Apple Watch Series 8 Review – Practical, Powerful & Safe

While the flashy Apple Watch Ultra targets extreme athletes and adventurers, and the SE serves the budget-conscious, the Series 8 carves out its space as the ideal choice for the majority of users. It introduces crucial health and safety advancements, like a new temperature sensor and Crash Detection, without sacrificing the elegant design and user-friendly experience that have made the Apple Watch a market leader. This review dives deep into every aspect of the Series 8, exploring its design, performance, and groundbreaking features to help you decide if this is the right smartwatch for your wrist.

A Familiar, Refined Design

At first glance, the Apple Watch Series 8 is nearly indistinguishable from its predecessor, the Series 7. It retains the same sleek, rounded chassis with a stunning edge-to-edge display that curves gracefully to meet the case. This continuity isn’t a drawback; it’s a sign of a mature and beloved design. The watch is available in two sizes, 41mm and 45mm, ensuring a comfortable fit for a wide range of wrist sizes.

You have the choice between an aluminum case and a more premium stainless steel option. The aluminum models come in Midnight, Starlight, Silver, and (PRODUCT)RED, offering a clean, minimal look. The stainless steel versions, available in Graphite, Silver, and Gold, provide a more polished, jewelry-like finish and feature a more durable sapphire crystal display.

The Always-On Retina display remains a standout feature. It allows the watch face to stay dimly lit, so you can glance at the time or your complications without raising your wrist or tapping the screen. With a brightness of up to 1000 nits, the display is crisp and easy to read, even in direct sunlight. The thin bezels maximize screen real estate, making notifications, apps, and the QWERTY keyboard feel immersive and usable.

Core Features: Small Changes, Big Impact

The true story of the Series 8 lies in its internal upgrades. While the watch is powered by the new S8 chip, which offers performance similar to the previous generation, the real enhancements come from new sensors that unlock powerful health and safety capabilities.

The New Temperature Sensor

The headline feature of the Series 8 is its dual-sensor temperature system. One sensor is located on the back crystal, near your skin, while the other is just under the display. This dual-sensor approach helps reduce environmental bias, allowing the watch to track your wrist temperature with an accuracy of 0.1° Celsius while you sleep.

It’s important to note that this isn’t an on-demand thermometer for when you feel sick. Instead, it works in the background, establishing a baseline temperature over five nights. From there, it tracks nightly shifts in your baseline. This data has two primary applications:

1. Advanced Cycle Tracking: For women, these temperature shifts provide retrospective ovulation estimates. After a cycle, the Health app can show an estimate of when ovulation likely occurred, which can be invaluable for family planning. The watch will also alert you to potential cycle deviations, such as irregular or prolonged periods.
2. Overall Wellness Monitoring: Significant changes in your baseline wrist temperature can be an indicator of your body fighting off an illness or other physiological changes. While Apple doesn’t provide specific alerts for sickness yet, you can manually check your temperature trends in the Health app to get a better sense of your body’s wellness.

Crash Detection: A Guardian on Your Wrist

Building on the success of Fall Detection, the Series 8 introduces Crash Detection. Using an improved gyroscope, a new high-g accelerometer, and data from the microphone, barometer, and GPS, the watch can detect if you’ve been in a severe car crash.

If a crash is detected, the watch will display an alert and, if you don’t respond within 20 seconds, it will automatically call emergency services and notify your emergency contacts with your location. While it’s a feature you hope to never use, its presence provides an incredible sense of security for both drivers and their loved ones. This feature is also available on the new Apple Watch SE and Ultra, making safety a core focus across the lineup.

Performance and Battery Life

The Apple Watch Series 8 runs on the new S8 SiP (System in Package). While it represents a new generation of chip, its core processing power is very similar to the S7 and S6 chips before it. This isn’t a knock against the watch; performance remains incredibly smooth. Apps launch quickly, animations are fluid, and navigating the watchOS 9 interface is a seamless experience.

Battery life is one area where many users hoped for a major leap, but the Series 8 maintains Apple’s standard “all-day” battery life of up to 18 hours. In real-world use, you can often stretch this further. With normal use—including notifications, a workout, and some app interaction—the watch will easily last from morning until you go to bed.

To support sleep and temperature tracking, you’ll need to adjust your charging habits. Fast charging support helps with this, allowing the watch to go from 0 to 80% in about 45 minutes. A quick charge while you’re in the shower or getting ready in the morning is usually enough to top it up for the day.

For those who need more longevity, watchOS 9 introduces a new Low Power Mode. This mode extends battery life to a claimed 36 hours by disabling the Always-On display, background heart rate measurements, and some other non-essential features. It’s a fantastic addition for long travel days or weekends when you might forget your charger.

A Comprehensive Health and Fitness Tracking Smartwatch

The Apple Watch has become a leader in the health tracking smartwatch category, and the Series 8 solidifies that position. It carries over all the powerful health features from previous generations, including:

• Heart Rate Monitoring: Get high and low heart rate notifications and irregular rhythm notifications, which can help identify signs of atrial fibrillation (AFib).
• ECG App: Take an electrocardiogram from your wrist, providing critical data you can share with your doctor.
• Blood Oxygen Sensor: Measure your blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) on demand or in the background, offering insights into your overall respiratory and cardiac health.
• Sleep Tracking: With watchOS 9, sleep tracking is more detailed than ever, showing your time in different sleep stages (REM, Core, and Deep) as well as when you were awake.
• Fitness Tracking: The Workout app is more robust, offering customizable workout views, Heart Rate Zones, and new metrics for runners like Stride Length, Ground Contact Time, and Vertical Oscillation.

The seamless integration with Apple Fitness+ and the iconic Activity Rings system continues to make the Apple Watch a motivating companion for staying active. It’s a holistic health device that provides a comprehensive picture of your well-being right from your wrist.

How Does It Compare? Series 8 vs. SE vs. Ultra

With three new models available, choosing the right Apple Watch can be tricky. Here’s a quick breakdown:

• Apple Watch SE (2nd Generation): The entry-level model. It shares the same S8 chip and Crash Detection feature as the Series 8 but lacks the Always-On display, ECG and Blood Oxygen apps, and the new temperature sensor. It’s the perfect choice for first-time smartwatch buyers or those who want core functionality without the advanced health sensors.
• Apple Watch Series 8: The gold-standard model for most people. It offers the perfect balance of advanced health features, a premium design with an Always-On display, and a reasonable price point.
• Apple Watch Ultra: The high-end, rugged model built for endurance athletes, divers, and outdoor adventurers. It boasts a larger, brighter display, a titanium case, a customizable Action button, dual-frequency GPS for improved accuracy, and a much longer battery life (up to 36 hours standard). It’s overkill for most, but a game-changer for its target audience.

Is the Apple Watch Series 8 Worth the Upgrade?

The decision to upgrade depends heavily on what you currently own.

• If you have an Apple Watch Series 7: The upgrade is not essential. The Series 8 offers the temperature sensor and Crash Detection, but the day-to-day experience is very similar. Unless cycle tracking or the added safety net of Crash Detection are must-haves for you, you can likely wait for the next generation.
• If you have an Apple Watch Series 6 or older: The upgrade is much more compelling. You’ll get a significantly larger, brighter Always-On display, faster charging, and all the new health and safety features. The jump from an older model to the Series 8 will feel like a major leap forward.
• If this is your first Apple Watch: The Series 8 is an excellent choice. It’s the most well-rounded smartwatch in Apple’s lineup, offering a complete set of features that will serve you well for years to come.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. How long does the Apple Watch Series 8 battery really last?

Apple officially rates the battery for up to 18 hours of “all-day” use. With the new Low Power Mode, this can be extended to 36 hours. In typical daily use, most users find it easily lasts a full day, but you will need to charge it daily, especially if you plan on using it for sleep tracking.

2. Can I use the Apple Watch Series 8 with an Android phone?

No. The Apple Watch is designed exclusively for use with an iPhone. You need an iPhone to set up the watch and to access all of its features through the Watch and Health apps.

3. Is the temperature sensor a thermometer? Can it tell me if I have a fever?

No, the temperature sensor is not a medical-grade thermometer and cannot be used for on-demand temperature readings or to diagnose a fever. It tracks changes in your baseline wrist temperature over time while you sleep, which can provide insights into your overall health and menstrual cycle.

4. Is the stainless steel model worth the extra money?

The primary benefits of the stainless steel model are its more polished, jewelry-like appearance and its more durable sapphire crystal display, which is highly resistant to scratches. The aluminum model uses Ion-X glass, which is still very durable but more susceptible to scratching. If you value a premium look and maximum durability, the stainless steel version is a worthy investment.

5. Do all my old Apple Watch bands work with the Series 8?

Yes. The Apple Watch Series 8 is compatible with all previous bands of the corresponding case size. Bands for the 38mm, 40mm, and 41mm models are interchangeable, and bands for the 42mm, 44mm, and 45mm models are also interchangeable.