GPS or Cellular?

[MattTatt]

Has anyone ever tried cellular when traveling to Europe and staying for a while?

If I buy an AW with cellular in the US, and I travel to Europe, is there anything that prevents me from activating a cellular plan for the AW with an EU carrier once there?

 

[GIZBUG]

Basically 50/50 on those who purchase GPS vs Cellular. Interesting.

 

[nill1234]

Has anyone ever tried cellular when traveling to Europe and staying for a while?

If I buy an AW with cellular in the US, and I travel to Europe, is there anything that prevents me from activating a cellular plan for the AW with an EU carrier once there?

Just deactivate, delete the sim in the AW.

 

[KittyKatta]

Cellular is good if you plan on passing it down to your kids for that Family Watch thing. But for me, I have cellular but dont use it because all my jogging checkpoints are Pokemon Go stops.

 

[Cnasty]

He may not be in the water. I took "pool work" to mean cleaning pools, repairing pools etc. but who knows 🤔

You are a correct. A bit of all of that including inside the pool which makes sense regarding connection and all of that.

I just dont want to have to get up to my phone to change a song or when relaxing in the pool I can change a playlist with my watch or something.

 

[DontGetTheCheese]

The problem with cellular is that a lot of phone plans don't work with it, so you have to buy the more expensive "real" plans from the major carriers. So, along with enough taxes and BS fees (because US carriers always drop made up fees on everything these days) to make it cost $15.00/mo, you wind up having to drop another $30ish dollars / mo to upgrade your plan if you are on one of the cheaper cash plans.

Basically, you can have enough extra cost attached to it that it doubles the price of the watch in a year.

If you can actually get a $10/mo plan, that costs in that ballpark, I think it might be useful.

 

[deeddawg]

You are a correct. A bit of all of that including inside the pool which makes sense regarding connection and all of that.

I just dont want to have to get up to my phone to change a song or when relaxing in the pool I can change a playlist with my watch or something.

Ah, okay, I was thinking pool workouts - as in swimming, thus the watch being submerged much of the time.

If your phone is in range of the watch, you can change songs/playlists/volume all from the watch, doesn't matter if it's LTE or not. Cellular only comes into play where the phone is somewhere else and you've bluetooth-paired the speaker to the watch. I have my running headphones paired to my watch, and leave my phone behind.

 

[Koshkaboo]

I have the cellular and find it helpful. For example, the time I left my phone somewhere else I was able to call the place and have them hold the phone for me to pick up. Or, just not having to take the phone into the gym or some other places. Right now I am at home most of them time though so that is less helpful. Still it is worth the extra $10 a month for it (and extra cost for the cellular model).

 

[Soordhin]

No choice on the titanium one anyway, but i do use the call feature sometimes when i'm out and don't want to carry my phone. No idea about spotify, but apple music and even stuff from my iphone library gets streamed to my watch as long as both have an internet connection. And of course podcasts work great, they do stream as well.

Had an accident with my road bike last year on a short 100k ride and the watch recognized the fall and i had the ambulance there just a few moments later. Nothing serious in the end, but worth the cell feature for me.

 

[deeddawg]

Most users on here save money going GPS? Or is cellular the new popular option?

As you by now no doubt can tell, which is appropriate to a person depends greatly on their individual situation.

The nice thing is, unless you’re on a payment plan with the carrier, cellular service is a month by month item and you were not locked in. That makes more of a difference for the stainless and titanium watches which all have cellular, but even with a aluminum watch emergency capability is a nice to have. Whether it’s worth the price difference is an individual decision.

 

[kycophpd]

I loved cellular when I worked in a large building before I retired. I would routinely leave my phone in my office if I had to run out to handle something or see someone for a minute. It allowed me to keep getting calls and messages, which occasionally were important calls. Since I retired and only work part time, I got rid of the cellular plan but still bought the cellular model this time just in case. I will not be activating it when I get it as the FirstNet plan charges $25 for a wearable which is outrageous.

 

[tlnargi]

there was at least this one story of someone calling 911 on the watch.

Woman shares story of paddle boarding with Apple Watch - 9to5Mac

This week, a woman from Massachusetts has shared a unique story of how the Apple Watch saved her life while paddle boarding off the Nahant Beach

9to5mac.com

I regularly do stuff outdoors, like hike and kayak, and while I would normally have my phone, you can't count on that. So calling 911 on the watch is a key feature for me; saving my life once is worth the price. I don't plan to activate cellular and didn't with my S3.

Let’s say I go this route and get the cellular for possible 911 calls, but not activate it. Does it destroy battery life for something I probably rarely use?

 

[Robbosan]

I prefer cellular only $5AUD a month here.

 

[Significant1]

Let’s say I go this route and get the cellular for possible 911 calls, but not activate it. Does it destroy battery life for something I probably rarely use?

No. LTE modern is not powered on till needed, so same battery life as gps till then.

 

[HazyCloud]

I have purchased cellular since it was released and will continue to do so. I feel much better knowing I have a device that I can always communicate with as a backup. Phones can go flying if involved in a car accident, you could break it while away from home, it could be stolen, you could have a major fall and not be near your phone, the list goes on and on.

How many times have I used since it launched with the Series 3? Maybe 5 times total. Still totally worth the peace of mind. To me, the monthly cellular fee is just another thing added to the “I’ll always pay this” list like insurance, cell phone bill, and Apple Music.

 

[Zealgr]

I have cellular series 3, but since it is not working in Greece, I am going for the GPS series 6.
When (if..) in the future I can use the cellular, it would definitely be my first choice.