Apple Watch : Scientific Sleep Test

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

🔴 General Amazon link*: geni.us/thequantifiedscientist 🔴 Apple Watch link*: geni.us/AppleWatch7 🟢 Instagram: instagram.com/quantified_scientist/ 🟠 Shorts: studio.kzbin.info/door/cpARGzXNaC62UQWns2dh2Q 🔵 Newsletter: www.robterhorst.com 🟡 Twitter: @QuantifiedRob * Affiliate (paid) links support the channel by earning me a commission on any sale, and it doesn't cost you any more! My opinions are completely my own, and this content is not sponsored. Paper on the Dreem 2 Headband: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32433768/ Conflict of interest note: Dreem employees are co-authors. ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 👇 $30 off any new WHOOP membership, affiliate* (paid) link, supports the channel!👇 join.whoop.com/QuantifiedScientist ($30 off any new WHOOP membership) ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 👇Amazon Affiliate* (paid) links. Supports the channel, doesn't cost you any more!👇 ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬BEST WATCHES▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Whoop Strap 4.0: join.whoop.com/QuantifiedScientist ($30 off any new WHOOP membership)

[@drorthomaster]

I always tried to search apple watch on that graph since so many days.... now I finally got 😂

[@pezzmania]

You would think that something with a poor battery life would be collecting plenty of data points, and thus be more accurate with predictions.

[@hyperninja1987]

ok but there aren't info about the app you used?

[@PatrickZajac]

This watch will need to be charged very frequent, you cannot check your sleep while charging, can you?

[@_yuri]

with a battery life of one day i guess the best way to use it is to charge it when you bathe and eat idk

[@MrJeremydb91]

How can anyone accuse this guy of bias lol this has to be one of the most scientific testers I’ve ever seen. Nice work sir!

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Thanks so much! I think some small bias in the interpretation and presentation might be inevitable, but I try to do my very best!😊

[@mdhz786]

Same. Can't find any other scientific testers at all.

[@stephw1363]

Absolutely, the people who say that are I think a bit unused to looking at raw data and dont seem to listen to the whole video because he usually points out any weaknesses in his own testing methods and qualifies the results as preliminary when more data needs to be gathered.

[@jzpat]

I just told my girlfriend this! Truly scientific and loved that he acknowledged the limitations

[@Joshpods]

@@TheQuantifiedScientist hey! Can you test the new amazfit t-rex 2 since it is a Garmin competitor and at that price point it would be awesome if it was accurate

[@xander0901]

Apple has a proven history of putting their health tracking programs through rigorous scientific vetting before release. In fact, they often have the hardware and software in the watch without enabling it until they’ve gotten all approvals. This feature will be great once it launches. Apple has been at the forefront for health features for a long time and this is another chapter in their history.

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Yeah, Apple tends to do things well when they do them :-)

[@marojaso843]

Think so too. I am not really an apple user, but i am considering buying my parents apple watches (and making them switch to iphones i guess) just for the health tracking alone. A watch that can literally save your life by pre-detecting a heart attack, how ridiculous is that?

[@savagedriver1967]

@@marojaso843 that's not quite true. To detect a heart attack you'd need to use the ECG function, which is neither automatic nor running continuously. It's clever, but it requires intervention on the part of the user...

[@overPowerPenguin]

@@savagedriver1967 well, still might be useful in case of an alarming pain in the chest.

[@synerg1st]

@@TheQuantifiedScientist so you are an apple fanboy? 😂

[@Tony_YT]

We need more folks like you in the tech review community. Thank you for the videos!

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

I appreciate that! Thanks Tony!!

[@syreetanolan5302]

This is the first time watching one of your videos and I love the way that you present and verbally describe data on graphs to be fully accessible in this video. I love how it is basically organized as a clear and concise scientific paper, do you ever publish papers after all the work you put forth?

[@yildiraykomurcu]

Great effort by Apple ! Now they almost solved sleep tracking. I wasn't expecting such an achievement. This came out of nowhere. Awesome ! I hope the rest follows. Thanks Rob for bringing it up. So if Apple is able to extract brain status from heart rate and movement data, then it should be easier to extract blood pressure from the same data. Hope they will do it as well.

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Hi! I guess blood pressure is a tricky one, but maybe they can pull it off. When you are asleep you are in a relatively "controlled" state (not moving to much, low HR). I could imagine that it is more tricky to predict BP from things like HR and HRV and whatever other data comes from the optical sensor. However, maybe they can find a good proxy that predicts BP okay

[@yildiraykomurcu]

@@TheQuantifiedScientist Agreed, but we know that Samsung already added blood pressure measurement with Watch 4, not even 5. Aktiia band continuously measures blood pressure using PPG signal and they claim it to be medically accurate. It is all about data analysis.

[@strout2944]

@@TheQuantifiedScientist I hope you can test Samsung again in a few months after updates.

[@dimitrioskyranas6455]

Not sure apple's "breakthrough" came out if nowhere. Years ago they bought a finnish startup, beddit which was one of the pioneers in consumer sleep tracker. I think that expertise might have helped them quite a bit.

[@leblancexplores]

Now if they can just make batteries that can keep up.

[@joel_pnk]

It blows my mind on how detailed this is and how i managed to pull through all of this scientific analysis... Well done man! Another great video, visually and content/data wise!

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Wow, thanks!😊

[@craigward26]

Really amazed and happy with Apple, just shows how serious they are with developing existing hardware and software features

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Hi! Indeed, I think Apple generally does not release things until they work well.😊

[@unotoli]

@@TheQuantifiedScientist not always true. And sometimes 3rd party do it for them (multi-device chargers). But back to topic - this amazing results means it's all about software! Almost any trackers can achieve similar results, they just can't or won't do it. 😭

[@arandomhumanbeing2464]

@@unotoli they can’t because they don’t have the massive amounts of resources Apple has.

[@unotoli]

@@arandomhumanbeing2464 Samsung? ) They are really good at twitting, though.. PS Good heart sensor is not so software I guess

[@hirnfaser7245]

@@unotoli samsung does have the money but its unlikely that they will invest much on getting as good health measurement. Software refinement to such details is more of an apple or maybe google thing

[@ankurdeo8416]

Just an observation: Apple Watch seems to show a lot more transients (or spikes) in readings compared to the Dreem2. From a software perspective, this might be because of the sensitive transient and suppressing techniques used. If you do actually filter the short duration spikes, the accuracy of Apple Watch is remarkly high! Great video by the way.

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Hi Ankur! Indeed, great points! It also depends on what we define as "awake" (what guidelines in the scoring are followed), and e.g. how much smoothing is applied.

[@stephenamos4965]

Thank you Rob! I've been waiting for this exact video since the beta release of WatchOS 9! An excellent video once again and thank you for all the amazingly helpful reviews and work that you do!

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

You are more than welcome Stephen!

[@T2Studios]

Wow, this is just a super high quality video! I sometimes find it difficult to interpret graphs, but your explanations made it super clear! There was so much info but you presented it in a very concise engaging, and friendly way. Not to mention how thorough and credible your research is. Absolutely top tier, and I’ll definitely be watching more!

[@silviui.]

The most awaited review of the year! Thank you so much, Rob! This is excellent news. If they implement a smart wake alarm, I can forever say goodbye to Fitbit.

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Thanks Silviu! And thanks for sticking around for such a long time already😊

[@stephw1363]

Oh my gosh.....what is a smart awake alarm?

[@silviui.]

@@stephw1363 Smart Wake alarm A vibrating alarm wakes you during the optimal sleep stage, so you feel refreshed.

[@lalalala-ce3fn]

Doesnt Fitbit literally have this feature tho?

[@silver1588]

@@lalalala-ce3fn yes, it has.

[@JohnDoe-om8im]

Thank you for your test - it was very exciting. In my opinion, the best thing so far has been a customized AutoSleep configuration in combination with an Apple Watch. I know you have already tested AutoSleep, but not with a customized configuration. Could you compare the Apple Sleep Tracking which you tested as a beta with AutoSleep with a customized configuration? AutoSleep also has years of experience and it would be super exciting to know if they are finally better, or if you should still rely on AutoSleep with an Apple Watch. I also think I'm not the only one that would be in the answer of this question of questions. By the way, there are also options in AutoSleep (together with AutoWake) where recommendations are given and a sleep account which is taken into account for it (which you are interested in, as you said at the end). In any case, thanks for your work - I've shared it multiple times with a larger audience :)

[@aaronburns7477]

When the public beta was first released I compared it to my withings sleep analyzer and was pretty impressed at it’s similar results. I’m curious if the rumored new temperature sensor in the soon to be released Watch will have any impact on the sleep algorithm. Also great job on the video I felt like this was a bit more polished than maybe some of your others in the past. Can’t pinpoint what it was but you are doing an amazing job at the production process.

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Thanks so much Aaron! I am curious what sensors will be in the new one too!

[@dave-vl7kl]

no

[@yandan8]

This video is amazing! The amount of work you did. The thoroughness of the analysis. The comparison to medical devices. Really helpful. Thank you.

[@cedric_vdbd4836]

They only need to increase their battery life to at least a couple days and I’ll buy one. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like to be for this year

[@DesignThinkerer]

*for this decade, probably. It won't change until some technological breakthrough is achieved

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Hi! Yes, that would be great. There are rumours of a more "sports oriented" Apple watch that might have a bigger battery. There is an Apple event in 2 days, so maybe there it will be revealed :-)

[@aboumawiyah]

what is the point if you need to charge it every night?!

[@Chris-gq8ev]

@@TheQuantifiedScientist rumoured to be 2x the cost. But, all their metrics are making it tempting...I would need to get an iPhone too 😡

[@bubbaj5007]

Apple Watch can do almost a full charge in 30 minutes now. So as I’m getting ready for bed I’ll charge my watch. Put it on for bed then top up when I wake up.

[@steve_m.3403]

Hi Rob, thank you for this very informative video. I use an Oura3 ring and I’ve noticed the sleep analysis seems to overstate my deep sleep and understate my REM sleep. After watching your video, I borrowed my wife’s Apple Watch7 and confirmed this to be the case (assuming the Apple Watch is more accurate which your video appears to indicate). Within the past few days, Oura has just introduced a “New Sleep Staging Beta” for sleep analysis. I went back and reanalyzed my sleep data with this new beta algorithm and it now seems to agree much better with the Apple Watch data! Here is my question - I was wondering if you could compare the Oura3 ring sleep beta with the brain wave measurement device that you use as a control to see how accurate it is or how well it now correlates? Or do you already have plans to do so? It would be good to know if Oura finally got it right.

[@JanZamani]

Apple is doing great on making sure the data they track is actually accurate. They're really showing up the competing brands in terms of scientific accuracy, which is really what you want when you're tracking your health data. The main problem with apple is reparability but I guess that's a problem with all health tracking devices these days.

[@RakeshBattulag]

that and their pricing is the only thing stopping me from switching over but I don't think It makes much sense to hold off any longer. I will atleast get the watch se once it is proven to work just as well and works with android.

[@LordAlacorn]

I would say durability of Apple devices is the main concern, especially wearables - way to easy to damage. Just enough to loosen hermetic sealing and failure process has begun.

[@TylerTheDevourer]

@@RakeshBattulag aw only works with apple products

[@kp66udv]

Finally! Now, the Apple Watch 8 had announced. Guess we all hope you can put that review on the new watch as priority. We are really desperate to see the results on its exercises and sleep tracking accuracy. Once again, thank you for your effort and passion! Still the best reviewer I'd ever seen.

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Thanks Steve! I'll start with the new apple watch as soon as I get it!

[@weekendwarrior8179]

I like how you had to make the graph bigger just for the Apple Watch…it’s nearly half the reason I switched to the apple eco system. I’ve been using the “auto sleep” app and it has been showing the things you mentioned

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Hi! Thanks for being such a loyal follower Weekend Warrior!

[@NostalgicMem0ries]

what about batery life? how do you use your watch full day and then use it while sleeping ? cause batery life is just 1 day isnt it?

[@Kilrathal]

@@NostalgicMem0ries I use my series 7 around the clock. 1 charge including 90minute exercies the battery lasts me about 24 hrs without exercies 30 hrs. With the fast charger it has it does 10% charge ever 5 minutes. or if it's lower from 10 to max in 45m. but i generally pop it on and off charge throughout the day. for like washing up/showering stuff where you don't want the watch getting soapy and basically never run out of charge

[@NostalgicMem0ries]

@@Kilrathal that sounds complex, i would rather see apple do some research on battery , week of battery life should be standard for that small device. garmin and even huawei are reaching and surpassing those limits, sadly samsung and apple so far behind, even new samsung pro 5 barely last 3 days

[@Kilrathal]

@@NostalgicMem0ries the issue you've got there is you're comparing 2 complex devices against effectively two basic smart watches. you can make apple watches last ages. but you have to turn everything that makes the actually good and smart off.

[@cyrille3169]

Great work as always. Yes, would be very interested in a video on how to interpret the data. Is n (50) minutes of X (deep) sleep enough, what should be the percentage of each sleep stage, how to compute a quality sleep metric …

[@TheSambev]

The alternate angle at 14:39 is awesome! Can’t wait to see how this all stacks up against Oura ring’s revised algorithm later this year (hopefully)!

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Thanks Sam! Yeah, really excited about the new Oura algorithm too!😊

[@jamesfhIII]

I’ve been awaiting the new Oura algo for nearly a year now.

[@FelipeBaezFilms]

First time watching your videos, absolutely loved everything about it and the methodology! Thanks for sharing and going through all the work to collect all the info and research!

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Thanks for the nice words Felipe!😊

[@elias9049]

This feature alone can convince me to switch from Android to the Apple eco system... I'm gonna wait if sense 2 or the pixle watch would catch up

[@matteodayde5377]

Hi, great video as usual, always a very clear explanation! And I think that making a video where you explain us how to interpret the sleep stages would be really great. Thanks for these great videos!

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Great suggestion! Thanks Matteo!

[@DawidVelCatweazel]

Hi Rob. Great stuff as always. Are you aware if apple will add something like readiness score and/or sleep score? Having just raw information about sleep stages might not be that useful without some additional feedback based on that. Btw. do you plan to review Garmin forerunner 955? It seems to have so many data and metrics accessible for user, very interesting watch.

[@CrizzX]

Thanks. I was waiting for Apple to update their sleep tracking and it looks like they have. I appreciate how data intensive your research was and how you addressed its limitations.

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Thanks so much Crizz!

[@Thron2111]

I know it’s accurate cause everytime I wake up from a dream, the health app shows, that my last sleep phase was REM sleep.

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Happy to hear it matches!

[@miscgloryofficial4527]

I wish you had a friend who had sleep apnea and we cpuld look at blood oxygen readings for all the watches you look at

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Haha, I should have several friends with Afib to test the ECG, and indeed a couple with sleep apnea ;-).

[@miscgloryofficial4527]

@@TheQuantifiedScientist i guess i meant, i have watched a few of your videos - there so so good and detailed, but regarding specifically watches, and specifically watches for Sleep Apnea, as even the Apple watch 8 seems to be way behing my garmin 245 in regards to sleep apnea/blood oxygen monitoring....so yeah just was wiondering for future videos of watch(blood Ox) comparisons for best top 5 blood ox watches...🤩🤩😍😍🤩🤩

[@toastrecon]

It’d be interesting to compare sleep data to room temperature. I find I move around a lot more during the hot summer months compared to the cold winter.

[@draszi]

I'm not sure if my deep sleep truly is low or it's wrong, but my deep sleep on the watch is tracking in the single digit minutes which I can't believe

[@benjaminfox7105]

G'day Rob, I was sooooo excited when your name came up on my feed! :-) Thank you so much for doing the hard yards for us! Going to sleep with the Dreem 2 Headband doesn't look comfortable. Even worse with the sonography equipment. You've gone through 37 watches? OMG, what an effort! Legend! As a health professional (Advanced Practice Remote Area Nurse), the utilisation of evidenced-based research practice is ever so important to me. Testing-wise, it's great to hear/see the results of the Apple Watch. People may have a crack at Apple, but what they've done for health with this product is mind-blowing. Keep being brilliant, Rob and thanks again, mate! B. ps. good luck with your 'mingling!' - I'm sure the right person is out there for you! :-)

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Thanks for the very nice response Benjamin! I'll do my best mingling (but maybe I'll leave out that I sleep with an EEG headband on the first dates ;-) )

[@sogeman]

After using it for like 2 weeks, if that is the best watch tracking sleep, then holy shit are watches bad at sleep tracking. The AW really likes to claim I'm sleeping when just lying in bed scrolling on my phone and I feel like it doesn't detect me being awake very well during the night

[@tracysweatt5401]

Wow! I really had believed that Apple would manage a great tracker, but to see this, I’m super impressed. I love my Apple Watch, and I am so excited to have this added sleep data to be able to talk to my doctor. I’ve done a home sleep study that was “inconclusive” so they basically said I have to go in to the sleep lab. Between homeschooling four kids, and some not so nice anxiety issues, I know that I wouldn’t sleep worth a damn at a lab. Plus they told me they could end up with the same dang “inconclusive” result even from the lab readings. At least with my Apple Watch I will have some pretty darn accurate data it would seem over time, and hopefully that will help them do something rather than nothing….

[@rileyf1242]

The information from an Apple Watch is great and helpful, but not diagnostic in any sense. In some ways the sleep staging part of polysomnography is not super important. Nine time out of ten we’re looking at sleep apnoea - unhelpful, the other times we are looking at PLMD or narcolepsy. In the former sleep stages are unhelpful, and in the latter the Apple Watch is not nearly precise enough.

[@richs7792]

How much deep sleep do you get on average? My AW7 said I got 5 min of deep sleep last night. Whoop says 1.5 hours. I feel great today and can’t believe for a second that I only got 5 min of deep sleep. And this is just one example. My deep and REM sleep has been very, very low on the AW since I started tracking last week.

[@fitgearhunter]

Rob - (BIG question below, praise first) this was probably one of your best videos today. Your pacing was fantastic, the explanation of different metrics was excellent, and your disclosure of biases and different testing approaches was superb. These are incredibly excellent results for sleep tracking as well, and I completely agree - I strongly wish Apple would provide recommendations or at least a simple score. Big question - some have said that on the new AW OS they are receiving significantly more HRV data points. Are you finding that at all? Like 40 versus 4 kind of difference.

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Hi! Thanks for the praise! It is difficult for me to balance speed of the video vs mentioning biases/disclosures, especially in the videos where I address everything from heart rate, GPS, steps, ..., to sleep. However, happy to hear it worked out in this video! Good question, and honestly, I have to say, I did not look at that. I should though!😊

[@harryvlogs7833]

Definitely not the best sleep tracker it's very complicated to make it track your sleep in the first place you can't just go to bed And it all track your sleep. You have to set a bunch of stupid stuff first

[@highlanderes]

Awesome performance - seems impossible even for one person. Congrats to the team who achieved this 👍 I hope Apple will tackle recovery and recovery score for strength/cardio, as I just changed to Garmin for this (and battery life), and miss the accurate heart rate (and weather forecast) of the AW.

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Hi! I am sure many people at Apple (and outside of it) worked quite hard on this 😊. Have a great day!

[@manojpillaai]

I brought the Apple Watch recently and checked sleep data, but it shows the wrong sleep data , it doesn’t measure the deep sleep, wake up properly

[@greenfoodcrush2602]

Awesome review as always! My husband and I wear Fitbit because in our opinion it had the best sleep tracking. This morning he showed me the new Apple Watch and I immediately said “let me see what the Quantified Scientist has to say about it!” You hold a lot of clout with me and I am always amazed at your ability to test and report, seems like so much work! It’s greatly appreciated!!

[@DavenH]

I bought an apple watch because of this, though I am a bit disappointed in its accuracy. I am awake far, far more than it detects. Is there some code movement I can make with my wrist to tell it I'm awake? Shouldn't be this difficult. Maybe I'll get an EEG device instead.

[@sebcastilho]

Maybe you should get a girlfriend (or several) of different ethnic origins to compare the data you get from each - FOR SCIENCE! 😄

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Hahaha! Anything for science 😂 😜

[@veryboringname.]

The watches might get confused not knowing if it should be tracking sleep or a workout...

[@lofteco.studioimmobiliare]

a question please: how does apple Watch be as accurate as you say if it measures heartbeat every 10-15 minutes? it means that in one hour it records 4-5 minutes in total ... and in the other 55 how does he calculate sleep? Are you a seer by chance?

[@vamp07]

I have been looking forward to this review since I first got the beta months ago. I knew it was going to be good but I was not sure if it was above or below the charge 5 which I also own. I suspected it would not be as good but your review was great and unexpected. Thanks for all your hard work on this subject.

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Thanks for the compliment Steven! Have a great day! 😊

[@shawn2481]

Apple does not seem like it can track naps or anything outside of sleep schedule. For instance I went back to sleep after a meeting and it has no data but my Fitbit does.

[@jamesfhIII]

I’ve been testing Apple’s sleep staging, since the first beta build dropped in early June. I’ve also been wearing WHOOP for over 2.5 years, and I’ve found it’s sleep staging to be very accurate. In my testing, the Apple Watch and WHOOP differ greatly in the amount of deep sleep that they capture. For example, WHOOP says I get between 1.5-2 hours a night vs. 30-40 minutes for Apple Watch. I’m curious as to how both of these feature among the best you’ve tested (upper right of your comparison graph), when they yield such different results.

[@jonathanodude6660]

maybe the WHOOP inaccuracy is due to biasing more while apple watch is due to biasing less? its also possible that the effect is unique to you.

[@PoPluto]

My results are even more skewed. I use Autosleep to track my sleep which normally indicates 1-2 hours of deep sleep per night. The Apple app has been estimating between zero and 30 minutes of deep sleep per night which is highly unlikely (although I don't have an EEG device as a benchmark). I posted a thread in the Apple support forums and some other users are having a similar experience.

[@orangelupine3761]

@@PoPluto this is happening for me too, also the sleep tracker says I have slept for about 7 hours but the sleep stages only add up to just over 2 hours and yeah almost always zero deep sleep!

[@johnadams9954]

Same for Oura. Apple watch says 36m while Oura says 1h36m.

[@orangelupine3761]

I think I have resolved my problem with it, in the health app I gave priority to my watch for sleep tracking instead of AutoSleep and now it seems ok

[@residentCJ]

Great, now the question is when Fitbit and Garmin will have this Precision. Or Apple release a Watch that works with Android and has 5 days of Battery beforehand 🤔😜😂

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Hi! Fitbit is already pretty good. And, indeed, I would not hold my breath for an Android compatible Apple Watch ;-)

[@canyonblue737-8]

Apple is seldom the first, but they tend to do it best when they do. Their HR optical wrist sensor is the best. Their calorie burn estimates are the best.

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Hi David! Yes, Apple generally does a pretty good job once they commit

[@mvn3949]

Why would I need a sleep tracker when I already know I have sleep troubles and cant get enough sleep at night? How does it help? Can any expert here advice?

[@TheBigKing0]

Wow! Never seen an 80% in the confusion matrix, impressive. Great vid

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Thanks so much!

[@tcboy88]

I bought apple watch series 8 after watching this review, but found that it doesn't track sleep and nap automatically? even my cheap oppo watch 2 can do that! at 1/3 price, wtf!

[@os2171]

I’m a neuroethologist (sensory biology auditory system of frogs; multimodal integration in bees and bumble bees -learning and memory). Your analysis is very deep great discussion. Your results are the only thing preventing me switching from Apple Watch into Garmin Fenix 7… I am sick of the battery…. Great work!

[@Jesus_friggin_christ]

apple just announced apple watch ultra which is in competition with the fenix 7 so might be worth looking in to

[@espressomatic]

I'm using an Ultra right now. If I don't do any GPS-based workouts and use this thing only for heart monitoring, sleep tracking and as a typical watch (with notifications) the battery will easily last 3-6 days. Here's a tip for this watch: charge it when you go for a shower. Don't rush to put it back on, give it 20-30 minutes of charging while you get ready for whatever. At that point I stop noticing this thing is even battery powered.

[@dan110024]

@@Jesus_friggin_christ I feel like the Ultra is just an over priced apple watch. It does a lot but nothing great. A Garmin blows it out of the water in terms of data for people interested in proper training.

[@sebastijanhokman8342]

worst device for sleep tracking,it thinks im walking while sleeping,it thinks im sleeping while walking to work..i had to return the device

[@ejaywillie]

This is so nerdy and I’m here for it.

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Haha, that's what it is all about!😊

[@TristanPope]

If only it can do naps. What do you think about getting not “in the zone” sleepntracked?

[@prgv648]

I really like the channel and it has become one of my favourites when it comes to fitness trackers. I have to admit that Rob does not seem to be the elite athlete idolizing Garmin or some of the other top sport focused brands. But hey there's a target group for all of them... in any case Apple is known to have a top notch heart rate sensor and that combined with a lot of R&D can lead to very accurate metrics.

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Thanks a lot Petar for the nice compliments!😊

[@RickoH_NZ]

If apple’s standard watch had a battery life that lasted longer than it does, the sleep tracker would be more useful. E.g. I have a series 6 and the battery lasts about 18hours. At the moment most people who don’t have an ULTRA charge their watch while they’re in bed because the battery doesn’t last more than 18-20 hours.its not really an all-day wearable Compare this to my Garmin, which gives me a good 6-7 days….

[@davidallred991]

Thanks so much for this video. Having sleep issues I bought the Apple Watch 7 as soon as the Watch OS 9 beta came out and have been using it every night. My sleep cycles were showing pretty poor sleep with frequent wake ups. I wasn't sure if it was the Apple Watch not working well or if I just sleep that poorly. I had a couple of family members that sleep soundly use it a couple of nights and the sleep data was completely different for them and looked like healthy sleep patterns. I figured the watch must be somewhat accurate since It showed poor sleep for me with sleep issues, and showed good sleep for family members with good sleep patterns. But this video gives me even more confidence in the Apple Watch's sleep data.

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Happy to hear I could confirm what you suggested 😊

[@cowswirl]

Hi David Allred, I have poor sleep too and have done overnight sleep tests (polysomnography) at hospitals. I'm now considering getting a smart device ... and leaning towards the Apple Watch, as it seems to be the best.

[@anneskeen3195]

Thank you Rob! I was very curious about the accuracy as I recently started wearing the watch and amazed by the data but was curious how accurate it is. I am 51 years old and have had sleep issues all my life, did home studies and PSGs but finally got a doctor who ordered a MSLT (which stupid insurance took almost a year to approve because of all the other things they insisted be done first to rule out). I finally was diagnosed with Narcolepsy w/cataplexy in the last 1 1/2 years. I spent almost my entire adulthood being diagnosed and treated for depression, anxiety, ADD and being told it was all in my head and nothing was wrong. Most people don't understand the impact it has on every day life. May sound silly but it is gratifying to finally have a diagnosis that makes sense, that I can see test results that support the diagnosis. So now having the ability to track without full sleep studies is invaluable!! I have only been using the Apple watch for a short time but already finding the information extremely insightful. Using the data, making a few changes and already seeing some results (albeit just a little) that I am hoping can lead to significant improvements. Thank you for the detailed analysis and helping me determine how much assurance I can have in in the data!

[@jasocaz]

I ended up buying an Apple Watch 8 after watching this video (long time Garmin watch owner). While I know my Epix 2 likely over-reports deep sleep (Avg = 1:45m a night... but it registers deep sleep even when detecting movement so it's clearly wrong), my Apple watch consistently only reports ~40m a night. This seems low considering I seemingly do everything right - diet, eating several hours before bedtime, exercising, going to bed around 10, reduced light exposure at night, little caffeine / only in AM, no alcohol, etc. I feel like I need to get a Dreem 2 to settle the accuracy score once and for all.

[@_Alvaro_007]

Incredible Apple, if it had more battery it would be a perfect watch!

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Hi! Yes, better battery life would be amazing. Let's see if the Apple Watch Series 8 or the rumoured Sports version are any better 😊

[@arvind31459]

@@TheQuantifiedScientist Hey can you please make the test with same 18 nights of data from watch 5. And also can you please increase the #no.of people you test the watches on. The more the people the better understanding of the results.

[@_Alvaro_007]

@@TheQuantifiedScientist or if not in the future they will surely improve.

[@NostalgicMem0ries]

@@_Alvaro_007 well uif they keep adding more sensors and powerfull 5 wifi versions, idk if batery will go up fast. kinda what we wanted from smartphones but cause of bigger and more powerfull cpu/gpu and other parts bateries became bigger but drains faster too so0 kinda remains same 1 2 days from phones now

[@LordAlacorn]

Battery life and working with another phones. This is two things that are a deal breakers for me.

[@benjmiester]

Not too bad. Anyone know if it works ok with say an older ipod or something? I still have 0 interest in an iPhone. I know the watch remains firmly inside the iPrison's walls. A shame though, it's a pretty decent device aside from the mediocre battery life (I'm using a Magic Watch 2 still everything's battery life is a laughable joke to me) and obviously limited ecosystem (I know the iDiots see that as a benefit lol but it's really a drawback when you consider the whole market). If they ever went open market... I'd probably consider it. Until then, nah. But so close!!

[@mboiko]

Every time I see the sleep chart showing all the fitness watches, I'm always amazed that a $49 Mi Band 7...is so far to the right on the graph. While I know it's not super high up on the graph, the percentage of agreement (4 sleep stages) is better than all but a very few including the Apple watch...not to mention a 10+ day battery life...all for just $49 at Walmart!

[@TheMisterPvp]

The inspire 2 is pretty cheap too

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Hey! I will still do a complete review of the Band 7 too, so stay tuned for that!😊

[@mboiko]

@@TheQuantifiedScientist Sounds great Rob now all we need to know is Mi Band 7 or Mi Band 7 Pro...a question I'm already being asked by a few friends and family. Keep up the great work!

[@ggkol8745]

Up until 12:45 where you show the dates, I thought you said eighty nights like a dozen times throughout the video, not eighteeN nights :o As a (fellow? you sound dutch) dutch person, one tip I've heard to differentiate easier is to put the stress on the second syllable when saying 1x (eighTEEN) and on the first when saying x0 (EIGHty). This does make me wonder a lot more about the p-value on all this, as this is supposed to be scientific after all and there are no error bars in e.g. the conclusion chart shown at 12:15. Don't get me wrong, it's a solid analysis nonetheless, but it's a bit hard to know just how conclusive the comparison is or if there are overlaps in the error bars :)

[@Milkshakman]

Just wanna say I’m really glad this brilliantly cogent and in-depth video is doing so well views-wise. It has long been difficult to find good, detailed EEG and PSG comparisons with wrist devices without digging through dozens of random (often outdated) PubMed papers.

[@savagecub]

Just one problem…….. I can’t sleep with a watch on !

[@williamstevenson2649]

I'm not interested in sleep tracking - as an old bloke, I get up a lot at night anyway and am not bothered about it. However, I watched all of this as a data exercise and am very impressed (as usual) by Rob's determination to get it right, and by Apple's determination to do the same. I don't have any Apple products and am not about to buy any, but it's clear that if money isn't a factor then Apple is best at HR and sleep analysis!

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Thanks for the very kind comments William! I am happy it was of interest to you!

[@tjroth2840]

You guys are all praising Apple when Samsung has had RELIABLE and scientific sleep stage tracking for years. This is nothing new. Good job Apple for catching up to modern times in one way at least.

[@TrueRay17]

It’s pretty clear that the scientific data you provide is an unbiased one. Some people just lack the skills to see that. Great video yet again!

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Thanks, that is very kind of you!

[@quietfox157]

I switched from a Fitbit Versa 3 to an Apple Watch recently, so I know both sleep tracking systems. What I find weird is that the Apple Watch only tracks sleeping when you're in your sleep time that you have to set up beforehand. If the alarm goes off but you decide to continue sleeping that additional sleep doesn't get tracked. If I turn off the alarm entirely your sleep doesn't get tracked at all. The Fitbit tracks your sleep no matter when. Take a nap in the afternoon and it gets tracked automatically. From my experience the Apple Watch wouldn't do that. Fitbit's only limit is that sleep phase tracking only works if you sleep for at least 3 hours. Is there a reason why Apple doesn't track all of your sleep? This also means that my average sleeping time in the Health app gets less meaningful.

[@BadNeighbor762]

Appreciate all the hard work you put into every video. Thanks.

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Thanks so much!

[@MRBarton369]

They didn’t reinvent anything..Fitbit has had excellent sleep science for awhile.. Apple just seems to have a better system of tracking. Solid video tho. Love my AW7 no need to upgrade any time soon.

[@tazahsan]

I just want to say that your videos are amazing!! The amount of time, effort and intelligence it takes to put an unbiased video together like is extreme! Thank you so much for all your hard work and cannot wait to see more! I recently bought (and then returned) the Oura Ring and now am trialing a whoop but love my Apple Watch! Can’t wait to return my whoop, not spend any more money and still have the best sleep tracker out there 😬 Keep up the amazing work! 🙏✌️

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Thanks a lot Taz! Happy I was able to help 😊

[@tazahsan]

@@TheQuantifiedScientist now, the question is, do we upgrade to a Series 8 or the Ultra?!

[@mazkebar]

A Comedian Scientist with ACTUALLY good jokes! That’s rare to find! 😅😂😂 🍻 ONLY if u were a female bro! 🤣🤣🤣

[@julioantoniogonzalezgarcia6392]

Congratulations Rob, everyone may think different, but I don’t think you show data as a fanboy for any company, on the contrary I think you show data quite unbiased and very well analyzed. Thank you very much for your channel, I enjoy it very much.

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Thanks so much Julio! It is really appreciated😊!

[@Annargh]

Thank you so much for your consistent and systematic work. As an ex-researcher on health behavior you kinda have my dream job - and my dream hobby with data! Why you're single I have no idea, but keep living the life that makes you happy. 🙏

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Hi Anna! Thanks so much for the compliments 😊. I guess I should work on my charm ;-). But I am also happy being single for now. Let's see who I cross paths with :-)

[@kana-is-sleepy]

Thank you so much for putting so much work into this comparison! I’ve had 3 sleep studies during the past several years (2 PSGs+ MSLT, 1 home study), so I’m very familiar with how complex and sensitive those tests are. After my latest PSG/MSLT, my neurologist diagnosed me with narcolepsy type 1, a rare neurological disorder that causes all sorts of sleep dysfunction, particularly with REM sleep. To put it simply, my brain goes into REM sleep far too quickly and easily, even when I’m awake. Daytime REM sleep intrusion is a frequent occurrence, and can cause sleep attacks, “micro sleeps” (staring episodes that resemble absence seizures), hallucinations (visual, auditory, and tactile), and cataplexy, a weird symptom that causes partial or full body muscle weakness as a result of strong (usually positive) emotional stimuli. This muscle weakness resembles the paralysis that keeps you from acting out your dreams while sleeping. Because of these issues, watch sleep tracking isn’t as accurate for narcoleptics, but it’s better than nothing. Luckily, some researchers are currently conducting a study to help make fitness trackers more accurate for narcoleptic patients. The study is currently limited to just Fitbit devices, but hopefully it’ll be open to Apple Watch users (like me) soon. That said, it’s cool to see just how remarkably accurate it is for the general population! Even if it’s not 100%, I’m glad I can generally rely on my Apple Watch sleep tracking data.

[@anneskeen3195]

Kana - I have almost the exact same diagnosis as yours. I am 51 years old and have had sleep issues all my life, did home studies and PSGs but finally got a doctor who ordered a MSLT (which stupid insurance took almost a year to approve because of all the other things they insisted be done first to rule out). I finally was diagnosed with Narcolepsy w/cataplexy in the last 1 1/2 years. I spent almost my entire adulthood being diagnosed and treated for depression, anxiety, ADD and being told it was all in my head and nothing was wrong. Most people don't understand the impact it has on every day life. May sound silly but it is gratifying to finally have a diagnosis that makes sense, that I can see and track and to hear others with the same struggles. I have only been using the Apple watch for a short time but already finding the information invaluable! Using the data, making a few changes and already seeing some results.

[@kana-is-sleepy]

@@anneskeen3195 Sounds like we were diagnosed at around the same time! I was diagnosed in February 2021, but I initially developed it back in late 2012. It took 8 years to get my diagnosis, and I struggled with a lot of the same misdiagnoses (depression, anxiety) plus some other ones (severe insomnia, CFS, “bad sleep hygiene”). I also had a lot of doctors who would tell me “I’ve found the answer! Treating this anemia/hypothyroidism/vitamin D deficiency will make you feel so much better!” I really did have those issues, but they weren’t the magical answer that those doctors hoped for. (I also had undiagnosed ADHD, but unfortunately, that didn’t get diagnosed until early 2022.) It took over a year for me to finally get my 2nd PSG/MSLT (the one that actually got me diagnosed) too, but that was because I did my negative home study in late 2019, and got referred for my PSG/MSLT in early 2020… right when the sleep labs closed due to COVID-19. The delay ended up being a blessing in disguise though: the sleep clinic that did my at home study took forever to restart in lab studies, so my ENT doc (who had referred me to sleep medicine due to a deviated septum) sent me to the other sleep clinic because they were already doing in lab studies again. I ended up meeting my current doctor there, a sleep medicine neurologist who’s now my all-time favorite doctor (which is an accomplishment, because I’ve been blessed with a lot of amazing doctors). My MSLT actually came back negative, but this doctor took a closer look at the results and realized it was a false negative result. I don’t think many non-neurologist sleep docs would have figured that out, so I was very lucky to end up with him. Living with narcolepsy is really hard, but luckily, I’ve found some amazing online support groups that make this narcoleptic existence a lot less lonely! I’ve also met some other people with it who live in my area. Please feel free to message me if you ever want to talk to another person who gets it! 😊

[@afrobian1]

This video makes me feel better about spending 600 cad on my watch 😅

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Happy to hear that!😊

[@richardckunnath4111]

Just a doubt: Do these test results vary based on the fit of the watch on a person's hand?

[@Shadow__133]

Samsung may be trying to catch up. Just came from a sleep clinic and they had lab coats conducting tests there. I don't own any Samsung smart products, so can't attest to its performance.

[@unusedTV]

16:40 RIP your inbox.

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Haha, I guess you are overestimating my attractiveness (and my female viewership 🙈) 😜

[@humanchannel9421]

@@TheQuantifiedScientist who said anything about females?

[@mazkebar]

Dr. Happy & ALWAYS Smiling Scientist! That’s rare to find! 👏🏼😅☺️😊👍🏼

[@9sanjay]

Hi Rob, Thanks for your much awaited comparison of iWatch sleep module. Just to add, I have been using Garmin FR945 and have found its sleep algorithm excellent & very much reliable. It even recognises when I have had Coffee/Tea/Alcohol before an hour two before going to bed. Further, it shows sleep score & body battery which I have found to be very reliable. thanks

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Thanks Sanjay! Indeed, I mostly focus on the sleep stages and less on the sleep quality scores, so what you say might be true :-)

[@AM2PMReviews]

How does it compare to the oura ring? I like the small factor of oura but is it any good? I am sure you have tried it too.

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Hi! The Oura is not so great at REM detection, but maybe their new algorithm will be😊

[@sandiegojoey1]

I know you have already carved out your future and have a plan, but I’m hoping to persuade you there’s a better plan. I can see you as the health and medical device version of DC Rainmaker, giving us the latest and greatest in wearable health and other consumer health and medical devices. Bertalan Mesko does a great job of giving us a brief overview of innovations on his KZbin channel “ The Medical Futurist”, now we need you to do what you do with those technologies.

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Hi Joey! Thanks for the kind words! For now this KZbin thing will stay a hobby, so I cannot put in the same amount of work as Ray. However, I hope to build a team around all of this at some point 😊

[@yashchawla5273]

Thanks to you, I have realised which smartwatches are meretricious and which ones are worth buying.

[@jodowick]

My struggle with the Apple Watch is that I read at night and it always tracks the majority of that time as light sleep. As someone who struggles to get much more than 5.5 hours of sleep a night, capturing 10-40 minutes that I am unwinding with a book is significant in my quest to get more sleep. It is hard to know if there was a night that I crossed the six-hour mark was because something I did made it easier to get more sleep or if the watch just captured my reading time.

[@Peopleboy100]

Maybe take it off when reading and out it on when finished and ready to sleep?

[@detleflaub6706]

Great review, thank you for the numerous tests you have carried out with the different sleep tracking apps. I feel you when you say that you are missing a tool to interpret the data the Apple sleep app provides. For the go to app is rise. Rise interprets the sleep data from my Apple Watch. And I would love it if you made a review of the rise app. Keep up the good work, it is highly appreciated.

[@noorkhalifa8755]

What a great and detailed video! Just what I was looking for. Now I would like to see if other apps on the Apple store have a better algorithm for the analysis. Can you please compare the EEG data with data from apps like Pillow and AutoSleep?

[@grumpychocobo]

Does Apple still require you to enable Sleep mode when you go to bed to get sleep tracking or does it work more automatically now where regardless of the mode the watch is in, it will detect when it thinks you've gone to sleep?

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Hi! This seems to be the latest info: support.apple.com/guide/watch/sleep-apd830528336/watchos

[@finbar000]

Can Apple Watch track naps during the day?

[@najibyaghoobi5609]

The best review I’ve ever seen. It’s a lot of work to make such scientific research . Great job and thank you for the video

[@Gold26502]

this feature was much MUCH needed, will it waste a lot of battery throughout the night tho?

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Hi! For me the battery usually only drains ~20% from a night of sleep

[@Gold26502]

@@TheQuantifiedScientist that is a LOT honestly, i will not be using this.

[@Kapono5150]

I just dont get sleep tracking. You know if you didnt sleep well the night before. You dont need a smart watch to tell you this.

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Hi! I agree there are some things you will feel, but not everything. Some things you might not realize until the evening. You might e.g. want to plan some activities for another day, or change your workout routine

[@mtajchert]

I have only one issue with Apple Watch Sleep tracking... it doesn't detect short naps or any sleep outside of "sleep schedules". I have mine set up midnight-8.30am but sometimes I go earlier to sleep and Apple doesn't record this sleep properly, also if I do a nap (ex. 6-8pm it is not recorded at all, not to mention to record its sleep phases).

[@tcboy88]

same issue

[@3dward123]

For a long time I wished I could compare trackers objectively. Thank you for doing this! I hope your channel explodes 🙌

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Thanks Eduard! 😊 That would be awesome!!

[@AM2PMReviews]

Maybe the biggest issue is the battery size on the Apple Watch. You need to charge it during the night to use it during the day or vice versa.

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Hi! I charge it while getting ready for work in the morning and that generally works well :-). Though I am not a heavy user of the smartwatch functionalities😊

[@AM2PMReviews]

@@TheQuantifiedScientist oh I didn’t realize I could charge in a couple hours

[@xingpeiye9045]

Really good report! I'm using Apple sleep stage and Autosleep at the same time, but finding their results quite different, especially for awake stage. I hope you can make a video to compare them, that will be great!!

[@jonsutubechannel]

Wonder if the series 8 new sensors will help improve accuracy. Will there be a video? Great job!

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Hi Jon! Yeah for sure I will!

[@himynameisryan]

My estimate is that apple took their time for a reason, they normally do this The most recent example is dynamic island. They had a giant notch for years, and instead of rushing a hole punch, they waited until they could make the space actually useful and fun to use

[@TheQuantifiedScientist]

Hi Ryan! Indeed, as one of the "market leaders" they can do this, and I like it generally. Why put out something that doesn't yet work.