The Apple Watch Series 2, like all other smart watches made by the competition, does everything it can to not be just a watch. Here’s everything you need to know with Apple’s newest expensive hand accessory.
Launched alongside the iPhone 7 at Apple’s special event on September 7, Apple Watch 2 is just the second generation of the Apple Watch, and while FitBits and Samsung Gears have been around a little longer, Apple is still taking its baby steps towards making itself the best thing on a millennial’s wrist.
On the outside, no one would guess that this is a new model owing to its borrowed design from the last generation. There are three models, each made of different materials. The cheapest at $369 is the aluminium model. The stainless steel variant starts at $549 and a ceramic variant which is the most expensive, starts at $1,249.
Thankfully, the price is only dependent on the external materials and not the internals of the watch. But the base variant easily is expensive even for the regular smart watches available on the market now. The watch has become a little bulkier now, and Apple has fitted this version its brightest screen yet – an OLED display.
The small changes probably have something to do with the other unique features, such as an extended water-resistance – up to 50 meters now. The new model has become a lot more active over its past iteration. Water droplets don’t affect the touch screen. So while the user starts their workout, the watch locks the screen so it isn’t affected by the water. Once the activity is complete, the user just need to twist the crown on the watch and the residual water within the watch is pushed outside. It is a neat little trick that a lot of water proof devices can learn from. Club it with the waterproof iPhone 7 and we can practically live underwater.
GPS makes its debut on the new Apple smart watch. It’s an always-on GPS that doesn’t really show any indicators to the wearer that it’s on or not. The GPS sensor works by learning the activities the user does, thanks to the accelerometer and other sensors to estimate when the user really needs the GPS activated. Apple is now fully focused on living the active life, with the daily activity of the user being displayed through a series of multi-coloured rings. This encourages users to get more proactive and close those rings.
There’s a special workout app and also an app to specially remind you to breathe. Because the world needs apps like that too. The watch is meant to be a companion device to the iPhone. And it pairs with the Activity App on the iPhone to show data from the watch. WatchOS 3 is now more swipe-oriented than force-touch oriented. Everything else in terms of functionality is the same as the last iteration of the smart watch.
But yes, much like every other Apple device, it’s only compatible with its own family. And GPS isn’t as reliable as users would want it. But at the end of the day, iPhone users will find the best companion in the smart watch.
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