DisplayMate Technologies has extensively tested the Apple Watch's flexible OLED display and shared the results today based on several categories, including screen reflection, brightness and contrast with ambient light, color gamut with ambient light, and viewing angle variations. Overall, the company found the Apple Watch to have an "excellent smart watch display" with accurate colors and picture quality.
In a side-by-side comparison with the iPhone 6 display, the display calibration company found that Apple has taken measures to ensure that the Apple Watch display has the same colors, color calibration and color accuracy as the larger smartphone screen. The stainless steel and gold Apple Watches with sapphire crystal displays, however, have much higher reflectance in ambient light and mandatory automatic brightness control to preserve battery life.
"Since the Apple Watch is often used right next to the iPhone 6, Apple has gone to considerable lengths to give them the same colors, color calibration, and color accuracy. The two most significant differences (other than size) are the much higher Reflectance of the Apple Watch with a sapphire crystal (8.2 percent compared to 4.6 percent), and the aggressive Brightness control using a mandatory Automatic Brightness Ambient Light Sensor in order to increase the running time on battery for the tiny watch."
The full-length report offers a comprehensive look at the Apple Watch's ion-strengthened and sapphire crystal displays, and reiterates that enhanced sapphire, which lowers the screen reflectance of sapphire to be much lower than glass, will soon be available for use in smartphones, smartwatches and other mobile devices. Additionally, DisplayMate's previous tests of the Samsung Gear 2 and Sony SmartWatch 2 displays provide good comparisons to the Apple Watch.
It took me about a day and a half but I am now fully 100% an Apple Watch lover. This thing is just fantastic and as I use it more and more and understand its many functions I am just super pleased. Glad I ordered the Sports too, not too much money and works just fine.
It's a bit like the movie, "Her." Last night when I achieved my activity goal, my Watch dinged me and said, "Congratulations!" and I actually looked at my wrist and said, "Oh, thanks Watch." lol:)
Just don't tell anyone you're in love with your wrist :p
I'm starting to feel like the Sport model might be outshining the Steel model in more aspects now. The aluminum is harder and more scratch resistant, and now we know the screen looks better under the Ion-X glass than under the sapphire.
I'm still happy with the Steel model. Sure its more reflective and can scratch more easily, but I spent the extra $200 for the materials themselves. I've just always wanted a nice quality watch without spending into the $1000s
It took me about a day and a half but I am now fully 100% an Apple Watch lover. This thing is just fantastic and as I use it more and more and understand its many functions I am just super pleased. Glad I ordered the Sports too, not too much money and works just fine.
It's a bit like the movie, "Her." Last night when I achieved my activity goal, my Watch dinged me and said, "Congratulations!" and I actually looked at my wrist and said, "Oh, thanks Watch." lol:)
It's going to be really easy to scratch the glass though. AC+ is necessity with the sport IMO.
Actually, the Ion-X glass will be easier to scratch than sapphire, yes -- but I wouldn't say it would be really easy to scratch the glass.
OK, I get that the Ion-X glass will "scratch easily" for those who get their jollies by scratching their watches with sandpaper... But I'm gonna bet most people won't be doing that.
Wednesday January 26, 2022 8:56 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Benchmark results have started to surface for MSI's new GE76 Raider, one of the first laptops to be powered by Intel's new 12th-generation Core i9 processor.
Intel previously said that its new high-end Core i9 processor is faster than Apple's M1 Max chip in the 16-inch MacBook Pro and, as noted by Macworld, early Geekbench 5 results do appear to confirm this claim, but there are several...
Tuesday January 25, 2022 3:31 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Dropbox today announced that users who update to macOS 12.3 once that software version becomes available may temporarily encounter issues with opening online-only files in some third-party apps on their Mac.
In a support document and an email to customers, Dropbox said it is actively working on full support for online-only files on macOS 12.3 and will begin rolling out an updated version of...
Apple today announced the Black Unity Braided Solo Loop for the Apple Watch, as well as a new downloadable watch face, to celebrate Black History Month. Following the launch of the limited edition Black Unity Apple Watch Series 6 and Sport Band in 2021, Apple today launched the Black Unity Braided Solo Loop as part of its celebrations for Black History Month this year.Apple is launching a...
Wednesday January 26, 2022 10:00 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released iOS 15.3 and iPadOS 15.3, the third major updates to the iOS and iPadOS 15 operating systems that were released in September 2021. iOS and iPadOS 15.3 come almost two weeks after the release of iOS and iPadOS 15.2.1, minor bug fix updates.
The iOS 15.3 and iPadOS 15.3 updates can be downloaded for free and the software is available on all eligible devices over-the-air in ...
Thursday January 27, 2022 12:08 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the first betas of iOS 15.4, iPadOS 15.4 to developers for testing purposes, adding a slew of new features to the latest iOS operating systems. iOS 15.4 is the biggest update that we've had to iOS 15 to date, and it brings Universal Control, Face ID with a mask, new emojis, and tons more.
Face ID With a Mask
With iOS 15.4, there is now an option to unlock your iPhone...
Wednesday January 26, 2022 6:00 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple is working on a new payments service that will allow iPhones to accept payments directly on device with no additional hardware, reports Bloomberg. Right now, iPhones can accept credit cards with add-ons like the Square Reader, but Apple's new technology will eliminate the need for a third-party product.
Individuals and small businesses will be able to accept payments with the tap of a...
Wednesday January 26, 2022 10:19 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released macOS Monterey 12.2, the second major update to the macOS Monterey update that launched in October. macOS Monterey 12.2 comes over a month after the release of the 12.1 update, which brought SharePlay support.
The macOS Monterey 12.2 update can be downloaded on all eligible Macs using the Software Update section of System Preferences. Apple has also...
Apple on January 26 finally released the iOS 15.3 and iPadOS 15.3 updates to the public, but unfortunately, these updates are focused more on security fixes than outward-facing changes.
Top Rated Comments
Just don't tell anyone you're in love with your wrist :p
It's a bit like the movie, "Her." Last night when I achieved my activity goal, my Watch dinged me and said, "Congratulations!" and I actually looked at my wrist and said, "Oh, thanks Watch." lol:)
The Watch is one place I could let it go.
Nevertheless, I appreciate the fact that Displaymate continues to test new devices, and keep awareness of color accuracy high.
OK, I get that the Ion-X glass will "scratch easily" for those who get their jollies by scratching their watches with sandpaper... But I'm gonna bet most people won't be doing that.