Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
This is a Series 6 with a slightly turgid showing . That makes it good , technically , but it ’s a disappointingly minuscule advance that has us thinking Apple should have skipped a year .
Price When retrospect
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The Apple Watch Series 7, right, has a slightly bigger screen than the Series 6.
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Best Prices Today: Apple Watch Series 7, 41mm
It ’s not often that a major new Apple merchandise could be somewhat , and altogether , review in a individual tweet . This may add up as tight as any ever has : “ It ’s aSeries 6with a slightly braggy video display and quicker institutionalize , ” is far less than 250 characters .
But it feels like a stretchability to line up other thing to say about the Series 7 . This could be the least - pregnant annual update to the Apple Watch ever , and while that in no room makes itbad(this is still the near smartwatch around ) it ’s punishing not to be let down .
Apple Watch History
This Apple Watch has since been replaced with a newer model , and you could find connection to all our Apple Watch reviews below . Do mark that we ’re expecting to seeApple Watch Series 10 , Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch SE third generation , runningwatchOS 11 , launch in September 2024 at the company’sGlowtime event(seehow to watch the September event ) . If you ’re in the market for a raw Apple Watch , see ourApple Watch purchasing usher , beat - up of thebest Apple Watch deals , and advice on whether you shouldbuy Apple Watch now or expect . You might also be interested in what othernew Apple productsare coming this twelvemonth , and when is thenext Apple event .
A bigger display
The star of the Series 7 is the show . It ’s about 20 per centum larger than in the Series 6 . Most of this increase in sizing come from thinner bezel , but the case is also ever - so - slenderly heavy . The always - on exhibit is also a portion bright outdoors — by 70 percent , Apple claim .
A 20 - percent step-up in screen door area is enough to be obvious at a glance , but it ’s not animation - changing . The jump in area from the Series 3 to 4 was more significant , I think . The slender bezel are quite skillful and it ’s light this is the way forward for Apple ’s smartwatch , but you should n’t expect it to drastically alter the direction you use Apple Watch . And while it ’s courteous to have a brighter always - on display when in lineal sun , it wo n’t make a immense remainder in your day - to - day use .
The Apple Watch Series 7 , right , has a slimly openhanded filmdom than the Series 6 .
The Apple Watch Series 7, right, has a slightly bigger screen than the Series 6.
David Price / Macworld
As someone who needs reading specs , I can definitely appreciate the fact that all the interface constituent and textual matter are magnanimous on the Series 7 thanks to the bigger exhibit . For the first time , Apple has optimizedthe watchOS interface for a specific watch , and if I ’m being fair , the interface the onlyrealupgrade here . Everything else about is minor to the power point of nigh - irrelevancy .
Faster charging, sort of
What we want more than anything else in an Apple Watch is dramatically better barrage fire life . Apple ’s competition has multi - day battery life , and while there ’s no Fitbit with nigh the same capabilities as an Apple Watch , that sort of length of service really changes how you use your watch .
We did n’t get more barrage animation this class . Rather , we get a new USB - C charging cable and some new electronics that allow for fast charging . Sort of .
You take a 20W USB - C power adapter ( no power transcriber is included ) , and with that , you could get up to 33 - percentage faster charging . That means charging from zero-80 percent full in about 45 minutes instead of an hour or so .
From the side, you’d be hard-pressed to recognize the Series 7 (above) from the Series 6 (below).
Faster charging is always squeamish , but I did n’t line up the Series 7 turn on faster enough to be all that detectable . Apple says you may get a full eight hours deserving of rest tracking in just eight transactions of charge , but the same amount of battery lifespan only took about 10 minutes with earlier Apple Watches . If I could “ charge up for the day ” in 15 arcminute , it would make a material difference in my Apple Watch utilization . Instead , a 24-hour interval ’s charge still takes about an hour . I put it on the tie-up , do something else for a while , and nibble it back up later … same as I always have .
In other words , the stamp battery life is n’t any different and the faster charging is not really improved enough to commute the way you expend the twist .
Check out our roundup of thebest Apple Watch chargers and charge up stands .
Still in a league of its own
There are a few other tiny divergence in the Series 7 . The front glass is a scrap thicker and more crack - immune . The silver and blank gray colors have been replaced with “ starlight ” and “ midnight ” shades that areclose enoughto silver medal and space Second Earl Grey to annoy you that they’renotsilver or space grey . The blueish tincture is lighter than it was on Series 6 , and looks bad .
Jason Cross / IDG
Besides slightly worse colours , you ’ll notice the exhibit is a little brighter indoors , and there are a few new vigil faces that do n’t really involve to be undivided to the Series 7 but are , at least for now .
Everything else is the same . The design is nearly identical , the processor is the same , the sensor are all the same … there ’s simply not much unexampled in this release . Whenwe reviewed the Series 6 , we write that the change “ might not seem like much if you ’ve been using a Series 4 watch or earlier , ” and the Series 7 is even less of an upgrade .
Does that make it bad ? Not at all ! The Series 7 is still a honest smartwatch than anything else on the marketplace . Giving us the same affair with a slightly larger display is objectively better , and therefore , it ’s the premium smartwatch we ’d recommend .
You can skip this one, and Apple should have, too
If you have an Apple Watch that is three or more twelvemonth old , this is a ok upgrade . It may not be very dissimilar from the Series 6 , but there ’s no existent reasonnotto get the Series 7 .
Despite that , I find myself put off by the deficiency of ambition , product issues , or pitiable execution , or whatever it was that cause Apple to release a whole young , latest - and - cracking Apple Watch that only has a slightly larger display and slightly different colors .
perhaps Apple has refine this miniature wrist computer so much that it simply is n’t possible to make more substantive changes every yr . And that ’s okay ! Apple could let go of a novel Apple Watch everyotheryear with more substantial changes and upgrades , strong in the knowledge that the rest of the smartwatch world is far enough in the rearview mirror that they wo n’t take hold of up .
We ’ve always known that you do n’t have tobuya fresh Apple Watch every class , but the Series 7 has got me thinking that maybe Apple does n’t need tomakea new Apple Watch every yr .
So here we are , with a perfectly big Apple Watch whose existence I almost begrudge . I wish it , I even urge it to anyone with an old ( or no ) Apple Watch . And yet I bid Apple had n’t released it , opting instead to trade the Series 6 for another year until it could offer a more significant upgrade .
