Does the larger screen and smaller amount of bezel on the Apple Watch Series 7 make it a must-buy wearable, or is there little reason to upgrade?
Why you can trust Pocket-lint (Pocket-lint) — The Apple Watch is much lauded as the smartwatch to own, but the Series 6 of yesteryear offered little reason to upgrade. Fortunately 2021’s Series 7 is a more sizable upgrade — quite literally — delivering a bigger, brighter and altogether better screen. However, other than the size increase there’s little else that’s changed over previous years. Given the fast-paced world of technological advances, does the Apple Watch Series 7 do enough to impress — or should you give this year’s model a miss? What’s new? Finishes: Aluminium (five colours), Stainless steel (three colours), Titanium (two colours) Special models: Nike+, Hermès, (Product)Red IP6X dust-proof,5ATM waterproof (to 50m) Case sizes: 41mm and 45mm In terms of design the Series 7’s approach is much like the Series 6: the casing design is the same (albeit larger), the digital crown is the same, even the bands are the same (which is good, as it means older ones will still fit). There are both Wi-Fi and Cellular options, available in new 41mm and 45mm case sizes, along with special edition Nike and Hermes variants. There’s a lot of choice, with three material options — aluminium, stainless steel, titanium — available in a variety of colours if you want something extra eye-catching. The aluminium cases get some new colours too: there’s Midnight, which is black; Starlight, which is white with a hint of gold; Green, which is more akin to the Midnight Green colourway from the iPhone 11; and the (Product)Red model is more of a bright cherry hue. There are various new bands to match these new colours too. Upping the stakes on the durability front, the Apple Watch Series 7 is now IP6X dust-resistant, to go alongside its 5ATM waterproof rating. That should make it considerably more «beach ready», as dust, sand, and even water (to 50 metres) are no concern for this wearable. Pocket-lint It’s also tougher thanks to a thicker and redesigned front crystal glass — something the aluminium models benefit from, as the stainless steel and titanium models still retain sapphire crystal — although without going hammer and tongs at it, judging this new crystal isn’t something we can gauge. What’s the screen like? LTPO OLED Always-On Retina display Brighter when dimmed (compared to Series 6) 50 per cent bigger than Series 3,20 per cent bigger than Series 6 But the real focus isn’t the new colours or the improved durability, but the new display that sits within that familiar design. Pocket-lint The Series 7 comes in two new sizes: 41mm and 45mm. That means the display size has increased by just 1mm — the Series 6 came in 40mm and 44mm size options — but it’s a classic case of using the ‘smaller bezel trick’, as the Series 7 manages to deliver a 20 per cent uptick in display size over its predecessor.
