Apple Watch Series 3 42mm Review

Let's face facts; customising your Apple Watch Series 3 can be a fun and engaging pastime, from the range of straps and casings on offer to the availability of GPS and LTE-enabled models. You can also choose between 38mm and 42mm timepieces, with the latter boasting a slightly larger display, a superb battery performance and some truly outstanding fitness features.

The Apple Watch Series still boasts an exceptional design and can even be sourced in GPS Only and LTE-enabled modes depending on your budget. If you still need a little more convincing as to why a refurbished Apple Watch Series 3 42mm iteration is the ideal timepiece for you, here's a breakdown of its more striking features.

Bask in a large and impressive display

As with previous Apple Watch Series, the 38mm and 42mm timepieces in the third-generation range boasts slightly different display specs. This is good news for the 42mm model, which packs 1.65-inches of vivid OLED display into an elegantly curved and 11.4mm thick frame. This also brings an impressive resolution of 390x312 pixels, providing sharp images and optimal levels of brightness in equal measure.

A familiar futuristic design

While the display technology featured on the 42mm versions of the Apple Watch Series 3 may be relatively familiar, the design of this timepiece has changed slightly from previous iterations. Rather than looking to make significant upgrades, however, Apple has sought to maintain a similar size and weight of chassis while also packing in a brand new chipset and in-built cellular connectivity for the first time. This has been achieved by integrating the antenna into the display, which represents an innovative space-saver that doesn't compromise on performance.

A brand new LTE-Enabled device

The launch of an LTE-enabled 42mm smartwatch definitely represents a departure for Apple, who have typically manufactured either GPS-only devices or iterations that could connect to a nearby smartphone.There are certainly benefits to buying the slightly larger and more expensive LTE-enabled device, including the fact that this offers you direct access to more than 30 million songs with or without your Apple handset.

Both the Beat Radio and Apple Music apps are available through Siri and in-built cellular connection in your Series 3 Watch, while this technology also negates the need to sift through multiple menus when searching for songs.

Embrace the new you with the Fitness Functionality

While all the previous Apple smartwatches have featured the same, four-sensor heart-rate monitor on the underside of the device, they've only delivered basic fitness tracker functionality to users.This cannot be said for the Apple Watch Series 3, however, which features much-improved sensors and technology to allow functions such as pulse-rate monitoring and recording your daily resting heartbeat. This, combined with distance trackers and heartbeats per minute, enables you to use the Apple Watch Series 3 to monitor your performance across a dazzling array of disciplines.

A long-lasting battery we know and love

Ever since the launch of the Series 1 Watch, Apple has underestimated the battery performance of its various timepieces. They've continued this trend with the Series 3 iteration too, as while the 42mm device is marketed as offering a two-day lifespan it can actually last for longer than 50 hours on a single charge.

Of course, the precise longevity of the power pack varies across both GPS and LTE-enabled models, with the latter timepieces lasting for up to 36 hours on a single charge during moderate to heavy usage.

The great thing about the Apple Watch Series 3 range is the choice and flexibility that it offers to customers, particularly in terms of design and the underlying price point. When choosing your precise model, it's important to understand the core benefits of the 42mm LTE-enabled smartwatch - so you know just how much bang for your buck you're getting with a refurbished Apple Watch.

5 real-life highlights

1. Apple introduced its superb Taptic engine with the Apple Watch Series 2, but this has been upgraded for third-generation watches
2. The 42mm version of the Apple Watch Series 3 has also benefited from a manufacturing upgrade, with the digital crown and power button now much firmer when pressed
3. The 1.65-inch OLED display on the 42mm iteration is the optimal size and shape for displaying more data
4. We definitely noticed a marked improvement with Siri when reviewing the Apple Watch Series 3, as this now enables you to search safely for different tracks and songs when driving or cycling
5. The upgraded smartwatch now features intriguing apps such as Breathe, which actively encourages you to deeply inhale and de-stress