Apple Watch Series 6 & Apple Watch SE Hands-On! By MacRumors

Our Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE have arrived and in this video we're going to unbox them and get my first impressions of each new smartwatch from Apple. Before we get started, be sure to subscribe and hit the bell to get notifications whenever we share a video. Unboxing the Apple Watch Series 6 and SE is going to feel just like the last few Apple Watch releases. Whatever strap you ordered alongside the watch will come in its own separate box but bundled together with your new smartwatch. There's also going to be some paperwork and a charging cable inside of the Apple Watch box. The only interesting thing to note here is that you do not get a wall adapter.

Apple actually mentioned this during the keynote in its environmental section of the Series 6 announcement. The SE also does not have a wall adapter included inside of the box. This year, the Series 6 comes in a few more colorways that really look cool like blue, Product Red, and even an updated gold color, but unfortunately the only watch that I was able to order with a good chance of arriving on time was this plain old silver model. But we do have a blue one coming soon. Go ahead and let us know in the comments down below if you want to see a hands-on with that blue model, but really the only difference here is just the color.

Apple also released a few new watch bands like the Braided Loop and the Solo Loop, which are designed to just kind of click into the watch and have no other clasps or buckles present. It's a simple, clean-looking band. We have the Solo Loop here, which is some sort of rubber material, but it feels different than the typical Sport Band material. It's not as hard. It's very soft and smooth if that makes any sense at all.

When ordering a Braided lLoop or Solo Loop, you will need to know the size of your wrist, and I used the guide on Apple's website while ordering, and you just kind of cut it out and you put it on your wrist and it'll tell you what number you are, and I was told to order a size 10. I'm pretty happy to report that the size that Apple told me to order actually works out really well. It's on my wrist right now and it fits perfectly. If you're kind of in between sizes, I would recommend going with the smaller size because you can expand into this as opposed to having it loose and then it's just always going to be loose. You don't want that, so go with the smaller size.

If you're between a 10 and 11, for example, just go with the 10 like i did and it should fit perfectly. As far as the Series 6 goes, it's going to look a lot like a Series 5 or even the new SE. In fact, it's going to look like any other watch release since Apple updated its display size. The main change comes with the internals on the Series 6, which is rocking a new S6 processor based off the A13 Bionic chip that's found in the iPhone 11. It does feel noticeably faster.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm actually pretty surprised by how much faster it feels. Now, I think they shortened down the animations a little bit, so maybe it's just for when i'm opening and closing apps, maybe that's why it feels a little bit faster but to me. There is a difference between the Series 6 and Series 5, at least in terms of speed during everyday use. The always-on display has apparently been updated as well to be 2.5 times brighter to help when outdoors, but in my limited testing I can't really tell a difference. Another change is this always-on display is now capable of using Control Center and checking notifications while your wrist is down, and you don't have to raise to wake in order to access those functions.

There's also an always-on altimeter to give you a more accurate readout of your elevation during those long or intense hikes, but the main star of the show is this new blood oxygen monitoring feature. This feature measures the oxygen saturation of the user's blood by using four clusters of green, red, and infrared LEDs, along with the four photodiodes on the back crystal of the Apple Watch to measure light reflected back from blood to determine its color. Bright red blood has more oxygen, while darker red blood has less. An Apple-designed algorithm reads the blood oxygen data collected by the watch and provides a blood oxygen level measurement. The Series 6 is designed to measure oxygen levels between 70 to 100 percent.

You can check your blood at any time just by opening up the Blood Oxygen app and getting a reading, or you can have it periodically read in the background, especially while you're sleeping. That might be a good idea to kind of have that going on if you're concerned about your blood oxygen level. Now my first instinct is if you're going to ask me whether you should go from a Series 5 to a Series 6 and you want it to be a big upgrade, you're going to be disappointed. It's not going to feel like a big upgrade. Unless you want that always-on altimeter, the blood oxygen level, or just a new color, it's not going to feel that different to you if you have a Series 4.

I think getting the always-on display is kind of a big feature, and especially if you really want the other things that I just mentioned and a new color, then it could be a good upgrade. Anything from Series 3 and older, and you're thinking about getting a new watch, definitely get this one. The Apple Watch Series 6 starts at $399 and is available now, but as I mentioned earlier, this is not the only new watch to be released today from Apple, as the company also released the new Apple Watch SE, which is a low-cost option that looks and feels just like a Series 6 but without some of the fancier features. We will be doing a full comprehensive review on what you do and do not get when it comes to the SE and the Series 6, but just expect to not have the always-on display, ECG, or blood oxygen monitoring with the SE. If those three features are not a big deal, and I know I just said earlier if you have a series 3 or older you should go to the Series 6, but if you just want to save some money and you want still a pretty good upgrade, the Apple Watch SE starts at $279 and it's definitely a really good deal.

It's gonna feel a lot faster than the Series 3 or anything older than that. You're gonna get that updated modern bigger watch display which is always nice, and so yeah, that's a really good option if you don't need the latest and greatest with the Series 6. But of course, I would love to know your thoughts in the comments down below. Did you pick up a Series 6 or Watch SE? Please let me know which one and how you're liking them so far and also which color, because i'm kind of curious as to which new colors people might have gone with. Be sure to subscribe to the channel so you don't miss more videos, and of course thanks so much for watching.

This has been Dan with MacRumors and I hope to see you around in the next video.

Source : MacRumors