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

[840quadra]

Sexist much?

Laura is a very qualified blogger on The Verge.

Let's quit arm chair quarterbacking and support women doing a great job in the tech industry!

Only if we quit putting words / intent in other people’s posts.

My comment was directed at multiple publications and people of both genders. Since you opened the can of worms on gender, my favorite tech commentators are all women, I think Serenity from iMore is well educated, speaks her mind and understands the tech. Molly Wood, yet another amazing woman in the world of tech.

So please, leave inference off the table.

 

[JOHNGAETANO]

Eastern Egypt 8am Friday

I’ll take it. What store will you be at?

 

[44267547]

1 hour talk time no thanks why release something so silly that you only have 1 hour

No, you have only one hour of talk time if you're only using LTE only. You have over three hours of talk time if the Apple Watch is connected to the iPhone via Bluetooth. Most Apple Watch users won't talk on the Apple Watch using LTE for one hour.

https://www.apple.com/watch/battery.html

 

[yaxomoxay]

She doesn’t need an LTE version to view messages on her Watch...unless I’ve misunderstood you.

Often she has to leave her phone in another (far) room or in a different building

 

[Born Again]

Only if we quit putting words / intent in other people’s posts.

My comment was directed at multiple publications and people of both genders. Since you opened the can of worms on gender, my favorite tech commentators are all women, I think Serenity from iMore is well educated, speaks her mind and understands the tech. Molly Wood, yet another amazing woman in the world of tech.

So please, leave inference off the table.

This thread only referenced the verge video with Laura ...

 

[ksnell]

"In my usual day, that meant by the time my Watch was back on a charger at night, it still had around 70 per cent battery left"

Used 30% in a day? Either his day is 12pm-5pm, or he left it in a drawer for most of the day and didn't use it.

It doesn't surprise me. Honestly I don't even check the battery on my Series 2 these days - I just put it on the charger at night and back on in the morning. I mean sure, logging a workout will use some battery but other than that?

 

[airjay75]

These reviews aren’t really giving me second thoughts about whether I want my AW w/LTE - the LTE models have more storage and the ceramic backing which make them worth the extra money in and of itself. They are making me re-think whether I’m willing to fork over $10/month to a carrier to connect my AW to their network. Unlike my iPad where I pay $10/month to connect to my data plan, these reviews really drive home just how limited your ability to access a cell phone network on any given day is going to be. I see the value of paying to connect my iPad to cellular - I can get a lot of use out of it even when I have my iPhone around - it’s easy to use more data on my iPad than on my iPhone under the right circumstances. But, $10/month for streaming a few tunes, taking a quick phone call, and seeing a few messages while I’m out on a run or walk a few times per week? I think the carriers really have the wrong price point here - it should be $5 per month to connect the AW given the limited amount of LTE use you’re going to be able to get out of these devices.

 

[fel10]

Now Im seriously debating if I should upgrade my series 2 to the LTE one. Was looking forward to not having to carry my phone with me everywhere.

 

[Verita]

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 .

I'm a serious athlete; some of my friends are ex-professionals. We use Apple Watches.
[doublepost=1505927256][/doublepost]

"In my usual day, that meant by the time my Watch was back on a charger at night, it still had around 70 per cent battery left"

Used 30% in a day? Either his day is 12pm-5pm, or he left it in a drawer for most of the day and didn't use it.

Wrong. I'm at 60% after 6am-10pm with an hour workout, cycling, and lots of walking.

 

[johnnygee]

"In my usual day, that meant by the time my Watch was back on a charger at night, it still had around 70 per cent battery left"

Used 30% in a day? Either his day is 12pm-5pm, or he left it in a drawer for most of the day and didn't use it.

If you are using one of the workout programs, it uses more battery due to the heart rate monitor. Otherwise, the watch is frugal with power usage.

 

[Bobo03]

1 hour talk time no thanks why release something so silly that you only have 1 hour and the red dot is annoying and watch os is still slow and cant easy delete all mesaages

My series 0 was super slow. I've switched to the Fenix 5 which is better for my fitness lifestyle.

Series 3 with LTE-looks like a bust.

 

[johnnygee]

So is the Apple Watch Series 3 a major flop or what??

What
[doublepost=1505927985][/doublepost]

My series 0 was super slow. I've switched to the Fenix 5 which is better for my fitness lifestyle.

Series 3 with LTE-looks like a bust.

I bought the Series 0 when the price dropped. When WatchOS 2 was released, I began to realize the potential. I traded it for credit which I applied to a Series 2. With the upgrade to WatchOS 4, the Series 2 is no longer "laggy".

 

[KPOM]

I always put a lot of stock in Joanna Stern’s reviews b/c she isn’t afraid of cheering good product or revealing flaws in less than great ones. Her review has gotten me to thinking either waiting for any Series 2 extreme clearances like we saw with series 0 or just holding on to series 0. It doesn’t seem AW 3 is worth $400 or even $350 on sale. Maybe AW X will be the one as she says.

How about just the Series 3 without LTE? Most of the concerns are with the LTE.

 

[Icaras]

Just hate that red dot!

 

[840quadra]

This thread only referenced the verge video with Laura ...

Read again what I posted

Honestly I am not impressed with many of the high profile reviewers from many of these firms.

Which is in this thread, which quotes multiple corporations and consists of reviewers of both genders.

Again, leave inference at the table, especially if you are going to attack someone for something they didn’t do or say.

If you are using one of the workout programs, it uses more battery due to the heart rate monitor. Otherwise, the watch is frugal with power usage.

That is what I gathered too, the heart rate monitor having had some changes may make this version a bit more frugal than previous models. Will be fun to test this against my Series-0

 

[belvdr]

This thread only referenced the verge video with Laura ...

I disagree. Am I missing something?

The Verge editor Lauren Goode said...
The Sydney Morning Herald's Peter Wells didn't share that viewpoint...
Daring Fireball's John Gruber was impressed...
The New York Times reporter Brian X. Chen...
Wired writer David Pierce said...

More Reviews: The Loop, CNET, Financial Post, 9to5Mac, Mashable, The Independent, and USA Today

 

[lamerica80]

Can someone provide me with a logical answer why Apple have chosen not to add podcast player to the apple watch with the ability to listen to podcasts offline?

 

[belvdr]

Can someone provide me with a logical answer why Apple have chosen not to add podcast player to the apple watch with the ability to listen to podcasts offline?

Storage? I have not seen official storage specs of an Apple Watch and it's not on their page.

 

[omenatarhuri]

Waiting for the redesign. Current one is a bit boxy, if you will. Not really up to the level of premium watches.

That said, I would like to get one for the monitoring features. LTE not really interesting. If I'm an hour or two without internet connection, I think that sounds like it shouldn't be the end of the world. Quite the opposite in fact.

 

[ct2k7]

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

Garmin has been hacked, or how do you know what it can be easily hacked?

 

[Born Again]

I'm a serious athlete; some of my friends are ex-professionals. We use Apple Watches.
[doublepost=1505927256][/doublepost]

Wrong. I'm at 60% after 6am-10pm with an hour workout, cycling, and lots of walking.

Name them and provide a strava link that they uploaded it with an apple watch.

 

[musicpenguy]

The 9to5Mac review is really in depth and has some nice tidbits like 8GB of music can be synced to the cellular Apple Watch instead of 2GB. It seems that reviewers either had great or terrible experiences with LTE. Maybe New York City has some issues other places won’t?

 

[catportal]

Maybe solid state batteries will help.

 

[euvnairb]

Do any of you that workout outdoors have a strap-on belt for your phones? I feel like these belts are amazing because I can run with the belt on and not even notice it's there. I keep other stuff inside my belt like Gu packs and my ID + insurance card when I'm running long distance so it has a multi-purpose use. For these reasons, I can run with my S2 AND my phone and have no qualms about wanting to upgrade to an S3 + LTE.

 

[macfacts]

Why is Apple putting LTE in the watch when the battery tech isn't ready. This looks like Apple rushing a product out so they can say they were the first.