Apple Watch Series 8 : Early Scientific Review

🟡 Twitter: @QuantifiedRob
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Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:25 Heart Rate Test Spinning
04:42 Heart Rate Test Walking
05:12 Heart Rate Test Cycling
07:10 Heart Rate Test Weight Lifting
10:16 SpO2 Test
12:38 Step Test
14:11 New Temperature Sensor Potential Limitations
16:52 Test Limitations
17:12 Conclusions

Intro: In this video I want to share the initial set of tests I did on the newly released Apple Watch Series 8. Specifically, I will show you how the heart rate tracking of the Apple Watch 8 performed during cycling, spinning, walking and weight lifting, and we will also take a look at the oxygen saturation measurements, step counting performance, and also briefly discuss the potential of the new skin temperature sensor. Finally, we will compare the heart rate accuracy of the Apple Watch 8 to 63 other watches I tested over the last years.
Hello everyone! For those of you that are new to the channel, my name is Rob, and I am a postdoctoral scientist specializing in biological data analysis. Today I spent the whole day testing different aspects of the new Apple Watch Series 8, and I want to share those results with you in this video. I will mostly focus on the heart rate performance, but I will also look into the SpO2 measurements and step counting. Now, over the next two days I will do even more detailed testing, also looking into the sleep tracking performance and how the Apple Watch Series 8 compares to the new Apple Watch SE, and those videos will be released on Sunday. There are already many videos out there discussing the specs of this new Apple Watch, so let’s not rehash that here, since you can also check that on Apple’s website.

Conclusion: Still, overall, based on these tests, I am quite happy with my new Apple Watch Series 8. However, I was also happy with my series 7 and also my series 6. Overall, the improvements from the Series 6 to Series 8 seem relatively minor to me from a health and sports tracking perspective. However, we have to see what Apple is able to do with the temperature measurements, and potentially also with future firmware updates. I showed a few weeks ago how Apple brought amazing sleep tracking to the Apple Watch lineup with a firmware update that was part of WatchOS 9.

[TheQuantifiedScientist]

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🟡 Twitter: @QuantifiedRob
* Affiliate (paid) links support the channel by earning me a commission on any sale, and it doesn't cost you any more! My opinions are completely my own, and this content is not sponsored.
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[hyper-potato]

I wonder if the performance increase in the watch 8 is based on an upgraded sensor or there are some improvements on Watch OS 9.
It would be cool to see a re-test of the watch 7 and 6 and see if they improved with Watch OS 9.

[fev]

That pill to measure temperature is crazy. Wasn't even aware something like that existed! Wow

[freedomto]

An ekg test would me much appreciated otherwise this was very thorough and objective. Thanks

[alexandresobreira]

The quality of the apple watch is one of the things that make me think of changing from android to IOS

[tubejuanso]

Can't wait for the full review, thanks Rob! Amazing job as always. I'm wondering how good the ECG function will be and if you're going to test it. Maybe there's a way to extract data and compare it.

[francobellomo]

Ohh yeah Rob, another really good review of sensors. Please review the new Amazfit GTR4/GTS4 have the new sensor
BioTracker 4.0 PPG, they say are 33% more accurate than 3.0

[artofmidi]

Rob, really well done as usual!

I wonder if you would consider testing the accuracy of Apple Watch RMR/BMR and/or TDEE vs other means of calorimetry testing. Not easy to do, but would be super interesting.

[raahulkumar]

Keep up the amazing work! Can't wait to see what your detailed review finds.

One variable that may have an impact is the tightness on the wrist. Could be interesting to test on single device (like the AW8), how accuracy changes with a very snug vs snug vs loose fit.

[dpdoyle]

I really appreciate your work. Thank you. Can you please run your sleep testing study on this Apple Watch Series 8. I'd love to see if the temperature sensor improves its sleep tracking abilities from Series 7. Thank you.

[suhhhy]

Is there a chance for forerunner 255 review any time soon? :)

[ohplezz]

You are the only trusted source I know if on the internet for these watch reviews. Thank you for your honesty.

[RatusMax]

I haven't been here in a while WOW this channel grew. Good Job!!

[Marcox]

That temperature Pill is super interesting, found HQ and Body Cap, expensive but highly interesting stuff!

[strange_man]

Pleeease do SE (old and new one) sleep test.

[milton]

The best content and analysis on yt, thank so much!!

[TheArtOfStreetPhotography]

Thank You, very informative. The recently released amazfit 4 series is advertised of having a new self developed sensor which is supposed to be more accurate. Will you try to get hold of it to test their claims?

[jgs]

I am truly fortunate to have stumbled onto your site. Thank you

[vincenthaller]

very cool, i'd be interested in seeing how different band options affect the accuracy of the apple watch, i'd assume that a looser band would have a much lower accuracy in dynamic exercises than a tight one.

[CashMoneyMoore]

Thank you! Hope we get a review of the new Amazfit series