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

[randymac09]

How is it laughable to compare the battery life of the Apple Watch to a conventional watch?

The fact is if you forget to charge the Apple Watch even once you will not be using it the following day. This is a huge drawback for the biggest feature of the watch: Telling you the time.

Remember when Steve showed off the iPhone and he said the killer feature was making calls? Well the killer feature of a watch is being dependable in always telling you the accurate time when you look at it. If the battery is dead because you forgot to charge it before you went to bed the night before it has failed in its most important faculty.

I was going to point out the 72-hour reserve, but I see someone else did and you responded appropriately.

I want to the Watch mainly for telling time. So I think I will have no issue getting more than a day, especially with the reserve. The notification feature is great, as I love it on my Pebble and the Watch has way more functionality.

Maybe "laughable" wasn't the right approach, and I'm trying to find a good analogy here, but it's like comparing a bicycle to a motorcycle. They're both 2 wheeled transportation, but one needs gas every so many miles, while the other might need a repair or two once a year. But you wouldn't talk about a Fixie when reviewing a Ducati, now would you? That's more along the lines what I was getting at. It just doesn't make sense to compare them. Their differences of purpose, and thus their differences in longevity, are so obvious that their is no need for comparison.

 

[Nausicaa]

So, you're on a first date with someone, and your phone vibrates 20 times during the date - do you immediately check your phone each time?

If so, that's very sad.

Have a conversation uninterrupted, excuse yourself to the restroom 10 minutes later, and check there. Any notification can wait 10 minutes, and is far less important than a face-to-face conversation.

OK I agree, but then why have the Watch at all? The criticism is a response to people excited about receiving notifications instantly and seeing if they are important or not. Your response is to not look at the Watch - it can wait? Well, yeah, that's exactly our point. Likewise, just look at your phone when you have a chance.

But it's true that when people are getting tapped on their wrists and the device is right in front of them all the time, it's much harder to avoid looking at it than pulling your phone out of your pocket/bag.

 

[Rogifan]

Some of us have different needs. Is it not cumbersome to take your phone out of your pocket while careening down a highway at 80mph? Is it not cumbersome to take your phone out of your pocket if both your hands are full, busy or dirty? Is tilting your wrist slightly not less cumbersome than pulling your phone out of your pocket 100 times per day?

I can definitely see that smartwatches are not for everyone, but I wish the naysayers saying "no one needs it" would realize some people have different needs.

I think the need aspect is hard to convey in a review because as you say not everyone's needs are the same. I couldn't live without Touch ID and yet I know people that are still using an iPhone 5 who think Touch ID is cool but not a reason to upgrade their phone.

 

[AdonisSMU]

So it basically copied the Pebble.
Another Apple innovation!

Pebble didn't even exist as a concept before the rumor mills were rife with the possibility of an Apple Watch a number of years ago. Ok... The pebble watch doesn't do nearly as much as the Apple Watch and the graphics suck.

 

[CoMoMacUser]

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.

It won't be long before your students know that you're using it for more than just checking the time, especially with all of the mainstream awareness that Watch will create for smart watches. In fact, my wife says some of her tween-age students already wear smart watches to school.

 

[samcraig]

Thank The Verge for a totally deflate. Guess he won't be getting anything early from Apple again. Complaining about adjusting the settings?? That's a one time adjustment! Give your close people the VP and the rest can be turned off, just like the phone itself. Yes all the emojis are fluff but who cares. It makes it fun.

So what you're saying is that a reviewer isn't entitled to his opinion? Or that his opinion is less valid than yours?

Likely they just won't use these features. Joanna Stern said it was too difficult to find the do not disturb feature, and more worryingly said the sport strap made her wish she had a third hand (she loves the Milanese Loop) but mostly I sense that the tech writers tried to use all the features. People will need to tweak the notification settings, too. I did not get the sense that the UI was iTunes-like confusing. Rather that it wasn't typical Apple simple (and limited).

Agreed. I am sure many people don't tweak iPhone settings (I know plenty of people who have rarely/never touched settings). But how will not doing these things translates into the enjoyment of the watch. I guess we'll see.

 

[Abazigal]

It won't be long before your students know that you're using it for more than just checking the time, especially with all of the mainstream awareness that Watch will create for smart watches. In fact, my wife says some of her tween-age students already wear smart watches to school.

Perhaps. But until that day comes....

 

[Prof.]

I think this is the first apple product that has made me think, "Meh." Apple TV, too, I guess...

 

[bbeagle]

Meh, the Gear S got it right on the first time, certainly much more than the apple watch. At least in functionality, the Gear S is admittedly pretty ugly, but then the Apple watch isn't any beauty queen either.

That's odd - got it right 'the first time'?

The Gear S is the THIRD Samsung smart watch. Gear, Gear 2 then Gear S. The fair comparison would be equating the Apple Watch 3 with the Gear S.

This doesn't look prettier than the Apple Watch. Looks like a monstrosity. Samsung still has a lot of work to do.

 

[BlueMoon63]

Kind of unusual for the New York Times to say something nice about Apple.

Overall, a favorable and realistic review IMHO.

Reinforced my decision to buy one, for sure.

Agreed. I was on the fence until I saw the watch on someone's arm and how it looked every bit the part of classy watch and craftsmanship. The battery life was the key issue for me and the reviews blew me away on how well the battery life is...

The biggest issue with some people are code updates, not gen updates. Considering all of the additional sensor features already in the product just needing to be turned on (do a search) was another plus as most people said the sensors features were left out of the watch - not the real reason of not turned on yet.

 

[Imory]

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.

Did you watch the review? He specifically mentioned that there will be future updates.

To each his own, but there was nothing in that review I ever considered being "too negative". He was simply being honest.

 

[Rogifan]

Likely they just won't use these features. Joanna Stern said it was too difficult to find the do not disturb feature, and more worryingly said the sport strap made her wish she had a third hand (she loves the Milanese Loop) but mostly I sense that the tech writers tried to use all the features. People will need to tweak the notification settings, too. I did not get the sense that the UI was iTunes-like confusing. Rather that it wasn't typical Apple simple (and limited).

I wonder how much of this is initial set up and/or trying out every feature. When people have their watch set up just how they want it and get into a daily routine will it be confusing?

 

[atad6]

Looks like I'm keeping my Pebble and getting the Pebble Time Steel when it comes out. As an extension of my phone I need it to only do a few things, and do them well.

Act like a watch - The screen is always on, easily viewable in the sun, customizable watch faces and has good battery life (7 days),

Get notifications - My pebble gets notifications instantly

Other phone extensions - music controller, answer/deny calls

I just don't really get what I need the rest of the Apple Watch functionality for when I have my phone, especially considering its downsides shown in the reviews.

 

[Nausicaa]

Only since this watch came to life. I dare anyone to find any pre-watch comments about the difficulty of pulling iPhones out of our pockets and these "fumbling around"-type comments. The iPhone used to be spun as perfection- the one do-everything device that anyone and everyone needs. If someone wrote about the difficulty in pulling it out of a pocket and this "fumbling around"-type language, the ADF would have torn into them with fury. But now... now we have to rationalize this watch, so where it overlaps with what can be done on the iPhone, the latter must be spun as less convenient, difficult, cumbersome, etc. to prop up the "why?" regarding this watch.

It's like this: Apple wants to sell a watch. Part of rationalizing the watch means poking some brand new negatives at even other Apple products. Now it's cumbersome to pull out an iPhone (that we probably have out 50 times a day anyway). Or we're suddenly worried about iPhone security such that the watch can keep the phone securely in our pocket (but watch security is apparently not an issue).

And the spin machine hatches these generally rare or oddball scenarios where it really would be easier to peek at a screen on our wrist than get out the iPhone ("I'm hanging from a rope but I need to read a new text", "I'm shoveling snow and the iPhone is inside 12 layers of clothes but I need to get a text right away", etc).

Even these select, chosen reviewers are having some obvious challenges gushing about the product. These are chosen reviewers, not randomly selected. They can't bash it too much for fear of getting put on Apple's other list (the unchosen or permanently excluded). Personally, I'm shocked at these reviews in how much they said that might objectively be viewed as negative for the product and the category.

More interestingly though is how our group here is reading and seeing the exact same reviews and interpreting "half full" and "half empty" toward the extremes. Reminds me of the old business sales lesson...

2 shoe salespeople are dispatched to a previously-untapped market in deepest Africa in search of shoe buyers. After assessing the very same market, each reports back:

• "No opportunity here. Nobody wear's shoes"
• "Amazing opportunity here. Nobody has any shoes."

EXCELLENT post.

 

[dugbug]

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.

thats why the watch taps rather than vibrates, its also why you configure what notifications get to the watch

 

[BlueMoon63]

Have you listened to the vergecast. He quite literally called it garbage when it was announced. Basically he didn't miss one chance to call the watch pointless or bad.

Doesn't he use a Pebble?

 

[Mainsail]

To give this whole wearable thing a try, I bought a Pebble for $99 from BB. Basically the Pebble requires that you have your smartphone with you to perform most of its functionality. Otherwise, the only things it does on its own is tell time and track steps.

That's fine with me. My main motivation was to have a convenient way to glance at notifications without taking my phone out of my pocket. In addition to personal email, we have a family email account, and we get a huge amount of mail on this account. 90% of it is not worth looking at.....but, my wife doesn't want to unsubscribe from Pottery Barn etc......so, my pocket is always vibrating (no jokes please). Anyway, amongst all of these messages is an important note about changes to a basketball practice or pickup time at school.....so, it is convenient to glance at notifications during the day.

Bottom-line: For me, this convenience is just barely worth the $99 that I paid for the Pebble. I don't regret the purchase, but there is no way I would pay $400 for the convenience. I know the Apple Watch does more stuff, but I have to carry my phone around anyway, so when I need to respond to a notification, I just use the phone. I also get 5 days of battery life with the Pebble.

Look, there will be other folks that see this thing differently and will really appreciate the additional features that the Apple Watch provides. That's great. Choice is good.

 

[MrLoL]

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.

I'm sorry but smartwatches does indeed solve life problems.

It helps to not miss a single message or a call, even if you're away from your iPhone. There was many moments in my life when my Pebble vibrated to tell me I got a call/message and it got me thinking "What if my pebble wasn't here?"

 

[MH01]

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

That applies to any product produced Though back to the reviews of the Apple watch, these are not as positive as I expected. And these are the hand picked review sites.

 

[576316]

For all of its technological marvel, the Apple Watch is still a smartwatch, and it's not clear that anyone's yet figured out what smartwatches are actually for." - The Verge

Probably one of the most striking parts of all the reviews and one that seems to fully sum up my thoughts on the 'smartwatch' in general and as a product category.

 

[thekeyring]

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 was talking today to someone who was considering an iPhone but didn't want to become "one of those people always checking their phones". I tried to gently remind them that it doesn't have to happen. If you think you're checking your phone too much, check it less.

I find it frustrating when Im talking to someone face to face and they pause the convo to reply to a text. Unless it's exceptional circumstances, don't I - by being present - outrank the absent person in terms of importance?

 

[MartyF81]

battery life is garbage.

Compared to? a non-smart watch thats only job is to move the little hand around?

I dont understand peoples expectations here.

 

[crispApple]

Before these reviews, I really badly wanted one. Now I just want one.

 

[samcraig]

I wonder how much of this is initial set up and/or trying out every feature. When people have their watch set up just how they want it and get into a daily routine will it be confusing?

Found it slightly amusing that reviewer(s) have written off the heartbeat and drawing "features."

As a side note - I wonder how many watch faces will be available at launch - and how soon more will be made available. I still say that although it might seem minor - people will want to customize their watch face as much as they can.

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

The reviews are brutal! http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-watch-reviews-are-bad-2015-4