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Apple Watch Series 3 Reviews: Freedom From iPhone Held Back by LTE and Battery Life Concerns

Blizzardman said:
Stern added that "you're lucky if the battery allows you to roam on cellular for longer than half a day--especially if you're making calls."

Wait a second she is surprised the watch died when she was using LTE for HALF THE DAY? I’m shocked sometimes how these people are able to hold jobs as tech journalists.
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Honestly I am not impressed with many of the high profile reviewers from many of these firms. Many posters on this site (forum members) have more of an educated understanding of the technology, the software, and the hardware limitations of devices they post personal reviews on.
 
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ILuvEggplant said:
I'll say it again if you are a serious athlete you don't use an apple watch.

You may not have one at all but if you do 9 times out ten it's a reliable Garmin.

Just hit the track my friends. Go to a marathon my buddies. Check out a triathlon guys.

No apple watch .
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Lol, "serious athlete". Shame on Apple for not targeting 1% of 1% of the population.
I hear serious professional photographers don't use their iPhone for taking pictures ;). Must be useless for them then.
 
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Screw the Verge..They complained when it didn't have LTE, not they complain when it does have LTE and the issue she brought up will be fixed in a future SW release. And oh BTW the monthly charge is $5 not $10 with Verizon, who is THE largest cell carrier in the industry. The LTE is for someone who wants it for the gym or running, case closed and it did EXACTLY that in her review flawlessly.

Get your facts straight, who cares if you can't take it surfing, quit uptalking and get a real job. Worst review I've ever seen.
 
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I wonder if there would be cellular problems if Apple didn't start fight with Qualcomm and used their modems instead of Intel... Well, I ordered GPS version, hopefully wifi works at least.
 
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Blizzardman said:
Stern added that "you're lucky if the battery allows you to roam on cellular for longer than half a day--especially if you're making calls."

Wait a second she is surprised the watch died when she was using LTE for HALF THE DAY? I’m shocked sometimes how these people are able to hold jobs as tech journalists.
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And who would be making calls on their Apple Watch for half a day? Seems like cellular models are mostly for runners who want to be able to run without their phone. Even then how frequently would you be running where you needed to make calls on your watch so long that it would significantly drain the battery?
 
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ILuvEggplant said:
I'll say it again if you are a serious athlete you don't use an apple watch.

You may not have one at all but if you do 9 times out ten it's a reliable Garmin.

Just hit the track my friends. Go to a marathon my buddies. Check out a triathlon guys.

No apple watch .
Click to expand...


yeah as long as you're ok with poorly written software that can be easily hacked and leak all your personal information then go for it. You get what you pay for
 
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ILuvEggplant said:
I'll say it again if you are a serious athlete you don't use an apple watch.

You may not have one at all but if you do 9 times out ten it's a reliable Garmin.

Just hit the track my friends. Go to a marathon my buddies. Check out a triathlon guys.

No apple watch .
Click to expand...

Not disagreeing with your premise .. but I have had plenty of issues with Garmin devices over the years (Edge and Forerunner series). Garmins are usually great until the next firmware release when they break things that previously worked.

I consider myself somewhat serious and have no problem using the Apple Watch for my runs and swims (Swim.com app). I still use my Garmin Edge 520 for cycling though.

Garmin needs to quickly figure out how to integrate music on their devices (without having to carry your phone) or they are going to begin to fall behind quickly.
 
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I really don't understand the point of this product. I never have. I'm perfectly capable of walking/exercising whatever with my phone on me. I can't believe there are that many wave surfers in the world to warrant having the biggest company in the world create a product for that particular market. It's just another device to have to charge, keep up with, fiddle around with, etc.
 
skids929 said:
yeah as long as you're ok with poorly written software that can be easily hacked and leak all your personal information then go for it. You get what you pay for
Click to expand...
?
Lol nobody needs to hack a Garmin.

This doesn't take away that the Apple watch is a cool gadget btw
 
The Apple Watch was designed initially as a "companion" device to the iPhone, and I think it should largely remain as such. I can't imagine spending even half a day relying on the watch for anything other than my heartbeat and activity information.

Trying to send a text message on the Series 2 is absolutely maddening if Siri doesn't hear every single word accurately. Unlike on the phone, there's no way to go back and correct some of the stupid things Siri transcribes on the watch. I've pulled out my phone in frustration and typed the text out more times than I can count. Having to repeat a text message three different times so Siri *hopefully* will eventually get it correct is not a time saver.

Edit: I'll add that the single most-used aspect of the Apple Watch for me is for notifications from my iPhone. For that, it's stellar.
 
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xalea said:
I really don't understand the point of this product. I never have. I'm perfectly capable of walking/exercising whatever with my phone on me. I can't believe there are that many wave surfers in the world to warrant having the biggest company in the world create a product for that particular market. It's just another device to have to charge, keep up with, fiddle around with, etc.
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I don't have it yet, but here is why I bought it:
1) I like notifications on my wrist. FitBit does it, Garmin does it, I assume Apple Watch does it more robustly.
2) Guys in my office keep their phones in their briefcase on the go and monitor things on the watch - I like that.
3) Friends I travel with talk about using the nav in strange cities, thereby not having to stare at a phone walking down the street
4) workout tracking.

As an aside, that Goode article is absolutely obnoxious. That's probably more a critique of the millennial tech blog writing style anyway, but condemning Apple for not explaining why Apple Music streaming won't be out until October, when they tell you that upfront? It's bizarre, and way too much Vox influence is ruining the Verge.
 
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macduke said:
I think next year will be a good time to buy. They’ll work out these kinks with adding cellular and they might even have a redesign.
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Design isn't going to change, people have too much invested in bands. This why I didn't understand the point of cellular on the watches battery tech is not good enough for it...
 
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Bob190 said:
Not disagreeing with your premise .. but I have had plenty of issues with Garmin devices over the years (Edge and Forerunner series). Garmins are usually great until the next firmware release when they break things that previously worked.

I consider myself somewhat serious and have no problem using the Apple Watch for my runs and swims (Swim.com app). I still use my Garmin Edge 520 for cycling though.

Garmin needs to quickly figure out how to integrate music on their devices (without having to carry your phone) or they are going to begin to fall behind quickly.
Click to expand...

100% agreed!

Software can be wonky at 1st but I will say the 935 has been solid. Can't say the fenix 5 doesn't have issues.

Yes they need to have music to make it more appealing to casual athletes.
 
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Analog Kid said:
I figured I probably bought in a generation or two early. Love my Series 0, and cellular was the feature it was missing so pulled the trigger on a 3 knowing it probably wouldn't be perfect.

My eventual goal: no phone. Just a watch for connectivity, and an iPad when I need a screen.
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I think in a few more years (2020 at the latest) we'll start salivating for a goggle-like augmented reality screen. The AR-kit has put the writing on the wall. We're in countdown for the end goal to all this iPhone tech: true, integrated augmented reality with the biggest screen imaginable--your entire field of view. It's coming and it will be amazing.
 
I currently have a series 2 and was going to get a series 3 and realized whenever I have my watch on, I have my phone with me so I didn't order a series 3.

I will order a new Apple Watch when you can load real apps on it such as TuneIn, MLB AT Bat and Slingbox. This way if there is breaking news and I am somewhere I can see it on my watch or if there is a big play in a game I can see the replay on my watch. I don't want to use Apple Music to listen to music, I want to use TuneIn so I can hear the stations I want.

For now this cellular upgrade seems kind of useless for most.
 
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