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

[diamond.g]

Yep pretty much. Of course people will forget about all that and assume every first gen Apple product launched to rave reviews.

One thing Ben Bajarin said in his review about battery life has me cautiously optimistic.

I don't understand how he was able to get so much better battery life than Nilay, but then again they are the only two to talk about battery. And in Ben's piece he didn't mention performance problems.

The fall update with the native apps should help tremendously with the performance of the apple watch.

 

[Quu]

The sense I got from these reviews, especially The Verges is that it's not good, skip it and see what v2 is like.

And that's how I feel too after reading their thoughts and seeing the watch on their wrists in close up day to day. I thought the steel one looked nice but after seeing it in the verges video it looked really unfashionable and just not as nice to my eye as Apples press pictures.

 

[KPOM]

I'm a bit surprised there were no non-tech reviews. I'm not surprised at all by the tech review comments. They haven't liked a single watch yet. But I fully expected a Vogue review.

 

[Rogifan]

Some more info on battery life from a Kantar review:

http://us.kantar.com/tech/mobile/2015/apple-watch-sneak-peek/

A long battery life was at the top of the list of important smartwatch attributes for 78% of British consumers. At the Apple Watch launch, there was much talk about how the Cupertino-designed wearable needed to be recharged daily. My experience with what I think is a normal activity - fitness monitoring, notifications, playing around with settings, sending messages, and limited voice calls - has been that one full charge would last just over a day. That said, it's important to point out how quickly the Apple Watch re-charges. It took less than 50 minutes to charge from 20% to 84%. I use it as my alarm clock, as I did with the Pebble, so I wear the Apple Watch at night. I tend to charge it either before I go to bed, while I'm either reading or watching TV/tablet, or first thing in the morning as I get ready. Both options get the job done and do not impact my activity tracking. I believe users will find what works best for them. It was nice to see the charging cable is long enough to place your watch comfortably on a nightstand or desk. With other wearables, I noticed the cable was about the same length as what you might get with a phone

 

[marvz]

I don't get how people don't get what the Apple Watch or any smart watch is for.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Was not expecting to see reviews this early

Still stand by this, even though many people seem to disagree. Esp on mac rumours

I love the watch. I don't care if other people like it or not. I like it and that's what matters.

 

[mattopotamus]

This is the best one I have read: https://techpinions.com/my-first-week-with-the-apple-watch/39543

from someone who actually uses a smart watch.

 

[acctman]

I think it's weird how many people want to be notified that they have notifications and that Apple fully endorses this!

How I use my phone: it's on "do not disturb" permanently for EVERYTHING other than phone calls. If it's important, you give me a call. Otherwise I'll check it whenever I have the time or whenever I want to.

All the fuss about 'people being bossed around by their smartphones' completely vanishes once you use your smartphone the way I do.

Consequently, if I were to own a smart watch, I do not want it to show notifications unless I specifically ask it to do so.

Tl;dr: check notifications whenever YOU want to rather than when your phone or watch tells you.

not to mention the same notification is on a smartphone in your pocket or purse... it's more a fad / the it thing right now.

 

[boshii]

The Verge review is a really solid assessment, especially for a site that is typically partial to apple.

I agree. If The Verge is not giving glowing reviews it really must not be that great.

 

[Tankmaze]

yay! reviews are out. what a perfect timing for the april 10th pre-order... Apple are good with this kind of thing.
will start digging the reviews wether to buy or not.

 

[AdonisSMU]

The sense I got from these reviews, especially The Verges is that it's not good, skip it and see what v2 is like.

And that's how I feel too after reading their thoughts and seeing the watch on their wrists in close up day to day. I thought the steel one looked nice but after seeing it in the verges video it looked really unfashionable and just not as nice to my eye as Apples press pictures.

See I thought the exact opposite. I thought the press pictures weren't great but the ones in the various videos looked amazing.

 

[gorkt]

Weird, but I see those reviews as mostly positive, similar to the first gen iPad reviews. No one needed an iPad either, but they sure sold a lot of them. The NYT review kind of nailed for me, and I think will be very similar to my experience. It will take time to set up at first with a learning curve, but by day 3 or 4 the guy loved it.

The basics work really well. Battery life is better than stated, Siri is pretty accurate. The watch is comfortable to wear. The heart rate appears to be accurate. I also think as more apps come on line, the utility of the watch will get better and better.

What I got out of the reviews is that if you have an iPhone and the $$$$, this is really nice addition to the ecosystem.

 

[wilhelmer]

It's a first generation product so it's not going to be perfect.

They are more like questioning the purpose of the whole device category...not sure if a second generation can change that.

 

[2457282]

The video from the verge is certainly important to watch as it provides a lot of good details. I have stated that I am not sure I will buy one, but I am sure that my wife is getting one with a pink leather modern buckle band. I am looking forward to making an appointment so that I can see one so I can make another appointment to order it so I can make another appointment to pick it up.

 

[james2538]

I personally feel it will become more valuable to me once it can stand on its own as a product. As it is now, it's a glorified way of checking notifications that I can already see on my phone.

I'm especially interested in the future applications in regards to more sensors. If it can say... monitor my health and alert me to problems ahead of time, that would make it a must-have. That would require more than just a heart rate monitor and is most likely beyond our current technology level.

 

[anomie]

Was not expecting to see reviews this early

Still stand by this, even though many people seem to disagree. Esp on mac rumours

Come on and remove that embarrassingly picture.
It's a product from a multi billion company, can't you hear them laugh at you for going on your knees like this?

Apple watch will make it's way, but first generation will be for the nerds only.

 

[c.s.]

I agree. If The Verge is not giving glowing reviews it really must not be that great.

Nilay is a big smartwatch fan and has been wearing a Pebble from day 1. For him to give it a 7 is very worrisome. I was on the fence but decided to wait for version 2.

 

[lowercaseperson]

"This first Apple Watch is cool, but I suspect next year's version, or the one after that - will be the one to own."

Realistically, the iPhone was about the same - and what I think most readers here anticipated. Unfortunately, my Pebble is finally crapping out (screen freezes all the time). I think I'll end up buying a sport version because I need a fitness tracker and I've had my Pebble for over two years and don't want to give up having a smart watch.

One caveat: you really do need to turn down the notification settings. Before I took the time to change my Pebble, it always had notification on the screen and not the time. I'm happy seeing only texts/calls...if you want all your notifications forwarded to the watch...I suspect you'll be very frustrated.

 

[Wiesenlooser]

Nilay is a big smartwatch fan and has been wearing a Pebble from day 1. For him to give it a 7 is very worrisome. I was on the fence but decided to wait for version 2.

Nilay has been trashing the apple watch since the day it was announced. I find it weird that he was reviewing it.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I don't get how people don't get what the Apple Watch or any smart watch is for.

Please enlighten us.

 

[Slappi]

I don't buy intentionally crippled first generation products from Apple. I'll wait for a few years.

 

[Rogifan]

The Verge review is a really solid assessment, especially for a site that is typically partial to apple.

In what ways exactly is the Verge partial to Apple?

 

[unobtainium]

I don't get how people don't get what the Apple Watch or any smart watch is for.

Yeah. It's a fitness device, a fashion accessory, and a notification hub on your wrist that prevents you from having to pull your smartphone out of your pocket. Pretty simple really.

People are looking for it to be something revolutionary, but it's more like an evolution of our digital lives. If you like the fashion aspect and if you're interested in fitness tracking, then it's easily worth $350. If you're buying it for the tech gadget-iness of it, you might be disappointed that it's not revolutionary.

 

[Mac21ND]

I guess I'm waiting on a compelling reason to buy one. I think it's cool tech and hope Apple sells a ton, but I haven't heard a "must have" feature yet.

 

[Narcaz]

I thought about buying a Sport Watch. And i hate all the complaining, but these reviews don't look good. The Verge review killed my last bit of interest. The video of the annoying loading screens for transportation apps is horrible. Glances are way too slow. I could get my phone out the pocket while the watch is still updating data. And the music apps looks like a missed opportunity: no podcasts, song titles get cut off and so on. Maybe the 2nd/3rd generation gets it right.