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Am I throwing money for the first-party Milanese band? Or is it "you get what you pay for"?

kylera

kylera

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Dec 5, 2010
1,195
27
Seoul
There are plenty of options and reviews for third-party Milanese bands, and there are also a ton of good reviews for them, it seems.

However, the complaints I've seen to date also make me give pause.

Despite the price, is the first-party ML a good buy? Or do the benefits not outweigh the price?
 
I have a clone ML band. It is outstanding. It was 1/5 the cost of the Apple band. I cannot imagine spending the other 4/5 $$$ to have Apple. There simply is not that much value to justify the cost difference. That said, there are some major stinkers out there. Mine is nearly indistinguishable from Apple OE.
 
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My recommendation is to try a 3rd party first.
If you don't like it you're only out $20. Then purchase the apple one; then you'll have a back up.
The apple band is nicer. To me it is not $130 more nicer. YMMV
 
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I have a 42mm SS Milanese loop that came with my watch. I don't use this band much.

As for what others are posting, I do see it as overpriced and only bought it as it came with the watch from Best Buy and it was $200 off.
 
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I have the Milanese Loop from Apple but recently bought a knock-off (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016JWO0HQ) to get a black version and I feel like I totally wasted my money on the Apple version. The third party one feels a little thinner and lighter but looks great, is just as comfortable, and stays in place (I had been concerned about the magnet strength when ordering). That said, I had ordered the ML when I ordered my original S0 watch so at the time, there were no third party versions.

Totally get a third party one first and see if it makes you happy. For a potential $135 savings, it's worth the shot.
 
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kylera said:
There are plenty of options and reviews for third-party Milanese bands, and there are also a ton of good reviews for them, it seems.

However, the complaints I've seen to date also make me give pause.

Despite the price, is the first-party ML a good buy? Or do the benefits not outweigh the price?
Click to expand...
I paid less for a third-party ML than the tax on the OEM ML so no brainer. My Moko one has been excellent.
 
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bruinsrme said:
My recommendation is to try a 3rd party first.
If you don't like it you're only out $20. Then purchase the apple one; then you'll have a back up.
The apple band is nicer. To me it is not $130 more nicer. YMMV
Click to expand...

This. There are a LOT of good reviews for certain third party bands. Why not just spend the $10 to try one first if you're on the fence?
 
I have the OEM band (came with the watch). However, supposedly the Moko Loop is very good... but hard to find.
 
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I have the same dilemma. I know that you get what you pay for, but soooo many people say the third party ones are good
 
Srbell67 said:
I have the same dilemma. I know that you get what you pay for, but soooo many people say the third party ones are good
Click to expand...

I put in an order for SS 42mm + Milanese loop first party in the end.

My reasoning is likely specific to Korea, because here, almost every shop does not allow open-box returns unless there's a defect. Also, if I were to order from Amazon and find out I don't like the band, it would cost me extra to ship it back international. I'm rationalizing the first-party band as my way to pay for convenience and fewer headaches.
 
Of course, nobody should expect a $10 knockoff to be comparable in quality to the Apple band.

But it looks and feels close enough for most users, and for the low cost, one could replace them many, many times before even coming close to that of the Apple band.

Ultimately, it is a value proposition that each individual has to weigh for themselves.

I wouldn't place much trust in the Amazon reviews, though.

I got a chuckle out of the customer image where the band linked above is clearly separating from the lug, accompanied by a five star review. Despite recent changes, Amazon reviews are still a joke, and will continue to be. Even if all the questionable freebie reviews (which AMZ has said will remain) and planted fake reviews were eliminated (which they don't seem interested in policing), you're still left with the real reviews where you have to ask WTF that person was thinking?
 
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bruinsrme said:
My recommendation is to try a 3rd party first.
If you don't like it you're only out $20. Then purchase the apple one; then you'll have a back up.
The apple band is nicer. To me it is not $130 more nicer. YMMV
Click to expand...

Good advice.
Maybe I'll buy the nylon band, but that's the higher amount of money I'm willing to pay. More than $100 for a band is too much since it doesn't add any feature to the watch but it is pure style.
I don't see my Watch as a fashion product, if I want to wear something classic or elegant Watch is not an option so wasting a lot of money on bands doesn't make sense to me.
Of course tastes are very personal, I have nothing against the edition model and I'm not judging people who buy the hermes band.
I could afford them, but I prefer to spend my money on something different
 
recoil80 said:
Good advice.
Maybe I'll buy the nylon band, but that's the higher amount of money I'm willing to pay. More than $100 for a band is too much since it doesn't add any feature to the watch but it is pure style.
I don't see my Watch as a fashion product, if I want to wear something classic or elegant Watch is not an option so wasting a lot of money on bands doesn't make sense to me.
Of course tastes are very personal, I have nothing against the edition model and I'm not judging people who buy the hermes band.
I could afford them, but I prefer to spend my money on something different
Click to expand...

$100 but a good number of third party bands
 
I haven't seen/tried an apple milanese band, but I just received my Moko milanese band from Amazon and I think it's great! Some of the edges feel slightly 'sharp' but that might just be needing to adjust to a metal band (I've been wearing the nylon pretty much all the time since I bought my watch a few weeks ago).

Lugs don't hang out, one side looks like there's the SLIGHTEST gap between the lug and the watch, magnet is strong... I'm certainly happy for the price! It's much lighter than I expected... Perhaps it doesn't last as long as Apples would, but for the price, I'm not complaining :)
 
IMG_0513.JPG View attachment 667096 It depends on how picky you are too. I had this $50 Case-Mate leather band and the quality of the lugs bothered me. It worked ok but I didn't like the gap. Although, I'm sure no one but me would ever notice. I later bought the Apple Saddle Brown Classic buckle which is the upper picture.
 
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kylera said:
There are plenty of options and reviews for third-party Milanese bands, and there are also a ton of good reviews for them, it seems.

However, the complaints I've seen to date also make me give pause.

Despite the price, is the first-party ML a good buy? Or do the benefits not outweigh the price?
Click to expand...
kylera said:
There are plenty of options and reviews for third-party Milanese bands, and there are also a ton of good reviews for them, it seems.

However, the complaints I've seen to date also make me give pause.

Despite the price, is the first-party ML a good buy? Or do the benefits not outweigh the price?
Click to expand...
kylera said:
There are plenty of options and reviews for third-party Milanese bands, and there are also a ton of good reviews for them, it seems.

However, the complaints I've seen to date also make me give pause.

Despite the price, is the first-party ML a good buy? Or do the benefits not outweigh the price?
Click to expand...
Buran said:
I have the OEM band (came with the watch). However, supposedly the Moko Loop is very good... but hard to find.
Click to expand...
I have not an apple band, but my 3rd part ML bands are great. I bought 2 different color and just cost $27. As my view, 3rd ML band is cost-effective.
 
I have the Moko Milanese loop and it's superb. In fact it's the only fake strap I have bought and kept. Can't go wrong with it really. I also bought the rose gold one for the wife and she's worn it to the gym etc and still very good.
 
MrGimper said:
I have the Moko Milanese loop and it's superb. In fact it's the only fake strap I have bought and kept. Can't go wrong with it really. I also bought the rose gold one for the wife and she's worn it to the gym etc and still very good.
Click to expand...

Moko Milanese here too, absolutely love it! no way in heck i can pay full price for the Apple branded one. this one is great! for $5.99 i took a shot and hit a home run with it.
 
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