How accurate is noise measurement via Apple Watch with the new watchOS 6?

26. 9. 2019

Along with the new watchOS 6 operating system, a new noise measurement function has also been added. It can alert you to a noise level that is already dangerous and can damage your hearing.

Before actually using the Noise application, the watch will ask you to enable this function directly in the watchOS settings. There you can read, among other things, that Apple does not make any recordings and does not send them anywhere. Probably so he wants to avoid the situation that involved Siri.

Then just start the application and it will show you at what level the noise around you is. If the level rises above the given limits, you are notified. Of course, you can turn off notifications and only measure Noise manually.

Social network users Reddit however, they were curious about how accurate such a measurement using a small microphone in the watch could be. In the end, they were surprised themselves.

screenshot 2019-09-11 at 6.03.00 — Source

screenshot 2019-09-11 at 6.03.22 — Source

Apple Watch Series 5 Hands-On TechCrunch — Source

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The Apple Watch boldly takes on a high-quality meter

For verification, they used a standard EXTECH noise meter, which is used in industrial operations. To compare the sensitivity with the microphone in a smart watch, it should serve more than well.

Users then tried a quiet room, a room with sounds and finally the engine start. The watch dutifully sent a notification and the noise was subsequently measured using EXTECH.

Apple Watch reported noise of 88 dB measured with an internal microphone and equipped with software in the form of watchOS 6. EXTECH measured 88,9 dB. This means that the deviation is around 1%. Repeated measurements have shown that the Apple Watch can measure noise within 5% of the tolerated deviation.

So the result of the experiment is that the Noise application together with the small microphone in the Apple Watch are very accurate. They can therefore be used as a tool to advise when to protect your hearing. The deviation is even smaller than that of heart rate measurement, on which almost all health functions of watchOS are built.

Topics: Watch 6, Reddit, Watch 9, Apple WatchSE, microphone, notification, crab, Apple Watch, Settings, function

Discussion of the article

Mikuláš Berka

26. 9. 2019 22:43

Since the decibel is a logarithmic unit, the difference of 0,9 is certainly not only 1% of the actual noise value.

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