Apple Watch Series 4 Review: It's About Time!

Apple Watch Series 4 marks a substantial redesign that Marques Brownlee argues is the biggest upgrade yet for the line. The new 40 and 44 millimeter sizes offer a noticeably larger OLED display with thinner bezels, allowing more information to be shown on screen without increasing the overall footprint. Brownlee notes that the larger display makes everyday interactions easier, from reading messages to launching apps, and he praises watchOS 5 for bringing faster navigation, snappier Siri responses, and better readability with larger fonts and UI elements. The series 4 design also introduces a refined back sensor array, a larger speaker, and a subtle but upgraded aesthetic that makes it feel modern and sleek compared to prior generations. He highlights new watch faces like the Infograph variants, vapor, and fire faces that leverage the brighter, deeper blacks of OLED, while also mentioning the compatibility of older bands. In terms of performance, the S4 chip helps smooth out scrolling, app launches, and face transitions, addressing a long-standing user pain point of a laggy smartwatch experience. While the video emphasizes the positives, Brownlee acknowledges tradeoffs such as the absence of sleep tracking, no third-party watch faces, and the lack of an always-on display, which could influence battery life and everyday usability for some users. Overall, he argues that if you own an iPhone, the Series 4 stands out as the best smartwatch for productivity, notifications, health features, and fitness tracking, with a strong case to upgrade from older models or other platforms. The video balances excitement about health features like ECG and fall detection with practical caveats about feature availability and real-world usage, concluding that the Series 4 is the best Apple Watch yet and a compelling buy for iPhone users.

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