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Are people using LTE on their Watches?

S

skillwill

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 12, 2008
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I got my AW S3 GPS on launch day and absolutely love it. It’s my first Apple Watch and during pre-order was torn between LTE and non-LTE, but literally couldn’t think of any time I’d be without my phone, so went with the cheaper option.
As it turns out, in the entire month and a half, there has not been a single moment when I would’ve needed it. Even during running and playing tennis. So just wondering if and where/when ARE people using their LTE? And on top of that, is leaving your phone behind something you didn’t used to do, but now do just because you can?
 
I went to work out at the gym. I left the phone in the car and worked out with my AW3 LTE, streaming music from Apple Music. That's something I think that is not available with the non-LTE. It gets better. When I finished working out I realized that I locked the car keys in the car. I went back in the gym and called for help using the AW3 LTE. On the watch I asked Siri for the number to the roadside assistance and then dialed it on the watch.
 
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skillwill said:
I got my AW S3 GPS on launch day and absolutely love it. It’s my first Apple Watch and during pre-order was torn between LTE and non-LTE, but literally couldn’t think of any time I’d be without my phone, so went with the cheaper option.
As it turns out, in the entire month and a half, there has not been a single moment when I would’ve needed it. Even during running and playing tennis. So just wondering if and where/when ARE people using their LTE? And on top of that, is leaving your phone behind something you didn’t used to do, but now do just because you can?
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I think it's a nice advantage to have if someone wanted to experience LTE with a 90 day free trial. But I think for many, LTE is more beneficial to have when you least expect it. I it serves its purpose for that quick call, steaming music or simply when you want to leave your iPhone stationed.
 
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coolbreeze2 said:
I went to work out at the gym. I left the phone in the car and worked out with my AW3 LTE, streaming music from Apple Music. That's something I think that is not available with the non-LTE. It gets better. When I finished working out I realized that I locked the car keys in the car. I went back in the gym and called for help using the AW3 LTE. On the watch I asked Siri for the number to the roadside assistance and then dialed it on the watch.
Click to expand...

I wonder if the watch would or ever could run my Chevy app, I can lock, unlock and start my truck from my phone. Would be nice to be able to do that with my watch.
 
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when AW3 came out I was torn between LTE or non-LTE - I see there is no point to buy LTE, because I will always need my mobile - I cant think of leaving mobile at home, locker, car or bag, plus you cant do so many thing on AW3 yet.

I always take with me AW3 + X to the gym - I leave X on the treadmill's tray when I'm done I take X with me lol :D

I believe in the future apple will get rid of nano SIM card and use LTE instance - so the data will share between AW + X (maybe start with 2 or 3 or 4 generation).
 
I've been leaving my iPhone at home all the time, when I run, when I go somewhere that I don't want to carry my phone like a concert or a run to the store, etc. It's one less thing to carry. If more stores took Apple Pay I could leave most of what's in my wallet at home, too.
 
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Resqu2 said:
I wonder if the watch would or ever could run my Chevy app, I can lock, unlock and start my truck from my phone. Would be nice to be able to do that with my watch.
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I can unlock/lock/start my car from my watch. But I also can't really lock my keys in the car, since the doors won't lock with the key present inside the vehicle.

Back in February I switched from AW to an LG Sport Android Wear watch specifically due to it having LTE. I don't like the watch very much but having LTE has been useful at times. Not as useful as I anticipated before getting it, but still useful. In my case it turned out I don't really choose to leave my phone behind, so the times LTE has come in handy is when I forgot my phone (and in a few cases when the phone's battery died).

So as I get ready to go back to an AW, to go with my iPhone X (arriving today!), I am also weighing whether to go with LTE or not. I think I will. The main thing against it is I hate paying $14 a month to AT&T for something that is barely used ($10 plus $4, or 40%, in taxes and fees).


Mike
 
I would get zero utility out of LTE on an AW. I have my phone with me all the time. There are no situations where I would need my Watch but not my phone.
 
I have not taken the plunge yet, but I plan on getting an LTE AW (my faith in iPhones is wobbling right now, which is stalling the purchase). I can see numerous circumstances when the LTE watch would allow me to leave my phone safely at home or in the car - as many on here have said, this will include exercising either outside or at the gym.

My original plan was not to upgrade my 6S and invest instead in a watch. However, the performance of the phone lately has been so poor - battery life is all but non-existent these days - that I may be forced into buying a new phone instead. If that happens, I'm not convinced it'll be an iPhone, which renders the Apple Watch idea moot.
 
nope, will jump on board as soon Pandora is able to stream through it. Not a fan of Apple Music and just used to using Pandora for several years.
 
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I got the Stainless Steel Series 3 watch, which comes with LTE functionality as standard equipment. However, I have not activated the LTE for several reasons. First, I'm on a corporate data plan and adding the watch to that is difficult or not available yet. And second, even if I could activate it, I really don't need the capability. I'm one of those who always has their phone with them.

I think the folks who do running or other activities where carrying a phone is either inconvenient or a liability are the target audience for the LTE watch, so if it works for them, that's great.
 
Not daily, but there are times when I'll step away from my office where I leave my phone. Sometimes the wifi at work can be kind of iffy so I'll occasionally find my watch on cellular (as designed) so I'm able to receive my notifications. Very happy it can do this.

Occasionally I'll leave my phone at home, too, if I'm running a quick errand up the street and don't feel like stuffing my pockets with phone, etc.

About a year ago, I took my teenaged son to a restaurant for lunch and accidentally left both my wallet AND phone at home. Couldn't pay and didn't have a way to text my wife. Not sure how that happened - very weird for me to forget both. And my son didn't bring his phone either (weird for a teenager, right?). Fortunately my son had just enough cash in his pocket to cover the bill. Had the LTE watch existed at the time, I would have been able to easily call or text my wife and have her rescue us.

So it's nice to have LTE on the watch as a backup.
 
For $10 more monthly (Att), I'll pass. I have a $119 Samsung Gear Fit2 that does most of what an IWatch does when paired with my iPhone. I can read texts, I get a buzz when my phone rings, get the current weather, step count, heart pulse, date and time, GPS etc Bluetoothed from my IP in my pocket if I have a data connection to my carrier. If i'm at home and my iPhone is in another room, my Gear Fit give me a little buzz via Bluetooth. I don't get why there is an Att $10 charge when I can "hotspot" anything else to my other devices at no cost other than whatever my data plan is.

While I an afford almost anything Apple comes out with, I would rather drink 12 Maragrtias a year than blow $120 to Att.

I should note that there is NO Hermes band available for my Gear Fit2. DARN...
 
Fattytail said:
I would get zero utility out of LTE on an AW. I have my phone with me all the time. There are no situations where I would need my Watch but not my phone.
Click to expand...
That's great but to me the OP was asking people who have an LTE AW if they are using it for LTE.

If I discount the posts from people who do not have an LTE watch it seems nearly everyone who responded does in fact use LTE, at least at times.



Mike
 
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To update my original post... I did end up going with the LTE Apple Watch. It is something I felt worth having.

I will say it is like a breath of fresh air going back to an Apple Watch from Android Wear. If I left LTE on on my old watch (LG Sport), I could never make it through a single day. So I usually left it off unless I needed it. Ditto NFC or anything else I could disable to save battery. The AW 3 LTE is nothing like that: It manages the battery and not me. I get more than double the battery life, and that is probably conservative.



Mike
 
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i was always looking forward to the apple-watch getting cellular. it has not arrived in my country, and I still think it's too limited... feels like the original iphone or ipod. but it's getting there - maybe with the aw4 or 5 i'll be able to let go of my phone and only use it in combination with the airpods for communication and simple life-organization (reminders, calendar, messages, home automation control, listening to music,.. ). most of the time i have an ipad with me anyway, in case I need something more substantial. until then, i'm probably fine with my original apple-watch, as long as it stays waterproof.
 
Unami said:
i was always looking forward to the apple-watch getting cellular. it has not arrived in my country, and I still think it's too limited... feels like the original iphone or ipod. but it's getting there - maybe with the aw4 or 5 i'll be able to let go of my phone and only take my ipad with me if i need something more substantial. until that, i'm probably fine with my original apple-watch, as long as it stays waterproof.
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What more would you like it to do?
 
andresandiego said:
What more would you like it to do?
Click to expand...

it'd need longer battery-life, a camera for photos on the go, maybe a flashlight, it should be able to use other apps than apple-music for streaming, have deeper and more complex siri-functionality (e.g. web searches, conditional logic - "siri turn off all lights EXCEPT", "siri, do this AND that", "siri, translate THIS"...), and it has to be totally independent from an iphone (setup via web, ipad or mac) - essentially, more functionality, like a calender that does show more than a week or music discovery that doesn't refer you to your iphone. that's why i linked it to the original ipod (which needed a mac) or the iphone (which had only web-apps).

extra functionality like an infrared-thermometer or a 3d-scanner would be welcome as well, but the iphone hasn't got those either (apart from the face-scanner of the X), so it wouldn't need those just as a phone replacement.
 
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Unami said:
it'd need longer battery-life, a camera for photos on the go, maybe a flashlight, it should be able to use other apps than apple-music for streaming, have deeper and more complex siri-functionality, and it has to be totally independent from an iphone (setup via web, ipad or mac). that's why i linked it to the original ipod (which needed a mac) or the iphone (which had only web-apps).
Click to expand...


I agree about the battery, but I will say that what it can do now the battery life is pretty good. FYI there is a flashlight function now. A software update should be able to address the music streaming and improve sir functionality. As far as the camera goes, I just don't see that happening. Independent set up isn't that high on my list of wants and it doesn't appear to be that high on Apple's as well.
 
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