38 JANUARY2021|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE395
LET’SGETTHISout of the wayquickly: the
Apple WatchSeries 6isthe best smartwatch
you can buy.Norivalshaveappeared over the
past year that seriously challenge its position,
and several improvements this time around
mean it’s even more firmly ensconced at the
topofthe wearables sector.
Android phone owners still aren’t
paticularly well catered for, despitethe new
Family Setup feature (more on this later),
but if you own an iPhone there’s nothing –at
least, not in terms of all-round capabilities –
that even comes close.
YOUSNOOZE,YOUWIN
From the front, the Series 6looks no different
from the last two generations. Youstill get a
choice between 40mm and 44m models, the
former having ascreen resolution of 394x324
and the latter coming in at 448x368. It’s not
until you turn it over that the first key
difference appears: anew configuration of
eight LEDs and sensors arranged in asquare
at the rear instead of the old central sensor
surrounded with aringofL
alsoupgradedtheprocess
on the iPhone 11’s A13 Bion
Another big addition is
which is cleverly implemen
thansimplytrackyourslee
patterns,Apple’simplemen
tiesitintoaspecialbedtim
mode,which includes
setting adaily alarm and
atarget number of hours
forsleep,and choosing a
wind-down period.
Once Bedtime mode is
enabled –accessed with a
swipe up from the bottom
of the screen –the watch
goes intolow-power
mode,the displaydims
rightdown and
notifications are
disabled. When you
clear your wake-up
alarm in the morning,
you’re instantly
presented with a
summary of data on how
you slept. The actual
analysis is relatively lighto
details, but the system asa
whole is very intuitive.
Youcan also now check
blood oxygen saturation,o
APPLEWatchSeries6
★★★★★
£379•From http://www.apple.com/uk
VERDICT
It’snotasweepingupdate,butthelatestApple
Watchis–onceagain–thefinestyet
WATCHOSSMARTWATCH
although this
shouldn’t be used
in place of proper
medical testing:
most of our readinngs
wereinthenormaal
range of 95% to
100%, but couldddrop
aslowas92%desspite
usfeelingnoeffeccts.
Movingonfrommatters
medical,theotherrbignewfeature
isFamilySetup,whhiicchhaalllloowwssyyoouuttoo
set up an extra Appple Watchfor a
relative or child thhatdoesn’tneedtobe
connectedtoaniPPhone.Thefeatureworkson
thecellularmodelsoftheAppleWatchSeries
4onwards,soitissn’taSeries 6exclusive,but
there are some usseefuulfeeaattuureessheeree..
TheAsktoBuyfeature,forinstance,
meansthatyoucanscreenandapprove
purchases from the App Store. Meanwhile,
the Location Sharing feature allows you to
keep tabs on the wearer’s location –useful
unsupervised. There’s
entalcontrolswhereyou
apps and notifications
ertain hours.
her changes to the Series 6
moresubtle,suchashow
ealways-onscreenisa
otbrighterthanitwason
the Apple WatchSeries 5
(Shopper383), or how
the updated heart-rate
sensor is sensitive
enough to calculateVO2
Max at lower ranges.
It’s more accuratefor
less fit individuals, in
otherwords.
STAY ONTARGET
That’s ahandy addition
tothe Watch’ssports
acking arsenal, but other
nthis, the theme with
6remains the same as it
esports tracking simple
l.
on’tgive you the detailed
ion options that asimilarly
olar device would, but it
asonably well.
or instance,you can set
orcalorie targets foreach
t’s also possible to chuck
in things suchaaspacealertsandcustomise
themetricsshoownonthewatchface.
There’s ahuuge breadth of otheractivities
yyoouuccaanttraacck,,ttoooo..Allttheeccooreessppoorttssaareeheeree
–cycling,walking,hiking,gymsessionsand
so on –plus pool and open-water swimming.
And there’s ahuge selection of more esoteric
activities, from archery and kick-boxing to
cross-country skiing. Even ‘fitness gaming’
gets alook-in, which is nice forall those
people still using their Wii Fit Boards.
Vitally,the accuracy of both the heart-
ratetracking and the GPS distance-
measuring is excellent. When tracking
running or cycling routes it has atendency
to smooth out corners, but proved
consistently more accuratethan aPolar
Grit X(Shopper391) regardless.
STOPPED SHORT
The only real complaint we have is afamiliar
one: the battery life. Apple’s claim of 18
hours (based on amixed usage of tracking,
notification and time checks) largely tallied
with our experience,and we were able to
squeeze out alittle over 24 hours with light
usage,but that’s still not brilliant when so
many luxury wearables can last formultiple
days on asingle charge.
Still, in all other respects, the Apple Watch
Series 6issuperb.Perhaps not so much if
you’re upgrading from aSeries 5, but sleep
tracking and improved health tracking will be
valuable features to those who want them.
JonathanBray
PEDOMETERYes•HEART-RATEMONITORYes•
DISPLAYSIZE1.6in•RESOLUTION394x324•OS
SUPPORTiOS•BATTERYLIFE18hours•WARRANTY
OneyearRTB•DETAILSwww.apple.com/uk•
PART CODEAppleWatchSeries6
SPECIFICATIONS
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