Apple Watch Series 6 (2020)

Comprehensive health and activity tracking ; Reliable software ; Always-on screen adds visual appeal ; New blue, red, and gold colors look great ; Apple S2 chip is a powerhouse

ECG and SpO2 measurements have limited real-world use

Speedier performance ; Faster charging ; Slightly improved battery life ; Timely handwashing feature

Sleep tracking in watchOS 7 isn’t super useful

Great color additions ; Sleep tracking finally appears ; Always-on display

Lacks a headline upgrade ; Battery life needs to be longer ; Siri can automatically fire easily

Measures blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) on demand ; Always-on altimeter for real-time elevation tracking ; Improved wrist-down screen brightness ; WatchOS 7 adds a handwashing countdown timer and sleep tracking ; Fast new processor ; Best third-party...

Expensive ; Offers only a slight battery life improvement

With an unrivaled user experience, fantastic apps, and potentially lifesaving health and fitness features, the Apple Watch Series 6 is the best smartwatch you can buy.

Big, bright display ; Solid ecosystem of third-party complications ; Built-in sleep tracking

Still no third-party watch faces ; Still no Android phone support ; Blood oxygen monitoring is unreliable.

The new Apple Watch Series 6 adds a lot of small, iterative updates. The biggest one is the blood oxygen monitor, but it provides inconsistent results. Otherwise, it’s the best smartwatch.

More powerful chipset Integrated altimeter New red color

Blood oxygen sensor needs alerts No claims on longer battery life

It's easy to dismiss the updates in the Apple Watch 6 as incremental and not that exciting, but while the changes here are minimal, the replacement for the Watch 5 does deliver more in certain areas, and could potentially offer better battery life too.

Tight integration with iPhone ; Comprehensive fitness tracking ; Blood oxygen and ECG sensors are useful & reassuring ; Long battery life

Siri can be hit & miss still ; Cellular version gets expensive

– Still the best, great new colour options and wellness still a focus

– Battery stays about the same, as does a lot else

Apple Watch Series 6 might very well be the best smartwatch on the market – like the Series 5 before it. The “smart” experience remains fluid and useful while fitness features remain extremely easy to use and analyse. However, there’s little reason to...

Brighter display ; Zero lag ; Comfortable (even when sleeping) ; Faster charging

Could do with more use cases for bloody oxygen function ; Battery life could be better ; In reality, not a huge jump from Apple Watch Series 5

The Apple Watch S6 is the best all-rounder smartwatch on the market, especially for iPhone users, but there are better deals to be had.