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Apple Watch Review Roundup: The 'World's Best Smartwatch', But 'Not For Everyone'

ninethirty said:
As opposed to the out of context "The best smartwatch in the world" reviews, that go on to explain that it's a frustrating experience, as a lot of us suspected it would be.
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The reviews being cited are for the most part positive. Going through them and picking only the flaws and saying "reviews hate it" is inaccurate.
 
boshii said:
The only knock against either of those was price.

The iPod was lauded for its storage size and polished look. It was understood what its use was.

The iPhone was lauded for its ability to combine an iPod, a phone, and an Internet communicator in one device. Again, it was understood what its use was.

The watch is not as useful as either of those.
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+1.

Every product Apple has announced, it was clear what the purpose was and most importantly, they were products that could stand alone. If you didn't have any Apple device or never owned one, it didn't matter - an iPod, iPhone, iPad could all be used to their full potential. You can't say that about the Apple Watch which is in it's current form just an extension of your iPhone (other Apple device). Sure, you could just buy the watch and not have an iPhone but you're wasting away most of the functions you would buy this watch for and I'm not sure people would be willing to buy a $500+ digital watch just to tell time...
 
I was hoping nilay pital from the verge wasn't going to review the apple watch
Watching the vergecast many times he hates smart watches in general
 
cmChimera said:
Definition of cherry picking.
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Might want to look up the definition of cherry picking. Though occasionally applied the other way, it is generally about picking out only the most positive points (cream or "cherry on top") while ignoring the negatives.

That review might be called "nit picking" by the "half full" crowd and/or "roasted" or similar by the "half empty."

...unless you detest cherries. ;)
 
iLog.Genius said:
Sure, you could just buy the watch and not have an iPhone but you're wasting away most of the functions you would buy this watch for and I'm not sure people would be willing to buy a $500+ digital watch just to tell time...
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I don't think it's even possible to activate the Watch without first pairing it with an iPhone, so you couldn't even use it to just tell the time.
 
boshii said:
The only knock against either of those was price.

The iPod was lauded for its storage size and polished look. It was understood what its use was.

The iPhone was lauded for its ability to combine an iPod, a phone, and an Internet communicator in one device. Again, it was understood what its use was.

The watch is not as useful as either of those.
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Apple keynotes where they announce products often go into great details about what the product will do better than what you're doing already. it's always quite entertaining to watch, and gives a lot of great ideas for the future of tech.

sometimes you are left wondering at first "but how does that apply to me"... but there's always something that it does better.

The Apple watch keynote looked more like they were trying to sell a toy to kids. "HEY KIDS LOOK AT ALL THIS FUN STUFF OUR WATCH DOES"... but didnt actually show how it did anything new or uniquely different or better.

This isn't necessary exclusive to the Apple watch either. Its a smartwatch problem. They're all trying to find a new solution to no problem. Which isn't working.

What they need to do is come at it from the fashion side of things. Apple has tried to do that to an extent, but so far rumblings are that fashion / watch users aren't buying cause it still looks like a piece of gadgetry, and not functional jewelry.

The company I think that will truly nail it are those who are coming from the existing watch side of things, and then adding smart features. Not from the tech industry trying to make fashion.

of course, what do I know, i'm just a geeky fanboy :p
 
GizmoDVD said:
I wonder how many people here complaining about Apple's watch even own a smart watch. I do, and the Apple Watch looks amazing. After being stuck with a Pebble for close to 2 years and a Metawatch before, I know how important a smart watch actually is. Now I can get the best one on the market.

All the naysayers probaby either don't use a watch or refuse to believe their $4000 Omega is now 'worthless'.
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how on earth does the Apple watch makes a 4k mechanical watch useless? Think about it. Check the price of that said omega in 5 years and the 1st gen Apple watch in 5 years.
 
goinskiing said:
I was thinking of getting the Stainless Steel w/Milanese Loop, but I think I'm starting to lean more toward the sport watch now.
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Same here. Despite what I said earlier, I'm still not totally sure I won't be buying one. I'm a tech fan and an Apple fan, so something like this is hard to resist. But I don't think going all-in for one of the fancier versions would be wise -- especially when you consider that it's likely to undergo some major changes by the next revision.
 
I'm probably wrong (admittedly), but I think it may be a bit early to assume that Apple is going to update the watch every year like iPad and iPhone. I'm wondering if they've created something that is going to be revised every 3-5 years or so. I'm totally serious. I'm not convinced it'll be revamped every year at all.

(If you've seen something that indicates it will be, link me!)
 
LordVic said:
Apple keynotes where they announce products often go into great details about what the product will do better than what you're doing already. it's always quite entertaining to watch, and gives a lot of great ideas for the future of tech.

sometimes you are left wondering at first "but how does that apply to me"... but there's always something that it does better.

The Apple watch keynote looked more like they were trying to sell a toy to kids. "HEY KIDS LOOK AT ALL THIS FUN STUFF OUR WATCH DOES"... but didnt actually show how it did anything new or uniquely different or better.

This isn't necessary exclusive to the Apple watch either. Its a smartwatch problem. They're all trying to find a new solution to no problem. Which isn't working.

What they need to do is come at it from the fashion side of things. Apple has tried to do that to an extent, but so far rumblings are that fashion / watch users aren't buying cause it still looks like a piece of gadgetry, and not functional jewelry.

The company I think that will truly nail it are those who are coming from the existing watch side of things, and then adding smart features. Not from the tech industry trying to make fashion.

of course, what do I know, i'm just a geeky fanboy :p
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I thought that the watch Keynote was quite underwhelming. The new MB presentation was much better, IMO. Apple has gone all out with marketing the watch. They can't be jumping for joy if this is what their favorite reviers are saying. It sure doesn't sound like the next big thing at all.
 
MH01 said:
Very well said. For me it seems that the reviewers are struggling with the same issues as per other wearables, Apple did not solve the wearable riddle, they just made a better product.
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Not too surprising since the Wired article seemed to suggest they started working on it and figured out later what it should do. It's still a big deal, though. Because it's Apple and because they are making a big deal about it, enough people will buy one, and more companies will enter the market.
 
I'm reading a lot of people who write that they have no use for a device that will do what the iPhone already does. They could just pull their phone out and handle the notice.

One thing that I use today tells me this is not really the case. iPad integration with my iPhone. I love the ability to address a notification on my iPad when its in my hands versus having to put the pad down and pick up my phone. To me the watch will be just like this. If I'm not already holding my phone, the watch will be an easy interface to check and respond to "things" that come along throughout the day.
 
MH01 said:
I've just read it, I don't agree, though I only read the verge and his, and he has been very positive. Maybe verge going into the detials of the pros and cons made it better while Gruber glanced over details....
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Gruber says he has a more detailed review of the UI, etc. coming. I think it's interesting for its insight. He says more than once that Apple's hardest sell will be to existing watch wearers, and he refers to Jony Ive's comments to the Financial Times' Nick Foulkes as part of the reason why. As a watch, the Apple Watch, as are just about every other "smart watch" out there, simply "OK." The Apple Watch also has the issue that it does not always leave a display on. That might change as they improve battery life with new generations, but even with an always on time display it won't be "better" than an existing watch for telling time.

I think it goes to the design philosophy of the Watch, and why it doesn't have a round face. Jony Ive used a lot of watch terminology (deliberately using the term "complications" in a tech device is quite daring) and maintains some horological traditions, but knows that it won't ever be the same as a mechanical watch. It pays homage to the mechanical watch but doesn't try to look like a replica of one. It will be interesting to see whether this evolves as there is greater competition, not just from Google or Samsung, but also from the likes of Swatch and its stable of luxury brands. Most famously, Apple was against big phones until they were for them. Will they be against round watches until they are for them? Possibly. But I think that we'll see largely the same physical design until at least the third generation, and even then we'll see only tweaks.

I do think we'll see software improvements as we go along. Until now, it's been in a tightly controlled bubble. The iPhone's UI has evolved, albeit slowly, but with Watch they are being more experimental, and so . Heck, the Bloomberg review made mention that people have been asking for "widgets" on the iPhone for years.
 
jamesryanbell said:
I'm probably wrong (admittedly), but I think it may be a bit early to assume that Apple is going to update the watch every year like iPad and iPhone. I'm wondering if they've created something that is going to be revised every 3-5 years or so. I'm totally serious. I'm not convinced it'll be revamped every year at all.

(If you've seen something that indicates it will be, link me!)
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I agree. I'm willing to wait though as the asking price for this gen is too much for what it is. My other watches will still be stylish in the meantime.
 
Love how people read the reviews so negatively. There are tons of products all across the board where I simply have a different opinion than others. That includes Tech like iPhone, music, video games etc....

I am sure I will enjoy the watch and the more people that will now decide they wont buy one because of someone elses opinion... Great... more chances for me on Friday to get mine :p

I will 100% get an Apple Watch.
 
boshii said:
The only knock against either of those was price.

The iPod was lauded for its storage size and polished look. It was understood what its use was.
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Man, people are looking back at history with rose-colored glasses. Are you kidding me? The iPod was roundly condemned and dismissed in its initial revision (especially in the tech press -the MR forumites at the time hated it!) and took years and several revisions to sell well. This whole "vision must be perfect at 1.0" attitude is nonsense for pretty much any product.
 
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