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While I already posted the new Apple Watch Series 6 features earlier this week, I thought I’d share some quick facts from Friday’s first run for you. As well as some initial thoughts on the handful of other new features the Series 6 has. This includes VO2Max, SpO2, the altimeter, and display brightness. Plus, of course, that new optical heart rate sensor.
First of all, as a quick reminder, here is the main fitness-focused skinny on what’s new for the Apple Watch Series 6:
– Added SpO2 blood oxygen sensor / measurements
– Optical sensor package completely changed
– Quickest response barometric altimeter for watch faces
– 2.5x increase in brightness of the screen in standby mode
– VO2Max alerts will arrive in late 2020 via WatchOS7 (all Apple Watches Series 3 onwards get this)
– Reduced VO2Max detection floor for lower VO2Max levels
– Sleep tracking added via WatchOS7 (all Apple Series 3 watches get this)
– Additional sports added via WatchOS7 (all Apple Series 3 watches get this)
– Increased processor speed by 20%
In the grand scheme of things, it basically comes down to an SpO2 sensor and a new optical heart rate sensor package. While the barometric altimeter improvements may come in handy for some, Apple has long had a barometric altimeter on the Apple Watch. This just makes it quicker to respond on the watch face.
So I wanted to dig into all of these changes, and by a Friday afternoon, a video seemed like the best option (in hindsight, it wasn’t) since our ISP in the area was having issues that affected the home so much like to the office, and I’d spend countless hours trying to get it published). Still, since it’s there now and was until 2:30 am fighting the good internet fight, you need to hit the play button and enjoy a fun run around Amsterdam. Oh, and some technical details.
Still, for this weekend post I’ll quickly consolidate some ideas. First, there is the new optical heart rate sensor. This splits what was a single green LED light (or perhaps technically a group of lights) on the Series 5, into a dual light arrangement on the Series 6 (although, I think there are actually four green LEDs – hang it one second ). Also add the red light pieces that we will talk about later.
For the SpO2 piece, that is activated in two ways. Or manually with a 15 second test that just starts and waits:
Or automatically behind the scenes from time to time. That will turn on the red lights on the SpO2 sensor. The cool thing about this that I didn’t immediately notice in the video, is that when you turn on those red lights, there seems to be a secondary set of green lights that come with it (four green LEDs total).
Seeing the red sensor is incredibly challenging because Apple has put in a lot of detection elements to avoid mistakes. Unlike everyone else, including Garmin, Apple does not allow these readings to be taken at any time. Instead, they have been very focused on allowing you to get readings only when you are in the optimal position:
Why is this? Well, they are trying to avoid inaccurate readings from people who just do this when they want to (as allowed by Garmin and others). So by placing it a bit in a litter box, they can increase the perceived accuracy of it, yielding many potentially inaccurate results due to a poor ‘user test procedure’. For example, while none of these are classified as a medical device, it will certainly be compared to one. And if you watch those devices being tested / validated, you’re sitting at a desk with your arm on a table. Which … is basically exactly what Apple tells you to do above.
And indeed, once you turn the watch over about 90 * at an angle, it will instantly turn off the sensor and fail the test. It is super sensitive. Which is not to say that Garmin is not sensitive, they can be behind the scenes, they just don’t expose it, so you sit there trying in an annoying way and just look at you like a confused dog. It’s a prime example that Apple isn’t the first to use the technology, but ultimately implements it in a more accessible way.
In any case, this was supposed to be a quick post. In the race, I had a ton of devices with me to compare, especially for heart rate. Looking at that first, you can see that the Apple Watch performed extremely well. Just a short couple of seconds. The HRM-PRO got dry while I was filming some intro stuff, and I forgot to lick it again for about 2-3 minutes, and then you can instantly see it locked up. After that, he started to sweat and was fine. Standard stuff with chest strap on a cooler dry day.
All-in-one, for heart rate accuracy while running a single run – it’s WAY better than the Series 5 at launch, and now more in line with the impressive accuracy of the Series 4.
For the GPS data, I created a messy route. I included the running track, two sets of extremely long tunnels / bridges, running a circuit next to a stadium, running on a small island, through the forest, and just meandering. I had a FR745, Fitbit Sense, and of course the Apple Watch Series 6 with me. Due to various embargoes, I am unable to share the Fitbit data until next week. So here is the GPS data in front of the FR745:
And a little closer:
I went into this in detail in the video, or you can zoom in on the set here. But the main conclusions are:
– Holy shit, Apple finally got rid of the Mario Kart / Swooshing / Sashaying corner effect
– Apple Watch and FR745 were very close
– The FR745 really nailed the track, despite not being in track mode (hmm … interesting thoughts on that later)
– The Apple Watch struggled a bit around the stadium, but we’re mainly talking about a few meters.
– There were some sections that wobbled slightly on some straights
– They were both great in the tunnels.
– They were both great in the woods
So the bigger takeaway is that Apple has clearly traded in some of the over-smoothing that they’ve done since the beginning of the Apple Watch, with a bit more “ veracity ” as to where the watch actually goes (or where it thinks no way). ). This means that in some cases it wobbles a bit more compared to the past, but it also means that it doesn’t cut or sweep corners like it used to. As a reminder of Series 5, this is the sweep I was talking about there (these are from the Series 5 review). You can see how it smoothes my twists and turns on the trail a lot.
Now, Apple has been making progress on this since last year. Every now and then I do tests with it, and I’ve seen them slowly find that better and better balance. But I think at this point they are acting much closer to a normal GPS watch than the heavily smoothed Apple Watch.
I will be working to conduct an in-depth review over the next several weeks. But until then, I’m a bit impressed with the precision bits, as well as the gates they’ve put in place to try and raise the level of the SpO2 data. You might be interested in choosing a legitimate medical certified SPO2 device to compare. Not just a little finger for $ 10, but something that would make a better reference device. Since there are so many wearable devices using such technology these days, it would be interesting to do occasional sporadic checks.
Until then, feel free to leave any questions below. I’m sure you’ll also see the Apple Watch Series 6 data in various reviews over the next week or two.
With that, thanks for reading and have a nice weekend!
