The newly released waterproof smart watch from Apple has already been submitted to various tests on multiple occasion since officially launching last month. A good portion of these assessments indicate that the product is far more water resistant than the manufacturer ratings claim. Triathlete Ray Maker recently decided to put the Apple Watch through its paces in a series of three intensive trials confirm the watch’s ability to hold up to water contact and severe wear and tear.
To start out, Makes performed a 1,200 meter swim while wearing this new waterproof smart watch from Apple. In his post analysis, the athlete notes that his watch survived swimming and immersion without any issues. However, he also points out that the product does not offer a built-in option to track swim trials like it does for other physical tasks. Its wrist detection did not function very well during immersion. In turn, this lack of functionality lead to inaccurate pulse rate measurements as shown by the triathlete. This glitch could prove to be costly to a professional athlete in training. Most athletes must monitor their heart rate while training for a match or competition.
Following the initial swimming test, Maker wore the Apple Watch for a dive into a deeper pool. The athlete and his assistant wore their Apple Watch on the wrist as they jumped from three different size platforms measuring 5 meters, 8 meters and 10 meters in height. This waterproof smart watch from Apple was able to successfully resist the shock of all three dives with no serious repercussions as the video clip below clearly demonstrates.
For the third and final test, Ray Maker placed the Apple Watch in a waterproofing chamber. The device offers a water resistance ranking of IPX7. IPX7 means it can resist water without issue at up to 10 meters of submersion for 30 minutes. The athlete surpassed these measurements putting the Watch through several automated tests in the waterproofing area at a depth of 40 meters. Keep in mind, those IP ratings are industry standard. Results can surpass the ratings depending on the manufacturer’s material and design process. The IP rating simply means that Apple does not guarantee the watch beyond 10 meters or submersed for longer than 30 minutes.
Keep in mind, Ray Marker‘s tests simply measured the short term affects of using the watch in a wet environment. These test do not measure whether or not long term issues may arise due to excessive immersion or if the IP rating will reduce over time with constant use. But, for now, it seems that Apple has produced a serious winner with this new product.
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