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

[Quu]

It's not Windows UAC where it is either on or off, you can change it so certain people defined as VIP will notify you but all the other junk won't.

Yeah but the point of the watch to me was to use it for notifications. I never considered getting notifications on the wrist would be annoying.

I now actually don't want that. Which means why am I buying it? It can't track my yoga, the apps are useless and the battery life is poor compared to a conventional watch which is what I'd be effectively using it for since I'd have no use for the other features.

Honestly I thought Notifications would be the reason I'd want one but after Nilays review I saw his point about how they are annoying and I now don't want notifications on my wrist.

 

[bushido]

This is exactly what I planned on doing, sleeping with the watch on and charging when I wake up. It's not clear if this review was for the 38mm or 42mm. If it's the 38, then I'll have no problem doing it this way even with heavy use.

How long do you take to get ready in the morning???

 

[mattopotamus]

Smartwatch is a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

Yet pebble showed you can collect 10 million in 24 hours....

 

[Daalseth]

Ok

Sounds like the battery is not as bad I feared. Sounds like, after all the talk about fashion for the last few months, that there is some function to back it up. Still not interested though. Many here have said wait for Gen2. With the iPhone I waited for Gen6 to be impressed. I'm happy not wearing a watch and it will take a quantum level of function beyond what's currently available for me to go back.

 

[MacrumoursUser]

Yet pebble showed you can collect 10 million in 24 hours....

So what.

 

[MartyF81]

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.

Good for you. I think it is weird you cannot fathom this concept.

Not all of us have that luxury to just ignore unless it is a call. I use my phone for work, and co-workers are constantly messaging me for help, or to say "can you jump on this conf call?"

If I am in a meeting, I can just stop the meeting to answer a phone call to see if it is important. But I CAN look at a message and decide from that. Even better that I can do it by glancing at my wrist, and not having to pull out my phone.

 

[My Name is URL]

I was on the fence about whether to get a sport or a SS and seeing these reviews has convinced me to go for the sport. Get the cheapest gen 1 and maybe go more expensive next generation.

 

[CoMoMacUser]

So pulling a phone out of one's pocket or purse is such a chore that millions of people are willing to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to be relieved of that burden. Well, it's their choice. I'll put mine toward retirement, paying off my mortgage early and emergency savings.

 

[cromestant]

Does anyone know if you'll be able to have your apple watch connected to your phone and still maintain your phone connected to your car over bluetooth?
I take BT calls in my car all the time, and listen to podcasts etc.. so it is pretty much something I need in my 2hr commute...

 

[Am3r1ca16]

Excellent.

All you people who are hopping off the fence just increases my chances of pre-ordering my one on Friday.

Sure you can be the Guinea pig and test the 1st version out. By all means go ahead.

 

[bbeagle]

That notification thing was painful to watch in their video. Almost makes me glad I can just leave my phone in my pocket on silent and not be instantly taken out of the moment when new ones come in allowing me to just check all of them at my leisure in one go later on.

It was painful because he MADE it painful.

Just because your phone vibrates or your wrist vibrates is NOT reason to pull out your phone or look at your wrist.

I'd love to see how Niley reacts to his phone vibrating - does he pull his phone out every time?

The wrist vibration will be easier to detect - but you can still wait until you have a chance to check the notification. You aren't a slave to the device!

Niley acts as though it's so much of a burden to change what notifications he sees. You know, the watch is supposed to make this EASIER - and it will only work if you make it work. Notifications can have different taps. Have your phone calls and texts have one type of tap, and other things like a tweet have a different type of tap. Then you'll know without even looking down what type of thing it is.

Niley is trying very hard to not like it - instead of figuring out ways TO like it - but that's been his motive since Day One - to hate the watch.

 

[cmichaelb]

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

I don;t know what it is, but Apple products almost always appear thicker/chunkier in press shots.

Then when you see them on video or in person, they look so much sleeker.

 

[nfl46]

The reviews are what I expected...its a first gen product. You have to start somewhere. It'll only get better as years go on. Look at the first iPhone to the iPhone 6 Plus...HUGE difference and so much better now.

 

[tkukoc]

This is why I don't watch the Verge reviews on any products. They don't have a clue what they are talking about. Here's the thing, when you do a review you become bias toward or against a product nearly instantaneously. This shows in everyone of their reviews. It's like they hate technology so much that they just put down every little nook and cranny issue. This review gives out what as far as information? All I heard was sure wait for the next one next year. Who said one was coming next year? An assumption on a review on a product that is now just about to be released? Seriously? Give facts why you don't like something, don't sit there on a bar stool and go off about nonsense on how notifications ruin your life, same thing has been said about smart phones since they came out. NOTHING DIFFERENT HERE! Getting upset that it takes a while to pull data from your phone is also a waste of time, that's an application coding problem that will be fixed. More apps will be streamlined as the device is adopted. You think every app released is perfect in version 1?

I am one of the biggest non fans of the apple watch when it was originally announced last year and yet I'm defending it for the sure sake of saying the product is Apple, they'll support it. And I seriously don't think anyone saying oh just wait till next year has a clue on what Apple is doing with this device. I see it the same way as the Apple TV. They dove into a new venture because there was need and they have cash to dabble. If it pans out in the long haul like the Apple TV being adopted by so many then they'll make some tweaks and make Gen 2/3 etc.. If it doesn't work out then they'll refine it and release a newly branded item in a few years.

If you ask me the Apple watch will have a 2 maybe 3 year life cycle as they perfect it and see how the customer base reacts to it. You have to remember that this device took a lot longer then most of their products did to developed because it is a very nitch market. Either you love a smart watch, hate them or haven't bothered because they are too complicated. Apple will support the product and I would look for updated firmwares for the device itself to smooth some issues out. Updated applications as people find bugs and a more streamlined approach to data movement between phone and watch. In conclusion, don't read reviews by website so and so.. or some fashion nonsense person acting like they know everything about what someone will wear or won't. Everything in life is subjective to an individual.. you make a choice.. you live with it. You want the watch.. get it.. you want to wait.. do it.. But if your going to sit there and watch an early review video that is filled with bias nonsense with no actual review-able dictation then you've already lost your individualism.. Don't be fooled! Do your own research, don't let someone else drive your mind into their web of crankiness. And now back to your regularly scheduled posts..

 

[AppleZilla]

This guy in the Verge video sounds like he's new to using technology and easily confused.

 

[bbeagle]

Honestly I thought Notifications would be the reason I'd want one but after Nilays review I saw his point about how they are annoying and I now don't want notifications on my wrist.

Niley TRIED to make it annoying!

Do you pull out your phone every time you get a vibration on your phone? Of course not! Why is Niley looking at his wrist every time? Plus, you can do a more subtle glance - not pulling your wrist up to your face.

And Niley can set up different types of taps for each application, or none at all - and just check his phone later and leave only the important ones for the watch. If you set it up correctly, the annoyances will be reduced and the missed important texts/phone calls will be reduced.

 

[macgabe]

Everybody's saying it doesn't do anything more than your iPhone. But what about the heart rate monitor? Surely the only way to get that is to buy a wearable? And if you're deep in the Apple ecosystem (like me) it makes more sense to get one of these than one of those Fitbits etc.

Until I was 45 I would have thought of a heart rate monitor as a fun gadget but not that important. Now I take my heart beat very seriously ! and throwing €450 (the cost of 3 doctors appointments where I live) at something that might just help diagnose or solve a life-threatening condition is a pretty easy decision.

So I'm going to wait to see how accurate the monitor is - if it's good I'll probably buy a sport edition.

 

[teknikal90]

This guy in the Verge video sounds like he's new to using technology and easily confused.

To each their own.

Nilay is one of the best reviewers around. He brings tech features down from the spec sheets to their basic every day applications.

That's what makes a good tech reviewer, not someone who can recite a spec sheet backwards. Brownlee is another good one.

 

[mattopotamus]

Niley TRIED to make it annoying!

Do you pull out your phone every time you get a vibration on your phone? Of course not! Why is Niley looking at his wrist every time? Plus, you can do a more subtle glance - not pulling your wrist up to your face.

And Niley can set up different types of taps for each application, or none at all - and just check his phone later and leave only the important ones for the watch. If you set it up correctly, the annoyances will be reduced and the missed important texts/phone calls will be reduced.

exactly. The only notifications I push to my watch are text , phone calls,and important emails.

 

[bawbac]

So it basically copied the Pebble.
Another Apple innovation!

 

[mattopotamus]

So what.

obviously there is a market for it. Your response was as if there is no room in the market for a smart watch. There are so many products that exist for no reason at all.

 

[citysnaps]

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

Intentionally "crippled?" Please share the inside information in your possession to make that assertion.

 

[Robstevo]

Smartwatch is a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

I think people comparing it to an upad/tablet are silly.

.
The iPad is that 3rd device Steve was talking about because you don't need huge computers or laptops to do 90% of the stuff you do on a computer. So having a portable device that has a big enough screen to enjoy content, but portable enough and is long lasting in terms of battery, is better all around as that 3rd device along with the phone and computer.

The ipad is better at some things compared to the computer, likewise with the iPhone.

What is the watch better at? By the time you fiddle around with this little screen , it will probably save time just putting your hand in the pocket and lifting out your phone to see the content more clearly.

Like wise having to charge tablets, phones and laptops as well as a watch....well let's just say it will be a massive pain in the arse.

 

[Nausicaa]

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.

I agree with this. The Watch looks like a fine product in its category, but it's not a category I have interest in. I think that will be true for many people. I'm not much of a power use with my phone (hell, I'm still using a 4S), and really the last thing I want is immediate notification of everything happening on it. I'll check my phone when I feel like it, which is already too often, probably.

And really beyond this notification functionality, there is no point to the device IMO. People will tout the fitness stuff, but I'm pretty interested in fitness, more than 95% of people I'd guess, and those features are pretty useless honestly. Worse that the only potentially useful aspect, the heart rate monitor - sounds pretty inaccurate.

 

[Sandstorm]

The obvious lag and slow performance in The Verge video review is troubling. Even if we know native apps are coming - you just KNOW that in a very short time things will become much much worse (like with every not-the-latest iPhone).

I will still buy gen 1, sport edition. Because I'm mostly interested just to play around with new tech, new product category. And I will definitely install and use the absolute minimum of extra apps and disable 99% of notifications.