Apple Watch Series 6 has long overlooked the lucrative smartwatch business, and the newly released Series 6 aims to harden that status more. It retains the contemporary design accent and brilliant features that have made previous-generation models so famous. It introduces new opportunities like different watch faces, Blood Oxygen monitoring, and the positively predicted Sleep Tracking feature. These updates are coupled with welcome changes in the performance and display departments.

But the new sleep tracking and Blood Oxygen innovations are somewhat limited in their current form. If health is vital to you, and you value being able to perform track blood oxygen and ECGs from your wrist, then the answer is yes. Contrarily, purchasing one of Apple’s more affordable Watch choices is the way to go. Unlike other smartwatches on the market, the Apple Watch Series 6 displays a smooth oblong design with a ceramic rear panel. Lying on the left is a spokesman and on the right is a button, microphone hole that offers haptic feedback.

The color and finish options do not fail either as standard Apple offer aluminum housing that can be picked up in Silver, Space Gray, Gold, and the new Blue and Product (RED) colors.

If you are ready to spend more extra, the Stainless Steel case can be acquired in Silver, Graphite, and Gold. And if money is no issue, there are the Space Black Titanium cases. The Apple Watch Series 6 is in two sizes.

Check out: Latest Smartwatch for Android Phones

Display & Watch Faces

The Retina on the Apple Watch Series 6 looks like the ones featured on the older Watch Series 4 and Series 5. But Apple has made some fundamental changes that improve the experience.

Always-on-Display that was launched only last year, has received a bump in brightness. Apple says its feature is 2.5 times lighter than before, which is absolutely outstanding in day-to-day use.

I am personally a fan of the Infographics Modular watch face that I have customized to display my local 5-day weather forecast, a shortcut to the heart rate app, the time and date, my fitness rings, and the chance of rain.

Speaking of watch faces, watchOS 7 includes a variety of new options. Managing the way are the Typograph, Stripes, GMT, Count Up, and Artist faces that can be customized to your liking.

Apple has also announced a fun new Animoji and Memoji watch face option. You can use that to have Animojis on your watch at all times or to show your one.

The Apple Watch Series 6 does not support third-party watch faces, but the company offers a fair amount of in-house options and now supports the sharing of personalized watch faces.

Software and Performance

Apple has installed watchOS 7 on its newest smartwatch, and it offers renewed animations that feel very slick. It sits beside the new Apple S6 systems-in-package, which is why the Watch Series 6 is up to 20% faster than its ancestor.

In real-world use, the watch appears amazingly fast. 

Blood Oxygen Monitoring

Unlike the Apple Watch irregular heart rhythm notifications and ECG features, which are also present on the watch and certified by local authorities worldwide, the new blood oxygen feature is not approved for medical purposes.

That means you should not expect the Apple Watch Series 6 to identify the signs of any diseases. This also applies to the COVID-19 virus, of which low blood oxygen levels are often a notable symptom.

Apple instead helps you to use the new Blood Oxygen app for overall wellness. It goes by shining an infrared light through your wrist and measuring the blood vessels’ amount reflected. To take a measurement, open the app above and press start. The process takes 15 seconds, and to get the best possible reading, it is advised you rest your wrist and make your strap is well-adjusted.

All of the blood oxygen data is bundled collectively in the Respiratory section of the iPhone’s Health app. It is a real shame the watch cannot detect symptoms, but readings over 90% are generally considered healthy, so it is up to you to understand everything.

Sleep Tracking

Sleep Tracking is not an Apple Watch Series 6 independent but instead comes with the recent watchOS seven updates. To benefit from Sleep Tracking, you can activate Sleep Mode each time you head to bed.

If you want any of that in the Health app, you will have to log in manually as I did last weekend.

Anyway, that’s only me, nitpicking. The new Sleep Tracking feature is pretty excellent overall, and I’m now a lot more aware of how much time I spend sleeping each night because of it.

Handwashing

The timing of this feature could not be any better, considering the state of the world. It practically starts a 20-second timer on the watch and encourages you to wash your hands properly.

The animation can take a few seconds to appear because the watch is checking that you are washing your hands, but those missed seconds of animation are accounted for.

Fitness

Everything above is paired with a range of new fitness options, including dance tracking, core training, functional strength training, and cool down. These arrive as part of watchOS 7 and sit alongside more traditional options like cycling and running.

The Apple Watch Series 6 uses Vo2 readings to oversee your cardio fitness levels as well. 

Battery Life & Charging

Apple Watch Series 6 to 18 hours of use on a separate charge. That is about right if you are working out during the day, but when you are not, it should easily last longer than that.

Also, there is one downside worth mentioning – the Silicon Valley-based company has removed the charging brick from the box citing environmental reasons, so you will have to make do with an actual power adapter.