1 Cool Thing: Apple Watch Series 6 By PCMag

- Hi everybody, this is Sascha Segan from PCMag. com here with One Cool Thing. And today's cool thing is the Apple Watch Series six and here to talk to me about the watch, we have Angela Moscaritolo, a health and fitness reviewer. And Angela, is there a lot of new stuff in this watch? Is there a lot to talk about in terms of changes? - Yeah, there are a few changes, a few big changes. Number one, the biggest thing I will say, so I'll show you the watch right here. Let me take it off so you can see.

I have the new blue color one, it also comes in a red, a product red and every purchase from the product red model, part of the proceeds goes towards HIV and AIDS programs. - That usual product red thing, yeah. - Yeah, exactly, but I don't think that we've seen an Apple Watch in product red before, so it's kind of cool that they have it now. So yeah, I have the blue model with the new stretchy band. This is called the Braided Solo Loop.

As you'll see, it has no class or buckle. This is an option that you can... If you have the Series five and you can get this band for that as well. But, so the big change in the Series six is the SpO2 sensor, which is blood oxygen saturation reading. And we talked about this when we got the Samsung Galaxy Watch three in, 'cause it also has a SpO2 sensor.

And basically this will tell you the oxygen saturation level of your blood. it's a pretty important new feature in light of COVID-19. And what I like about it on the Series six is that you can take an SpO2 reading at any time you want in 15 seconds. And it's also measuring it in the background periodically. So what it does is it like shines red, an infrared light into your skin and measures the color of your blood.

So bright red blood is more saturated and dark red blood is less so. And what we know is that an SpO2 level of around 95 to 100% is normal. So when I first took my reading with the Series six, it said I had a 99% saturate, blood saturation level. So I thought that was pretty good. Then I went on a three mile run and it said I had 100%.

So I was pretty happy about that. But if you get anything below a 90, then that's indication that you might want to see a doctor or if you're feeling sick, maybe even go to the ER. So that's a big thing that we have. - And now, I've heard some concerns about the accuracy of this SpO2 sensor and about different SpO2 sensors giving different kinds of readings. Have you been able to get any kind of a beat on that? - No, not really.

To me, I haven't really been able to compare it to any others. I will say compared to the one on the Fitbit sense, it is a lot easier to take a reading on the Series six because on the Fitbit sense, which is, this is another key feature that, the new Fitbit sense which just came out. It only does it at night and you need a specific watch face. So what I will say is it is a lot easier on the Apple Watch to take or reading. And as far as the accuracy I'll have to look into that a little bit more.

- Okay so, blood oxygen level, what else do we have in terms of new features? - Yes, so that was a big one. The other ones that I won't mention are a processor bump, basically 20% faster, and that has allowed Apple to improve the brightness of the screen when your wrist is down. So if you're just taking a walk in you're outside and you look down at your watch instead of bringing it to your face, you'll be able to see the screen a little bit better. The other feature is an always on altimeter, for realtime elevation. And you can put your elevation as a complication on the watch face So you can see it change in real time, which has been kind of interesting for me because I live by the beach.

And, I saw that like for where I live, it's like 35 feet above sea level, but when I go down to the beach, like it is even below, like in certain areas. So below sea level according to the Series six. But-- - Well, yeah, if you're below the high tide line, you're below sea level. - Yes, so it's been interesting to see that. And then other things that you'll get is the watchOS seven and you don't need the Series six to get watchOS seven.

It's available on, I think the three, the four, the five and the new lower cost watch SE. But there are so many cool features that are available as part of, watch watchOS seven, including the hand-washing countdown timer, which is really, really great. In light of COVID-19 and every time I wash my hands now, I cannot like live without that hand-washing timer. It's like so funny to me, it's like when we first started using GPSs and now we like rely on them to get everywhere for navigation. Now I like rely on the hand-washing countdown timer, every time I wash my hands and I, when I don't have the Apple Watch on I'm like, "No, how am I going to know It's been 20 seconds?" (Angela laughs) But yes, and then as part of watchOS seven, you also get the sleep tracking, which is a new feature to the Apple Watch this year.

I will say battery life is not that much better. The Apple Watch has not had great battery life ever, but, so Apple estimates it the same 18 hour battery life as the Series five. In my testing though, I actually got more than Apple's estimate. I did have the, Do Not Disturb on most of the time, but even with the Always On Display on with Do Not Disturb, I got like 25 and a half hours. And then I still had like more than 10%.

So it... The battery life isn't great but I will say in my testing it's a little bit better than Apple's estimates, which is pretty good. And that's really it. I mean, not too many other major changes. - Well there's one more thing they announced, which I'm curious about your thoughts on.

Which is this what everybody's thinking of is the Peloton killer service. - Yes. - Ah, Fitness plus. - Fitness plus, yes. - And as the fitness-bit person, what do you think of that? Do you think it is a Peloton killer? - We'll have to see, so they're not going to release it until, they said before the end of the year.

So I have not been able to try it yet, but, apparently they're going to launch it with like 10 big type of exercises. Most of them are gonna be like floor based exercises, like, yoga. And, they are also gonna have some like running ones and cycling workouts on there and that's why people are saying with the Peloton, and that it might be able to replace you're, you know, replace like, be an alternative to Peloton. You can get like a regular, cycling, an indoor cycling bike and then just hook the fitness plus up. And then basically it'll give you a Peloton like experience without the Peloton price.

Now it does seem that fitness plus is reasonably priced given... but I will say though, you do need also an Apple Watch to use it and you need either an iPhone or an iPad. So if you have those things then it's only like I think $10 a month, but if you don't have those things, then you're going to need to get those things to use it. So, if you're already in the Apple ecosystem, then it is a viable option for you. If not, it's going to be an investment to get on it, but we'll see.

I mean, they say that they're gonna have like world-class trainers and tons of classes. And, you know, everybody's getting into the fitness thing right now because everybody's at home and you know, even all these connected (mumbles), these machines, Peloton, etcetera, they're all flying off the shelves. And you know ,you can't, even get one right now because the wait times are just so long. So it's a good idea to be able to maybe get like a cheaper bike and use fitness plus with it. We'll see.

We'll see. So-- - So if you-- - It's exciting, Apple's getting into this right now. - If you're fitness oriented and you're into an Apple Watch, so should you get this seven? Should you get the SE? There's another one still out there, right? I think they're still selling another model, right? - They're still selling the Series three and then there's also what they announced alongside the Series six. - Sorry I mean the six It's OS seven, watch six. - Yes, yes so they announced the series... The watch SE which is like a lower cost Apple Watch.

And so if you don't care about the SpO2 readings, then you might be fine with the watch SE. The main things that it lacks that you will get on the Series six is the Always On Display, SpO2 sensor and ECG readings. For your, basically, heart rhythm. But it does have some really nice health and safety features that are available on the Series six including fall detection, high and low heart rate notifications. You get emergency SOS and high decibel warnings, and you gonna get all of the same fitness tracking features.

So, the SE is a good option. So the Series six starts at $399, or $100 more if you want the GPS and cellular version. The watch SE, you can get the GPS and cellular version of that one for $329. And if you want the GPS only model, that one starts at $279. So I will say that one is a pretty good option if you don't want or think that you need all of these advanced health metrics or the Always On Display.

- And so now I'm kind of putting together a... Before we conclude, I wanna put together sort of a fitness package in my head. And so you see, so there's the $279 watch SE and then you would pair that with the 329 base iPad. And how much is the basic exercise bike cost? - You can probably get one for a couple hundred for really, really like basic. - So we're a little under $1000 for this package, compared to what for Peloton? - Over $2000.

- So there we go. - Plus with Peloton... Well, you'll also need the fitness plus membership, which is $10.99 a month. but the Peloton membership is $39 a month. So, yeah, you're gonna be able to do that for cheaper here.

- Yeah, so that is the, that is the Apple Watch Series six. What did you rate it and does it have an editor's choice? - Yes, it's an editor's choice 4.5 stars. It's a great watch, it really is. And I'm still waiting to get the SE, so, we'll see what I rate that. I have not received that yet, so, it'll be determined on the rating for the SP, but it does seem very promising.

- Okay, terrific. So that's the Apple Watch Series six. Thank you all for watching. This has been One Cool Thing with PCMag. com.

Thank you Angela, please like and subscribe, and we'll be bringing you more reviews and cool things throughout the year.

Source : PCMag