Long-Term Review:  Apple Watch Series 8 – The Best Gets Better

Sitting between the new Apple Watch Ultra (the top-end variant designed for outdoor activities and athletes) and the Apple Watch SE (this year’s entry-level variant with some trimmed-down features), the Watch Series 8 feels similar to Series 7 but comes with some minor updates. But is it worth upgrading? Here’s my long-term experience with the watch.
 
Like the previous gen Apple watch, this Series 8 is also available in 41mm and 45mm sizes. The 41mm is perfect for petite wrists and the latter for bigger ones. I like wearing big watch dials, and I was glad my review unit was the 45mm case one.

The watch boasts the same iconic Apple Watch rectangular design with curved corners and a smooth finish. Last year, Apple increased the screen estate by almost 20 per cent without increasing the case measurements. This meant more screen estate to interact with. But what’s most impressive about Apple is that the previous-gen watch bands (including 1st gen watch) are compatible with this latest watch. Having a collection of silicon bands, leather bands in different colours and even the stainless-steel band, I often switch between the bands to match my daily attire.
 
What’s new?

Focused on health and overall well-being, the Watch Series 8 monitors step count, workouts, heart rate, blood oxygen, and EKG, among others. What’s new onboard are two temperature sensors - one on the back crystal near the skin and another underneath the display - that enables advanced features for women’s health, a new crash detection feature and low-power mode.
 
Women Health

While I never found Apple’s Cycle Tracking accurate in the past, this feature has improved significantly now. Building further on this Cycle Tracking feature, Apple is now helping women understand when they are likely to ovulate. This can be useful for those who are trying to conceive or trying to avoid pregnancy.
 
How does this work? Apple says night-time wrist temperature is a good indicator of overall body temperature. The sensors onboard sample wrist temperature during sleep every five seconds and measure changes as small as 0.1 degrees C. But, the watch takes about five nights to determine the baseline wrist temperature and starts looking for nightly changes. And to receive retrospective ovulation estimates, both Cycle Tracking and Sleep Tracking must be turned on. The Watch then uses wrist temperature data to detect the small increase in temperature that occurs after ovulation. And using advanced algorithms along with logged cycle data, it estimates the day ovulation likely occurred. It takes about two cycles for the estimates to be worked out. And the results, as Apple says, are only retrospective estimates for better family planning.  For those worried about the data and privacy, all this data stays protected on the device.
 
Sleep Tracking

While Apple is making a big deal of sleep tracking and sleep cycles, this feature has been available on Fitbit for many years (and also an accurate one). Apple’s sleep app shows REM, Core, or Deep sleep and records every time I woke up at night. The findings were accurate. But unlike other fitness bands, it does not detect sleep automatically and has to be activated manually. However, Apple has this Wind Down feature to help users relax and prepare for bedtime. While it works well in a routine, the last month and a half were stressful due to a family emergency, and the sleeping hours varied. As a result, there were certain days when the sleep data wasn’t accurate. It is in situations like these where automatic sleep tracking works better.
 
Health Check

What I love about Apple Watch is the vital monitoring. And this recently came in handy during a recent family emergency when I had to share a family member's heart rate, oxygen level reading and ECG with the doctor at midnight. As Apple Watch is not a medical-grade device, we followed it with medical tests in the morning. However, the readings of the watch were in sync with the results of the reports.
 
 
Crash Detection

Another prominent feature worth mentioning is car crash detection. Apple says the watch can detect if you’re in a severe car crash using the combined power of an improved 3-axis gyroscope and a new g-force accelerometer. While I could not test it for obvious reasons, I mounted it on an RC car to see if it worked. Well, I wasn’t able to fool the watch. But when an actual crash is detected, this feature is supposed to connect with emergency services and notify emergency contacts automatically.
 
Battery

The battery backup of the Apple Watch has improved significantly over the years. Yet, there are situations when it is still on your wrist but practically out of charge. For such situations, the new low-power mode will be a boon. Unlike Power Reserve, where the only time was visible, this mode will only disable certain power-draining apps to extend the battery life. And it works. Using this mode easily got me through over two days without the charger.
 
Focused on overall health and fitness, the Apple Watch Series 8 is the best in the business. It works only with iPhones. It is an excellent buy if you are new to the Apple ecosystem. Or using a Series 6 or older gen watch and are planning to upgrade. But still not compelling enough to upgrade from the Apple Watch Series 7.
 
Price: Rs 48,990