Apple Watch Series 7 is official: Refinements where it matters

Apple today announced the highly-anticipated Apple Watch Series 7, which features all-new design to match the iPhone and iPad’s new design language. The new become smarter and scored many new features and functionalities.

“Apple Watch Series 7 delivers significant improvements — from our largest and most advanced display, to enhanced durability and faster charging — making the world’s best smartwatch better than ever before,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer. “Powered by watchOS 8, Apple Watch brings useful new capabilities to help customers stay connected, track activity and workouts, and better understand their overall health and wellness.”

Despite the tons of leaks and rumors, Apple didn't go with the lucrative flat case design that would have complemented the design of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 so, so well. Instead, the Apple Watch Series 7 follows closely the design cues laid out by the Watch Series 6 and only introduces minor but important enhancements. The corners of the case are more rounded than the ones on the Apple Watch Series 6, and the glass of the front creates a seamless wraparound effect with the case.

The Apple Watch Series 7 is the most durable one yet, with a new super scratch-resistant front display, as well as the first Apple wearable with an IP6X certification that's extremely dust-resistant.

The display of the Apple Watch Series 7 is dramatically larger than the one on the Apple Watch Series 6. The jump in screen real estate is a staggering 20% greater, and this difference is even more flabbergasting when you compare it with the Apple Watch Series-3 — an awe-inspiring 50% larger screen on the new watch! To facilitate the larger display, the bezels of the screen have shrunk to be barely noticeable at just 1.7mm slim, or 40% slimmer than the Apple Watch 6.

Apple is making good use of the added real estate by optimizing watchOS for the larger screen. The interface now features larger buttons that are easier to tap and the screen can fit up to 50% more text and content than the Apple Watch 6, sparing you of some mindless, endless scrolling. There's also a new full-screen keyboard that should make it easier to input text on the smartwatch. It uses machine learning to predict what you're trying to type, further improving the text input.

Aside from being much larger, the display on the Apple Watch Series 7 is up to 70% brighter than before when you hold your wrist down, allowing you to discreetly check the time without moving your wrist.

The Apple Watch Series 7 is compatible with existing Apple Watch bands, which is great news for those already deeply invested into the ecosystem. Apple also announced even more watch bands that should complement each and every activity you partake in.

When it comes to colors, the Watch Series 7 comes with five new colors for the aluminum version - Midnight, Starlight, Green, Blue, and Product Red. The stainless steel version of the smartwatch will be available in Silver, Graphite, and Gold.

Apple Watch 7 watch faces

New Apple Watches usually introduce a couple of new watchfaces to complement the larger display of the new Apple Watch. The Apple Watch Series 7 isn’t an exception and features a couple of new watchfaces that make justice to its large and beautiful OLED display.

Two new exclusive watch faces - Contour and Modular Duo - are designed with the larger display in mind.

Apple Watch 7 battery life

The Apple Watch Series 7 still promises full-day battery life, but the charging situation has been vastly improved. Apple says the new Watch Series 7 charges up to 33% faster than its predecessor thanks to a novel charging architecture, as well as a fast charging USB Type-C cable. According to Apple, the Watch Series 7 will take just 45 minutes to charge from 0% all the way to 80%, with an 8-minute rendezvous with the charger allegedly allowing for up to 8 hours of sleep tracking.

Apple Watch 7 fitness features

Similar to the Apple Watch 6, the Apple Watch 7 comes with all the health-related bells and whistles that make it such a well-rounded smartwatch. The Apple Watch Series 7 comes with ECG monitoring, sleep monitoring, and oxygen saturation monitoring, alongside hand-washing detection and useful reminders. These features are all great health-related benefits that come with the Apple Watch.

Improved activity detection is also coming to the Apple Watch Series 7. For example, the smartwatch is automatically detecting when you begin riding a bike and starts an activity, and automatically pausing when you get off.