“The Apple Watch Series 6 is the most complete smartwatch package you can buy, and if you want the very best of everything Apple's wearable offers, it's the one to get.”

Comprehensive health and activity tracking; Reliable software; Always-on screen adds visual appeal; New blue; red; and gold colors look great; Apple S2 chip is a powerhouse

ECG and SpO2 measurements have limited real-world use

The Apple Watch Series 6 isn't a huge upgrade over the Series 5, but it does enough to keep Apple's wearable firmly in the lead.

New colors add newness to a timeless design; Excellent mix of foreground and background features; Impressive array of features and sensors

Battery life hasn't improved; On-demand blood-oxygen readings are finicky

Weirdly, the fact that the Apple Watch Series 6 is the very best smartwatch by a huge margin feels anticlimactic. That’s probably because the same was true of the Series 5, the Series 4, and even the Series 3.

Big; bright display; Solid ecosystem of third-party complications; Built-in sleep tracking

Still no third-party watch faces; Still no Android phone support; Blood oxygen monitoring is unreliable.

If you’re in the market for a great smartwatch, this is the way to go. You’ll have to be an iPhone user, unfortunately, but the Apple Watch Series 6 takes the already-awesome Apple Watch Series 5, and makes it slightly better.

Bright; always-on display; Great fitness tracking; Smooth; intuitive performance

Battery still average; Still no Android support

The Apple Watch Series 6 is far from a huge upgrade and I would say that if you’ve got a Series 5 (or even a Series 4) then there’s very little to entice an upgrade. But that really shouldn’t take anything away from the Apple Watch Series 6 as it’s an excellent product and still the best all-round...

Lovely new colours; Very accurate fitness tracking; Plenty of health features; The best smartwatch OS around

Sleep tracking lacks depth; No big improvements to battery; Minimal improvements over previous model

The Apple Watch Series 6 isn’t much different from the Series 5, and the changes that matter most aren’t necessarily the ones you can see. That said, we’ll never complain when an already great smartwatch gets practical improvements like faster performance, longer battery life and quicker charging.

Speedier performance; Faster charging; Slightly improved battery life; Timely handwashing feature

Sleep tracking in watchOS 7 isn’t super useful

The Apple Watch Series 6 continues Apple's smartwatch dominance, with solid improvements across the board. Many of its features can be found in cheaper competitors, but not the overall experience.

Great range of health sensors; Brighter always-on screen is impressive; Excellent app support and software; Solid battery life for general use; Great new colour options

iPhone-only still; Not a big leap forward from Series 5; New sleep tracking is basic; Won't satisfy truly hardcore fitness fans

The Apple Watch S6 is the best all-rounder smartwatch on the market, especially for iPhone users, but there are better deals to be had.

Brighter display; Zero lag; Comfortable (even when sleeping); Faster charging

Could do with more use cases for bloody oxygen function; Battery life could be better; In reality; not a huge jump from Apple Watch Series 5

Apple just made the Watch even better and although not a lot has changed, it’s still the best smartwatch you can buy.

Great performance; Great screen; Useful health features

Poor sleep tracking; Still have to charge every day

I've tried to steer clear in this review of the usual journalistic obsession with "What's new?" But in the final reckoning we simply have to acknowledge that not much has changed since the Series 5.