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Consumer Reports initial tests unable to scratch Apple Watch sapphire, find heart-rate sensors accurate

I can’t remember if we’re still mad at Consumer Reports for Antennagate but they seem to be doing a thorough job at testing the Apple Watch as evidenced in the video below. Notable from their Day 1 tests is that the Apple Watch Sport screen does scratch but only after going pretty far down the Moh’s hardness scale (7-rated) into the unlikely to ever happen category.

Consumer-reports-apple-watch

The Sapphire Apple Watch however wouldn’t scratch under any circumstances, though it doesn’t appear that Consumer Reports had a diamond pick to test it against. Regardless, for intents and purposes, you likely will never see a scratch on the face of the Apple Watch (the back is a different matter)…

So how did Apple’s watches fare? The sapphire crystal performed as expected, which is to say very well. It survived a 9-rated pick from our kit. The Apple Watch Sport made it up to a 7-rated pick without damage, but was scratched by an 8-rated pick.

So the face of the Apple Watch is definitely harder than that of the Apple Watch Sport. But the performance of the hardened glass of the Sport model is pretty impressive as well. An 8 on the Mohs scale is equivalent to topaz, just one step below sapphire, and it means that it takes quite an abrasive material to scratch Apple’s glass. (We also tried a completely unscientific attempt on the Sport model with a steel key, and it didn’t scratch the glass.)

Consumer Reports also did some heart rate sensor and step counting tests and so far found the Apple Watch sensors accurate. They also submerged the Apple Watch in water for 30 minutes in simulated 3 feet of water which matches up against its rating and found it waterproof.

From all of the tests, both scientific and not so scientific, Apple Watch seems to be passing w/flying colors.

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Comments

  1. Jaromír Miko - 9 years ago

    How unexpected that you can’t scratch a mineral that’s second to diamond

    • liquidwolverine1 - 9 years ago

      They expected the Sapphire screens in Apple Watch + Edition to pass with flying colors. The Sport model isn’t Sapphire, which is what they were impressed by.

      • zephyrprime - 9 years ago

        Did you read the article? They were able to scratch the sport with a 8 rated needle. Also, you failed to realize that Jaromir was being sarcastic.

  2. Leif Paul Ashley - 9 years ago

    That is bad to the bone

  3. I wish you could get an aluminum body with sapphire screen.

  4. macmaniman - 9 years ago

    Are all the models waterproof?

  5. Now if only they could bring that to the iPhone. My 6 plus is scratched to hell already from key and various other things in the same pocket.

    • Daniel Radtke - 9 years ago

      There’s an easy solution to that… don’t put other objects in the same pocket as your iPhone…

    • zephyrprime - 9 years ago

      You can buy a glass screen protector to prevent that from happening. Glass – not plastic.

  6. Top Gas (@TopGas5) - 9 years ago

    Title may as well say – apple watch screen is working and can tell time accurately.

    I wouldn’t regards these things by working accurately to be passing with flying colours. Heart rate sensors aren’t even novel technology they have been in hospitals for ages – we can even tell O2 sat with a smaller machine. Nothing to report here..

    Not hating on the watch, just the redundancy of this article

  7. Joefrey Kibuule - 9 years ago

    “Waterproof” is a terrible phrase because it doesn’t mean what we want it to mean. Also, the problem with the submerge test is that it’s not that the device fails immediately, but under repeated exposure because the seals fail over time. As such, it may survive a dunk in the pool, but that doesn’t mean go swimming with it every day, it should survive just fine.

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Avatar for Seth Weintraub Seth Weintraub

Publisher and Editorial Director of the 9to5/Electrek sites.


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