Apple Watch Series 4: Not as good as everyone says

[Mraccountname]

I had the first Apple Watch before I updated. By the way everyone way praising it, I was expecting it to be absolutely amazing and make the first Apple Watch look like absolute garbage in comparison. However, I’m honestly starting to miss my old watch.
I’m having problem with it. First the screen sometimes won’t turn off when I cover it because the screen is too big, while my 42m original always did. Also, the screen doesn’t always turn on when I move the table in Nightstand and 3rd party app compilations I used before don’t support the new watch face. I think both could be fixed with time, but the original was nearly problem-less on its latest 4.3.2 software.
Looking back, if you still have use the original model, you don’t need to upgrade yet. The speed is actually good enough even though it’s slow. You’re getting stability and completeness in place of speed and features.

 

[Freakonomics101]

You’d like the Series 3 42mm sooooo much better. Just as fast as the Series 4 and still the same design you liked with the Series 0.

 

[AZhappyjack]

I had the first Apple Watch before I updated. By the way everyone way praising it, I was expecting it to be absolutely amazing and make the first Apple Watch look like absolute garbage in comparison. However, I’m honestly starting to miss my old watch.
I’m having problem with it. First the screen sometimes won’t turn off when I cover it because the screen is too big, while my 42m original always did. Also, the screen doesn’t always turn on when I move the table in Nightstand and 3rd party app compilations I used before don’t support the new watch face. I think both could be fixed with time, but the original was nearly problem-less on its latest 4.3.2 software.
Looking back, if you still have use the original model, you don’t need to upgrade yet. The speed is actually good enough even though it’s slow. You’re getting stability and completeness in place of speed and features.

Disagree. First off, if you bought the original (S0) watch at launch, it would be 4 years old now ... would be incredibly slow and the battery life would be horrid. I got mine at launch and replaced it with the S2 at its launch - it was already significantly faster and had better battery life compared to the S0. I could not imagine trying to use a S0 watch with all of the new features Apple has added to watchOS.

Regarding the complications in the new watch faces, they would not work yet, regardless of which version of the watch you have... and can the S0 even do the new faces? I could be wrong, but I honestly don't think they can... but either way, the 3rd party complications will continue to function as before on pre watchOS 5.x watch faces.

 

[dojoman]

Series 0 and 1 are incredibly slow compared to S4 I’m not sure I can take this post seriously. Just to change Watch face by swiping it’s so sluggish compared to Series 4. There’s no comparison period.

 

[OLDGUYWITHAHIFI]

I had the first Apple Watch before I updated. By the way everyone way praising it, I was expecting it to be absolutely amazing and make the first Apple Watch look like absolute garbage in comparison. However, I’m honestly starting to miss my old watch.
I’m having problem with it. First the screen sometimes won’t turn off when I cover it because the screen is too big, while my 42m original always did. Also, the screen doesn’t always turn on when I move the table in Nightstand and 3rd party app compilations I used before don’t support the new watch face. I think both could be fixed with time, but the original was nearly problem-less on its latest 4.3.2 software.
Looking back, if you still have use the original model, you don’t need to upgrade yet. The speed is actually good enough even though it’s slow. You’re getting stability and completeness in place of speed and features.

No issues with mine at all. I have never had an Apple Watch until now, so I can't really compare. I think it is an awesome watch. ECG, nice screen, handoff between phone and watch, music, LTE, it's great. Maybe someone like yourself coming from another Apple Watch might have a different opinion, but the title of this thread does not differentiate. To claim it's not as good as everyone says is kind of misleading.

 

[Starship67]

I can't even begin to take this post serious. It's full of just... wrong.

 

[sean000]

I had the first Apple Watch before I updated. By the way everyone way praising it, I was expecting it to be absolutely amazing and make the first Apple Watch look like absolute garbage in comparison. However, I’m honestly starting to miss my old watch.
I’m having problem with it. First the screen sometimes won’t turn off when I cover it because the screen is too big, while my 42m original always did. Also, the screen doesn’t always turn on when I move the table in Nightstand and 3rd party app compilations I used before don’t support the new watch face. I think both could be fixed with time, but the original was nearly problem-less on its latest 4.3.2 software.
Looking back, if you still have use the original model, you don’t need to upgrade yet. The speed is actually good enough even though it’s slow. You’re getting stability and completeness in place of speed and features.

I just upgraded from a Series 0 to a Series 4 today, and I’m still comprehending the ginormous improvement. I would hardly describe the Series 0 as problem-less on watchOS 4. Perhaps if you don’t actually open apps on it. The Series 0 was reasonably snappy on watchOS 3, but barely usable for me on watchOS 4. It still provided basic information, fitness tracking, and notifications; but tapping on a complication for more detail was an exercise in frustration. So was swiping between faces (something I did frequently on watchOS 3), because it would take too long for the complications to update. I never knew whether or not I could trust complications to be displaying current info. I found myself reaching for my iPhone for all kinds of quick interactions I used to do with the watch.

As for the S4, I’m simply amazed by the speed of this thing. The original Apple Watch was never this responsive. The larger display is also very welcome. I have the 40mm and it’s significantly more comfortable to view than my old 38mm. The complication issue you mention is only a problem with some apps on the Infograph faces. You can still use all the same complications on the same faces you used on your old watch. Fortunately many of my favorite apps support infograph (Carrot weather, Fantastical 2), but there are a few that don’t. Maybe that’s a sign for me to see what similar apps are out there.

 

[rjp1]

Need a downvote button. I upgraded from S0 to S4 and amazed by the upgrade.

 

[Beefburga]

I had the original from launch and after comparing it with my friends series 3 it was like chalk and cheese and was faster for me to get my phone out of my pocket than interact with most apps on the watch.

Seeing the time and receiving notifications, the original was fine but to say you prefer the original to the new series 4 it’s understandable you’ve received some of the comments above.

Each to their own I guess.

 

[44267547]

Looking back, if you still have use the original model, you don’t need to upgrade yet.

This is a rather poor insinuation, number one, the first generation watch is no longer supported with watchOS, so it’s fairly limited in terms of what it can even accomplish depending on what the user wants from it.

And the speed, stability and a core of other features have been greatly improved since the first GEN watch, like the brightness, hands-free Siri, the speaker is louder, improved water resistance, etc.

Maybe someone doesn’t need to upgrade, but they may want to based on all the inprovements.

 

[StumpyBloke]

I had the first Apple Watch before I updated. By the way everyone way praising it, I was expecting it to be absolutely amazing and make the first Apple Watch look like absolute garbage in comparison. However, I’m honestly starting to miss my old watch.
I’m having problem with it. First the screen sometimes won’t turn off when I cover it because the screen is too big, while my 42m original always did. Also, the screen doesn’t always turn on when I move the table in Nightstand and 3rd party app compilations I used before don’t support the new watch face. I think both could be fixed with time, but the original was nearly problem-less on its latest 4.3.2 software.
Looking back, if you still have use the original model, you don’t need to upgrade yet. The speed is actually good enough even though it’s slow. You’re getting stability and completeness in place of speed and features.

That’s your opinion. My opinion is you couldn’t be further from the truth. The latest watch is superior in absolutely every way.

My genuine advice to you, and others who don’t like their tech, is to simply sell it and move on.

 

[ApplePersonFreak]

I can't even begin to take this post serious. It's full of just... wrong.

Lol, you took the words out of my mouth. This is as if someone said they upgraded from the iPhone 4S to the X series and saying the speed is good enough. The S4 was the best apple product I purchased this year (aside from AirPods of course) and I’ve had the S0 for 3 years and even sold my S3 for it.

 

[Newtons Apple]

First the screen sometimes won’t turn off when I cover it because the screen is too big

You hands must be tiny!

 

[Cowboy1629]

I can fix this for you...

I’ll send you my SSSB s0 watch that is in excellent new condition with a battery that lasts all day for that piece of junk S4 you have and I won’t even charge you for the better Watch.

 

[Givmeabrek]

Stopped reading at the face is too big to cover with your hand...

 

[kargurin]

Need a downvote button. I upgraded from S0 to S4 and amazed by the upgrade.

People will complain about literally everything under the sun here, particularly with the phones. Screen is yellow, OLED hurts eyes, too big, too expensive, too wide, bad reception, bad wifi and on and on. Rather than this being one of the biggest, most successful tech companies in the world you would think it would be on the verge of bankruptcy with all it's manufacturing and design difficulties. I love the series 4. Have no problems blanking the screen by covering it. It is thinner, faster and has much more readable space than earlier versions. Plus it has the most excellent infograph face.

 

[Beefburga]

I bet he argues that his trusty ZX Spectrum is better than his neighbours PlayStation 4.

 

[srshaw]

O yes it is.

 

[44267547]

People will complain about literally everything under the sun here, particularly with the phones. Screen is yellow, OLED hurts eyes, too big, too expensive, too wide, bad reception, bad wifi and on and on. Rather than this being one of the biggest, most successful tech companies in the world you would think it would be on the verge of bankruptcy with all it's manufacturing and design difficulties. I love the series 4. Have no problems blanking the screen by covering it. It is thinner, faster and has much more readable space than earlier versions. Plus it has the most excellent infograph face.

That’s usually how it is, you have a _very_ critical crowd on tech sites that will dissect everything wrong with what they think should be changed with the Apple Watch, but we are not engineers, and Apple’s products clearly sell very well to the masses, not just because of the build quality, because what makes the watch so unique with software features and the hardware experience.

 

[edhchoe]

I had the first Apple Watch before I updated. By the way everyone way praising it, I was expecting it to be absolutely amazing and make the first Apple Watch look like absolute garbage in comparison. However, I’m honestly starting to miss my old watch.
I’m having problem with it. First the screen sometimes won’t turn off when I cover it because the screen is too big, while my 42m original always did. Also, the screen doesn’t always turn on when I move the table in Nightstand and 3rd party app compilations I used before don’t support the new watch face. I think both could be fixed with time, but the original was nearly problem-less on its latest 4.3.2 software.
Looking back, if you still have use the original model, you don’t need to upgrade yet. The speed is actually good enough even though it’s slow. You’re getting stability and completeness in place of speed and features.

When the watch behaves unexpectedly, power it off all the way and power it back on.

 

[redavis41]

This thread did not go the way I thought it would. My only gripe is I wished they’d have kept the thickness and used it for a bigger battery. That is my biggest gripe from S3 to S4.

 

[Cashmonee]

To be fair to the OP, in daily use, if you do not use apps the S0 is probably fast enough. Start trying to use any app or complication and that changes real quick. I will say, I had the S0 so long that I got in the habit of not using apps because they were unusable. When I got a S3, they were more usable, but still not a great experience. Complications still worked only sporadically and loading apps was still slower than just pulling out my phone. I do not have experience with the S4, so I cannot comment if things are better there, but the S3 did not magically make the Apple Watch usable for a lot more than receiving notifications.

That’s usually how it is, you have a _very_ critical crowd on tech sites that will dissect everything wrong with what they think should be changed with the Apple Watch, but we are not engineers, and Apple’s products clearly sell very well to the masses, not just because of the build quality, because what makes the watch so unique with software features and the hardware experience.

The Apple Watch is selling well because people want notifications all the time. There is little evidence to suggest people are using it for more than receiving notifications and working out.

 

[sean000]

To be fair to the OP, in daily use, if you do not use apps the S0 is probably fast enough. Start trying to use any app or complication and that changes real quick. I will say, I had the S0 so long that I got in the habit of not using apps because they were unusable. When I got a S3, they were more usable, but still not a great experience. Complications still worked only sporadically and loading apps was still slower than just pulling out my phone. I do not have experience with the S4, so I cannot comment if things are better there, but the S3 did not magically make the Apple Watch usable for a lot more than receiving notifications.

I found complications and apps to be very useful and mostly reliable on my S0 under watchOS 2 and 3. By watchOS 4 I too got into the habit of not using apps. As someone who just upgraded from the S0 to the S4, here is what I found:

SO on watchOS4 works okay for the following

• Fitness tracking with the Activity app, but you don’t get next gen metrics like resting heart rate, walking average, or HRV. The workouts app is very slow to load. Once it’s running it will work, but will drain the S0 battery very quickly.
• Displaying the time and date
• Receiving notifications
• Apple Pay
• Turn based directions
• Displaying complications (appointments, weather, etc.) on a single face (no swiping between faces unless you are prepared to wait for complications to refresh), although the complications may not always be up to date
• Some apps still open and update reasonably fast. For me these include Fantastical 2 calendar and Bring (grocery app).

Beyond that most features on the S0 are frustratingly slow and unreliable at this point. Siri does not always respond to commands, and when she does it’s after a delay. Replying to a text with scribble or a standard reply works, but scrolling is slow. Opening an app from a complication or home screen icon is very slow for some apps. Some of the apps I used with previous versions of watchOS became unusable.

So my S0 became a shadow of its former self. I returned to pulling out my iPhone for many things I used to accomplish faster and more conveniently on the watch. I should say it’s not just about the speed or convenience. For many it’s about keeping the iPhone put away until you really need it. Much harder to get sucked into the latest headline news, social media, or games on the Apple Watch. That said, if all you want from an Apple Watch are the things that the S0 is capable of, you might not find it worth the upgrade.

I probably should have upgraded to the S3, but for some reason I trudged on with the S0 for a good 18 months beyond its prime. When I finally strapped on the S4, it was like upgrading from a ten year old computer to the latest and greatest. Everything is fast, responsive, and so far much more reliable. The S0 never felt this fast even in its prime, and the larger display is also a very welcome bonus for me.

My preferred usage of the Apple Watch involves swiping between several faces that display different information (with some crossover). On the S4 that is fluid and reliable, with complications refreshing instantly... even on complication heavy faces like Infograph. Once again I can tap on complications for more details, easily respond to texts, and use Siri to set reminders and appointments. Even maps is useful (never found it to be so on the S0, but turn based instructions were). The speaker is much louder, so phone calls on the watch are much better, although that’s not something I use regularly.

The Apple Watch is selling well because people want notifications all the time. There is little evidence to suggest people are using it for more than receiving notifications and working out.

While I have said many times that receiving silent notifications is one of the best features, there is certainly evidence that people use the watch for more than notifications and working out:
https://www.imore.com/apple-watch-usage-survey-study-2015-q2

 

[44267547]

There is little evidence to suggest people are using it for more than receiving notifications and working out.

Ok? If You’re going to refute my post, in the least, provide a source proving that there is ‘little evidence that people are using it more than for notifications or working out’, otherwise your statement is nothing more than an assertion just as much as mine is.

That said , I don’t have to answer your question either, since Sean000 debunked yours with a source validating what I said.

 

[Cashmonee]

I found complications and apps to be very useful and mostly reliable on my S0 under watchOS 2 and 3. By watchOS 4 I too got into the habit of not using apps. As someone who just upgraded from the S0 to the S4, here is what I found:

SO on watchOS4 works okay for the following

• Fitness tracking with the Activity app, but you don’t get next gen metrics like resting heart rate, walking average, or HRV. The workouts app is very slow to load. Once it’s running it will work, but will drain the S0 battery very quickly.
• Displaying the time and date
• Receiving notifications
• Apple Pay
• Turn based directions
• Displaying complications (appointments, weather, etc.) on a single face (no swiping between faces unless you are prepared to wait for complications to refresh), although the complications may not always be up to date
• Some apps still open and update reasonably fast. For me these include Fantastical 2 calendar and Bring (grocery app).

Beyond that most features on the S0 are frustratingly slow and unreliable at this point. Siri does not always respond to commands, and when she does it’s after a delay. Replying to a text with scribble or a standard reply works, but scrolling is slow. Opening an app from a complication or home screen icon is very slow for some apps. Some of the apps I used with previous versions of watchOS became unusable.

So my S0 became a shadow of its former self. I returned to pulling out my iPhone for many things I used to accomplish faster and more conveniently on the watch. I should say it’s not just about the speed or convenience. For many it’s about keeping the iPhone put away until you really need it. Much harder to get sucked into the latest headline news, social media, or games on the Apple Watch. That said, if all you want from an Apple Watch are the things that the S0 is capable of, you might not find it worth the upgrade.

I probably should have upgraded to the S3, but for some reason I trudged on with the S0 for a good 18 months beyond its prime. When I finally strapped on the S4, it was like upgrading from a ten year old computer to the latest and greatest. Everything is fast, responsive, and so far much more reliable. The S0 never felt this fast even in its prime, and the larger display is also a very welcome bonus for me.

My preferred usage of the Apple Watch involves swiping between several faces that display different information (with some crossover). On the S4 that is fluid and reliable, with complications refreshing instantly... even on complication heavy faces like Infograph. Once again I can tap on complications for more details, easily respond to texts, and use Siri to set reminders and appointments. Even maps is useful (never found it to be so on the S0, but turn based instructions were). The speaker is much louder, so phone calls on the watch are much better, although that’s not something I use regularly.



While I have said many times that receiving silent notifications is one of the best features, there is certainly evidence that people use the watch for more than notifications and working out:
https://www.imore.com/apple-watch-usage-survey-study-2015-q2

My S0 experience was similar to yours. Though most complications were rarely up to date. Other than, that I would echo what you said. The S3 did not really change that for me. Most third party apps and complications still would not update reliably. It is good to hear that the S4 seems to have at least made complications useful.

As for the evidence that people use it for more, that survey is hardly an indicator. It is a biased sample and over 3 years old. The fact that Apple Watch apps have not only not taken off, but have actually gone backwards (as in the number of apps) seems to indicate people (the mass market, not iMore or MacRumors readers) are not using features beyond the health and notifications.
[doublepost=1546127349][/doublepost]

Ok? If You’re going to refute my post, in the least, provide a source proving that there is ‘little evidence that people are using it more than for notifications or working out’, otherwise your statement is nothing more than an assertion just as much as mine is.

That said , I don’t have to answer your question either, since Sean000 debunked yours with a source validating what I said.

As I said, that source is not at all reliable. I think most companies either not putting out apps or abandoning their apps is evidence enough that they are not being used by the mass market. Also, look at what Apple is focusing on, health. That is clearly what they believe the major selling point.