# Apple Watch Series 7 Is Amazing



## Metals

If you are familiar with smartwatches, skip this, nothing new here. If you are considering one, my take.

Needed another everyday banger to accompany my springdrive GS. Never owned a smartwatch. Never even looked at them in stores. Never touched or tried an Apple Watch (even though our office runs on OSX and iOS) or any other smartwatch brand. I was first looking at regular quartz models and some cheapie automatics, but didn't get anything.

On a total lark, said what the hell, let's try the latest Apple Watch. Sight unseen, looked online for the closest thing to small, black, cheap, nondescript. Ordered the Series 7 GPS 41mm midnight aluminum case with Nike black sport loop, cost US $399. Figured if I didn't like it, right back to the store it goes. Put in the Apple Store order using an iPad. Few hours later, it's ready for pickup. Had the s/o pick it up while she was out doing other junk.

Fast forward past unboxing, setup, pairing, updating, learning watch OS, using it. I've been _blown away_ by how great the Series 7 is.

First thing you notice, the 41mm is compact and the sport loop is super-comfortable. This miniature aluminum box with the S7 chip and OLED screen does everything you could ever ask of a watch.

Even if you ignore all the Apple Watch "app" functionality, the dial faces alone are impressive. Having scores of watch faces, and for each face being able to select and change at will three, four, even five or six separate complications for maps, messages, emails, phone calls, weather, temperature, altitude, health monitoring, battery reserve, and on and on. It's great.

If you travel, the watch faces are useful, in particular the GMT, Modular, Utility, and Count-Up. The GMT watchface is such a joy to use. Select the GMT face, spin the crown, pick a city, done in two seconds. Really like this over analog counterparts. Eating in the airport lounge? Flick over to Count-up face, finish dining, leave within the allotted time you gave yourself. A single flick gets you back to the GMT face and your prior settings. If you want to make a quick call, send a message, etc., just flick over to Modular or Utility where you put your "communications" complications including phone, text, email, and you can do it all right from your wrist, never have to pull out the iPhone from the carry-on computer case.

Also great -- Apple Pay on the Series 7. Works just like the Disney bracelets in Orlando. I love it, it works, and I had no idea just how much I'd like this feature. I hate fumbling around for cash and/or credit cards; for retailers with NFC terminals the Apple Watch is a joy (be sure to set your default credit card in the iPhone Watch app, makes using this feature super-fast). Need more to get on board with NFC.

Battery life is reasonable and Series 7 charges fast if you use the latest magnetic fast charger. One downside is if you're playing Captain Kirk and making phone calls with it, the battery burns fast. So that is a negative. Going to skip the fitness and other functionality, but it works great too. I don't use the reminders, I shut all those off, don't like the nagging, but at least you can get pinpoint control over them.

Had zero interest -- zero -- in anything smartwatch until recently. After using it at home and during travel, this watch completely changed my view. As long as you use an iPhone, for what I consider to be a very small price the Apple Watch cost/functionality is incredible. Currently, I don't see myself ever purchasing another "traditional" quartz or automatic.

I guess I'll keep the GS and wear it once in a while for old-time's sake. But the only watch release I'm interested in now is Series 8 and better battery life. And I think I'm really liking this business model which has users buying a brand new screen and silicon for a few hundred bucks, versus ship back the jeweled mechanical to the service center for two, three, even four times the price. Pretty sure I'm done with all that (though the s/o's wrist jewelry is another matter, ugh).


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## mcmikey

Yes it is a great piece of kit and I wore mine for 6 months straight. But in the end I got fed up with the bland slab-like design every time I looked down at my wrist and decided to go back to my regular watches. I still wear it occasionally, especially when exercising, but I found it too boring. It is an amazing piece and of kit though.


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## utzelu

The AW is probably the best smartwatch in the world. And it is very versatile, with the potential to become the only watch you will ever need. The battery life is the major downside and hopefully the tech will catch up on the future versions. The aesthetic is both a plus and a minus, as it is so versatile but at the same time lacks the details and depth we expect from traditional watches. Hopefully you will have the same enthusiastic about it in 6-12 months. I personally sold my AW5 this summer, after wearing it for 1 year, for no particular reason other than I wanted to wear my other watches more. But now I am looking to get the S7 in SS and hope to keep it for longer


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## BarracksSi

Metals said:


> Eating in the airport lounge? Flick over to Count-up face, finish dining, leave within the allotted time you gave yourself.


Okay, NOW this face makes total sense (though I'd rather have it as a count-down style, and would tap my wrist when the minutes hand hits the pip; but that's what timers are for already, too).


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## Metals

BarracksSi said:


> but that's what timers are for already, too).


Yes. I like Count-up because it literally is a two-button press, plus the big visual of the dial and orange minute hand/counter. It also gives you those white minute tick markers on the dial as it counts up. Super easy to use and see, love it.

The other alternative is putting the Apple countdown app/timer as a complication on the modular faces. That's a couple more presses, but that gives you the haptic and/or auditory alarm when times up.

You can even do both, simultaneously. Just a great watch.


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## BarracksSi

Speaking of "Series 7 is Amazing"...

Apple-centric blogger John Gruber interviewed app developer David Smith last November (listened to this just today) and they talked a lot about the Series 7. Smith says he took it on a camping trip as a test, and by minimizing its power consumption, figured it would last three days easy. He also wrote a custom app to run UK Ordnance Survey maps and GPS natively on the Watch.

Gruber's page for this episode: The Talk Show ✪: Ep. 329, With David Smith

Smith's blog post about the trip: Wearing an Apple Watch in Glencoe - David Smith, Independent iOS Developer

Apple Podcasts link: ‎The Talk Show With John Gruber: 329: ‘The Scotland Board of Tourism’, With David Smith on Apple Podcasts


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## Jonathan T

Is the AW 7 significantly better than the 6? I’ve got an SE version which suits me fine but curious if the 7 is a huge step up


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## jettech

Wife is wanting one, may need to get it. Sounds awesome.


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## Terry M.

Thank you for this review. I also had zero interest in a smart watch until recently. Looking hard at the Apple 7 series in Ti


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## Metals

jettech said:


> Wife is wanting one, may need to get it. Sounds awesome.


As long as she uses an iPhone, it's definitely worth it, from stealth notifications, to being able to actually do a short call with it, all the watch faces and complications, the health and emergency features, and an impressive fitness tracking set. If no iPhone, it's a harder call, because phone and watch fit like hand and glove. You lose alot of functionality without iPhone.


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## STEELINOX

Terry M. said:


> Thank you for this review. I also had zero interest in a smart watch until recently. Looking hard at the Apple 7 series in Ti


I did get the Ti 45 and its fantastic ~ !


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## Terry M.

First full day with the Apple Watch. We‘ll see how long battery life is. I’ve been awake and wearing for 3 hours and at 92%


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## STEELINOX

Terry M. said:


> First full day with the Apple Watch. We‘ll see how long battery life is. I’ve been awake and wearing for 3 hours and at 92%


Charge once in the am and one x in the pm; on avg. One or two calls a day and same for messaging with no othe app use…


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## BarracksSi

Terry M. said:


> First full day with the Apple Watch. We‘ll see how long battery life is. I’ve been awake and wearing for 3 hours and at 92%


For charging, I've decided to put the charger where I sit on my butt the most — on my desk next to my MB Pro. All my calls and text come through the computer anyway, and the watch is always charged up when I leave the house and when I wear it overnight (it's a pretty good alarm to wake me up in the morning).


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## Micky66

Jonathan T said:


> Is the AW 7 significantly better than the 6? I’ve got an SE version which suits me fine but curious if the 7 is a huge step up


I went from the Series 3 to the series 7. Not a huge leap but is somehow slicker. I can't describe it well, but the 7 is subtly better. My only reason for an upgrade was because I was having to charge my series 3 twice or three times a day. Otherwise, keep what you have till the battery dies.


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## jlow28

Went from a Series 2 to 7. Lol It’s a fantastic watch now to wear at work. 










Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


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## oztech

I also went from a series 2 to a 7 and what an improvement it now gets as much wrist time as my Speedmaster and Explorer the rest lay dormant.


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## Dusty78

I work in medicine and have the series 6 44mm in the black stainless. I love being able to just look at my wrist for incoming messages when I am doing a procedure or what not.


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## Jonathan T

Series 7 does look amazing.


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## watchcrank_tx

Jonathan T said:


> Is the AW 7 significantly better than the 6? I’ve got an SE version which suits me fine but curious if the 7 is a huge step up


I came from the small size S6, and the same size S7 was visibly easier to read, but not by a ton. Had I not opted to go up one size - or had I already had the large size 6 - I likely would have waited for the Series 8.

Coming from the small size, both the display and the battery life of the large size Series 7 were terrific upgrades.


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## Jonathan T

watchcrank_tx said:


> I came from the small size S6, and the same size S7 was visibly easier to read, but not by a ton. Had I not opted to go up one size - or had I already had the large size 6 - I likely would have waited for the Series 8.
> 
> Coming from the small size, both the display and the battery life of the large size Series 7 were terrific upgrades.


I’m always attracted to better battery life. I swear I step away from my AW and when i come back to it it’s lost a few % of juice in the time I was away!


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## watchcrank_tx

Of note, I rarely use my AW for calls, and I never use it for calls without the phone. Although two of the three I've owned (including my current Ti "Edition" (what a silly name)) have had cellular radios, I've never activated service for them. I got into the AW to display info from a proprietary medical monitor that talks to the Iphone but not directly to the AW. It's always seemed pointless to have mobile service on the watch when I always keep the phone nearby (also probably one reason I rarely take calls on the watch).

It's often said that calls are terrible for AW battery life, but I don't know if that applies to calls made through the Iphone as much as to calls made directly from an AW to the mobile phone network. Mentioning this since either way, it's a likely contributor to the battery life I see.


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## ronalddheld

I would think a BT call would use less power than a cellular call, but both would vary with signal strength.


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## BarracksSi

ronalddheld said:


> I would think a BT call would use less power than a cellular call, but both would vary with signal strength.


Bluetooth uses so much less power than cellular (especially the low-energy BT protocol they use now) that it's not even close.

I could probably switch back to a non-cellular AW and do just fine, but once MrsBS finishes her studies and we can go on adventure walks again, it'll be nice to leave the phone at home like before. Took a walk before breakfast this morning myself and used my AW to play a couple podcasts through some earbuds.


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## Pantherburn

BarracksSi said:


> Bluetooth uses so much less power than cellular (especially the low-energy BT protocol they use now) that it's not even close.
> 
> I could probably switch back to a non-cellular AW and do just fine, but once MrsBS finishes her studies and we can go on adventure walks again, it'll be nice to leave the phone at home like before. Took a walk before breakfast this morning myself and used my AW to play a couple podcasts through some earbuds.


Could you please comment on battery life when bluetooth to earbuds? I walk and bike and like to stream music and podcasts to my airpod pros. I’ve a mount on my bikes for my iPhone, but it sucks having my iPhone slamming around in the front pocket of my shorts when walking briskly or periodic jog.


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## BarracksSi

Pantherburn said:


> Could you please comment on battery life when bluetooth to earbuds? I walk and bike and like to stream music and podcasts to my airpod pros. I’ve a mount on my bikes for my iPhone, but it sucks having my iPhone slamming around in the front pocket of my shorts when walking briskly or periodic jog.


I haven't noticed enough drain to worry about it. Either that, or I haven't gone out with just the watch and earbuds for a long enough duration.


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## oztech

Mine seems to last the day and if it at least last as long as my phone I am ok with it.


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## olske59

Metals said:


> Battery life is reasonable and Series 7 charges fast if you use the latest magnetic fast charger. One downside is if you're playing Captain Kirk and making phone calls with it, the battery burns fast. So that is a negative. Going to skip the


Battery life of the Apple WAtch is terrible and until there is a revolution in battery technology, many people (like me) will refuse to even try one. I should be able to go away for a weekend (or a week?) and not have to take along a charger to recharge it every night. Maybe in ten years or so...


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## watchcrank_tx

From your signature, it seems you own some very nice watches. If you're unwilling to dual-wrist, I'd guess it would take a lot more than a revolution in battery life to make you give them up for a smart watch.

If you are willing to dual wrist, I'll say that mine lasts through two days and a night between if I really need it to, but it also fully charges on the USB-C charger in the time it takes for a shower, shave, etc. On the scale of inconveniences, finding a convenient time to charge the AW every day or two ranks low enough to be background noise.

That said, the reason I have the AW is as an interface to medical equipment, and carrying that medical gear around (some of it plugged into me) sort of desensatizes me to complaints about chargers and gear-packing in general. The battery life of the AW7 is pretty nifty though.


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## BarracksSi

Pantherburn said:


> Could you please comment on battery life when bluetooth to earbuds? I walk and bike and like to stream music and podcasts to my airpod pros. I’ve a mount on my bikes for my iPhone, but it sucks having my iPhone slamming around in the front pocket of my shorts when walking briskly or periodic jog.


Hey @Pantherburn —

Today, I used my Series 4 LTE to listen to a podcast (probably streaming) via my AirPods Pro while tracking a walking workout. It went from 80% to 20% after two hours (1:50 walk), then I kept playing it on a train ride for another half hour, where it reached 10% when I got off. Keep in mind that my watch is well over three years old and worn almost daily.

You can save battery by downloading audio to the watch itself so it doesn’t have to use cellular (a non-LTE AW is fine like this, too).

I don’t know how much of the AirPods battery I used, though. I can check next time.


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## BarracksSi

Follow up —

Using only Bluetooth, no WiFi or LTE, on the same route doing the same thing, the watch’s battery went from 90% to 50% during the walk, and finished at 35% at the end of the train ride.

The AirPod Pros went from probably 100% to 75% over the same three hours.


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## watchcrank_tx

I started charging my large-sized Series 7 a few minutes ago when it dropped to 13% after 47 hours. As mentioned before, I may be a light user of battery, keeping always-on off, not using cellular, not streaming music through it, etc.


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## Pantherburn

Thanks y’all! Good intel on battery life and length of charging cycle (pretty quick) which is an important consideration as well.

Regards,


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## Professor_Belvedere

I had the original Apple Watch. Although I liked it, I stopped wearing smart watches for a few years. I started reconsidering my my "freedom" from my smart watch when Peloton began supporting heart rate monitoring through the Apple Watch. I ended up buying an Apple Watch 7 (Aluminum) and am very surprised with it. In addition to exercise, I wear it when traveling for awesome, unobtrusive walking and driving directions. When I had COVID, it was nice to be able to see my oxygen saturation measurements at a glance. All around great watch. Battery life is much improved over the original AW, but the biggest benefit if the quick "top off" charge. On USB-C, I love that I can set it on the charger for 45 minutes or an hour in the morning or 20 minutes in the evening getting ready for bed and never fear a dead watch.

I'm happy with mine, but it's not a full time replacement for a nice automatic. It's just a great supplement for bio-metric data, exercising, and travel.


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## Dwaine

I went to the Apple store yesterday for a battery replacement for my MacBook Pro and left with a black stainless Apple 7. Put it on my wrist at 6 am this morning and still have 34% battery life left. I'm very pleased.... an Uber app would be nice!!


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