As usually happens in the final stretch of each year, Apple renewed its mobile catalog with the new iPhone and also with its latest wrist device, the Apple Watch Series 7. It has a larger screen than the Apple Watch Series 6, its charging is faster and it offers better performance. Is it worth the change with such “brief” news? It’s time to find out.
Smartwatches are one of my favorite technological products: I have and have had, a good number of them. Samsung, Mobvoi, Fitbit, Amazfit, Huawei, and Apple, are the brands that have graced my wrist in recent years. Due to the balance of functions, and the quality of sports records, the Apple Watch is one of the watches that has given me the most service. Since I had been with Series 4 for three years, I decided to make the jump to Series 7. Let’s see how my experience is going.
Apple Watch Series 7 datasheet
| APPLE WATCH SERIES 7 | |
|---|---|
| CASH REGISTER | 45mm |
| SCREEN | Retina LTPO OLED 448 x 368px |
| PROCESSOR | Apple S7 |
| STORAGE | 32GB |
| CONNECTIVITY | Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz) Bluetooth 5.0 |
| SENSORS | SpO2 Heart rate, ECG Accelerometer Gyroscope Altimeter GPS/GNSS Compass Ambient light sensor VO2max |
| WATERPROOF | 50 meters |
| DRUMS | Up to 18 hours (according to Apple) |
| OTHERS | Emergency call function, fall detection, UWB |
| DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT | 45 x 38 x 10.7mm 38.8 grams |
| PRICE | From 459 euros |
Design: the same as always, for better and for worse
The evolution of Apple watches has been constant, although always on the same basis: square dial, glass covering the screen with curved edges, metal case in harmony with the curve of the glass, and two buttons on the side of the watch, one of them in the form of a rotating crown. This remains constant on the Apple Watch Series 7.
You have to have a very fine look, and know in detail every minute difference on the outside of the Apple Watch, to identify this Series 7 from the rest of the previous models. Of course, as soon as you turn it on, the clearest of all jumps out: the panel is huge, and everything the screen can offer is surprising.
The model that I acquired, and on which this analysis is based, is 45 mm in blue with the Loop strap braided in that same color. The exterior appearance is exquisite, the hue fits very well with the style of the Apple Watch 7. It is somewhat thick (quite a bit) and also large, although not exaggerated. On a generously sized doll, her appearance is not exaggerated.
The construction is of high quality: toughened glass for the front, aluminum, and ceramic case for the internal face, which includes the sensors. The watch earns IP6X certification against dust and maintains the WR50 water resistance of previous models. Apple assures that it has improved the resistance of the materials, but it is not something that it has been able to prove: in the weeks that I have been with the watch it still has no scratches (and I hope it continues like this).
The crown maintains the excellent haptic sensation that Apple gives with the Watch: its touch is precise, the vibration accompanies it subtly and it is very practical for menus. The touch panel responds perfectly. And the straps snap into the rims while maintaining backward compatibility. Those who have bands from the old Apple Watch can continue to use them with the Series 7.
The iteration is not a design change, the appearance of the Apple Watch Series 7 remains almost identical. This is good news for those who are delighted with the external appearance of the watch and do not want to risk putting it on, it also prevents the new model from being differentiated from the old ones (perfect for those who care about appearance). Although, after the loose trajectory of the Apple Watch, I think it was time for a noticeable change in appearance. Even so, the design still seems attractive to me even though I do not risk it (and perhaps for that reason).
Screen: your main bet is the size
Turning on the Series 7 for the first time after being used to previous models brings a surprise when the screen lights up: it’s huge and reaches almost to the edges of the clock. Visibility is greatly improved, messages are perfectly readable, and even the smallest text in apps is maximized for readability. At the level of change, it is the most notorious.
Regardless of size, the Apple Watch Series 7 maintains the excellent panel quality, color representation, saturation, and sharpness of previous models – viewing the watch is a delight. And the haptic response has improved slightly: the vibration system perfectly transmits the physical reactions of the interface.
Good visibility outdoors (playing sports in the sun does not lead to legibility complications), the minimum brightness does not bother in the middle of the night, Apple maintains the option of the screen always on ( by dint of reducing autonomy considerably ), it allows improving the reading by enlarging the text or adding bold and the gesture of raising the wrist to turn on the screen is usually effective.
The quality of the panel is excellent, there are no drawbacks. Although yes, it is not that the larger screen size justifies the jump from previous generations: it is a cosmetic element that the eye gets used to quickly. What improves ostensibly is the relationship between the size of the Apple Watch 7 and the screen diagonal: the watch is still very large, but the front is used to a greater extent. This is more noticeable in the smallest model, the 41mm.
Impeccable performance, constant fluidity
The new Apple watch debuts a dual-core processor indicated for smartwatches: the Apple S7. This improves performance on paper compared to previous models (it is 20% faster than the Apple Watch SE SoC, always according to Apple) and reduces energy consumption. In practice, there is no clear improvement in the speed and fluidity of the interface, WatchOS is characterized by being very fast. Autonomy does increase, and I will detail it in the relevant section.
Both the interface and the applications look very fast on the screen and with that extra size that achieves greater visibility to any aspect of the clock. Open the training app and select an exercise, slide the dock, the notifications, or enter the application tile: any gesture is fast. Even the gestures themselves, like raising your wrist to wake the screen. This one sometimes fails, but it is not usual.
I have not appreciated strange consumption caused by the system, nor does the Apple Watch Series 7 get hot: I have noticed it lukewarm at all times, even during long sessions using the watch’s GPS. The hardware lives up to expectations, although it was also in previous generations, the new model does not imply a revolutionary improvement either.
Health and sports: no news, although with the usual reliable monitoring
There is no big news at the hardware level, at least visible. And this affects activity monitoring, sports, and health registration: Apple Watch Series 7 maintains the good work of its predecessors without adding new features. This absence of changes subtracts some of the attraction for those who want to renew; without the watch ceasing to be one of the most complete in the generalist segment.
The Apple Watch has never been a smartwatch specialized in sports: its idea is to offer high general performance without being restricted to a specific point. Even so, the Series 7 measures sports practices very well, the GPS tracking outdoors is accurate and even the measurement of high heart rates can be considered reliable.
Apple includes constant monitoring of heartbeats, offers blood oxygen saturation recording (timely and automatically), maintains electrocardiograms (ECG), measures the quality of sleep and its duration, and applies constant monitoring of activity reflecting it in the famous three rings (it is one of the details that I like the most), it can measure external noise (it uses up a lot of battery), it offers relaxation techniques and its reminders (activity, exercise, breathing…) greatly encourage getting up from the chair. Apple has achieved a great instrument against a sedentary lifestyle.
My daily training routine takes place between a running session outdoors (minimum of five kilometers), and about 40 minutes of HIIT, I usually dedicate the weekend to mountain bike routes (20 kilometers on average in each session) and, with relative frequency, I make walks of several kilometers. Measuring all that exercise with the Apple Watch Series 7 is easy and, above all, quite accurate.
Outdoor GPS tracking is very good, I would say that the margin of error is around 2% (and less) in long-term practices. During my running sessions, the Apple Watch Series 7 marked the points of the route with sufficient precision. Furthermore, positioning marking occurs at very short intervals; which ends up transferring routes to the map with hardly any deviations, even during training on the straight.
With the measurement of the heart rate, I have had some clashes: at low pulsations, there is no reliability problem, and at medium speed, there is usually no problem either. You have lost measurements when the heart rate has exceeded 150 beats per minute: it is relatively common to have blank bands during recordings, even with a good fit on the wrist. With the update to WatchOS 8.1, the reliability of the cardiac recording has improved.
Battery: one of the strengths of the Apple Watch Series 7
Apple ensures that its new smartwatch lasts for 18 hours, just like previous generations. However, in my own experience, the Apple Watch Series 7 stays alive for up to two days on a charge. Even with the 90 minutes of training, GPS included.
I always use the auto-off feature for the screen, I don’t find it practical or energetic to have it on constantly. If always on is activated, it is essential to recharge the watch daily. Doing without this function not only saves (a lot) battery, but also the life of the OLED screen. That is not too much.
The battery life is far from optimal since, even though the watch has to be charged every two days, it is still an exaggerated frequency for a smartwatch. Of course, the Apple Watch Series 7 significantly improves said load by accelerating it up to 33%, always according to Apple. In my experience, this improvement in fast charging is noticeable: from 0 to 100% it takes approximately 1 hour and 13 minutes (time taken with an iPad fast charger and with the USB-C port of a MacBook Pro).
The cable included with the watch keeps the base magnetic and offers a USB C connector on the other end. As usual, no charger is included with the Apple Watch Series 7.
Software: if something works well, better not touch it
With the arrival of the new generation, Apple renewed not only the hardware but also the software. This is how WatchOS 8 was born; with the version currently on my Watch Series 7, WatchOS 8.1.
The software included in our protagonist is no mystery to anyone who has already used an Apple Watch: interface perfectly adapted to touch use combined with the rotating crown, integrated with the rest of Apple devices, with all the health and sports functions well accessible and the possibility of installing applications for the EU to work on the watch independently.
The larger screen makes reading notifications much more comfortable. And communication is improved from the watch, even with photos: attaching them to messages is very simple with WatchOS 8. The system transfers the concentration modes to the smartwatch, the “Mindfulness” app for relaxation is released, Apple completes the answers by voice and handwriting with a new keyboard, sleep measurement records the respiratory rate and trainees can detect falls to activate the emergency mode.
As usual with every new watch model, Apple debuts watch faces with the Watch Series 7. In my opinion, this is the weakest point of the entire watch: the included faces do not take advantage of the enormous possibilities of the watch. In the absence of Apple finally releasing the design so that we can download new watch faces from the App Store, customization has been minimally improved: there are new portrait spheres with which to give the Watch a unique touch. And not too much more: Apple prioritizes artistic designs to those most suitable for a watch.
Apple Watch Series 7, the opinion of Xataka Móvil
The Apple Watch is not the best sports watch, nor is it the most complete in the field of activity or the one that offers the greatest compatibility with different phones. Yes, it is the most balanced at a generic level: notifications, exercise measurement, activity, applications, and the manufacturer’s software. This has its counterpart: in addition to the high price, the Apple Watch Series 7 can only be used with an iPhone (minimum iPhone 6S).
It does not represent a noticeable evolutionary leap, so I do not see it recommended for someone who has an Apple Watch Series 6 or Apple Watch SE (even a Series 5). The fast charge is appreciated, as well as the improvement in autonomy with the screen always off. And the screen looks spectacular even if the eye gets used to it quickly: easier to read the content of apps and notifications is a significant improvement. And without losing compatibility with previous straps.
The huge screen is the most outstanding feature of the Apple Watch Series 7. However, it is not a real selling point, at least for those who own a more or less recent Apple Watch.
The Apple Watch Series 7 is an expensive watch that limits its compatibility with an expensive phone. Its base of 429 euros (459 euros in the case of the one that occupies this analysis, the 45 mm) makes it difficult to recommend it. In my experience, it works great for encouraging activity, measuring exercise at the amateur level, and reducing phone use; uses that can be covered with much cheaper proposals.
The Apple Watch Series 7 is a device that does almost everything at a very high level. Getting used to the watch is easy, and dispensing with it becomes very difficult.
Sharlene Meriel is an avid gamer with a knack for technology. He has been writing about the latest technologies for the past 5 years. His contribution in technology journalism has been noteworthy. He is also a day trader with interest in the Forex market.
