Apple Watch Series 6 not bright enough in dark environments. (Same issue as Apple Watch 5)
So I just picked up the new Apple Watch 6 (Silver Stainless 44mm) and as excited as I was, that changed pretty quickly when I realized it has the same annoying screen brightness (or rather *dim*ness) issue that made me return the 5 and stick with my 4.
In dark environments the ambient light sensor is too aggressive and makes the screen too dim to the point it can be difficult to read. In a side-by-side with the 4 it is *noticeably* dimmer! The 4 is perfect but for the 5/6, this is problematic for people such as me who wear glasses need that extra brightness to be able to read it.
This is most problematic if you're outside in the dusk, or in a dark environment like watching TV with the lights off or sitting in a movie theater because it ramps down too low.
The screen is more than capable of the brightness too because again, just like with the 5, in daylight, it really is bright. You can see this yourself! Just shine your iPhone's flashlight at your watch face and you'll see it turn practically blinding.
This was clearly a choice by Apple to implement because again, the hardware can easily handle it, and considering they never addressed it last round, I'm not optimistic this is even on their radar to address.
Also, since I've been asked this a few times, yes, the brightness in settings is turned all the way up, and yes, I am comparing the 'active' brighness (i.e. you're tapping on and interacting with the screen), not the 'always-on' brightness which is more of a 'stand-by' mode.
I even tried disabling the 'always on' screen to make it mimic the 4 exactly. Same result. The 4 is brighter. The 5 and 6 are too dim!!
I know why they did this... to eeek out as much battery life as possible. But that's just it... let *me* decide if I want to sacrifice battery life for brightness. I have never ran out of battery and usually end the day with around ~40% so I would happily give some of that up for more brightness because without it, I can't *read* half the text, even with my glasses on!
If it wasn't for the pulse-oximeter in it, this may have been sent right back just like the 5. I'm gonna give it a few days and see how annoyed I am with it before I decide.
Come on Apple... you're always so great around accessibility. A market leader actually. But twice now you've dropped the ball here! Please give us a version of the firmware where we can change the responsiveness of the auto-dimming to not be so aggressive! I want to love your products. #TakeMyMoneyNow! But give me light in return.
Here's the entire discussion about the same thing with Apple Watch 5.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250654320
Anyone else seeing this too? Again, against a 5 it's identical. Against a 4 it's blatantly obvious. It's not a subtle difference.
Apple Watch
