The second generation Apple Watch was unveiled at Apple’s special event in San Francisco. We flew all the way from India to United States to report the event live. One of the new products launched along with the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 plus was the Watch Series 2 and here’s what we think about the smartwatch.
From the outset, it is really difficult to spot the difference between the new Apple Watch Series 2 models and the original Apple Watch. It is a millimetre thick, but the newer models comes with a range of new features such as GPS, brighter display, improved processor and is swim proof.
We managed to pull a Series 2 watch demo unit from one of the crowded tables. The new model brings some changes under the hood and within its software. Apple seems to have focused more on health and fitness with its latest offering the smartwatch space. The Cupertino giant also showcased a ceramic model, a new Nike-themed variant and new Hermes watch bands in demo area.
The Apple Watch Series 2 is water resistant up to 50 meters and can track swim activity. Since our hands on time didn’t include a chance to swim, we are not sure how accurate the data is going to be, but we can trust Apple to get that right.
Despite the addition of GPS, Apple claims the Watch Series 2 to offer the same battery life as the previous model, which is about 18 hours. The speaker ports on the new models now come with a mechanism that expels water from the Watch and the heart rate sensor now has a ring around it, which might have something to do with water proofing.
The Ceramic Watch is easily the best looking variant, but you need to have very deep pockets to be able to afford one. We are not sure if the Hermes version is worth the money, but the aluminium option continues to be the one we would recommend.
We will look forward to testing the GPS and swim activity tracking feature among other things in the new Apple Watch Series 2 once it starts shipping from September 16.