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Series 6 - redesign?
- Thread starter jimmy_uk
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4vs 5 fiasco? The 5 is an excellent update to the 4 with the Always on Display. Apple isn’t going to create some spectacular update every year because it’s just not possible.
I think Apple is at the point with the watch where they are going to withhold features. Looking back at series 0-5, you can see one or two big changes per series. So, like the iPhone, it really pays to keep your device longer, and when you do upgrade after 3+ years, you feel like yr getting all this new stuff. Apple is just never going to give us all the things. Lame as it is, it’s just bad for business. Personally, I’d upgrade for longer battery life and iPhone independence.
They've released mid-cycle upgrades for the phones fairly often. This wouldn't be anything new.
Less cynically, they can't change the laws of physics, or of teamwork. There's only so many new features they can work on each year to make deadlines, and trying to do it all just results in worse products. Iteration is how Apple has always worked.
Not yet, but that's no reason to assume they won't. Product (RED) versions of products especially have often not been launch SKUs but mid cycle options to bump sales.
So far the only real reason to upgrade from a S3 to S4 (or S5) is to get the new watch faces and ECG and fall detection. Apple seems to be saving certain software features for later models (when the previous models could definitely handle them) and that's the only real reason to upgrade.
honestly I’m hoping to see a major internal change when it comes to the battery ... graphene technology! If the rumours of smartphones in 2020 having graphene batteries allowing for 40% smaller internal capacity use while gaining %20 longer battery life ... Maybe even a slightly slimmer yet wider screen could be used ... bumping up the top to 50/52mm?!
Well they bought out the red iPhone early one year and still released a new iPhone months later. I cant see Apple not releasing a new watch this year. They want to stay ahead of the competition
That's a fair point. In regards to the competition, Apple could not release a new model and still be light years ahead of every other smart watch in the world.
I think Amazon will going jump in the wearable game with a smart watch. I don’t know how successful they’ll be, but it wouldn’t surprise me, especially now that Google acquired a Fitbit, Apple really doesn’t have much competition that’s active at this point, aside from the Garmin Fenix Series.
I don’t see what their benefit would be? Amazon’s platform primarily exists to make it easier to buy stuff on their website, and whilst I could see them having a ‘digital dash button’ on your watch there is nothing stopping them from releasing an app that does that on Android (or iOS for that matter) without the need for huge investment in hardware.
Alexa in the home makes sense from a voice-purchase and Prime Music perspective. A Fire watch would contribute a lot less to the ecosystem of selling Amazon services IMO.
This gets said a lot and seems misconstrued, why would you suggest that it would be called a ‘Firewatch’? Now, I understand they had a fire tablet/phone, but we don’t know that they couldn’t completely re-create their own design and make something totally competitive to the Apple Watch with pricing/health, ect. We all know Amazon is very service focused, but if there was one competitor that would try to play a hand in the wearable market, it would be Amazon. They pretty much dabbled in every other category, it’s not impractical for them to get into the smart watch era at some point.
on that same note, Amazon has had plenty of time to sit back and reflect to see all the mistakes/shortfalls the other competitors have had against the Apple Watch, and maybe they can capitalize on areas that they failed at, awhile the Apple Watch has continued to grow.
Are you suggesting they would make their own wearable OS? To date, all they have done, to my knowledge, is variants on top of Android. That would be a huge step.
Again, to what end? They major on cheap devices that link into selling stuff from Amazon or Prime (i.e. their digital services). Only Prime Music has any potential relevance from a wearable perspective, and they can just release an app to support that.
Apple are a company specialised in tightly integrated hardware and software. Amazon are not.
I tried a Samsung S10+, along with their Active 2 Stainless steel, LTE version of their watch. A nice watch/phone combination, indeed, did just about everything that the AW will do with some exceptions. Even though it's an LTE model, it won't dial an emergency number, at least what I've found. If it's not connected to a carrier, you just have a watch that works off your phone, like the Non-LTE AW. On the plus side, their Stainless model is about the same price as the AW Aluminum model.
The main reason that I returned both, the phone and the watch is that trying to work with Samsung Health is a genuine nightmare. Damn near impossible to get any activity into another format, say Garmin, Runalyze, or others. It does import into Strava with fairly good results, but Strava is a genuine PITA to get anything exported.
The battery life on the Active 2 is really great, at least 2 days going with 24/7 Heart rate, Bluetooth, and constant connection to the phone. Way better than the AW, but that's really about the only thing I'd say is actually "better". Tizen doesn't have nearly the apps that WatchOS has, the build quality seems about the same between the two watches. Biggest difference is the price of the Stainless steel model, and that nightmare Samsung Health.
I guess I could ask you the same question, Are you suggesting that they can’t make their own wearable OS? My point is, I just said that they have the ability to enter the smart watch market, rather they have their own design and adopt an android platform if they wanted to, it is totally doable.
Bolded: This is False. As a side example, Amazon developed Alexa and then they have their own version of a smart speaker with the Dots/echo? How would that be any different if Apple Created their own version of hardware/software, and Amazon did the same by developing their own software and hardware.
Dan, I think you’re misunderstanding. We know Apple specializes with there own watchOS and hardware designs, but my point being, there has to be a place for competition somewhere, and Amazon has the ability to enter this race if they wanted to, being the other competitors have failed to do so like Fitbit, Galaxy wear, ect.
I’m just hypothesizing what Amazon could do, and they have the potential to be a key player if they implement the right strategy with our own smart watch via Health/design/OS/pricing, etc.
When I used Samsung as my mainstay (Think: Galaxy S4/S5) Samsung Health was a really nice app. I think it's undergone some rather distasteful changes and has become a bloated mess however. Thankfully on my S5 which I have another active line on, I have dialed back the updates and restored its more usable UI. I still use my AW and Health as default though. Don't use S-Health anymore.
As for apps on Tizen, the Gear 2 was better support-wise. It had as many apps as a stock unmodified watch. It also had an IR remote app built-in, which worked a lot like the ATV remote on the Watch. Only via IR. They removed that in later versions of the watch and there's a lot I dislike about Samsung watches/phones, not just their new UI (I was really fond of Nature UX, it fit me to a tee). The use of Bixby makes Siri feel flawless in comparison, and the way Samsung Pay requires an annoying extra two-steps to work. On an Apple Watch, you double-tap the side button and wave over the terminal. done! On a Galaxy Watch, like my Active (last one I bought), you double-tap the side button as well, but then you have to enter your PIN each time, and then wait a few seconds and tap "PAY" then wave. It's two steps and a few messy fingerprints I don't really like. And that's if you don't happen upon the 'stay connected to phone' error which is some sort of internet sync issue with Samsung Pay. Never found a fix for it.
Although there are two things I wish were functional on the Apple Watch. On the Galaxy Watch Active, Bixby can enable/disable water lock mode and theatre mode. (That is, if it hears you). Apple watch Siri says that isn't supported on Apple Watch.
I used the GWA2 LTE and my Wife the non LTE i switched to the AW because the health features from the GWA2 really suck.
Calories burned in weight lifting dont use the heart rate just the time.
No Altitude climbed in the health app.
No step calibration for the treadmill
Calories burned during the day wont use the heart rate
LTE version overheats after a 40 min run with Spotify streaming and shuts itself almost off
No fall detection, no ECG ... till now
Messy software update policy
Steps count inaccurate
Floors count inaccurate
Gps is ok
No data export
Apps are not as good as on the AW
At least the heart rate sensor works for me fairly good
Because of that i switched to Apple, and for my wife i just bought an AW 4 for 270€ and an iPhone XS. We do a lot of weight lifting and running so a good sportstracker is needed and those rings are motivating
Calories burned in weight lifting dont use the heart rate just the time.
No Altitude climbed in the health app.
No step calibration for the treadmill
Calories burned during the day wont use the heart rate
LTE version overheats after a 40 min run with Spotify streaming and shuts itself almost off
No fall detection, no ECG ... till now
Messy software update policy
Steps count inaccurate
Floors count inaccurate
Gps is ok
No data export
Apps are not as good as on the AW
At least the heart rate sensor works for me fairly good
Because of that i switched to Apple, and for my wife i just bought an AW 4 for 270€ and an iPhone XS. We do a lot of weight lifting and running so a good sportstracker is needed and those rings are motivating
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Series 6 will be the same as 4/5. There is no need to redesign the watch.. yet.
I imagine Series 7 will get a true edge to edge screen with slight tweaks to the design language.
Tbh I don’t really think you can do much to the Watch to change the design massively. Most people don’t see a difference between the 3/4 so... I think this product won’t rely on constant design changes
I imagine Series 7 will get a true edge to edge screen with slight tweaks to the design language.
Tbh I don’t really think you can do much to the Watch to change the design massively. Most people don’t see a difference between the 3/4 so... I think this product won’t rely on constant design changes
Too much change or change for the sake of change isn't a good idea. If it ain't broke...
That said, I'm impressed by the many in this thread that hoped for a camera or a larger curved display. News flash: Samsung already tried all of that and it was a big flop-a-rooni.
That said, I'm impressed by the many in this thread that hoped for a camera or a larger curved display. News flash: Samsung already tried all of that and it was a big flop-a-rooni.
I’d say that’s contingent if Micro-led makes its way here by the Series 7. OLED will be here for another year for Series 6, but Micro-led will allow for a thinner display, but increase a wider color-gamut, less power draw and significantly brighter over OLED. I suspect that’s the next major display change, which would follow suit for what you’re referring to with an ‘edge to edge’ display.