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pauloregan

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 16, 2017
360
835
United Kingdom
Over the last twelve months I have started to fall out of love with my Apple Watch.
I was smart and avoided the initial watch and the 1 series and entered ownership at series 2. Non cellular.
I promptly started hitting movement goals daily, responding to the occasional message with a thumbs up and boosting my heating system with 30mins extra juice. All good, with a hint of novelty.
Then the four came. With cellular. Then a yearly carrot subscription for more accurate weather on the watch. But then came battery drain when using the watch for podcast streaming while out and about. Annoyance set in. The watch is fine if you don't really use it. You're either going to bed with 40% charge (having not made the watch sweat) or you're charging it in the afternoon. This state of mind hung around enough to put me off the series 5 and 6.
Last December the £5 a month cellular sub was cancelled as is the Carrot sub.
The whole Apple Watch idea is about to get kicked into touch. I find this disappointing as I want to love it.

Is anyone else in the same boat?
 

Aspasia

macrumors 65816
Nope. Loving my AW5 even more after a year. Non-cellular because I like to take photos, so I carry my iPhone with me. Filling my rings daily has improved my health, it's a handy hands-free timer when I'm cooking, and also hands free when messaging with family or taking calls. Only thing I don't use it for is sleeping. I get loads of exercise so I sleep well.
 

827538

Cancelled
Jul 3, 2013
2,322
2,833
As someone who's first Apple Watch is the Series 6 I can't agree with this. I will use mine actively throughout the day, listen to music while I work out then go to bed with 60% remaining. The battery life on the Series 6 non-cellular has been incredible - especially with it having an always on display. I've gone two full days of use with it once when I didn't place it on charge properly and it still lasted fine.

Maybe it's time for an upgrade? The weather info from the built in app is more than I could ever need, I don't know why I would be a subscription.

To give you an idea I put the watch on at 10am, it's now almost 8pm and it's sitting at 78% charge. I haven't used it much today but considering that's with an always on display thats easily readable it's pretty impressive.
 

coffeeplease

macrumors 6502
Sep 28, 2019
458
320
As someone who's first Apple Watch is the Series 6 I can't agree with this. I will use mine actively throughout the day, listen to music while I work out then go to bed with 60% remaining. The battery life on the Series 6 non-cellular has been incredible - especially with it having an always on display. I've gone two full days of use with it once when I didn't place it on charge properly and it still lasted fine.

Maybe it's time for an upgrade? The weather info from the built in app is more than I could ever need, I don't know why I would be a subscription.

To give you an idea I put the watch on at 10am, it's now almost 8pm and it's sitting at 78% charge. I haven't used it much today but considering that's with an always on display thats easily readable it's pretty impressive.
Wow, I didn't know the S6 battery life was that much better than the S5? I'm finding my S5 drop 50% in a 12-hour period.
 

QCassidy352

macrumors G5
Mar 20, 2003
12,016
5,975
Bay Area
Definitely not in the same boat. Started with the 3, then the 5, now the 6 (because I got a good deal, not really an important upgrade from the 5). I think there's maybe one time I ever had to charge any of my watches before bedtime, so battery life is a non-issue to me. And I love being able to leave my phone and still be reachable (I have LTE enabled). It's hard for me to imagine the scenario in which I'd eliminate an Apple Watch from my routine.
 

MayfairMissy

macrumors 6502
Feb 20, 2021
446
1,028
I bought my first Apple watch (series 5) a year ago and really liked it at once. In September I upgraded to the series 6 and sold my series 5 for a really good amount of money. For the series 6 I also found a very good deal on Amazon. So the upgrade turned out to be quite inexpensive. I like the 6 so much more than the 5. My husband kept his series 5 and it's so much slower than my series 6. Also the wifi works better on the 6 and the battery lasts significantly longer. What I really like the most is how quick it gets charged again. On paper these seem like minor improvements but on a daily basis they make life with the watch so much smoother.
 

Robbosan

Suspended
Aug 21, 2020
2,071
1,837
I Like mine for certain uses like walking the dog listening to radio with AirPods. Or calls/messages for work, don’t wear it socially, bit corny and too many others wearing the same these days.
Just bought a new Seiko solar divers watch.
 

xraydoc

macrumors demi-god
Oct 9, 2005
10,305
4,624
192.168.1.1
I've been wearing an Apple Watch since the original one came out. Love it.
I don't stream media from the watch unless I'm outside on a run because I know it uses up a lot of battery juice. If I listen to something during the day, I'll do it from my phone. And when I shower after a workout I drop the watch back on its charger until I get dressed again. But I don't think since the watch was originally released that I've ever run out of battery power during the day. It lasts as long as I need it to, then I charge it while I sleep (I personally don't track my sleep as I don't see the need).
 

Runs For Fun

macrumors 65816
Nov 6, 2017
1,124
2,516
what are the biggest differences you've noticed? I am waiting for the S7. Hope it will have 2 day battery life with everything on
The biggest thing is the performance improvement. It is lightning fast compared to the S3. 5GHz WiFi really speeds things up. The AoD is amazing. Battery life is better. The new sensors for SpO2 is pretty neat.
 
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Mistborn15

macrumors regular
Feb 5, 2021
216
256
The biggest thing is the performance improvement. It is lightning fast compared to the S3. 5GHz WiFi really speeds things up. The AoD is amazing. Battery life is better. The new sensors for SpO2 is pretty neat.
I've never felt my S3 was slow. Guess I'll be blown away with the performance when I upgrade :D

As for this thread's question, the Apple watch has become the center of ecosystem. It unlocks the Mac and I've heard it will unlock the iPhone soon. It is a very capable fitness watch. Actually, every time I am tempted by a Galaxy phone, it is the Apple watch that stops me!
 

utzelu

macrumors member
Sep 10, 2020
71
70
I rotate my AW5 with other mechanical or quartz watches I own, when I feel the need to wear something different. But the AW is on my wrist most of the days. Such a useful tool.
 

PaladinGuy

macrumors 68000
Sep 22, 2014
1,554
990
The biggest thing is the performance improvement. It is lightning fast compared to the S3. 5GHz WiFi really speeds things up. The AoD is amazing. Battery life is better. The new sensors for SpO2 is pretty neat.

I was wondering if the improved WiFi chip made a noticeable difference. I’d love for the battery life to at least return to what I got with the series 3. I easily ended everyday with around 50%, even with exercising daily. I never worried about it running out. With my series 5, if I stream anything for more than a few minutes, it’s unlikely to make it to bed time.
 

TheSkywalker77

macrumors 68030
Sep 9, 2017
2,884
2,756
I’m starting to get tired and annoyed with my Series 3 watch. The pain of updating it, the speed, the lack of modern looking watch faces, and battery life have all made me get frustrated with it from time to time and I really regret not waiting for the SE. I still find it useful and certainly can’t see myself going a day without it, but I probably will upgrade it once it loses software support (which is looking to be watchOS 8).
 

Runs For Fun

macrumors 65816
Nov 6, 2017
1,124
2,516
I’m starting to get tired and annoyed with my Series 3 watch. The pain of updating it, the speed, the lack of modern looking watch faces, and battery life have all made me get frustrated with it from time to time and I really regret not waiting for the SE. I still find it useful and certainly can’t see myself going a day without it, but I probably will upgrade it once it loses software support (which is looking to be watchOS 8).
That’s a big reason I upgraded to the S6 and it was so worth it.
 
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