Only need fitness tracking. What's the smallest older AW model that is reliable?

[Pilot Jones]

I'm an old-school mechanical watch guy and can't sacrifice wearing one every day. However, I have also been taking my health a lot more seriously and am finally looking to bite the bullet with an Apple Watch to wear on my right wrist simultaneously.

Since double-wristing watches is already weird practice, I'm looking to get the smallest, most diminutive AW that will solely be used for workouts, calories and step tracking. I have absolutely zero interest in using it for calls, texts, etc., my iPhone is more than enough for all of that.

I know some of the older Series watches are smaller than the current line-up, so I wanted to know what's the oldest AW model that also has reliable health tracking (workouts, calorie burn and steps) that is comparable to the accuracy of the newer models. Obviously I'll be buying second-hand if I go for an older one.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

I would look into something from Fitbit, etc., without a screen, since you don’t really need it as a watch. They usually have more sensors too.

 

[Howard2k]

Oura Ring. Smart Ring for Fitness, Stress, Sleep & Health.

Enhance your health journey with Oura. The Oura Ring provides round-the-clock insights into sleep, fitness, and stress for wellness. Now HSA/FSA eligible.

ouraring.com

Otherwise the 41mm SE.

 

[Pilot Jones]

I would look into something from Fitbit, etc., without a screen, since you don’t really need it as a watch. They usually have more sensors too.

Fitbit & others used to have some great options but they too have completely moved on from no screen fitness bands. Their last truly screenless model is a few years old at this point and I'm not sure what the reliability levels are on that.

The only 2 good screenless options are Whoop and Oura, both of which compulsorily require monthly subscriptions which I am not willing to do. Don't want to spend $300+ on a device only to have it turn into a paperweight if I don't pay $30 one month.

That's a really ugly practice to me. I'd be willing to pay more upfront if it meant the device came with its basic capabilities intact, the way Fitbit does it. With Fitbit, the device works perfectly and you only pay monthly for advanced health features. Not for the very fundamentals of the device.

Also, I do really love the integration and system the AW uses for fitness tracking (Rings, how it plugs into the health app, etc.). I've seen how some of my friends use it and it's seamlessness and specific experience are what I liked the most. I don't know if other options would be that well integrated into the Apple ecosystem even if they were screenless.

 

[Pilot Jones]

Oura Ring. Smart Ring for Fitness, Stress, Sleep & Health.

Enhance your health journey with Oura. The Oura Ring provides round-the-clock insights into sleep, fitness, and stress for wellness. Now HSA/FSA eligible.

ouraring.com

Otherwise the 41mm SE.

Gave my thoughts on Oura right above this post:

The only 2 good screenless options are Whoop and Oura, both of which compulsorily require monthly subscriptions which I am not willing to do. Don't want to spend $300+ on a device only to have it turn into a paperweight if I don't pay $30 one month.

That's a really ugly practice to me. I'd be willing to pay more upfront if it meant the device came with its basic capabilities intact, the way Fitbit does it. With Fitbit, the device works perfectly and you only pay monthly for advanced health features. Not for the very fundamentals of the device.

I've been thinking about the 41mm SE but I also know the older AW models used to be 38mm and 40mm as well. Do you know if any of the models with those screen sizes are reliable fitness trackers compared to the modern AW line-up?

 

[Howard2k]

Yes, they're reliable, but you're at the end of or nearing the end of device support. But if you're buying used then your outlay will be small anyway. 38mm Series 3 could be found super cheap but you're at the point where you might be running into software compatibility issues.

Watch OS 9 supports Series 4 onwards, not S3, so if buying used I'd go for S4 or S5 if cheap is the key driver. S5 has the newer sensors but the S4 sensors will be perfectly adequate for basic fitness tracking.


S3 came in 38mm but I'd avoid. S4 came in 40mm.

 

[BenGoren]

To the best of my knowledge, there haven’t been any meaningful “reliability” updates to any of the health-related sensors. They’ve been pretty darned reliable from the get-go and haven’t needed improvement. Rather, Apple has added additional sensors — most recently, wrist temperature, for example. To pick another random example, the Series 4 was the first to be able to make single-lead EKG measurements.

If instead you mean, “reliable,” in a more common sense such as how likely it is to make it to the end of the day without the battery dying … if that’s important, you want something new with a warranty.

Any watch old enough to have a smaller case is going to have a battery old enough to be of a questionable age. Many such watches will be fine for years to come, but quite a few will be down to 75% or less sooner rather than later (if they aren’t already). “Caveat emptor,” in other words.

Further, the smaller watches are only barely smaller. Apple has always had two band sizes (where “band size” corresponds to the lug width, not the length of the band), and those haven’t changed. The lugs for the 49mm Ultra bands fit perfectly in the 42mm Series 1 case; and the lugs for the 41mm Series 8 fit the Series 1 38mm case.

May I suggest? Consider what it is about your mechanical watches that you most appreciate. If it’s fashion … there are some Apple watch and band combinations that are quite fashionable, even if they’re a different style from what you’re used to. If it’s just having the time reliably on your wrist, any Apple watch has that covered.

If you’re committed to wearing an Apple watch for health reasons, you might find just getting a nice one and only wearing one thing on your wrist to be the least-worst option.

And you can always swap out with one of your mechanical watches for social events when fashion is what matters and you don’t need to track a workout.

Cheers,

b&

 

[bodonnell202]

I’d avoid the Series 3 and older since they are no longer receiving software updates and there could be compatibility issues sooner than you would like.

Look at a 40 mm SE (1st gen ok), Series 4 or Series 5… whatever you can find the best deal on, but be mindful of battery health as the Series 4 and 5 are getting up there too, whereas the SE is a bit newer. That said my Series 5 still has 90% battery health and easily makes it through the day.

 

[MBAir2010]

I just purchased the SE one- and that does as much as I need
usually I feel guilty with buyer remorse when getting a ting I can live without
but not with that watch
and I can play full music album on that to those AirPods in great sound!

hope this helped!

 

[Pilot Jones]

Yes, they're reliable, but you're at the end of or nearing the end of device support. But if you're buying used then your outlay will be small anyway. 38mm Series 3 could be found super cheap but you're at the point where you might be running into software compatibility issues.

Watch OS 9 supports Series 4 onwards, not S3, so if buying used I'd go for S4 or S5 if cheap is the key driver. S5 has the newer sensors but the S4 sensors will be perfectly adequate for basic fitness tracking.


S3 came in 38mm but I'd avoid. S4 came in 40mm.

Thank you so much. The nuanced breakdown helped!

 

[Pilot Jones]

I’d avoid the Series 3 and older since they are no longer receiving software updates and there could be compatibility issues sooner than you would like.

Look at a 40 mm SE (1st gen ok), Series 4 or Series 5… whatever you can find the best deal on, but be mindful of battery health as the Series 4 and 5 are getting up there too, whereas the SE is a bit newer. That said my Series 5 still has 90% battery health and easily makes it through the day.

Definitely going to avoid the S3, thanks for letting me know. With the SE, 4 and 5 it seems like there's a good field to pick from!

How long have you owned your Series 5, which is currently at 90% battery health?

 

[Pilot Jones]

I just purchased the SE one- and that does as much as I need
usually I feel guilty with buyer remorse when getting a ting I can live without
but not with that watch
and I can play full music album on that to those AirPods in great sound!

hope this helped!

You definitely helped. Lot of positive sentiment for the SE, that's definitely a front runner for me.

Another thing I was wondering. Have you ever tried to use your AW with Non-Apple bluetooth earphones? Wondering if there are any compatibility issues there. My AirPods Gen 2 are on their deathbed at the moment and an upgrade is imminent, but there are a lot of cheaper options in the earphone market now that are enticing.

 

[Pilot Jones]

To the best of my knowledge, there haven’t been any meaningful “reliability” updates to any of the health-related sensors. They’ve been pretty darned reliable from the get-go and haven’t needed improvement. Rather, Apple has added additional sensors — most recently, wrist temperature, for example. To pick another random example, the Series 4 was the first to be able to make single-lead EKG measurements.

If instead you mean, “reliable,” in a more common sense such as how likely it is to make it to the end of the day without the battery dying … if that’s important, you want something new with a warranty.

Any watch old enough to have a smaller case is going to have a battery old enough to be of a questionable age. Many such watches will be fine for years to come, but quite a few will be down to 75% or less sooner rather than later (if they aren’t already). “Caveat emptor,” in other words.

Further, the smaller watches are only barely smaller. Apple has always had two band sizes (where “band size” corresponds to the lug width, not the length of the band), and those haven’t changed. The lugs for the 49mm Ultra bands fit perfectly in the 42mm Series 1 case; and the lugs for the 41mm Series 8 fit the Series 1 38mm case.

May I suggest? Consider what it is about your mechanical watches that you most appreciate. If it’s fashion … there are some Apple watch and band combinations that are quite fashionable, even if they’re a different style from what you’re used to. If it’s just having the time reliably on your wrist, any Apple watch has that covered.

If you’re committed to wearing an Apple watch for health reasons, you might find just getting a nice one and only wearing one thing on your wrist to be the least-worst option.

And you can always swap out with one of your mechanical watches for social events when fashion is what matters and you don’t need to track a workout.

Cheers,

b&

Thanks a lot for taking the time to really flesh out your advice. Genuinely appreciate it.

Regarding my love for mechanical watches, as I type this I'm currently wearing a beaten up 1930s Oris military watch that I won in a hard fought online auction instead of a shiny Rolex or Omega, so that should tell you what breed of watch enthusiast I am 😄 Definitely wear timepieces for the love of the craft and not for appearances. My love for horology runs deep, which is what has made this such a strange problem for me to grapple with.

But your point is absolutely valid and well-taken. If I have the need to, I must re-prioritise and make room for something like the AW on my wrist, even if only when I'm working out.

What do you think about wearing the Apple Watch only during workouts and having my iPhone track my steps otherwise while I wear my other watches? I've never used an Apple Watch before so I'm not sure what level of hand-off and synchronisation I should expect between that and my iPhone.

 

[MBAir2010]

You definitely helped. Lot of positive sentiment for the SE, that's definitely a front runner for me.

Another thing I was wondering. Have you ever tried to use your AW with Non-Apple bluetooth earphones?

no- not even a HomePod,
but Bose and other do, I think-
I have the AirPods gen2, $129 version, which I find amazing as well!

thanks!

 

[Thirio2]

I have just started to wear my 50 yr old Rolex daily and only using my AW4 for fitness purposes and sleep tracking. My IPhone 12 keeps track of my steps when only wearing the mechanical watch. I sometimes miss the convenience of Apple Pay with my watch, but that is about all. I’m really not up to wearing two watches at once, although it wouldn’t be much different than a watch and a Fitbit. I’m not sure how long I will continue this practice before going back to AW only. A plus for AW4 and newer is the ECG. Good luck on making your decision.

 

[bodonnell202]

Definitely going to avoid the S3, thanks for letting me know. With the SE, 4 and 5 it seems like there's a good field to pick from!

How long have you owned your Series 5, which is currently at 90% battery health?

I can't remember exactly, but it wasn't right after it was released (fall 2019), but I think I did pick it up in early to mid 2020 so I think it is coming up on 3 years old.

 

[Howard2k]

What do you think about wearing the Apple Watch only during workouts and having my iPhone track my steps otherwise while I wear my other watches? I've never used an Apple Watch before so I'm not sure what level of hand-off and synchronisation I should expect between that and my iPhone.

That works. The watch knows when it is on your wrist and when it's not on your wrist your phone will count your steps. If I have my watch charging for an hour during the day I'll sometimes see that my phone's Health app steps are higher than my Watch's steps for this reason. No action required, it just detects.

 

[mk313]

You definitely helped. Lot of positive sentiment for the SE, that's definitely a front runner for me.

Another thing I was wondering. Have you ever tried to use your AW with Non-Apple bluetooth earphones? Wondering if there are any compatibility issues there. My AirPods Gen 2 are on their deathbed at the moment and an upgrade is imminent, but there are a lot of cheaper options in the earphone market now that are enticing.

So this is going back a long time (Series 2) but at the time, I tried to connect another brand of Bluetooth headphones. I had issues with the connection dropping. It was only the right earbud and I wore the watch on my left wrist.

I haven’t heard any issues lately so I suspect that the newer headphones rectify the issue but just an fyi.

 

[lali]

I'm an old-school mechanical watch guy and can't sacrifice wearing one every day. However, I have also been taking my health a lot more seriously and am finally looking to bite the bullet with an Apple Watch to wear on my right wrist simultaneously.

Since double-wristing watches is already weird practice, I'm looking to get the smallest, most diminutive AW that will solely be used for workouts, calories and step tracking. I have absolutely zero interest in using it for calls, texts, etc., my iPhone is more than enough for all of that.

I know some of the older Series watches are smaller than the current line-up, so I wanted to know what's the oldest AW model that also has reliable health tracking (workouts, calorie burn and steps) that is comparable to the accuracy of the newer models. Obviously I'll be buying second-hand if I go for an older one.

Hi,

I also like mechanical watches (Speedmaster 1967!)

Would like to provide some advice greatly influenced by two bad experiences with apple and their watches.

Someone commented their AW5 had great battery life, I can tell you ours needs a battery replacement today. Will spare you the details but it was much harder than it needed to be, as if it was a priviledge to get this done. Whichever watch you end up buying make sure battery is OK.

The ECG feature ended up being super useful for me during a scary event that finally was ok (ophtalmic migraine for 2 hrs, panicky, blurry vision for 1 hr….) ran the test to make sure…. Some watches have it, the SE does not.

I used an AW6 in the pool once in shallow water for 2 mins and it destroyed the watch… they refused to replace the watch… am still bitter. “You should have used the water mode” Fyi if you venture in the rain or swim.

Last comment I think the health is ecosystem is great, however some people swear by garmin watches and a heart rate monitor strap for more robust hear rate tracking. Just fyi. Learned this during my difficulties in setting up my AW6 to my Wahoo bike trainer. (Had to buy a Wahoo HRM but that is strictly an appletv issue. )

So long story short for me in my own experience and lifestyle Apple watch has not been super reliable or great in longevity (many have a different experience I respect that) so for me it will be brand new watches on applecare.

Have a good day

 

[Pilot Jones]

So this is going back a long time (Series 2) but at the time, I tried to connect another brand of Bluetooth headphones. I had issues with the connection dropping. It was only the right earbud and I wore the watch on my left wrist.

I haven’t heard any issues lately so I suspect that the newer headphones rectify the issue but just an fyi.

Good to know, I'll definitely look into it in that case. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Pilot Jones]

Hi,

I also like mechanical watches (Speedmaster 1967!)

Would like to provide some advice greatly influenced by two bad experiences with apple and their watches.

Someone commented their AW5 had great battery life, I can tell you ours needs a battery replacement today. Will spare you the details but it was much harder than it needed to be, as if it was a priviledge to get this done. Whichever watch you end up buying make sure battery is OK.

The ECG feature ended up being super useful for me during a scary event that finally was ok (ophtalmic migraine for 2 hrs, panicky, blurry vision for 1 hr….) ran the test to make sure…. Some watches have it, the SE does not.

I used an AW6 in the pool once in shallow water for 2 mins and it destroyed the watch… they refused to replace the watch… am still bitter. “You should have used the water mode” Fyi if you venture in the rain or swim.

Last comment I think the health is ecosystem is great, however some people swear by garmin watches and a heart rate monitor strap for more robust hear rate tracking. Just fyi. Learned this during my difficulties in setting up my AW6 to my Wahoo bike trainer. (Had to buy a Wahoo HRM but that is strictly an appletv issue. )

So long story short for me in my own experience and lifestyle Apple watch has not been super reliable or great in longevity (many have a different experience I respect that) so for me it will be brand new watches on applecare.

Have a good day

This forum tends to be polarised in favor of Apple all the time so I appreciate you taking the time to share your objectively bad experiences.

Will keep everything you have said in mind. Haven't yet given up on non-apple options that are more purely directed to fitness tracking. Just wish there were good options available without a screen, I would've snapped one up in a heartbeat.

 

[gtjeta]

Taking into account your requirements, maybe a mi band 7 or a huawei or amazfit band could be ok. They seem to be ok, with not so good sensors, but much cheaper.

 

[Colepail]

This forum tends to be polarised in favor of Apple all the time so I appreciate you taking the time to share your objectively bad experiences.

Will keep everything you have said in mind. Haven't yet given up on non-apple options that are more purely directed to fitness tracking. Just wish there were good options available without a screen, I would've snapped one up in a heartbeat.

At one point there were rumours of an apple branded fitness band like a Fitbit. Sadly the rumours have yet to come true.

 

[Pilot Jones]

Taking into account your requirements, maybe a mi band 7 or a huawei or amazfit band could be ok. They seem to be ok, with not so good sensors, but much cheaper.

Had a look at the Huawei and Amazfit and they have fairly large screens already, so it sort of defeats the purpose. Might as well get an AW at that point.

The Mi Band however looks quite slender, so I'm definitely going to be looking into that. Thanks for the recommendations!

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Keep in mind that Apple Fitness also has a subscription, and the Oura syncs with Apple Health, so you might still get your rings.