5 Hour Apple Watch Review

[WildcatJon]

Got my 42 SS BSB this afternoon. Have been playing around with it (I cancelled my 42 SS Link and bought the BSB version off a buddy who had ordered a sport and the SS). I'll post a full review in another thread, but initial thoughts after a few hours are:

- SS is a bit heavier than I thought it would be, and I wear a SS link Tag every day. Much heavier than the sport my buddy has. The SS with the link could be fairly heavy. I tried it on at my local Apple store but cannot recall it being this heavy.
- BSB is very nice. Feels smooth and in black seems more "dressy" than some of the other colors I've seen. I'm going to use this for a week or so and decide whether $450 for the link is worth it. I wear a suit every day and wanted to dress up the watch but not sure it is going to be worth it. Might also wait for 3rd party options.
- screen is really nice and the taptic feedback is a cool "touch". The SS is definitely nicer and "high end" vs. the sport aluminum but not sure it matters that much with a device that will be obsolete in a year or two.
- device is wholly dependent on the iPhone. This device is a bit of a toy - you don't really "need" it, especially if you do not work out. Activity app along with the Nike app I'll test out tomorrow morning is the standout feature. If you are a couch potato and intend to stay that way - not sure if you're gonna want this.
- if you are active and work in an environment where it is uncool to pull your phone out all the time (which describes my workday), the watch is a nice way to see your texts, notifications, etc. without being too obvious about it.
Getting texts and disposing of them quickly is a nice feature, but if you cannot dictate (dictation is very good by the way), you will have to pull your phone out to respond - no keyboard has me fumbling around wanting to type something.
- the active emojis are sorta neat and it is cool that you can send one to someone with an iPhone and they can still see the emoji move.
- you really cannot read anything lengthy on the watch. It is just not made for that. You'll need your phone anyway, so for those saying it should be untethered from the iPhone, it is not that kind of device.
- speaker is "ok". Called my wife on the way home and volume does not go up that high - road noise drowned her out. Had to handoff to the phone to talk.
- Calendar app is one of the best on the device - if you sync all your calendars across apple devices, this is a cool feature.
- remote for the appleTV is also nice, although the app on the phone is as well. Not sure it is that big of a difference to use your watch vs. your phone.
- so far, it is really draining the iPhone battery. Not sure why. Need to recharge everything in the morning and see how they do all day Friday.
- looking forward to using the Nike app first thing tomorrow morning for a run. Will report on the calibration.
- watch faces are pretty cool. Easy to customize and change colors and faces.
- you really have to customize your notifications on the watch app on your iPhone to really get the true experience on the watch.
- espn notifications for your fav teams are pretty cool, but if you want in-depth info on the game, you need to use your phone.

In all, this is truly a companion device and frankly always will be. Even the 42 is fairly small and you cannot expect to use it as an iPhone or iPod touch. Even when they go to a true GPS or even LTE on the watch, it is so small that the only improvements will be to place a call while running without your phone and tracking your runs/maps without your phone. That would be a slight upgrade, but I do not see ever using this device as a true standalone device. The iPhone is just so much better in every way, which is fine. Just take it for what it is, and be happy with the features. Please tone down your expectations. I will update after a few days of use.

 

[David R]

- so far, it is really draining the iPhone battery. Not sure why. Need to recharge everything in the morning and see how they do all day Friday.

I had the same problem on day 1. I believe others have reported similar experiences. Everything went back to normal on day 2.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Got my 42 SS BSB this afternoon. Have been playing around with it (I cancelled my 42 SS Link and bought the BSB version off a buddy who had ordered a sport and the SS). I'll post a full review in another thread, but initial thoughts after a few hours are:

- SS is a bit heavier than I thought it would be, and I wear a SS link Tag every day. Much heavier than the sport my buddy has. The SS with the link could be fairly heavy. I tried it on at my local Apple store but cannot recall it being this heavy.
- BSB is very nice. Feels smooth and in black seems more "dressy" than some of the other colors I've seen. I'm going to use this for a week or so and decide whether $450 for the link is worth it. I wear a suit every day and wanted to dress up the watch but not sure it is going to be worth it. Might also wait for 3rd party options.
- screen is really nice and the taptic feedback is a cool "touch". The SS is definitely nicer and "high end" vs. the sport aluminum but not sure it matters that much with a device that will be obsolete in a year or two.
- device is wholly dependent on the iPhone. This device is a bit of a toy - you don't really "need" it, especially if you do not work out. Activity app along with the Nike app I'll test out tomorrow morning is the standout feature. If you are a couch potato and intend to stay that way - not sure if you're gonna want this.
- if you are active and work in an environment where it is uncool to pull your phone out all the time (which describes my workday), the watch is a nice way to see your texts, notifications, etc. without being too obvious about it.
Getting texts and disposing of them quickly is a nice feature, but if you cannot dictate (dictation is very good by the way), you will have to pull your phone out to respond - no keyboard has me fumbling around wanting to type something.
- the active emojis are sorta neat and it is cool that you can send one to someone with an iPhone and they can still see the emoji move.
- you really cannot read anything lengthy on the watch. It is just not made for that. You'll need your phone anyway, so for those saying it should be untethered from the iPhone, it is not that kind of device.
- speaker is "ok". Called my wife on the way home and volume does not go up that high - road noise drowned her out. Had to handoff to the phone to talk.
- Calendar app is one of the best on the device - if you sync all your calendars across apple devices, this is a cool feature.
- remote for the appleTV is also nice, although the app on the phone is as well. Not sure it is that big of a difference to use your watch vs. your phone.
- so far, it is really draining the iPhone battery. Not sure why. Need to recharge everything in the morning and see how they do all day Friday.
- looking forward to using the Nike app first thing tomorrow morning for a run. Will report on the calibration.
- watch faces are pretty cool. Easy to customize and change colors and faces.
- you really have to customize your notifications on the watch app on your iPhone to really get the true experience on the watch.
- espn notifications for your fav teams are pretty cool, but if you want in-depth info on the game, you need to use your phone.

In all, this is truly a companion device and frankly always will be. Even the 42 is fairly small and you cannot expect to use it as an iPhone or iPod touch. Even when they go to a true GPS or even LTE on the watch, it is so small that the only improvements will be to place a call while running without your phone and tracking your runs/maps without your phone. That would be a slight upgrade, but I do not see ever using this device as a true standalone device. The iPhone is just so much better in every way, which is fine. Just take it for what it is, and be happy with the features. Please tone down your expectations. I will update after a few days of use.

see id prefer to just have the watch and not carry a cell phone around in my pocket everywhere. It takes up space in my pocket and its easy to lose the phone IMO.

 

[WildcatJon]

see id prefer to just have the watch and not carry a cell phone around in my pocket everywhere. It takes up space in my pocket and its easy to lose the phone IMO.

Have you actually handled the apple watch? I just do not think it is possible given the small form factor to really go about your day without your iPhone. Again, I'd like to have the GPS for running without my iPhone, but after having used it for a few hours, I just don't think it (or any watch for that matter) really "works" as a stand alone device for most tasks.

 

[WildcatJon]

Well. Run didn't go so well with the Nike app. You still have to run with your phone even on a treadmill. It simply doesn't work if not paired to the phone, which is really disappointing. Also, I noticed some 3rd party apps like Nike are very slow to load and took 10 seconds to update running distances showing on the phone itself. So I was actually still running with the phone AND having to look at the phone for correct stats. Really bummed. May be a deal breaker for me. I'll try the apple workout app this weekend and see if it works better. I have 1800 plus miles logged into the Nike app. Really want to keep using it.

 

[rsxmachine]

I've had a 38 mm SS for a couple days (which is too small - I need 42). I have really been thinking after using it that it is just not worth it's price considering it doesn't look amazing and will become obsolete so quickly. While it is cool, it's main use is to not take phone out of pocket. Spending $880 CND just for that luxury is hard to swallow. I think at the USA price of 350-399 for sport there is ok value, but the Canadian prices are significantly more now. Returning it today

 

[Julien]

Well. Run didn't go so well with the Nike app. You still have to run with your phone even on a treadmill. It simply doesn't work if not paired to the phone, which is really disappointing. Also, I noticed some 3rd party apps like Nike are very slow to load and took 10 seconds to update running distances showing on the phone itself. So I was actually still running with the phone AND having to look at the phone for correct stats. Really bummed. May be a deal breaker for me. I'll try the apple workout app this weekend and see if it works better. I have 1800 plus miles logged into the Nike app. Really want to keep using it.

3ed party apps like Nike+ are basically a remote control for the iPhone app since 3ed party apps are not allowed to be native or allowed to use the sensors yet. That is way you must have your iPhone. The Watch Workout app is native.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Have you actually handled the apple watch? I just do not think it is possible given the small form factor to really go about your day without your iPhone. Again, I'd like to have the GPS for running without my iPhone, but after having used it for a few hours, I just don't think it (or any watch for that matter) really "works" as a stand alone device for most tasks.

Ive had mine for a week already. Youve only had yours a few hours.