep monitoring. However that’s not all.
In typical Apple trend, WatchOS 9 brings a couple of new watch faces to maintain your watch feeling recent. Metropolitan is my private favourite, which is an analog clock with customizable numerals and has loads of room for issues. There’s a captivating face known as Playtime, which is a digital face that turns the numbers into playful characters.
Should you’re an astronomy nut, the Lunar face has a full breakdown of the present lunar calendar. Apple additionally up to date the Astronomy watch face to raised make the most of the Sequence 8’s giant show, whereas the Modular, Modular Compact, and X-Massive faces can now be custom-made with full-color backgrounds.
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Together with trying out the brand new watch faces, I’ve additionally had numerous enjoyable enjoying with WatchOS 9’s new Compass app. By default, the Compass app reveals the present course and diploma you’re going through, together with a everlasting marker for north on the prime of the display. You may rotate the Digital Crown as much as get a extra detailed view of your elevation, incline, latitude, and longitude.
The place the Compass app will get actually attention-grabbing is with its Backtrack function. From the Compass app, faucet the footprint icon on the backside proper nook and begin strolling. The app retains a log of the place you go and reveals a visible define of your path in actual time. Whenever you’re carried out, faucet the pause icon after which Retrace Steps to comply with the trail again from which you got here. To make issues much more attention-grabbing, you may create customized waypoints alongside the best way that will help you bear in mind the place a lake, hill, or one other focal point is.
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I used the Compass app and the Backtrack function whereas out strolling round an area nature protect, and it truly proved fairly helpful. I took a special path than I usually do, received a bit rotated, and was ready to have a look at my start line and simply stroll again towards it. It’s not a software I’ll use day by day, but it surely was very handy to have.
There’s loads extra with WatchOS 9 to sink your tooth into. The Medicines app is a good way to trace the drugs and nutritional vitamins you usually take, customers with atrial fibrillation can now observe their AFib historical past, and the Calendar app lastly helps you to create occasions proper in your wrist.
Apple
WatchOS has all the time been far forward of wearable software program from the competitors, and whereas WatchOS 9 isn’t an overhaul of that have, it does make it higher in some very key methods. All of these items work fantastically on the Apple Watch Sequence 8, and when you’ve got an Apple Watch Sequence 4 or newer, you may expertise them proper now with a free software program replace — no new Sequence 8 required.
Apple Watch Sequence 8 battery and charging
Joe Maring/Digital Traits
The Apple Watch has all the time been a dependable one-day smartwatch, and with the Sequence 8, that’s no totally different. When you received’t discover the next-level endurance of the Apple Watch Extremely, there’s loads of energy right here for all-day use with out battery anxiousness.
Throughout my time carrying the Apple Watch Sequence 8, I’ve ended every day someplace within the 40% to 30% battery remaining vary. Someday noticed me placed on the Sequence 8 at about 6:00 am and discover myself at 9:15 pm with 48% battery nonetheless out there. That was after monitoring a 20-minute core exercise on Apple Health+, receiving fixed notifications all through the day, utilizing a few timers whereas cooking dinner, and having the always-on display enabled.
On a extra intensive day, I took the Sequence 8 off the charger at 9:00 a.m. and had one other day crammed with notifications and the always-on display. I additionally tracked a 1.8-mile outside stroll and used the Backtrack function on the Compass app for 40 minutes. I had 33% battery remaining at 2:03 a.m. and wakened at 8:00 a.m. with 23% remaining after monitoring my (a lot too brief) sleep.
Identical to final yr, the Apple Watch Sequence 8 helps quick charging speeds. It simply goes from 0 to over 80% in 45 minutes and reaches a full battery in round an hour. That’s quick sufficient to throw the Sequence 8 on the charger if you get up after an evening of sleep monitoring, prepare for the day forward, after which take it off the charger with a full battery able to go.
Apple Watch Sequence 8 value and availability
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The Apple Watch Sequence 8 is obtainable for buy now. It begins at $399 for the 41mm aluminum case with GPS solely. Stepping as much as the 45mm aluminum case with GPS will run you $429. If you wish to add LTE mobile connectivity, the value goes up by $100 to $429 and $529, respectively.
You may also get the Apple Watch Sequence 8 with a extra premium chrome steel case. Right here, the 41mm GPS/LTE mannequin prices $749, and the 45mm model is $799.
The Apple Watch Sequence 8 is the smartwatch to beat
Joe Maring/Digital Traits
There’s nothing stunning or surprising concerning the Apple Watch Sequence 8. It does the entire Apple Watch belongings you anticipate in 2022, with some added niceties to make it higher than ever.
Just like the iPhone 14 and iPhone 13 comparability, there’s no have to improve to the Apple Watch Sequence 8 if you have already got a Sequence 7. The chipset is nearly similar, the display and design are the identical, and also you’ll get the identical WatchOS 9 software program expertise. However should you’re coming from an Apple Watch Sequence 6 or older, I believe there’s sufficient right here to justify an improve. The big show is a pleasure to have a look at and work together with, quick charging could be a lifesaver, and the temperature sensors and automotive crash detection — whereas not instantly helpful for everybody — are very nice to have. And also you get all of that on the similar $399 value Apple’s been charging for Apple Watches for the previous couple of years.
The Apple Watch Sequence 8 might not be a revolutionary chapter within the Apple Watch story, however as one other entry within the household, it’s a remarkably good one. You probably have an iPhone, need a smartwatch, and want extra performance than what the Apple Watch SE supplies, the Apple Watch Sequence 8 is our new go-to advice. Identical to the Sequence 7, it truly is that good.
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