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Falling Out Of Love

RunsForFun said:
How much are you sleeping that you can't hit a 12 hour stand goal? 🤔
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it’s the waking up at 6 am on the weekend that might be an issue. I mean you wake up, you can’t go back to sleep might as well pick up a stand hour. Same can be said if you have a restless night and can’t sleep at all and then you get the 3 and 4 in the morning hours.
 
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I actually switched from Samsung (android) to Apple mostly because the sub par experience with Samsung smart watches and buds amongst other things ( like for instance poor Samsung CPU, GPU and battery performance for the phones they are selling in Europe compared to the Snapdragon variants of the same phones that they sell in USA and other parts of the world) . I my country, although Samsung has a very strong presence, way way stronger than Apple the Samsung Pay did not get implemented to this day and this was a major letdown for me. So the last time I had a iPhone was almost 10 years ago... Iphone 3G.. fun times... and I decided to switch to Apple.... again...

I love Apple Watch, owned and/or tested most what the market offers Apple Watch is hands down the best option in the last 5 years... I guess it's only downside is that the battery last 1 day and due to it's design (no bezels at all) it's display is fully exposed and prone to scratches and bumps (yeah, I know, you can buy the SS version for better resilience) ... Don't get me wrong, I love it's design, I was just stating some facts, things that bother me.

I just made the switch almost 1 year ago and I consider the Apple Watch to be a must have if you own and iPhone and ofc airpods. During this times I worked from home a lot and what I love is that I can set my phone to vibrate and get all my notifications (have so many these days) on my wrist, not bothering the other members of my family that also work from home. I love that I can set reminders from my wrist, that I can take phone calls when I around the house or outside and I either have my hands full or the phone is not in my pocket. Also since I had my Apple Watch I never used any of my cards... always paying with my watch... One thing that I like about the AW6 and found to be a real improvement is the fact that it charges a lot faster compared to AW5...
I don't really care about the new SPo2 feature or the screen that was a little bit brighter or wifi 5ghz (good for speed but useless for a watch, not good for range that I actually need all the time)... I found these improvements to be so mild that I could hardly noticed them in day to day use.

I can't wait for the new watch update so I can finally unlock my phone with the watch when I am outside with my mask on.

Later edit :
I love that I can control my podcasts when I am doing house chores... love the little remote (especially when I have to skip commercials).

I love the silent alarm in the morning ! - HUGE plus for me !
 
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One thing the Galaxy watches lack to this day that's enough to annoy me is a Radio app. On Apple Watch, you can choose from 60s, 70s, or many other curated stations in a tap or voice command. Galaxy Watch has Spotify, but it isn't the same animal at all.

Also, Bixby tends to be a far worse experience than Siri. It's slow, always wants the latest update, and fails for many things especially in noisy areas. Siri seems to work 99%.

I still wish though that some of the watch faces that the Galaxy watch has could be installed. I'd love me some skeuo.

Apple Watch Series 5 and Galaxy Watch 2018 here. Battery life is roughly the same. (1-2 days with AOD on). But the Galaxy Watch already has some scratches and dings and there's beat up marks all over the rotating bezel. Apple watch has one teeny little mark on the bottom and that's it. Screen is still flawless.
 
I've gone from a 38mm SS Series 0, to an 42mm AL Series 3, and a few days ago a 44mm SS Series 5 cellular. I couldn't be happier with my upgrade. The larger screen, faster performance, and AOD really make the watch a more functional tool for my needs. The watch gets me out of staring at my phone, allowing me to be more present. It's also about editing. I don't have every notification and app going to my watch, only a reduced set, those that I need to act on.

I grew increasingly frustrated with the performance of the Series 3, as did the Series 0 before I upgraded. But with each I managed to get ~3 years of service before feeling the need to upgrade.

For me, it's one Apple device I can't see myself without.
 
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For me, the Apple Watch and AirPods are the two things that I actually felt the need to buy in the last two years. Phones seem intent on removing features, making the screen too big, and the UI keeps getting more and more bland.

At least in wearables there's some whiz-bang stuff going on.
 
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Almost was in the same boat with you, until the cellular version came. Love the fact I can leave my "oversized" Xs in the house/car when I lift, walk, shop, and know my movements are being documented and still have everything I need like a phone, text messages, weather or the few other items I use on the iPhone right on my wrist with my S5. With the braided flex band (not Apple's over priced one) it is now perfect for me.
 
How's your battery life on the cellular version? I opted out for two reasons:

1. Not sure how the service/eSIM would work with my carrier (Straight Talk Prepaid)

2. I owned a cellular Samsung Gear S--and turning on cellular made the battery go from a modest 8 hours a day to 1-2 hours maximum doing nothing at all. Was even worse when listening to podcasts. As a result, I often kept my phone near me and disabled cellular. It wasn't very convenient to have a dead watch most of the day just to have my phone left at home.

Not sure if this issue is still a problem with the cellular Apple Watch. Barring compatibility above, I work 9 hours. Sure, I could leave my iPhone at home, but would the watch make 9 hours with some left to spare on cellular? If not, I don't understand the convenience or extra cost of it.
 
nickdalzell1 said:
How's your battery life on the cellular version? I opted out for two reasons:

1. Not sure how the service/eSIM would work with my carrier (Straight Talk Prepaid)

2. I owned a cellular Samsung Gear S--and turning on cellular made the battery go from a modest 8 hours a day to 1-2 hours maximum doing nothing at all. Was even worse when listening to podcasts. As a result, I often kept my phone near me and disabled cellular. It wasn't very convenient to have a dead watch most of the day just to have my phone left at home.

Not sure if this issue is still a problem with the cellular Apple Watch. Barring compatibility above, I work 9 hours. Sure, I could leave my iPhone at home, but would the watch make 9 hours with some left to spare on cellular? If not, I don't understand the convenience or extra cost of it.
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Watch battery is at 40% after 12 hours of a variety of uses during the day, which does include sometimes being connected to my phone on my desk when I work. It has never gone a full day not connected to my phone.
 
Mine (series 5 wifi/gps) comes home from that 9 hour workday with 70% left after having AOD on, music playback most of the day, checking a few texts, using Siri a half dozen times, and dismissing two unknown callers (silence unknown callers does NOT work, Apple).

I charge it every morning around 7-8 AM, and don't charge it until the same time the next day. I somehow don't expect to make it through a work day if I had the cellular version always on cellular. Maybe not as bad as with the Gear S, but not good, either. Seems a lot to pay for just to have some convenience while out grocery shopping for a couple hours, or visiting a grandparent and forgetting your phone...I think the one time the Gear S actually saved my arse was when I had someone send me money via Western Union, and I forgot my phone so I couldn't get the text verification. I had my Gear S on, and turned on cellular to send a text to the person and had them re-send the verification to the watch's phone number. After that I immediately switched cellular off.

If I have to keep it off, I can't properly use it since I'd miss notifications of each SMS or phone call it'd get while off. Kinda defeats the purpose. Only real useful thing I could get out of it was if I wanted to downgrade to an iPhone 3GS and keep my Watch (pair it with my current iPhone 6S first) and that would depend on the cellular model.
 
Yeah at first my 5 had tons of bugs (workout detection broken entirely, ECG doesn't work with my higher than normal heart rate (which is normal for me) and some slower UI performance after running more than 3 apps) but battery life wasn't one of them! It was not even any worse than my Series 3.
 
nickdalzell1 said:
Mine (series 5 wifi/gps) comes home from that 9 hour workday with 70% left after having AOD on, music playback most of the day, checking a few texts, using Siri a half dozen times, and dismissing two unknown callers (silence unknown callers does NOT work, Apple).

I charge it every morning around 7-8 AM, and don't charge it until the same time the next day. I somehow don't expect to make it through a work day if I had the cellular version always on cellular. Maybe not as bad as with the Gear S, but not good, either. Seems a lot to pay for just to have some convenience while out grocery shopping for a couple hours, or visiting a grandparent and forgetting your phone...I think the one time the Gear S actually saved my arse was when I had someone send me money via Western Union, and I forgot my phone so I couldn't get the text verification. I had my Gear S on, and turned on cellular to send a text to the person and had them re-send the verification to the watch's phone number. After that I immediately switched cellular off.

If I have to keep it off, I can't properly use it since I'd miss notifications of each SMS or phone call it'd get while off. Kinda defeats the purpose. Only real useful thing I could get out of it was if I wanted to downgrade to an iPhone 3GS and keep my Watch (pair it with my current iPhone 6S first) and that would depend on the cellular model.
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Yah, it's definitely not for everyone. I'm with those that find the cellular one exceedingly worthwhile, but it sounds like for your use case, you're better off with the GPS Model.
 
I was an early adopter of the Apple Watch with the first gen Sport. I liked it (though never truly 'loved' it) for the first two weeks, then it started to seem like a novelty/gimmick. I didn't really get much use out of it. It was almost like Apple hadn't quite figured out what to do with the watch/was still finding it's niche, and the fact that it wasn't water-proof was a big annoyance at the time. Around a month after purchasing the watch I sold it and got most of my money back. I utterly & completely fell out of love with the original Apple Watch sport in less than a month. It was entirely my fault. I shouldn't have caught 'new Apple productitus' and rushed into getting Gen 1 of a highly experimental new device.

However, I've been watching the Apple Watch from the sidelines as they've iterated and developed it over the past five years. I slowly started appreciating where Apple was going with the watch. It seems to me that Apple have finally 'figured out' the watch and it's uses/niche.

So, after a great deal of debate I decided to buy the 44mm Space Grey Apple Watch SE (GPS) two days ago. I'm overwhelmed with how significant an improvement it is over the original Apple Watch. It's literally night and day. It's FAR more useful and the 50m water-proofing is exactly what I want in a smart watch. I've been using it like crazy over the past 48 hours and am getting way more use than I ever did with the Gen 1 Watch. So, it's taken a while but I'm finally an Apple Watch convert. I've totally fallen in love with my Watch SE. It's become an important addition to my day-to-day life in a way that the Gen 1 never did/could.

So, to all of those on the fence, I'd say that it's absolutely worth getting an Apple Watch (if you have a moderate Apple eco-system). I think you'd be pleasantly surprised at how it'll make your life simpler and more streamlined. Give it a go! You have little to loose as you can always sell it and get a large proportion of your investment back.
 
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Ecosystem lock-in has never made any difference for me since I'm a techno geek and got embedded deep in every one of them, be it Apple, Android, Microsoft, and BlackBerry while it were a thing.

What I keep and use ends up being a matter of 'does it do what I need it to reliably' as well as 'is it enjoyable to use, easy to navigate, and fun?' and of course 'does the OEM not change it unnecessarily without my permission?'

I have simple needs, really. I remember the first Galaxy Gear (bought it) and the first Gear S. I have wanted a smart watch since watching Inspector Gadget and Knight Rider as a kid. I was really late to Apple Watch and part of me is glad I waited that long. Gave it time to mature and be more useful. Although, I wish Glances weren't removed (though Now Playing still exists).
 
pauloregan said:
Is anyone else in the same boat?
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Not at all. I never wore a watch, before this came out ( except for running ).
Now, had just about every version, starting with W0. Have not had cellular yet, that will be on the next one that comes out. I wear this thing about 10 hours a day, to include a run at the last 10 hours. I have no idea what the battery is when I finish my run, rinse it off and put it on the charger. I'll be sure to check it out Monday, after work.
 
Yep, same thing happened this year as every other time I've bought one. It's great for the first few weeks, then I start to get annoyed by the notifications so those go off, then I fall back into my usual lifting routine for which the fitness tracking is mediocre at best so I turn off the activity tracking features, then I eventually find myself getting annoyed by just the presence of it because prior to AW I never wore anything on my wrists. This year was a little different because I got the titanium variant and was more aiming for a fashion accessory vs. fitness tracker but in the end it settled into a bedside drawer just like all of its predecessors.
 
I've had an AW and a Garmin for the past 4 year (now have a FR945 and AW6). I will say as a long time fence sitter, its not definitively greener on either side for me, just different pros and cons.

One thing I learned to enjoy with the Garmin was how 'quiet' it was on the wrist. No notifications buzzing away and a 10 day battery life. It doesnt require a lot of attention and feels more like a traditional watch experience. But still, I am in the Apple ecosystem and there's benefits to being all-in.

I tried the AW with all notifications off & its great. A more peaceful experience with the battery going a full 48hrs. I wish Apple would come out with some lower power mode or something to get 5 days (and make a round version). Then I'd probably get off the fence.
 
TTTedP said:
I've had an AW and a Garmin for the past 4 year (now have a FR945 and AW6). I will say as a long time fence sitter, its not definitively greener on either side for me, just different pros and cons.

One thing I learned to enjoy with the Garmin was how 'quiet' it was on the wrist. No notifications buzzing away and a 10 day battery life. It doesnt require a lot of attention and feels more like a traditional watch experience. But still, I am in the Apple ecosystem and there's benefits to being all-in.

I tried the AW with all notifications off & its great. A more peaceful experience with the battery going a full 48hrs. I wish Apple would come out with some lower power mode or something to get 5 days (and make a round version). Then I'd probably get off the fence.
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What about putting it into Power Reserve over night?

I know, if you're going to do that you may as well charge it, but I'm wondering how much extra time could be squeezed using that approach.
 
TTTedP said:
I've had an AW and a Garmin for the past 4 year (now have a FR945 and AW6). I will say as a long time fence sitter, its not definitively greener on either side for me, just different pros and cons.

One thing I learned to enjoy with the Garmin was how 'quiet' it was on the wrist. No notifications buzzing away and a 10 day battery life. It doesnt require a lot of attention and feels more like a traditional watch experience. But still, I am in the Apple ecosystem and there's benefits to being all-in.
Click to expand...

I've written a couple of long posts on the Garmin site and here comparing the Fenix and the AW6. It always comes out the same, the AW wins on paper, the Fenix wins my heart.

I really like the niche eco-system that the Garmin has. I lost 30 pounds with it. I feel loyalty, but, damn it is hard these days. I opened a ticket with Garmin about my headphones dropping (Air Pods Pro). I was told to wear the watch on my right wrist, so switch it to listen to music. I was told the same with the Marq which I bought and sold almost instantly. Ironically, it does fix the problem, but it's crazy stuff for a $1K watch.

But, it's not even a $1K watch. You need a strap, so toss in another $75 because it's wHR is terrible, and I guess I have to get a different set of headphones, noise canceling, so toss in another $250, and it's not even reliably syncing after the last update. Right now, for my needs, all it has over the AW is battery life, slightly better GPS and the ecosystem. But, WorkOutdoors is in the ballpark, Strong is much better than the Garmin strength app, I can listen to music/podcasts, and the battery while, frankly, pretty bad, is just functional enough. Plus, it can unlock my house, give me the weather (another half-arsed Garmin widget), answer calls, display my reminders, and more.

Garmin keeps adding features but they really need to add a QA team.
 
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About the notifications. I really like that you can customize them to your own needs. Not everything deserves my attention really. And just like with the iPhone you can even use the settings to turn off all notifications while you work out or drive. When I start my workout routine my watch automatically turns off notifications and starts playing a certain music playlist.
 
pauloregan said:
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?
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If you're using S4 it might be that battery needs replacement. It will be a good idea to check your watch battery health.
 
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