WWDC brings a slew of Apple Watch updates
Last week was Apple’s developer conference (WWDC) where, as expected, the main highlight was artificial intelligence or, more to the point, Apple Intelligence. But the company’s smartwatches also saw some core updates, with the upcoming watchOS 11, that primarily focused on the health and fitness space. Two of the bigger enhancements were Training Load and a new Vitals app. Training Load uses an array of captured metrics to estimate your level of effort when you work out, with a rating from 1 to 10. It’s not clear quite how useful that is when the current metric – active calories burned – should cover this to an extent, but we will have to wait till we test it to see. But the main reason for adding Training Load is to better target diehard Garmin fans, with an attempt to match Garmin’s functionality. We think that a more important nuance is a change in the Activity app that allows you to change your goals for each day of the week. This is key for active workout people, as the current tracking expects the same level of workout each day which clearly doesn’t take into account rest days, or different types of activity each day, such as a balance between cardio and strength training.
The Vitals app combines data tracked while you sleep to give you a better sense of your overall health. The Watch’s sensors will track details such as heart rate, wrist temperature and respiration, combining it all together with data from Apple’s Heart and Movement study so you will get a warning if and when things veer away from the norm. Interesting though this app appears to be, the obvious challenge will be the Watch’s battery life. At some point in any given 24-hour period, you need to charge most watches. So it’s decision time: lose some day-time stats and wear your watch overnight, or skip the new Vitals app?
The Circana Take:
- The Vitals app is clearly similar to the types of data that a smart ring captures. As such, we believe that it is Apple’s attempt to counter the risk of consumers buying into a competitor’s ecosystem. The Vital’s app helps to keep all of your data within the Apple ecosystem.
- Frankly, we are unconvinced about wearing smartwatches overnight and do believe that this is n opportunity for smart rings (if you really care about your stats that much). If the smart ring market continues to grow – and the competition within this category heats up – we think that Apple should consider acquiring Oura to provide a complete wearables solution for health and fitness.
- Apple’s watchOS enhancements stretch beyond health and fitness. Smart Stack, the list of active apps you access from swiping up from the bottom of the watch, was also improved. It will now include time-sensitive widgets, such as the warning of rain, or a translation widget if it knows you are traveling (yes, that means the Watch is also getting a translation app). Smart Stack will also support third party apps, which is fundamental to making this a more useful feature.
- The elephant in the room will be how an updated Siri enhances the Watch. Will Siri+AI deliver a better standalone solution to the Watch?
Samsung Announces Galaxy Watch FE
Samsung has officially confirmed the Galaxy Watch FE (Fan Edition) after months of rumors and leaks. The Fan Edition, available from June 24, is the first entry-level smartwatch for the company and will allow Samsung to better compete against Apple’s Watch SE. It appears the the FE is basically an updated version of the Galaxy Watch 4 with one size (40 mm case). There will be two versions – Bluetooth only at $200 and a $250 LTE version that will launch in October – and three colors (pink, black and gold). The watch will run the current Samsung software (One UI 5 Watch) and is expected to support the upcoming UI 6.
The spec list is impressive, with few notable differences from the Galaxy Watch 6 series. The array of sensors seems to be the same, except for wrist temperature tracking.
The Circana Take:
- As noted, the new Fan Edition will better position Samsung to compete against Apple’s Watch SE. This is key as market penetration for smartwatches is at 42% and pulling new consumers into the market requires more aggressive pricing. Further, the biggest potential market for new watch owners is the younger audience (sub 18 years old) and a lower price is more likely to tempt parents to buy a watch for their kids.
- The FE’s price will allow Samsung to compete against Fitbit’s Ace kids watch. Or, more likely, provide a natural upgrade as these younger kids grow out of the “kid-style” of the Fitbit and want a “proper” watch.
- The addition of an LTE version will be a great boost for the mobile carriers and will provide a great platform for Samsung to offer phone/watch bundles. However, an expected launch date in October means that Samsung will miss the Back-to-School period for the LTE version.