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Benefits of Cellular Vs Wifi?

SayCheese

SayCheese

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jun 14, 2007
1,720
919
Oxfordshire, England
Other than streaming music without your phone to hand what's the benefit of having the cellular version of the watch over the WiFi only model?
I am looking to upgrade my S2 AW next month depending on what Apple may or may not announce and I'm wondering if the extra outlay is worth it?
 
I have the non cellular and regret it. The phone and watch don’t stay paired very far away. I’ve tried leaving my phone in garage while mowing my small yard and it just didn’t stay connected reliable. My next one will be cellular.
 
I have the cellular AW4. But I don’t have a cellular plan for it. Just can’t justify $120+ for very little benefit. IMHO.

I always have my phone in my pocket. So the watch doesn’t do too much more than act as a glorified remote display.

If you improve the Wi-Fi in your garage and yard, your current watch will work just fine
 
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Apart from music & podcasts, phone call & messaging would be the the obvious benefits. Imagine you’re going on a run without your phone, with WiFi version you’ll have no idea if someone wants to contact you, or if you want to ask someone something on your way back you won’t have that capability. With cellular version, even if you’re without the phone you’re still connected.

Oh, and you’ll be able to walkie-talkie anyone anywhere to your heart content. :)
 
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I always have my phone with me, the watch means I can leave it in my pocket until I need it. I don't want to pay more to leave my phone home.
 
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Moriend87 said:
I have the non cellular and regret it. The phone and watch don’t stay paired very far away. I’ve tried leaving my phone in garage while mowing my small yard and it just didn’t stay connected reliable. My next one will be cellular.
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You need to get a wifi signal booster/extender and then your AW will stay connected in your yard as long as you have wifi signal there. I have over a 1/2 acre yard and my AW wifi only connects everywhere.
 
Watch 4 is my first watch and I got Cellular because I don't actually use my iPhone all that much. Not many calls or messages and so the phone stays at home pretty much all the time now. I used to use Runtastic on the phone for my bike rides but I've stopped the subscription for that and now which pays for my Cellular fee and use the bike outdoor cycle programme on the watch which also does GPS route and heart monitor which I can check as I ride. Fabulous.
 
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I have the cellular version of the S4, and I got it because of the emergency calling benefit. Even if you're not connected to a plan, and the "fall detection" activates, and there is a need to contact 911, and your emergency contacts, it will still make that call. At my age (71) that's important to me. To have the cellular service isn't worth the additional cost per month, but the security of knowing that I can get a 911 call done is worth it.
 
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I like to be able to go for long walks without my phone and while I don’t utilize the cellular a lot it has come in handy a couple times when my phone has became unresponsive.

I was once in a wreck where both my buddy and my phones were completely broken and it would have been nice to have had the cellular watch in that scenario.

I consider it more of an emergency/backup feature than something I rely on daily.
 
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Cellular all the way in case of emergency. You lose your phone, forget your phone, the phone battery dies, bricks out of nowhere for no apparent reason (this happened in my case), Phone gets snatched, etc... For ~ .40 cents a day, I’ll take it. It’s always better to have and not need than need and not have.
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AJ44 said:
I like to be able to go for long walks without my phone and while I don’t utilize the cellular a lot it has come in handy a couple times when my phone has became unresponsive.

I was once in a wreck where both my buddy and my phones were completely broken and it would have been nice to have had the cellular watch in that scenario.

I consider it more of an emergency/backup feature than something I rely on daily.
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100%. Can’t stress this enough Everyone seems to forget this aspect of it and only concentrate on the exercise benefits or that it doesn’t matter if they always have their phone on them. Exigencies happen.
 
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It’s nice that many if the apps continue to work over cellular when you are away from the phone. We have WiFi at work but it has a login page so I can’t access it from the watch.

I had a series 2 and when I moved to a series 3, I got the cellular version. I got it primarily for running, so I could leave the phone at home and still be contacted or call/ text if need be.

I find it useful as it gives me the ability to go phoneless when I want the quiet but still can be reached if need be. It is a lot harder to screw around in a watch so it’s much less of a distraction while still maintaining availability.

I was on vacation about 3 months ago during launch week for a product at work. I was able to call in to a team meeting from my watch, right after my run without having to carry a phone.

Whether that is worth $15/month is debatable, but I personally find it useful.
 
If you wanted Black Stainless you were not given a choice. I have had two cellular Apple Watches and one used cellular for a month. It had some reception problems and hits the battery. I dumped it after a month as I need to have my phone with me anyway.
 
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