Key Features
- Review Price: £399
- Apple S3 processor / W2 wireless
- 1000nit OLED screen
- LTE modem
- GPS + altimeter
- Heart rate monitor
- Water-resistant to 50m
- NFC Apple Pay
- watchOS 4
What is the Apple Watch Series 3?
The Apple Watch is now in its third iteration, and while it may appear that not much has changed on the surface, there have been some developments under the hood.
The big draw for the Series 3 is the option of LTE connectivity. This means greater independence from your paired iPhone, and always-on connectivity wherever you get network coverage. The best news of all is that your Apple Watch 3 will share the same phone number as your iPhone, doing away with one of the biggest grievances of previous LTE-enabled smartwatches: juggling multiple numbers.
If you’re in the UK then it’s worth noting that, right now, only EE supports LTE connectivity for the Apple Watch Series 3, and this will cost £5 in addition to your standard monthly network tariff. The feature is more widely supported by US carriers and you can expect to pay an extra $10 on top of your usual contract for a smartwatch plan.
The Watch Series 3 sees performance improvements, too. A new S3 dual-core processor runs the show with a 70% speed hike over the previous generation, and a W2 wireless chip delivers improved Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities. Now, for the first time with an Apple Watch, an altimeter is included. This provides elevation data during your exercise. In addition, built-in GPS and water-resistance to 50 metres make a welcome return.
While the Apple Watch 3 GPS + Cellular (£399/$399) offers the full raft of new features, there’s also the Apple Watch 3 GPS (£329/$329) model for consideration. This does away with the cellular capabilities but includes all the other improvements over the now discontinued Apple Watch Series 2. It has half the storage capacity (8GB) of the Cellular model, and launches at a lower price than last year’s model (originally costing £369). It’s potentially a more tantalising prospect for those not enamoured by LTE or a hiked up monthly bill.
Ultimately, the Apple Watch 3 remains a difficult sell as a must-have device – even if I do find myself missing it when I take it off. But, whether or not you feel the need to be always connected, the Apple Watch Series 3 – in both its guises – offers the best smartwatch experience to date. While not perfect, it delivers a welcome balance of smartwatch convenience and fitness tracking to make it a versatile companion.
Apple Watch 3 – Design and comfort
As mentioned, not a great deal has changed in terms of the Apple Watch’s design. While nearly every other smartwatch maker has transitioned to a circular design, Apple has stayed the course since the device’s launch in 2015. For me, the Apple Watch 3 remains one of the more tasteful smartwatch designs out there.
Each iteration of the device has seen its thickness creep up, but it’s such a negligible amount that you’ll only notice if you place each model side by side. Consider the hardware enhancements being packed into newer models, and it’s really an impressive feat of engineering that the Apple Watch 3 remains one of the more svelte smartwatches.
In the Watch Series 3, the LTE antenna has been squeezed in behind the screen, barely impacting the device’s overall thickness. The positive side effect of this move, which may come as a surprise, concerns comfort. In other LTE-enabled smartwatches, the antenna has often been placed inside the strap joint, making the join with the watch casing stiff and uncomfortable. This isn’t an issue with the Watch Series 3.
Apple has also opted to include an eSIM, which is physically smaller than a nano-SIM. The embedded eSIM isn’t a component you’ll ever need to swap out; instead, changing providers is done on the network’s side. Setting up the Apple Watch 3 for LTE usage is completed through the Watch app on your iPhone. It takes you through the process of signing up to a smartwatch plan with your provider, which in my case meant adding the £5 Smartwatch Plan on top of my ongoing EE contract.
If you don’t go through this part of the setup process then your Apple Watch won’t make use of its LTE modem. Instead, it will operate much like the cheaper Apple Watch Series 3 + GPS model – although you’ll have the option of signing up for an LTE data plan at a later date (perhaps when other UK network providers get on board).
Beyond the thickness of the device, the only other visual separator from the Watch Series 2 is in fact only present if you opt for the LTE-enabled model. The Apple Watch’s Digital Crown gets a splash of colour, with a red dot denoting your always connected capability.
Is this visual flourish really necessary? Probably not. But I’ll hazard a guess that some folk will secretly enjoy letting the world know that they have the latest and greatest adorning their wrist. Personally, I actually quite like the slight visual break offered by the red dot. Especially on the silver aluminium model I have for review, which has spent most of its time paired with a Fog grey silicone sports band.
Below the Digital Crown is the side button that’s been re-appropriated in use over the years. It can now either bring up your dock of favourite apps or your most recently used apps. The other side of the watch casing houses the speaker and microphones. Flip the watch over and the optical heart rate monitor is still present.
Like the Series 2, the display is made of what Apple calls ‘Ion-X strengthened glass’. I’ve accidentally bashed last year’s aluminium model on every imaginable surface, and put it through various workouts and swims, and it remains blemish-free. I’m confident this year’s model will live up to the same rigours.
As with previous models, there’s a dizzying array of Apple Watch 3 versions available for every taste and budget. The LTE model is available in both 38mm (£399/$329) and 42mm (£429/$429) size options, and these come in Silver, Space Grey or Gold aluminium finishes. Then there are the more premium stainless steel finishes starting from £599/$599 for the 38mm model. Watch Edition models are now available in either white or grey ceramic, with prices starting at £1,299/$1,299. Top these all off with returning collaborations with Hermés and Nike, and the number of options remain plentiful.
This doesn’t include the range of different bundled strap options at time of purchase, which also impacts the price. The good news is that you’re able to swap out the straps at a later date. I was provided a Burnt Orange Woven Nylon strap for review too, which added a bit more pizzazz compared to the more subdued grey silicone strap I typically wore for exercise and swimming. The standard Sport band bundle includes two different-sized straps in the box.
I also tried on the Sport Loop, one of the new straps introduced with the Apple Watch Series 3 (but compatible across all models). It’s made from a slightly elastic fabric and uses a hook and loop fixing, similar to the premium Milanese loop, to secure around your wrist. Since it’s slightly stretchy, I found it super-comfortable and great if you want to quickly adjust the tightness depending on the situation – you’ll want a snugger fit during exercise for more accurate heart rate tracking, for instance.
For avid runners, there’s the EdgeGear Shift, which I’ve also been using for longer runs. Rather than having the Apple Watch on your wrist, it actually moves it to the back of your hand, just below your thumb. It’s unorthodox but it makes for a much more natural way to quickly view the display without having to rotate your wrist.
All models of the Apple Watch 3 remain water-resistant to 50m and will happily survive a dunk in salt water, too. The new model uses the same charming water-ejection method as the Series 2, where it will play a specific tone to eject water from the speaker.
pple Watch 3 – Display and speaker
Again, not a great deal has changed regarding the Apple Watch 3’s display. It offers the same resolution as last year’s model, with a 272 x 340 (38mm) or 312 x 390 (42mm) OLED display. Importantly, it still has that 1000 nits of brightness, just like the recent Fitbit Ionic – and it’s what sets the Apple Watch devices apart from other rivals. Such searing levels of brightness mean you’re unlikely to encounter difficulties viewing the display, even in bright outdoor sunlight.
The touchscreen display looks incredibly vibrant and crisp, whether displaying your own custom photo watch face or just watchOS’s menus and interface. The font is sharp and readable and icons are easy to recognise. If there’s one minor complaint, it’s that an always-on display option is still lacking – something that many rival smartwatches have long implemented. These typically display a basic watch face in a low-powered state, rather than just having the display appear blank when not in use.
Although not a huge drain, an always-on display on a smartwatch does still impact battery life. Considering this is something that’s already at a premium on the Apple Watch, it goes some way to explain Apple’s hesitance to introduce a similar feature.
A simple wrist rotation gesture brings the screen to life and this works consistently unlike other wearables I’ve worn. You can also more discreetly peek at the time by rotating the digital crown when the display is off. This turns the panel on gradually, notching up the brightness little by little.
The display still supports Force Touch, enabling you to access other menus or interactions by pressing hard on the display. This is met with a little haptic vibration. It isn’t used as frequently as I’d like beyond a few apps and to change watch face customisations.
As mentioned, the microphone and speaker can be found on the side of the watch. The speakers do a great job of letting you take a hands-free call away from your iPhone. You don’t actually need to have it held up to your mouth Dick Tracy-style. At arm’s length works fine; just not dangled down by your sides. With my hands on a steering wheel I was perfectly able to have a conversation using the built-in speaker and mic.
Apple Watch 3 – LTE performance and watchOS update
In the initial weeks following the Apple Watch Series 3’s release, much was being said about the headline LTE performance. Namely, there was a problem in how the hand-off between Wi-Fi and LTE was being handled. In Apple’s own words: “We have discovered that when Apple Watch Series 3 joins unauthenticated Wi-Fi networks without connectivity, it may at times prevent the watch from using cellular. We are investigating a fix for a future software release.”
This basically translates as the Apple Watch 3 is failing to use its LTE connectivity – you know, the service you’re paying extra for – because it’s prioritising Wi-Fi instead. In theory this makes sense: you’d probably want the device to use less battery-draining Wi-Fi and also save the data on your LTE plan.
The problem is, the Apple Watch 3 was joining Wi-Fi networks without connectivity, either because the internet connectivity wasn’t working, or because they required a user login. This is typically through a capture page you register, or click through to from the browser on your phone or laptop. Without the ability to do so on your Apple Watch 3, you were trapped in limbo and remained disconnected from the world.
Two weeks after release, Apple issued a watchOS update looking to remedy the issue. In use, I can say that it appears to have done the job for the most part. Disconnecting from my iPhone, either by way of leaving it behind or putting it into Airplane mode, the Apple Watch 3 was much quicker to jump over to its LTE connection – typically taking about 10-30 seconds. Walking around London and past the hundreds of coffee shops and open Wi-Fi networks, I kept an eye on the Apple Watch’s cellular icon and I didn’t see it drop the LTE in favour of an unknown Wi-Fi network.
When trying to make a phone call over LTE – admittedly, in a congested area surrounded by 16,000-odd runners at the Royal Parks Half Marathon – I did find the call dropping on occasion. I’ve also occasionally had to disable and re-enable the LTE to get calls to work. In less tricky surroundings, LTE calling has for the most part worked absolutely fine.
Reception is, perhaps unsurprisingly, not as good as an iPhone. My gym is located in a basement, which is never great for cellular reception, but my iPhone can at least conjure up a single bar in some areas. There’s no such with the Apple Watch 3. So while I can have my workout tracked and stream my offline music to my Bluetooth headphones, I can’t make use of the LTE connectivity.
Still, there are probably only a few occasions when you’re likely to benefit from having an always-connected – within the realms of network reception – smartwatch. Going for a run is clearly one of them. It was liberating to be able to leave my iPhone behind during the half marathon race, and know that I’d still be able to phone or message my running companion at the finish line. During a few earlier test runs I was still receiving Slack messages from the Trusted Reviews team, even though my iPhone was on my desk. You may occasionally want to turn off the LTE, when you want some alone time.
I can also now leave my phone at home while I quickly pop out to the shops, without feeling disconnected. Then there’s the Emergency SOS feature, which will call the emergency services via a long press of the side button, without the need for your iPhone. You never know when that might be useful, as shown in the Apple Watch 3’s reveal video.
The other potential draw for the LTE connection is Apple Music streaming, which will let you stream the service’s 40 million-odd tracks straight from your wrist while on the go. You can already download your Apple Music playlists for offline playback on the Watch, but if you’re always on the hunt for something new then you’ll appreciate the option. However, Apple Music streaming isn’t available at time of review – Apple says this should be ready within the next month.
The fact that the LTE connection doesn’t support roaming is frustrating; this is true even if your iPhone’s network provider supports it. This means if you take your Apple Watch Series 3 GPS + Cellular model out of your home territory, it will operate like the non-LTE model. That’s a drawback for frequent travellers – and a real shame.
Another annoyance is that when I attempt to call my voicemail number from my Watch, it directs me to my iPhone. The ability to clear voice messages (only ever left by my mum) from my Watch rather than having to get my iPhone out would have been great.
Then there’s also the fact that without your iPhone turned on and connected, you won’t receive SMS messages on your Apple Watch 3 even if it has LTE reception, although you can send SMS messages (iMessages will, however, send and receive as normal).
So far, occasions where the LTE connection has been undeniably useful for me have been few and far between. There’s obviously far more you can do with your iPhone than your Watch, limiting how often I felt compelled to go out without my device – aside from ‘just because I could’.
In fairness, Apple’s proposition with the LTE-enabled Apple Watch 3 isn’t as a device to replace your iPhone; it wouldn’t need pairing with one if it was supposed to, after all. It’s whether these sporadic moments and conveniences are worth the premium for both the device and your phone contract that will ultimately define the LTE option importance to you.
Apple Watch 3 – Performance and watchOS 4
Inside, Apple has been tinkering away with both the Apple Watch 3’s processor and wireless chip, with both receiving significant performance boosts. Apple has said the new S3 dual-core processor offers up 70% more performance than the S2. If I compare the two watches side-by-side, apps do open faster – but some still take a little longer than I would like.
Really, though, the extra grunt is used elsewhere, namely for Siri. The digital assistant is the real beneficiary of the S3’s performance. Now, when you ask Siri a question, the Apple Watch 3 is able to speak its answer through the Watch’s speaker. It makes the Apple Watch 3 far more a hands-free experience – just say ‘Hey Siri’ to engage the voice assistant.
In one real-world example, I was attempting to make a Chicken Katsu Curry at home, hands covered in egg wash and panko breadcrumbs. Hardly a time I wanted to prod away at my Watch or iPhone, although I needed to know what 1 cup was when converted into millilitres. Siri was there and ready to audibly deliver the correct answer, without me having to stop what I was doing.
Frustrations with Siri remain, though. Some queries you’re sure will be easy enough to illicit a response, don’t. Ask Siri ‘What’s gas mark 7 is in degrees celsius?’ – and Siri will divert you to your iPhone for the answer. Ask Siri ‘Do I need an umbrella tomorrow?’, expecting a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, and you’ll be left disappointed. In fairness, it does bring up the seven-day forecast on your Watch screen, but it doesn’t give you an answer through the speaker. In many ways, Siri still lags behind other digital assistant rivals for intelligence.
New with watchOS 4 – the Apple Watch’s latest operating system – is a dedicated Siri watch face. This pulls in context-sensitive cards as a complication on your watch screen. This could be anything from the latest news stories, calendar events, weather, home controls or stock notifications. It’s all displayed in a timeline through which you can navigate with the Digital Crown. Rotating it brings you ‘Up Next’, so you can keep tabs on what’s upcoming.
By default the top-left complication is a shortcut button to Siri, but you can change this considering access to Siri is granted by holding down the Digital Crown or using your voice. You’ll need to open up the Watch app on your iPhone to customise the data sources that Siri dynamically pulls from. There are other new watch faces for watchOS 4, including the charming Toy Story-themed face, which now joins Mickey and Minnie Mouse. A special mention goes to how the iPhone’s Live Photos are used as watch faces in a delightful way. They animate briefly when you bring up the watch, the moving image making the watch face look like something out of Harry Potter.
Other refinements to watchOS 4 include changes to the Music app, as well as how it syncs your playlists for offline use. Cycling through your playlists is now with a cards-based interface, which is much cleaner. Your most-listened to music and playlists will now also be auto-synced to your Watch when you plug it in to charge, which is great. It means you’ll always have new music to listen to when you leave your phone behind.
The Music app is now much more attractive
Of course, all of this is dependent on subscribing to Apple Music. There’s no dedicated Spotify watch app, let alone the ability for offline playback seen on Samsung’s Gear S3. The more expensive GPS + Cellular has 16GB of storage, of which 13GB is available for your apps and media. The GPS-only model has half that amount, but it’s likely still plenty for most.
Many of the other watchOS 4 improvements are to how the Apple Watch 3 handles workouts, which I’ll come to in the next section. Otherwise, the Apple Watch experience hasn’t changed that drastically from last year. Apple Pay remains fantastically convenient, especially for getting around London using contactless payments.
Supposedly, Apple Pay has benefitted from a slight speed increase, and it does feel ever-so-slightly quicker, removing that momentary paranoia that you’re about to hold up the queue boarding the bus. In the two weeks I’ve been using the Watch Series 3, Apple Pay hasn’t failed me once. The same can’t be said of my contactless debit card that occasionally fails to register.
What will really improve the overall Watch experience is a greater number of dedicated apps that take advantage of having LTE. I’d love to have WhatsApp available independently on the watch. Right now, you can only reply to messages that come in, rather than being able to initiate conversations. Even then, that’s dependent on your iPhone being turned on and connected.
With a separate Watch app I wouldn’t worry as much about my iPhone running out of charge late in the day, as I could still be reached through the Apple Watch – granted, people can still iMessage or, gasp, call me; but WhatsApp is the communication method of choice for my circle. And while I’m making a WhatsApp wish list, I’d also love to be able to reply with voice messages through the Apple Watch, rather than having to use the still unreliable message dictation. iMessages do at least let you send voice messages.
Annoyingly, while there’s a Facebook Messenger watch app, it doesn’t actually make use of the LTE to refresh your latest messages or send new ones. It’s still doing this through an iPhone.
Other high-profiles apps are still missing or have been removed over the years, such as Twitter, Google Maps and Amazon. In the case of Twitter, notifications from the service have at least improved, even if there isn’t a dedicated app to scroll through your timeline. Still, watchOS is still generally better supported than the likes of Android Wear or Samsung’s Tizen operating systems.
I especially like being able to control my LIFX light bulbs or trigger my GoPro from my wrist. Then apps like Shazam also have companion apps so now I can discreetly check what song is playing in the background and fake musical knowledge to anyone I’m around. This is truly living in the future.
I’ve increasingly found myself using Apple Maps again thanks to the Apple Watch, too, having long been a Google Maps loyalist. Having the Apple Watch 3 buzz on my wrist to tell me of an upcoming turn is great, although for some reason my iPhone’s GPS can occasionally find itself out of whack, teleporting me past a turn and getting everything confused. The Apple Watch 3 app can be a bit slow to update its bearings if you manage to miss a turn, too.
Apple Watch 3 – watchOS 4.1 update
Since my original review, Apple has now released its watchOS 4.1 update. This brought with it some useful additions that arguably should have been readied at launch that focus around music.
First off, you can now stream Apple Music over LTE. It’s a little cumbersome for my liking as you’ll need to use Siri if you want to play specific artists, albums or tracks. There’s no way to navigate music libraries from the Apple Watch’s screen. Other Siri commands include asking it to play specific playlists or to shuffle your music. Using Siri also means the experience is subjected to some of Siri’s foibles on the Apple Watch, occasionally taking some time to process your request or getting it wrong altogether. Still, overall, when going out for a run it’s a handy option to fall back on. My preference is still just to save offline music, though.
There’s also a new Radio app, which lets you access stations such as Apple’s own Beats1. Again, it’s a handy option if you’re struggling for something to listen to and haven’t planned ahead.
Other new additions include GymKit support becoming available, which lets the Apple Watch communicate with certain pieces of gym equipment such as treadmills or elliptical machines. You also now have an option to disable the Apple Watch’s Wi-Fi connect from the Control Centre screen, as well as seeing what network it’s connected to. It’s another step in eradicating the niggling LTE bug that was around at launch (and was already subsequently fixed).
Apple Watch 3 – Health and fitness tracking
Many of watchOS 4’s improvements centre around fitness tracking, which was already a significant focus for the Apple Watch Series 2. As such, don’t be surprised to see health and life insurance firms offering up Apple Watch devices as part of their plans.
In the UK for instance you can currently get an Apple Watch 3 with Vitality for free or at a reduced price depending on how active you’ve been. Vitality lets you spread the cost across 24 months, charging between no charge or £12.50 a month based on how health-conscious you’ve been. It’s a great incentive and way to not pay outright for the Apple Watch, provided you take out a suitable insurance plan that is.
In the Watch Series 3, the GPS from the Series 2 is now joined by an altimeter so the device can keep an eye on the number of stairs you climb throughout the day, as well as the elevation data during your workouts. Those hill sprints will now be tracked in all their glory. Previous Apple Watch models had to piggyback the elevation data from your iPhone, so those opting for a phone-free experience missed out on this extra layer of information.
image: https://ksassets.timeincuk.net/wp/uploads/sites/54/2017/10/P1030190-1024x685.jpg
The day-to-day activity tracking has improved, too, although it continues to focus on three activity rings: move, exercise and stand targets. A dedicated activity-based watch face make it easy to determine your progress at a glance, or you can simply dive into the Activity app. The ring-based progress is an easy primer to ensure you’re conscious of your activity, helping to motivate you to ‘close the rings’. You’ll receive prompts throughout the day, which watchOS 4 improves through better context and motivation.
For example, you might be made aware that you’re lagging behind a little in your move target compared to previous days, or that you’ll close a ring if you take an 11-minute brisk walk. Or, on waking up the Watch will notify that you closed all three rings the previous day and to aim for the same today. Such prompts are likely to put you in the right frame of mind.
Related: Best fitness trackers
image: https://ksassets.timeincuk.net/wp/uploads/sites/54/2017/10/IMG_0578-1024x320.jpg
If you’re close to unlocking a new achievement then the Apple Watch 3 will also provide a gentle prod in the right direction – but only when a target is within reach. Apple is careful to not demotivate with all the carrot dangling.
Personally, I’d have liked to have seen a stairs goal that makes use of the altimeter. While Apple is apprehensive about overwhelming people with any more ‘rings’, a more prominent placement of the ‘Flights’ recording would have been more motivating – especially in driving you to take the stairs or walk up the escalator in place of using a lift.
Right now, you can view data on the number of flights climbed, but only through scrolling down the Activity app. Plus, you don’t receive any prompts throughout the day detailing how many flights you’ve climbed, as you do with other wearables. In fact, it’s very easy to forget that such data is being recorded.
The Breathe app makes a return, urging you to take a few minutes in the day for some relaxing breathing exercises. It’s well implemented, with the haptic feedback helping you to time your breathing without intensely concentrating on the screen and ruining the effect. The Siri watch face will also remind you to take some time out.
There’s no native sleep tracking, although there are third-party apps that fill the void. I’d still love to see Apple’s own take on sleep tracking. But for now I’ve been using AutoSleep, which works well – even if it isn’t as approachable as Fitbit’s offering.
Other significant watchOS 4 changes come to the Workout app. The biggest is the ability to add exercises to the same workout, which is ideal for circuit trainers and triathletes in particular. Now you can start a workout, say a run, then without stopping it, add another exercise such as a bike ride. All of the exercises are then logged as one continuous workout, without the need to be counted down into the new exercise, which wastes precious tracking time. It’s a much more seamless experience. There’s also new support for high-intensity interval training (HIIT).
The Apple Watch can even communicate with certain gym equipment through NFC to sync workout data through something Apple calls GymKit.
This allows for two-way communication with equipment such as treadmills or elliptical data. With just a tap your Apple Watch can share your important biometric data such as age, height and weight, saving you time completing this on the equipment and meaning you get more accurate calorie burn data. In turn, the equipment can share its own data such as distance and elevation. It means your indoor workouts are better tracked.
A new Heart Rate app provides more in-depth info on what your ticker is up to. Now you can view heart rate data throughout the day on a scatter graph, as well as important metrics such as your resting heart rate and walking average.
Tucked away in the Apple Health app on your iPhone is your Heart Rate Variability, which is a measure of the variation in the time interval between one heart beat and the next. Heart rate recovery is also only viewable from a workout in the Activity app back on your iPhone. I felt like a lot of the useful data was spread across different locations a little confusingly.
You can also engage elevated heart rate warnings, which set off an alarm when your resting heart rate spikes over a set level (by default 120 beats per minute). For some folk a similar alarm would be useful for a suddenly decreasing heart rate – but this isn’t currently supported.
Heart rhythm is another metric the Apple Watch will monitor, especially around atrial fibrillation. This is characterised by irregular and often abnormally fast heart rhythms. This could lead to dizziness, shortness of breath or heart palpitations as your heart races as high as 100BPM. Most worrying is that atrial fibrillation doesn’t always show symptoms, so sufferers could be unaware. It’s here that the Apple Watch could be a fantastic medical tool.
All of this heart rate data is being used by the company as part of an Apple Heart Study in partnership with Stanford Medicine.
The Apple Watch can now also estimate your VO2 Max, which is a good indicator of your overall fitness. Oddly, again, this is hidden away in the Health app on your iPhone, rather than appearing in the Activity app or anywhere on the Watch.
I’m going to assume that Apple is using a different estimation method than the standard Firstbeat method used by practically every other wearables maker. Its VO2 estimation was considerably lower than what I’ve been getting elsewhere – which, in all honesty, hurt my ego a little. But as with all metrics, it was consistent throughout testing, so it remains a good measure to keep an eye on over time.
The returning GPS is a welcome tool for runners and cyclists alike. It’s also something third-party apps can make use of for more specialised sports. It worked great for running, tracking the distance closely to some official distances. Heart rate data collected during my runs was also accurate, with no puzzling spikes or drops. It was even spot on when compared to the reading taken from my ear through a Jabra Elite Sport.
Being able to go out for a run or a bike ride without a phone in tow, while still having a data connection and being able to listen to music through Bluetooth headphones, makes the Apple Watch an outstanding exercise companion. As does knowing that Apple Pay is available in case I get lost.
Swimming continues to be well handled by the Watch, with it nailing the lengths perfectly, while also being able to recognise different strokes. It’s as great a companion for the pool as it is the running track.
Ultimately, it’s around fitness where the Apple Watch has really come on leaps and bounds from its early days.
Apple Watch 3 – Battery life and charging
Battery life is rated the same as the Apple Watch Series 2, which Apple states is 18 hours. This applies for both the cellular and non-cellular options.
In my experience – and this was the case with the Series 2, too – I’ve actually found the 18-hour rating rather conservative. It isn’t atypical for me to go over two days on a single charge. That’s with some light use: replying to iMessages, reading a few notifications throughout the day, and having the activity tracking doing its thing in the background. I can take the Apple Watch 3 off the charge at 8am and by the same time the following morning it’s only at around 50%.
As always, the real battery drainers are GPS and LTE. On the day I ran a half marathon, I took the watch off charge at 6.30am, ran for two hours from 9am, all the while using LTE, GPS and connected to Bluetooth headphones. I made a brief LTE-based phone call at the end of the race, alongside sending a few iMessages. On glancing at my watch at 2pm, I noticed that the battery was down to 28% already. Apple officially rates GPS usage at around five hours, or four hours when also using LTE, which matched my observations.
In addition, you can expect only three hours of talk time when paired with an iPhone or just one hour when using LTE from the Apple Watch 3. The battery life is one reason the Watch isn’t designed as an iPhone replacement.
While more battery life would be welcome, especially when using GPS, I found longevity pretty respectable overall.
Charging is reasonably quick. It should take one and a half hours to get to 80% or two hours to reach a full charge. On the nights I don’t charge overnight, I found I could top it up just enough to get me through the working day by putting the device on its magnetic charger in the morning while I got ready.
As someone who travels a decent amount, having to carry an extra cable for the Apple Watch can be a minor annoyance. This is made more inconvenient as I have the Apple Watch charger in a bedside dock. I’ve recently picked up a Flagpower portable Apple Watch charger to get round the problem. It has a built-in 700mAh battery, which can charge the Apple Watch Series 3 twice. But actually, the best part is that it uses a Micro USB port to top up its own internal cell, which can also charge an Apple Watch simultaneously. As I always have a Micro USB cable on me for all of the other gadgets I’m always carrying, it means I just need to grab the small Flagpower charger for any trips where I know the Apple Watch 3’s battery won’t last. At £30 in the UK it also works out cheaper than buying a second Apple Watch charging cable from Apple.
If you’re after something that’s also capable of charging your companion iPhone, I’ve also been using a UGREEN Portable Charger. It has a 4400mAh capacity and integrated Apple Lightning cable for your iPhone that stows away underneath. It will charge your Apple Watch 3 up to eight times, or almost two charges of an iPhone. It’s a little bit chunky but it also makes for a decent stationary charging dock for your Apple Watch. You charge its internal battery with a Micro USB cable.
Should I buy the Apple Watch Series 3?
The Apple Watch 3 has been the most well-rounded smartwatch experience I’ve had to date. It’s really something you need to use for a few weeks to really appreciate the convenience it brings. With that said, I’m not entirely certain that LTE is a requirement for absolutely everyone. Sure, I’ve found it useful on occasion, but considering the extra charges associated with those conveniences, it isn’t an easy sell. I’m glad Apple has fixed the niggling LTE problems that seemed to plague other reviewers, though. It’s a good thing there’s the keenly-priced GPS-only model that’s better value than last year’s Apple Watch Series 2.
Related: Apple Watch Series 3 vs Apple Watch Series 1
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Overall, the Apple Watch Series 3 has become a solid fitness tracker and the watchOS 4 update cements this. If you happen to have a gym that supports GymKit, you might find that Apple Watch becomes an even greater fitness companion.
This is paired with one of the best smartwatch implementations, even if there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Perhaps, unsurprisingly, this is the best Apple Watch to date, offering plenty of refinements and improvements, but also the best smartwatch available.
Verdict
Plenty of improvements and upgrades on a proven formula – the Apple Watch 3 is the best smartwatch available.
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