In no particular order . . .
1. I had the 42mm Hermès and I bought the 44mm Hermès. The screen on the 44mm is very noticeably bigger. I’m not persuaded all the watchfaces and other screens have scaled up well. Some look too big, or the screen looks too empty. If I’d bought the watch in a shop I would have asked to see the 40mm — I might have preferred it, whereas I definitely would not have worn the 38mm.
2. The Hermès two-tone face (which is available on the AWH4, despite not buying the two-tone strap, but which was not available on the AWH3, even after wOS5) looked awful and washed-out until I realised I was on the maximum brightness setting. It’s much better on the lowest setting. This hasn’t caused knock-on effects of other screens being too dark. Maybe I’ll get even better battery life, though this has never been a concern for me: the battery on my AWH3 easily lasted two days.
3. Time travel has gone. It was quite useful to move the hands out of the way when they were blocking a complication.
4. The Digital Crown’s new haptic feedback feature is disappointing. It’s not always there and, when it is, it’s not really a click. It’s OK. The crown itself feels much more sturdy, however, than the previous version. Physically I like it more. If you turn it, the screen comes on — I don’t know if it always did that, but it’s a convenient way to see what time it is.
5. I’m pairing my 44mm watch with the 42mm Link bracelet and the fit is flawless: the lug holes are exactly the same size as the ones on the 42mm. It also looks awesome!
6. I decided to sign up to a data package. Now that the watch has the Podcast app, I’m attracted to the idea of sometimes leaving my phone at home and just having the watch. I’m with EE in the UK. Initially the log-in page just wouldn’t load and 20 minutes on the phone to them got me nowhere. Turns out you have to not be connected to WIFI when you sign up to the plan. As soon as I was outside walking the dog, I tried again and no problem. Very quick, smooth process.
7. Thanks to the bigger screen, Apple has coded apps like Mail to allow proper formatting of e-mails. No longer are you directed to your phone to see graphic elements in e-mails. You see exactly what you’d see on your phone, but in glorious miniature.
8. My first impression was: “Oh. I’m not sure I like this. Have I made an expensive mistake?” After a few hours I’m warming to it. It’s a keeper. (Though I don’t like my Hermès leather strap. I don’t think it looks as good with the watch as the Link and I don’t think it’s as comfortable. Obviously I could send the whole thing back and get the regular SS, but I’d lose the other Hermès features, which I quite like. And I’d have to wait a month. I love the Hermès sports strap, though now I have two. I guess I could sell one of those, too, and recoup even more of the cost.)
9. Watchfaces with horizontal text have been redesigned so that the text follows the curve of the dial. I think I like this.
10. The number of complications in certain spots on the watchfaces is disappointingly small. I don’t know how Apple got all those cool complications on the display model.
11. The Hermès packaging is lovely, but not as nice as it was for the AWH3. The white plastic box is gone. The watch is boxed separately from the strap, and encased in a tacky grey pouch.
12. The Fire watchface when set at full screen is awesome. It’s like the watch has no bezels at all.
I’ll be interested in other people’s thoughts and I’ll be happy to answer any questions anyone has.
1. I had the 42mm Hermès and I bought the 44mm Hermès. The screen on the 44mm is very noticeably bigger. I’m not persuaded all the watchfaces and other screens have scaled up well. Some look too big, or the screen looks too empty. If I’d bought the watch in a shop I would have asked to see the 40mm — I might have preferred it, whereas I definitely would not have worn the 38mm.
2. The Hermès two-tone face (which is available on the AWH4, despite not buying the two-tone strap, but which was not available on the AWH3, even after wOS5) looked awful and washed-out until I realised I was on the maximum brightness setting. It’s much better on the lowest setting. This hasn’t caused knock-on effects of other screens being too dark. Maybe I’ll get even better battery life, though this has never been a concern for me: the battery on my AWH3 easily lasted two days.
3. Time travel has gone. It was quite useful to move the hands out of the way when they were blocking a complication.
4. The Digital Crown’s new haptic feedback feature is disappointing. It’s not always there and, when it is, it’s not really a click. It’s OK. The crown itself feels much more sturdy, however, than the previous version. Physically I like it more. If you turn it, the screen comes on — I don’t know if it always did that, but it’s a convenient way to see what time it is.
5. I’m pairing my 44mm watch with the 42mm Link bracelet and the fit is flawless: the lug holes are exactly the same size as the ones on the 42mm. It also looks awesome!
6. I decided to sign up to a data package. Now that the watch has the Podcast app, I’m attracted to the idea of sometimes leaving my phone at home and just having the watch. I’m with EE in the UK. Initially the log-in page just wouldn’t load and 20 minutes on the phone to them got me nowhere. Turns out you have to not be connected to WIFI when you sign up to the plan. As soon as I was outside walking the dog, I tried again and no problem. Very quick, smooth process.
7. Thanks to the bigger screen, Apple has coded apps like Mail to allow proper formatting of e-mails. No longer are you directed to your phone to see graphic elements in e-mails. You see exactly what you’d see on your phone, but in glorious miniature.
8. My first impression was: “Oh. I’m not sure I like this. Have I made an expensive mistake?” After a few hours I’m warming to it. It’s a keeper. (Though I don’t like my Hermès leather strap. I don’t think it looks as good with the watch as the Link and I don’t think it’s as comfortable. Obviously I could send the whole thing back and get the regular SS, but I’d lose the other Hermès features, which I quite like. And I’d have to wait a month. I love the Hermès sports strap, though now I have two. I guess I could sell one of those, too, and recoup even more of the cost.)
9. Watchfaces with horizontal text have been redesigned so that the text follows the curve of the dial. I think I like this.
10. The number of complications in certain spots on the watchfaces is disappointingly small. I don’t know how Apple got all those cool complications on the display model.
11. The Hermès packaging is lovely, but not as nice as it was for the AWH3. The white plastic box is gone. The watch is boxed separately from the strap, and encased in a tacky grey pouch.
12. The Fire watchface when set at full screen is awesome. It’s like the watch has no bezels at all.
I’ll be interested in other people’s thoughts and I’ll be happy to answer any questions anyone has.
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