Apple Watch SE hands-on: Enter the FrankenWatch By Engadget

So I've been wearing the new Apple Watch, SE for the better part of a day and really so far. I can't help but think of it as apple's Frankenmuth, which is a better thing than you might expect. Let's take a closer look, so what do I mean by Frankenmuth? Well, one might generously call this a sort of parts bins special, so the Apple Watch SE uses the same system in package that was used in the Apple Watch Series 5, which is definitively a pretty good thing, but it does also share its dual-core processor, with the Apple Watch Series 4. Now this thing also uses the sort of expansive display that you'd see in the Apple Watch Series 5 and series.6. apple has also confirmed that the Apple Watch SC uses the same compass and always on altimeter as the Apple Watch Series 6, which is pretty cool if you're into that sort of thing, but you do lose, among other things, the ECG which originally was rolled out in the Apple Watch Series 4, and you don't get any of the blood oxygen features that are debuting in the Apple Watch Series.6. , oh and the always-on display feature that debuted in the Apple Watch a couple of years ago.

Just isn't a thing here which really isn't that big a deal, but we'll get to that just a bit later. Here's what you have to keep in mind, though the Apple Watch, SE at least in my first day of use, kind of feels a lot like the new iPad Air. Does itbe closer in ambition to apple Apple Watch Series 3. , now, you're definitely going to want to wait for our full Apple Watch, SE review where we will dig into performance in a bit more detail, but just let me give you a bit of backstory. I've been wearing the Apple Watch Series 5 for basically a year now, and I've gotten used to its level of performance, which is honestly been surprisingly good.

Even after all of these months. If you used an Apple Watch more than a few years ago, then you probably remember that the beginning was kind of rough. You saw a lot of stops and starts and stutters and generally things just weren't as smooth as they really should have been for an apple product by the time the Apple Watch Series 5 rolled around those had more or less been ironed out, as apple got better at producing its tiny chipsets. For these things, so we walked away with pretty smooth, enjoyable performance. So far, the Apple Watch SE has felt just as fast as the Apple Watch Series 5, which is pretty obvious because they do run the same chipset and bear in mind.

This is a 280 smartwatch that offers what was up until just recently the exact same performance as apple's flagship wearable. That is not bad at all. Considering the price now like I said, I haven't used this thing for more than a day realistically, so I can't comment on battery life, but when I cracked open the Apple Watch Series 5 last year, I got more than a full day of use out of it, and I'm expecting more of the same here, if not a little better, because it doesn't have to worry about keeping a display on all the time. Like I said, that's not bad at all for 280, but the one thing you might want to keep in mind is that the Apple Watch Series 5 has occasionally gone on sale for about 300 bucks and I think that's worth it for at least a few people. I think it's worth it for me at least, because I had a bit of a heart issue that I only ever really noticed and was able to sort of, but not quite diagnose.

With the Apple Watch Series 5. , I was traveling for work. I felt my heart. Do this crazy drum solo thing and looking at the series 5 confirmed that yeah there's something up with your heartbeat. We can't tell you to go to the doctor, but you probably should obviously I'm here, and I'm fine, so everything worked out, but that is the kind of thing that you just will not get with the Apple Watch SC because it lacks that ECG feature.

Of course, if that doesn't really matter to you, if you know you have a good heart, then maybe the Apple Watch SC is going to be just fine it if nothing else packs the new version of watch os 7, which is going to be the subject of its own review and its own deep dive at some point. But let me just run through the high level stuff really quickly. There are a bunch of cooling watch faces here. I've really grown attached to this weird artsy, one by the artist Jeff, the cartridge. It's a face on your watch, and it's sort of clean and cute, and I just keep wondering if it's going to do anything, but that hasn't turned me off so far, there's also a new typography watch face which I think apple has shown off, maybe the most of all of them, which is fair because it looks great.

But if you're like me- and you have difficulty reading the time when you don't have markings around the dial then expect to have a little trouble with telling the time on this thing. Oh, and you can make emoji in your watch face too, which is cool, and I hate mime emoji. So I'm never going to do it. There is, of course, more to this update than just watch faces, there's automatic hand, washing detection, which will notice, when you're washing your hands based off of the hands motion and the sound of running water, and it does seem to work as well as advertise once you've enabled it in the settings, though, I should point out that once you wash your hands, you can't immediately go back and have it recognize your washing your hands again. I don't think too many people are washing their hands within the span of a minute back to back, but look it's your life, I'm not going to judge.

There are also some new sleep tracking tools which again I have not had the chance to test because I've been awake, the entire time I've had this Apple Watch, uh speaking of things I also haven't, had the chance to try out. There is new support for workouts like core, strengthening and dance, and I'll be honest with you. The only dance I ever do is playing dance revolution in my living room in the dark. So if you want to see that, let us know I guess I don't know that we're going to show you that, but let's let's talk about it, we'll have the conversation at least, and since I have them, we might as well talk about this new watch. Bands too apple sent me the solo loop and the sort of fabric-y woven version of the solo loop, and they're, both pretty nice.

The woven loop actually looks and feels my favorite by far which it should, because it's 99 I'm a little concerned about how this material will hold up over time, because I am an extremely sweaty man, but we'll just have to see one thing that isn't also super obvious in some photos or videos you might have seen so far is that this thing is surprisingly stretchy. There's a lot of give there, which is nice, because you do have to know your size before you buy. One of these things' apple sent me a size, 6 and a size, 7 version of this guy and the regular silicon solo lube, and I think, that's kind of interesting, because you know the 7 works really well on me for the woven loop, but the 7 is actually a little tight on me when it comes to the silicon version which, as you might expect, feels quite a bit like the sport loop, but a little thinner. I can't really justify or explain why there is a variance in the sizing between these two. But if you're looking at that sort of plastic solo loop, you might want to consider sizing up just a bit from whatever apple's little paper tool tells you to get and that's about it really.

Like I said I haven't, had the Apple Watch SC for very long at all, but it does leave a pretty strong impression. It is kind of a mixed bag of features and parts, but the end result is a perfectly nice Apple Watch. It should be a great one for people who've never really had one or people itching to upgrade after a long time- and I know that's what I said about the 8th generation iPad, but same applies here. Apple's philosophy of making good, if not exactly thrilling devices, is definitely not going anywhere. If you have any questions or if you have any feedback about the Apple Watch, Essie, please let us know down in the comments or email me at v8ngadget.

com, we'll be working on the full review of this and the iPad. So we'd love to know what you want to know about and until then thank you for watching you.

Source : Engadget