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

[mightyjabba]

I was on the fence, but now I think I'm going to be skipping this generation, or at least waiting a while longer. The more I see of the interface the less I seem to like it, to be honest. And the whole thing about needing to wait for data to download from your phone to your watch was a big turnoff for me. I certainly think it can be useful in certain situations and for certain people, but I'm not sure I would get enough value out of it. The thing is, it's a comparable investment to a new phone or iPad, but doesn't seem remotely as useful. In the end, aside from the dubious fitness tracking functions, there's nothing it can do that my phone can't.

 

[Rogifan]

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.

I haven't actually read the Verge review (I'm trying to ignore the site since they banned me a few days ago) but I did see on Twitter that there are 'credits' for this review and apparently 31 people were involved with it. Ok that's enough to turn me off of their review right there. Damn I wish they could get Joshua Topolsky back...

 

[wigby]

These are not the reviews Apple was looking for.

All the reviews unanimously agree it's the best smart watch available. I don't think they need much more than that until the competition catches up. But by then rev 2 will be on the horizon so all the rev 1 holdouts will finally get onboard.

 

[AppleZilla]

Now deeper into the video, it sounds like the Verge guy has never even heard of the Apple Watch before he reviewed it.

 

[D.T.]

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!

That review didn't change my mind about the value of notifications, it did reinforce what I already knew about the same on an iPhone, that is, you simply need to dial in the level of notification traffic you want. Stuff I consider playtime like FB, Twitter, don't need those, but a VIP list for Msg, Email? Yes! Flight changes? Yes! Sexy photo updates from the wife ... YES PLEASE

 

[bbeagle]

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

From this one review, I can tell he is NOT one of the best reviewers. He tried to make notifications look VERY difficult, had problems with slowness, acting like there won't be software updates in the future. Nothing about the digital crown. There were good parts, like discussing the fashion aspect. But overall, it looks like it comes from the point of view of someone with a bone to pick against Apple.

There are many reviews which are overly positive too, those are bad as well. But this one is just too negative and trying to hard to be negative.

 

[GamerBoredom]

Sigh-Reviews

Reviews are great...but... everyone is different! I think with a version 1.0 of anything, the review relies solely on the individual. It's kind of like a movie: Transformers 1- had to see it to believe it, sequels come around...the reviews build off of the original for improvements or flaws.

This will be my second smartwatch after the Pebble. Pebble did great, mixed reviews, but did what it said it did. watch will be the same, will do what it says it'll do, and build from there.

Apple pre-orders/releases/keynotes are like Christmas for me! Any tech company announcing product is like Christmas (or Halloween...ahhh!)

Here's to a new product line for Apple, and let's hope it's solid!

I'll be getting the Apple Watch with Milanese Loop...because I want to look like I have some chain mail on! Winter is coming after all

 

[bawbac]

You aren't a slave to the device!

LOL !

Yet people who want the Apple Watch believe they need to be connected to their iPhone 24/7.

 

[Robstevo]

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.

A vibration on the skin is obviously going to be more intrusive than a simple small vibration in your pants pocket. I can clearly see why people would have a problem with this at some point.

You just have sour feelings because he isn't gushing all over it, instead he has given people a balanced review on the positives and negatives.

Deal with it.

 

[MacrumoursUser]

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.

Apple can get away with a lot and they will sell a lot I'm sure, but that does not mean this device solves any kind of problem. It doesn't. Its more micromanagement in your life just different, more cables and more devices to charge everyday.

 

[randymac09]

Compared to the Pebble that battery life is pretty bad. Compared to normal watches that battery life is terrible.

I mean we're not going to sit here and say 18 hour battery life is an upgrade over 6 months on a normal watch or 7 days on a pebble are we? Lets be real here, charging is an inconvenience and if you forget to charge your Apple watch even once before you go to bed you will be wearing a dead paperweight the next day at work.

I understand the comparison you are making, but when are people going to stop making this comparison? The Apple Watch shouldn't be in the same category as the Pebble. I have a Pebble and I love it. But they're 2 completely different "smart watches". I shouldn't have to breakdown their differences but I feel like I almost have to because it seems they aren't publicly known.

Again, I think the Pebble is a great smart watch, but its battery lasts as long as it does mainly because of its screen and its interactive abilities. This fact should be obvious. As for a regular watch, I feel it's laughable to bring that into a discussion about "smart watches".

If I ever forget to charge my Apple Watch, when I get one, I will wake up, say oops, and throw on one of my 10 other watches (or put it on the charger. Very rarely do I wake up in a shirt and tie ready to walk out the door immediately). I feel this will be an option for most people who buy the Apple Watch because I feel the Watch will sell more to people who have watches and appreciate watches, than those who enjoy technology and don't own another watch.

Like I said, I understand the comparison because they're both "smart watches", but they're 2 vastly different products in the same class. They both serve a purpose. They're both great products. But they're different.

 

[MH01]

Interesting heading by MR, seems diplomatic, time to have a read of these, should be a good afternoon filler.

 

[Nausicaa]

I know everyone likes to say, "But people said the iPad would flop -- look what happened!" Well that argument doesn't really work since the iPad is a standalone product, and this is a $349+ accessory. It doesn't have the same mainstream appeal. A tablet has more uses, and it's great for the average person. This is more for the techies, the kind of people who read these forums.

God, am I SO sick of reading those comments. Yeah, some people said the iPad would flop. They were dumb not to see the obvious potential and appeal of a large format touch screen. Moreover, when people use that line in response to my criticism of the Watch, I just laugh because I don't care what "people said". I knew the iPad would be awesome, and that it would be a success. I bought the Gen 1 3G model. I was RIGHT, so why would that make me think I'm wrong about the Watch???

 

[KPOM]

Nope not based on reviews. Based on priorities. But hey I might get swayed when I see one in an Apple store.

Ben Bajarin has been very positive about the Watch on Twitter this morning. He is typically pro-Apple of course. But that's what Apple needs to be out there in terms of PR. Seems like right now The Verge review is getting all the attention.

But the Verge review isn't all that bad.

Anyway, not to get too much into "what would Steve have done?" but I think he'd have culled the initial feature set. Most of the reviews find there is a learning curve. I think that's because they included a lot in the first release. The original iPhone didn't have apps or even MMS support. Those came later with software. Jony Ive is great at physical design but I think Apple can use some more leadership on the software front. Not Scott Forstall but someone in that role.

 

[mightyjabba]

All the reviews unanimously agree it's the best smart watch available.

People keep saying that, but given how horrible smartwatches have been up until now, it would have been a colossal screwup and embarrassment for Apple not to make the best one.

 

[sterl320]

Someone on here said something very smart earlier this week.

Choosing whether or not that the Apple Watch will be a definitive part of our everyday lives won't come from a few days of usage, especially when you got the watch before everyone else, coupled with the pressure to get a review out at the same time as every other site or blog. That fact has always been a bane to every piece of living technology, that is designed to grow, better, & evolve over time. No, it will ultimately be determined that first day you decide you just don't want to slap it on wrist, with want being the most important factor here.

While these reviews are great reads & nice insights to how other people see the beginnings of this brand new tech, nothing beats trying it out for yourself. Solely taking on the opinion of ONE person simply because they write for a website or a news paper article is by far one of the most damning things of our society, in any field, I have ever witnessed people do. A person can completely change someone's mind about literally anything because its "THE NY TIMES", and they wouldn't even have to know the name of the person that wrote the article.

Im excited for the watch, and am even more excited to try it out for myself because there so many reviews giving me mixed opinions about it. I know some people wanted these reviews to be raving about the watch (so it can create an opinion for them instead of them having to take the time to create one for themselves), but I didn't expect that. I knew there would be a lot of skepticism, especially since it is a 1st gen product. Its exactly the reason why I'm going with the Sport model. But as someone who has always loved tech, at a very general level, & as someone who has always loved apple, at a close to fanatic level admittedly, I simply can't let this generation go by without me having my own experiences with it.

 

[wesk702]

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

Actually, Nilay has been anti Apple Watch since the beginning.

Dont forget, many of these sites had glowing reviews for Pebble, and the AW is much more than that. It's because it's Apple, people expect miracles.

 

[NateEssex]

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.

/agreed.

 

[samcraig]

Interesting comments about the learning curve which is something I've mentioned before.

For the "average" person - I wonder how much of a frustration point it will be or if many will just "deal with it" and either not use the watch to it's full(er) potential by not making the customizations or tinker here and there.

 

[bushido]

Niley TRIED to make it annoying!

Do you pull out your phone every time you get a vibration on your phone? Of course not!

uhm yes?

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

Actually u can use an heart rate app for your iPhone. Just put your finger on the back camera and flash to measure your heart rate. It's pretty accurate

--

It does look SLOW in the verge demo. I'll wait for gen 2

 

[Abazigal]

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.

When I am teaching in class full of pupils, yes, pulling out my phone would be a huge no-no. But with my pebble watch, I can still discretely see what my incoming notifications are about. And funny thing - my pupils see me looking down at my watch and assume that I am impatiently waiting for them to settle down, and they do.

 

[bbeagle]

I was on the fence, but now I think I'm going to be skipping this generation, or at least waiting a while longer. The more I see of the interface the less I seem to like it, to be honest. And the whole thing about needing to wait for data to download from your phone to your watch was a big turnoff for me.

'Glances' need the data to be pulled from the phone in the current implementation.

'Notifications' have the data already loaded - so they're immediate after you get the vibration.

 

[MH01]

I haven't actually read the Verge review (I'm trying to ignore the site since they banned me a few days ago) but I did see on Twitter that there are 'credits' for this review and apparently 31 people were involved with it. Ok that's enough to turn me off of their review right there. Damn I wish they could get Joshua Topolsky back...

Were you being too "pro" apple on the verge? Though I always thought of Verge of being pro apple these days : confused.

I would think that having more people involved in a review, gives you a less bias conclusion.

Going to read the review now.

 

[Rogifan]

An interesting tidbit on the jellyfish watch face:

http://www.wired.com/2015/04/apple-watch-design/

He flips a few pages further into the making-of book, onto the first of several full-page spreads with gorgeous photos of jellyfish. There’s no obvious reason to have a jellyfish watch face. Dye just loves the way they look. “We thought that there was something beautiful about jellyfish, in this sort of space-y, alien, abstract sort of way,” he says. But they didn’t just visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium with an underwater camera. They built a tank in their studio, and shot a variety of species at 300 frames-per-second on incredibly high-end slow-motion Phantom cameras. Then they shrunk the resulting 4096 x 2304 images to fit the Watch’s screen, which is less than a tenth the size.

 

[AppleZilla]

Nilay Patel. Buffoon for pay.