Apple Watch Series 5 (2019)

Solid, premium design ; Best health feature on the market ; Gorgeous UI ; Fitness options for days ; Always-on screen

Battery life only one day ; Still doesn't work with Android

Capable of accurately tracking a host of workouts with ease as well as providing some great lifestyle features, intuitively, with a premium edge, the Apple Watch Series 5 is an awesome bit of kit. It might be living in the shadows of the latest and...

Always-on display More storage WatchOS 6 brings decent upgrades

Too similar to Apple Watch 4 Battery life poorer Always-on display too bright at night

The Apple Watch 5 is a premium smartwatch, but one that doesn't offer a huge upgrade over the Watch 4, apart from the very welcome always-on display. It hasn't risen in price, and there's more storage on offer – but many will find the cheaper Apple...

Always-on display ; Compass ; Heart-rate monitoring ; Bands still fit from previous versions ; Two sizes

Not much of an upgrade from Series 4 ; No sleep tracking ; No international roaming

Still the smartwatch to beat, although the fifth-gen model is taking things a little bit easy in terms of new innovations and features - really the S5 is an S4 with always-on display and built-in compass.

Always-on, baby ; Battery life is still good enough ; Noise-monitoring, period-tracking and better Siri among the watchOS 6 improvements ; It’s an Apple Watch – they’re really good

S4 lasted longer between charges ; New App Store not great ; Still no third-party watch faces

A minor upgrade, but an always-on display makes the best smartwatch even better

Class-leading build quality ; Gorgeous, always-on display ; Strong, effective design ; Lots of straps for customisation ; Great health and fitness tracking ; ECG capability ; Built-in compass

Needs to be recharged daily ; Only works with iPhone ; Pricey

An always-on display makes the best smartwatch even better.

Stylish design ; Comprehensive fitness features ; Genuinely helpful health features ; Useful always-on display ; Cellular model can replace your phone for a short time

No major changes over the Series 4 ; No native sleep tracking

Even with small changes, the Apple Watch Series 5 remains the best smartwatch

Bright screen ; Always-on display is useful and power efficient ; Compass is handy for hiking and walking directions ; International emergency calling on cellular models ; Generally fast performance

No battery life improvements ; No third-party watchfaces ; No new fitness features

Always-on display. Excellent fitness tracking and heart rate monitoring accuracy. WatchOS 6 brings useful new apps. Smooth performance.

Expensive. No built-in sleep tracking. Battery life remains the same.

Bottom Line: The Apple Watch Series 5 doesn't feature any drastic changes, but an always-on display makes the best smartwatch you can buy even better.