Apple Watch Series 7 Sports & Fitness Review

Apple Watch Series 7 Sports & Fitness Review

Here’s your complete Apple Watch Series 7 sports & fitness-focused deep-dive, complete with real-world testing and data from running outdoors and indoor cycling. Including both optical heart rate and GPS accuracy comparisons against the Apple Watch SE, as well as the Garmin Forerunner 745, and Polar H10 chest strap, as well as the Whoop 3.0 band. I’ll first explain the new Apple Watch Series 7 hardware, then the WatchOS 8 sports-specific new features, followed by run and ride testing. After which I’ll look at the GPS data & heart rate data to see how it compares accuracy-wise.

0:00 Quick Overview
0:41 New Series 7 Hardware Changes
2:40 WatchOS 8 Sports Features
5:05 Run Testing
6:29 Indoor Bike Testing
7:06 GPS & Heart Rate Data Accuracy
10:19 Sports & Fitness Considerations
11:54 Wrap-up

Full list of technical changes to the Series 7 vs the Series 6 and previous units:

– Expanded the display: The Series 7 has the largest display to date, some 20% larger than the Series 6, or 50% more screen area than the Series 3. This means the base model went from 40mm to 41mm, and the larger unit went from 44mm to 45mm.
– Reduced the bezel: Apple says the bezel (or borders, as they called them) are down to 1.7mm, or 40% thinner than the Series 6, the actual watch dimensions though remain nearly identical to before.
– Increased the brightness: Apple says it’s 70% brighter than before indoors, and called out specific scenarios such as glancing at your wrist without moving it to check the time.
– Increased durability: Apple says it’s the most durable Apple Watch to date, including a new crack-resistant front crystal that Apple says is 50% thicker than previous models – which they demonstrated twice using a mountain biker crashing directly onto the wrist/watch
– Added IP6X Dust Resistance: In the event you find yourself on the wrong end of a playground sandbox fight. It still has WR50 water resistance
– Larger user interface buttons: While the external buttons haven’t changed any, the buttons used within the menus have been increased to take advantage of the larger display. Apple noted areas such as the stopwatch, alarms, and activity menu as examples of this.
– More text on the screen: The larger screen means that in text messages, Series 7 can fit up to 50% more text than before
– New full keyboard: With the larger screen Apple has crammed in a full keyboard onto the display, including both tapping letter to letter as well as swiping between letters.
– New Watch Faces: Apple has included a few new watch faces, including one that’s larger and more data-driven for activity/fitness tracking
– Battery life remains 18 hours: Yup, still.
– New charger design: The new charging design results in 33% faster charging than Series 6
– Fast Charging: The new charging design can go from 0% to 80% in 45 minutes, or 8 hours of sleep tracking in 8 minutes. As one who has oft battled with late-night right before sleep charging, 8 minutes for 8 hours is a brilliant way of phrasing it.
– Charger comes with USB-C cable: As opposed to the previous USB-A charging cable.

The Site ► http://www.dcrainmaker.com
Main Camera ► https://amzn.to/2EWbhMA
Action Cam ► https://amzn.to/2XzOT8J
All Camera Gear ► http://dcra.in/DCRCamera
Instagram ► https://instagram.com/dcrainmaker
Facebook ► https://facebook.com/dcrainmaker
Twitter ► https://twitter.com/dcrainmakerblog
Strava ► https://www.strava.com/athletes/dcrainmaker
Most Music ► https://player.epidemicsound.com/#/

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but your purchases help support this website a lot. Thanks!

#AppleWatch #Series7 #AppleWatch7

50 Comments

  1. alfred wilsbury on April 16, 2022 at 6:02 pm

    Does anyone know if you can share LIVE health data (heart rate etc) from your apple watch with someone else?



  2. Vee Vee on April 16, 2022 at 6:04 pm

    Does the update include more detailed sleep tracking (like the stages of sleep etc)?



  3. Meticulous Seven on April 16, 2022 at 6:06 pm

    I’ve recently gotten back in running pretty hard after about a 7 month hiatus. I used a Whoop 3.0 for 18 months, but recently switched from Android to iOS and I could not for the life of me get the Whoop to stay connected to the iPhone. I eventually gave up, and have been without any sensor data for a couple months (real bummer). Now I’m heavily considering getting the Apple Watch 7, and I thought this was a great review that really covered the use cases I was looking at it for. Thanks!



  4. Mohsin Naqvi on April 16, 2022 at 6:07 pm

    is there something wrong with you ? which makes you keep moving back n forth and making weird faces?



  5. meet CLEVERCRAKERS on Instagram on April 16, 2022 at 6:12 pm

    🔝THANKS FOR HELPING ME GAIN ACCESS INTO MY NEPHEWS PHONE, YOU ARE REALLY THE BEST✅..



  6. Angel Flores on April 16, 2022 at 6:13 pm

    Great video. I do have a question regarding the Nike Apple Watch… I mainly want to use the watch for fitness. Would be more viable to get the Nike edition from Apple or is the general release Apple Gen 7 watch?



  7. Adam Y on April 16, 2022 at 6:14 pm

    You are very professional …great review!



  8. Laura Lyman on April 16, 2022 at 6:14 pm

    Luckily I did not have a fall outside that was serious, but shortly after I got it, I was up in the mountains, snowed in, and with a power outage, when my granddaughter wanted me to find a solution for something. I headed into my room without a flash light and tripped. Hard fall. A bit later, luckily, I happened to see that my watch was asking if I was OK, or if it should call Emergency Services. I’m hearing impaired, but luckily saw it and quickly learned to tell my watch I was OK! Great reviews, thanks!



  9. TouchMeNot on April 16, 2022 at 6:15 pm

    How can we view the gps data?



  10. Risky Bast_rd on April 16, 2022 at 6:16 pm

    I watched a lot of video’s but no one helpen the problem i got my watch automatic stops at 00.10.99 when i press restart again 00.21.99 how can i fix this i buy itspecial for workouts



  11. 4DaOcean on April 16, 2022 at 6:17 pm

    Wow I am really surprised the HR metrics are just as good as HR10 from Polar.



  12. AMH on April 16, 2022 at 6:19 pm

    I liked this video bc you seem like a good guy and asked for it



  13. R R on April 16, 2022 at 6:19 pm

    Does Apple watch work with Android ?



  14. Gaurav Kapoor on April 16, 2022 at 6:20 pm

    Thanks for the great review Ray. Have been confused for a long time between Apple Series 7 & Garmin Forerunner 745 and your reviews have definitely helped!



  15. Joe S on April 16, 2022 at 6:20 pm

    Love to see a shoe mount pedometer integrated into an Apple Watch. Hiking with trekking poles guarantees nonsensical step data.



  16. Spaceman on April 16, 2022 at 6:22 pm

    SERIES 8 is coming out



  17. Ali Othman on April 16, 2022 at 6:24 pm

    The Apple Watch is not a smart watch. It’s a very stupid one.



  18. Os on April 16, 2022 at 6:25 pm

    Cool! can you mention something about the WorkOutDoors App for the Apple Watch (Series 5-6-7 -any-) regarding how it compares to Garmin?



  19. Ivan M. on April 16, 2022 at 6:26 pm

    Peloton is not a bike, it cannot take you anywhere (even in terms of fitness).



  20. silvio corbari on April 16, 2022 at 6:28 pm

    what’s the program/app used to make those heart rate graphics?



  21. Nigel Bunt on April 16, 2022 at 6:29 pm

    On the atom next gen



  22. KM on April 16, 2022 at 6:29 pm

    The fact of the matter is that the new apple watch is a the “sameness thing”



  23. AutoGamesNation on April 16, 2022 at 6:29 pm

    I just got the series 7 and I mainly do a lot of treadmill walking/jogging. Specifically to offset some calorie intake and maintain my caloric deficit. Would you use the base apple workout activity app or would you think the Nike run club app would be a better more accurate fit for me as far as tracking metrics? I saw the Nike app has a switch you can select for indoor so I assumed that would be the better of the two? But then I’m curious if the Nike records get sent to the stock apple activity app as well as I wouldn’t want that data ignored specifically on my daily spent counter. Would love to hear your opinion on this



  24. Gavin Han on April 16, 2022 at 6:30 pm

    Surprised but also not surprised apple caught up to Garmin. I was coamparing this to the VivoActive 4 or Fenix 6. I ended up getting the VivoActive 3 for workouts since it’s cheap and not much a difference from the 4. Personally I’m not a fan of getting notifications on my wrist bc all the buzzing and vibrating. I don’t need the latest and greatest to workout and even this “older watch” has many features I take for granted but hardly use.



  25. meet CLEVERCRAKERS on Instagram on April 16, 2022 at 6:31 pm

    🔝THANKS FOR HELPING ME GAIN ACCESS INTO MY NEPHEWS PHONE, YOU ARE REALLY THE BEST✅..



  26. Rafael Rubia on April 16, 2022 at 6:32 pm

    Great review!



  27. Salleh Star on April 16, 2022 at 6:35 pm

    Is your series 7 comes with GPS+Cellular?



  28. Outer Space on April 16, 2022 at 6:35 pm

    Did you test a cellular model?



  29. Lady Carizza on April 16, 2022 at 6:35 pm

    Gosh I am new to your channel and am searching for a fitness tracker/watch that is good for Both a woman, and a serious athlete. I am currently training for a competitive show so I do everything from weights, to circuit and running outdoors. Your review has been the most comprehensive for all of the products I’m considering right now. I also love the fact that you test for a month, not just a few days.



  30. Bill on April 16, 2022 at 6:36 pm

    Just curious, what would you say are your favorite fitness and health apps in general for apple watches?



  31. Nigel Bunt on April 16, 2022 at 6:36 pm

    DC can you please give abs update or advice on connecting the Apple Watch to the Wattbike hub, they brought out they really poor Bluetooth app that was so hard to use to get the hub to display the heart rate data from the watch and is it still not able to do that or have they fixed it?



  32. Wanna BeAthlete on April 16, 2022 at 6:36 pm

    Hi, Does the Apple Watch offer a strength work out feature? The Garmin 945 tracks the sets and reps and me cements quite well, does the Apple Watch do this?



  33. Hana Jalal on April 16, 2022 at 6:36 pm

    You are talking too much



  34. Keith Iscool on April 16, 2022 at 6:37 pm

    I want Garmin battery and features (epix2) to marry Apple watch display – too much to ask I know. But I can dream!!!



  35. Mohd Abdul Mateen on April 16, 2022 at 6:39 pm

    Hello sir, i’m planning to purchase Apple Watch 7 so, how accurately this watch counts our steps ?? while Outdoor walk, Mountain or normal Cycling, Running, and other workouts & please share your opinion if you have use these workouts and how were the results ? because i’ve gained weight in this Work From Home. ( Waiting for your Response. Thank you for these explanation. )



  36. Zella Hanson on April 16, 2022 at 6:40 pm

    This is such an amazingly in-depth review of the Apple Watch for running and activity tracking. Thank you!



  37. skvadus on April 16, 2022 at 6:42 pm

    Hey Ray, I’m kinda confused. I saw somewhere that if you have your iPhone with you, watch gonna use phone gps for workouts? Is that true? Do you need disconnect watch from phone or is there some option that manually switch to build in gps?



  38. lee zimby on April 16, 2022 at 6:43 pm

    I’m excited to see how much a difference this is to Samsung. Just days ago switch over to apple first time in my life
    Jumped from note 20 ultra and active 2 to 13 pro max and series 7
    First time I’ve noticed is the battery life on the phone now I’m curious to see the difference in calories burnt



  39. The Best of the World on April 16, 2022 at 6:44 pm

    Great video



  40. vettepwr23 on April 16, 2022 at 6:45 pm

    Hello. Nice video. Looking to get my first Apple Watch. I am part of the Apple ecosystem with MacBook Pro‘s, iPads, and iPhones.

    I cycle frequently anywhere from 3 to 4 days a week and anywhere between 20 and 40 miles a session. I currently use Wahoo fitness electronics to ride. From their heart rate sensor, cadence and speed sensor as well as I use a KICKR indoors. I use their fitness apps to ride and upload to Strava after. Aside from using the watch for every day purposes, how can I use the watch during my training sessions? Will I be able to leave a phone at home or eliminate their chest strap? Not sure how that stuff integrates. Thanks!



  41. David Maros on April 16, 2022 at 6:46 pm

    Hi there! Any ideas, ( ones who are using it) why on earth my NRC app is changing its details on screen from time to time whilst running? After like 1,5kms it randomly changes from distance to calories, or heart-rate etc…. Also randomly auto pauses ( Yes, it is set to NO auto-pause) It is sooo freaking annoying. Anyone with the same issue, and any remedy? Thanks. lot!



  42. Channing Hatcher on April 16, 2022 at 6:50 pm

    As always thank you for a great review



  43. sssleyer on April 16, 2022 at 6:50 pm

    Was just about to press the "like button" but then I heard you using "all the Jazz" this is so offensive!!! How i this channels is even online!?



  44. Jake Sharp on April 16, 2022 at 6:51 pm

    The future is pretty dope.



  45. Holly Park on April 16, 2022 at 6:51 pm

    im not sure if this was addressed in your other videos. do you disconnect your iphone from the apple watch when you test the watches? such as turn of bluetooth in the apple watch. if not the apple watch will use the iphone gps over the apple watches gps to save battery for the apple watch.



  46. C S on April 16, 2022 at 6:52 pm

    Garmin FTW but this is still cool. Lol I say this as a (thankful) owner of, both, the Series 7 and a Garmin Fenix 6



  47. Alex Corll on April 16, 2022 at 6:53 pm

    Hi Ray, just wondering, are you wearing a 41mm or 45mm watch here?



  48. rip on April 16, 2022 at 6:55 pm

    Fantastic informational review. Can you tell me apps/software and procedures necessary to be able to analyse my data on an iPad or MacBook? Thx



  49. Channing Hatcher on April 16, 2022 at 6:59 pm

    Did you by chance try pairing it with Zwift to test it? Thank you again



  50. tifim on April 16, 2022 at 7:00 pm

    Great review