Apple Watch Series 3 review
Our Verdict
The hereafter of smartwatches is beingness connected, but the Apple Lookout man Serial 3 doesn't quite deliver on that promise. Get the not-LTE model instead.
For
- First-class fettle-tracking features
- Faster Siri
- LTE is user-friendly while you're working out
- Apple Music streaming
Against
- Cellular activation issues
- Short battery life when connected to cellular
Tom'due south Guide Verdict
The future of smartwatches is being connected, just the Apple Watch Series iii doesn't quite deliver on that hope. Get the not-LTE model instead.
Pros
- +
Excellent fettle-tracking features
- +
Faster Siri
- +
LTE is convenient while y'all're working out
- +
Apple Music streaming
Cons
- -
Cellular activation issues
- -
Short battery life when connected to cellular
I've endemic multiple iPhones, iPads, iPods and MacBooks over the past decade. I wore a commencement-generation Apple Watch and so a Serial ii. The Apple Scout Serial iii with LTE is the first Apple device I've used that didn't just work out of the box. And while I did somewhen get it running, other issues — besides as its high price — make this connected watch a tougher sell than the non-LTE version.
While I didn't dear the cellular Series 3, the Bluetooth model is one of the best smartwatches and even our acme pick among the best cheap smartwatches. It's also one all-time fettle trackers yous can buy, if yous're on the hunt for a workout-oriented vesture. Our Apple Spotter Series 3 vs. Fitbit Accuse 4 confront-off details the benefits you'll get with the Apple smartwatch over a traditional fitness tracker.
With watchOS 7, you'll all the same get the latest software features without having to splurge on a $399 Apple Watch Serial vi, or $279 on the Apple Picket SE, too.
See our Apple Watch SE vs. Apple Watch 3 and Apple Watch 6 vs. Apple Lookout three face-offs for advice on whether y'all should upgrade.
The skilful news? With the release of the Apple Lookout Series seven subsequently this fall, Apple tree appear that the Apple Watch Serial 3 will remain on sale, starting at $199.
The hope — and reality — of LTE
A smartwatch aims to put easy admission to your smartphone on your wrist. But cellular connectivity has the potential to remove your phone from the equation altogether. Early criticism of the Apple Watch included that it leaned too heavily on the telephone for basic tasks. Software updates and faster processors have fabricated that less of an issue; now, the lookout can run apps natively and access Wi-Fi networks that your iPhone has connected to in the by. But information technology nonetheless requires your telephone to be its relay device for phone calls and notifications, and it can't do much when your iPhone is out of range and in that location are no known Wi-Fi networks around.
The LTE Apple Lookout Series three is designed to bridge that gap, simply that's it. It's non an iPhone replacement. If you're expecting to leave your telephone for extended periods of time and use the watch to handle all your tasks, yous volition be disappointed. That disappointment sinks in later on yous add up the costs — $399 for the 38-millimeter model or $429 for the 42-mm version, and then an extra $10 on your monthly cellphone neb so that the lookout man tin depict from your information bucket. All that, and it can't even terminal a full twenty-four hour period on its own.
But even though I knew the watch couldn't supervene upon my iPhone, I still had high hopes. Those floated downward to world every bit presently as I unboxed the device.
Apple tree Scout Series 3 activation: A frustrating process
The Series three pairs to your iPhone the same manner by generations did, with a dynamic image on the lookout man confront that you scan with your iPhone camera. That office is merely as seamless as usual. Simply and so I got to the part where I had to activate the watch's cellular connectivity.
I eventually got my lookout activated on AT&T's network, only it took a trip to my nearby AT&T shop and the assist of five customer service reps — four in-store and i over the phone — more than an hour to navigate the complicated setup process.
I ran into a myriad of bug when trying to activate the lookout on my AT&T plan. A customer service amanuensis couldn't assistance me figure out the problem over the telephone, so I eventually paired the device to an Apple-provided iPhone 8 on T-Mobile to test it out.
I experienced some launch-weekend jitters with phone phone call reliability, where calls on the sentinel over LTE would fail, but those issues seem to accept been resolved. (If you run across a like problem, try deactivating the watch'due south information program, and then reactivating and rebooting. That did the play tricks for me.) A wait at Twitter and Reddit shows that other Series 3 buyers experienced the same early problems I did.
I eventually got my lookout activated on AT&T'southward network, but it took a trip to my nearby AT&T store and the help of five customer service reps — 4 in-store and one over the phone — more an hr to navigate the complicated setup process.
A watchOS update that Apple tree pushed out a few weeks after the Series three's launch stock-still a problems that afflicted the watch's ability to switch from Wi-Fi to cellular. The software update also added a manual setting in the Command Heart, accessible by swiping upwardly on the watch face, that lets you toggle amid the iPhone's connection, a Wi-Fi network and the lookout's own cellular connection.
MORE: Smartwatch buying guide
Before the update, you could connect to cellular only by putting your iPhone in airplane mode or leaving it out of Bluetooth range birthday. At present, if your spotter gets hung upwardly trying to connect to a Wi-Fi network, you can manually push it to connect to cellular.
Apple Watch Serial 3 cellular connectivity: Bombardment killer
I speedily discovered the LTE Series 3'southward limitations when I left my iPhone at dwelling house. I started the mean solar day with a 3.5-mile run, during which I streamed Apple Music's Pop Workout radio station the entire 37 minutes. When I returned home to consume breakfast, I checked my lookout battery. It had drained to lx percentage after running every battery-sucking feature simultaneously. I managed to squeeze another 12.v hours out of the picket by not relying on it too heavily for the residue of the day.
These activities aren't bombardment killers on the Series two or Series three without LTE, but with the Series 3's abiding cellular connexion, you can forget nearly information technology lasting 18 hours on a charge. Just being continued to a jail cell network volition reduce the battery life with mixed use from 18 hours to about eight hours.
That's why the watch is designed to rely on your phone's connectivity to keep its own cellular connection from draining the device — and why information technology's so of import to have manual control over that connection.
Apple Watch Serial iii design: Unchanged, in a good style
Apple tree's ability to put a cellular modem and bigger bombardment into the Series 3 without dramatically calculation to its size is impressive. The watch is slightly thicker than the Serial 2 — about two sheets of newspaper thicker, Apple tree says — but not noticeably so. The 38mm Apple Sentry Series 3 is the simply LTE smartwatch that looks adept on my wrist. The Series 3 also comes in a larger, 42mm size for people with larger wrists.
The ultrabright, 1,000-nit OLED display has the same size and resolution as the previous models: 272 x 340 pixels on the 38mm model and 312 10 390 on the 42mm version. The screen is Ion-10 glass on the aluminum models and sapphire crystal on the stainless-steel and ceramic versions. The aluminum diverseness comes in gold, argent and space gray, while the ceramic version is available in white and grayness.
Basically, it's still one of the better-looking smartwatches on the marketplace (yep, even though information technology's square).
- Fitbit Versa 3 vs. Apple Sentry 3: Which smartwatch should y'all buy?
Apple Watch Serial iii fettle-tracking: Amend than ever
Working out is the ane use for which an LTE Apple tree Picket is perfect. At that place is nix quite similar lacing upward my sneakers, pairing my AirPods to my watch and hitting the pavement with no phone weighing me downward. (I dear my iPhone 7 Plus, merely it feels like a giant barnacle fastened to my body when I'm running.) Knowing that I tin still get text messages and of import notifications on my watch is reassuring.
Both Series 3 models, the one with cellular and the ane without, sport a new barometric altimeter, which is a handy new information point for measuring peak. That's useful for hiking and skiing as well equally bodily stair climbing. I knew I climbed a lot of stairs, because well-nigh all subway stations are located underground, but I never really tallied them upwards before. Subsequently I saw that I powered through 21 flights of stairs later a Mets game at Citi Field, I realized why I was so tired (and promptly took a nap).
Otherwise, the Series 3 with LTE has the same not bad fitness-tracking features that the Series 2 and Series 3 without cellular connectivity take, including accurate built-in GPS and an as accurate heart rate sensor. Apple's watchOS iv upgrade put more than fitness-tracking features on all of its smartwatches, such as alerts when your heart rate is elevated and support for high-intensity, interval-grooming workouts. A characteristic that connects your watch to your gym's equipment for more accurate exercise tracking is slowly rolling out.
Apple has added a feature to the LTE scout that allows you to plough off cellular connectivity and the heart charge per unit sensor to save battery life, which is bully if y'all're going on a long run. I toggled on this feature for one run, merely if you exercise this frequently, it makes information technology kind of pointless to own an LTE picket. Merely with or without LTE, the Apple Scout 3 is i of the best fitness trackers.
Serial 3 music: The missing piece falls into place
Apple touted the Series 3's music-streaming capabilities in a series of Telly commercials ahead of the device'due south launch. Yet Apple Music streaming took weeks to arrive on the sentinel.
The good news: At present that it'south here, Apple Music streaming over cellular is an incredibly unique feature that actually makes me feel like I could ditch my phone someday. Apple packaged the streaming service in two apps: Apple Music, which requires a $10-per-month subscription, and Radio, a costless picket app that anyone can apply to stream songs. Streaming music makes the smartwatch experience near — dare I say it — magical.
There was no lag every bit I launched a radio station in my house, where my spotter was continued to my iPhone, or when I moved out of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi range equally I set off on my run. Apple Music never stuttered or dropped, even as I ran through Brooklyn's massive, tree-filled Prospect Park.
I was hoping that the Series 3 would besides support on-device podcast playback, but that hasn't happened due to limitations in watchOS four, as Overcast developer Marco Arment details hither.
I even so have to carry my phone with me when I want to heed to podcasts on my commute, which I do every twenty-four hours. The watch does permit yous to control audio playback and save music offline from Apple Music to listen to via Bluetooth headphones, but those features are neither new nor exclusive to the LTE model.
(Editor's note: With watchOS 6, you can stream podcasts and audiobooks over cellular. You tin can likewise store them straight on the watch for offline listening.)
At present that information technology'due south hither, Apple Music streaming over cellular is an incredibly unique characteristic that actually makes me experience like I could ditch my phone anytime.
Serial 3 phone calls: Amend with Bluetooth earbuds
Certain, you can telephone dwelling house from your watch. Simply do y'all really want to? Making or taking phone calls from your wrist is something of a novelty, and you'll definitely tire of it. A pair of Bluetooth earphones, such as Apple's AirPods, elevates the experience — it's well-nigh as pleasurable every bit a phone phone call can possibly exist.
When I first reviewed the watch, the device started to rut up after a few minutes of talk fourth dimension. I actually had to end a 13-minute phone call because the watch became uncomfortably warm on my wrist. Later the software update, I didn't experience those overheating problems.
The sentry's call quality is comparable to that of my iPhone, and when it's paired with Apple's AirPods, talking on the spotter is effortless. You will definitely look like you're talking to yourself without a telephone in mitt, but if you don't care almost looking slightly awkward in public, and then proceed.
For quick check-ins with friends or significant others, the watch will do just fine.
Why you don't need LTE
When the watch is connected to a cellular network, it can quickly make calls, respond to messages using phonation dictation or the Scribble handwriting-to-text feature, and actuate Siri to answer questions or pull up directions. I experienced some issues downloading emails from my Gmail business relationship in Apple's native Postal service app on cellular, and in that location were periods of fourth dimension when the cellular connection would unexpectedly driblet (denoted with a blood-red Ten at the pinnacle of the display), fifty-fifty when I hadn't moved.
The things I dear most about the Apple Spotter have nothing to exercise with its LTE capabilities. I appreciate being able to save music offline to mind to with AirPods, utilise Apple tree Pay to buy stuff without carrying my wallet effectually, glance at the Siri watch face to become an overview of my day and rail my daily action in the Conditioning and Activity apps. But I can do all those things with a Series three that doesn't take LTE, and those models start at $329. In fact, you can get all of these features with every watch Apple tree sells.
Series 3 vs. Serial v
The Apple Watch Series three is more affordable now that the Series 5 is the newest watch in the lineup. But the Series 5 also has bells and whistles that the Series three can't friction match, including a larger, more than immersive e'er-on brandish, built-in compass, faster processor, and avant-garde heart health features such every bit an FDA-cleared ECG app for taking on-the-go electrocardiograms and a passive atrial fibrillation alert that monitors your heart's rhythm in the groundwork.
If brandish, speed and medical-class health features are essential, the Series 5 is worth the splurge. Merely if what you're afterwards is a solid smartwatch that works well with your iPhone, and so the Serial iii is just fine. Check out our in-depth Series 3 vs. Serial 5 face-off here.
Bottom line
The Serial iii with LTE has had its problems, like the Wi-Fi software bug and launch-weekend carrier hiccups. Only the picket has already improved by leaps and bounds, thank you to a software update that added streaming music and transmission control over cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity so your picket doesn't become stuck somewhere betwixt the two. Longer battery life volition go on to be a struggle at this size, even though the Serial 3 has a bigger battery than its predecessors.
At that place are moments when LTE makes the watch feel truly magical: receiving a text while I'thou running with just the Apple Scout and AirPods, or downloading emails without a phone nearby afterwards escaping the role to choice up luncheon. Merely those moments aren't as frequent as I would like them to exist. If you desire the Series iii, get the non-LTE version, which starts at an affordable $199.
I can imagine a future in which a smartwatch can replace a smartphone for most of the tasks we use it for, simply the Serial iii with LTE is non that hereafter. At least not yet.
Credit: Shaun Lucas/Tom's Guide
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/us/apple-watch-series-3,review-4713.html
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