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Impressions After Try On Session

P

pnewelljr

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 31, 2013
85
0
Hey Guys,

Just wanted to share my experience. First, the reps seems like they are just kind of winging it, they of course hadn't seen them before today, but mine was very nice and trying his best.

I went in undecided about the size. I have tiny wrists, but couldn't shake the feeling that the 38mm was "intended" for girls.

After trying both on, 38mm it is. The 42mm didn't look ridiculous, but it went from the top to bottom of the visible part of my wrist, and I prefer a little space. Both felt fine though, and I have very skinny wrists. The rep (a man) actually recommended I get the 38mm before I said anything, so they are obviously not training them to push 42mm on guys and 38mm on girls.

Leather Loop
What a joke. Completely insecure. Even the rep said he would never recommend it. It would be so easy for it to fall off. And the magnet is so weak that you could slide your wrist on a table and it could come undone. Shocked honestly. I suspect many issues in the future with this one. Look was fine, not spectacular.

Modern Buckle
Looks girly. (And I carry a manbag.) I'm sorry, but the buckle is just too big. I tried the navy one. Leather looks and feels kind of cheap for how much they talked it up. A big pain to adjust size and get on and off.

Milanse Loop
Didn't LOVE it, but it is okay for the price. Feels extremely secure, and because of how it attaches, even if the magnet let go it won't fall off. Comfortable.

Metal Link
Feels cheep. Was shocked at how light and cheap it felt for the price they are charging. Almost feels like plastic. Looks nice from a distance and in the case.

Classic Buckle
Not much to say. Normal feeling watch strap, meh quality leather.

Overall the leather quality was meh. I will probably grab the Milanese Loop. Like the look of the Classic Buckle better, but it just felt cheap for the price.
 
I'm only interested in the Leather Loop, and every single other hands on impressions and reviews have said it's very secure, with no chance of it adjusting itself.

Perhaps you tried a faulty one?
 
jabingla2810 said:
I'm only interested in the Leather Loop, and every single other hands on impressions and reviews have said it's very secure, with no chance of it adjusting itself.

Perhaps you tried a faulty one?
Click to expand...

All I'll say, is the rep who I worked with said it was a common sentiment among employees that it sucked. He showed me how it works. The Milanese loop goes through the side of the watch. So even if the magnet fails, the end will catch and it won't fall off.

On the other hand, the leather loop is two separate pieces, so if the magnet were to fail, or you slide it around on your desk in a certain way, it could potentially come undone.

Honestly, I was shocked he so easily said a negative thing about a product he was supposed to be talking up.
 
pnewelljr said:
All I'll say, is the rep who I worked with said it was a common sentiment among employees that it sucked. He showed me how it works. The Milanese loop goes through the side of the watch. So even if the magnet fails, the end will catch and it won't fall off.

On the other hand, the leather loop is two separate pieces, so if the magnet were to fail, or you slide it around on your desk in a certain way, it could potentially come undone.

Honestly, I was shocked he so easily said a negative thing about a product he was supposed to be talking up.
Click to expand...

In my experience magnets don't 'fail'.
 
My experience was a bit different than yours. I felt the 38mm was too small. I really liked the leather loop and thought it fit my wrist the best of all straps. And I thought the stainless bracelet had an ok weight, I suppose it could have been a little heftier but didn't feel cheap to me.
 
I posted in the 42 vs 38 thread a few posts down but I agree that after trying both on, I preferred the 38.

My wrist is ~160mm.

The 42 just felt too big to me.

I really liked the 38mm SS with leather classic buckle combo but an extra 100 for it!!?!? Add to that the 200 for SS over sport, and I really I did not feel it was worth paying $300 extra over the 38 sport.
 
NauticalDan said:
I actually loved the leather loop, and felt it was very secure.

It didn't sound like you liked anything though?
Click to expand...

I preordered with the sports band, which is very nice for what it is. Will probably get the Milanese Loop too but still undecided about that. Maybe my expectations were just too high.
 
I'm shocked you thought the link bracelet felt light / cheap. I had the completely opposite feeling (and I own a number of watches with link bracelets). I thought the heft of it was awesome, the ability to have the clasp be concealed while I was wearing it made it look super slick on my wrist.

Definitely NOT light or cheap.

The leather loop magnet felt study enough for me that as long as I wasn't purposefully brushing it up against something it would stay on. It's a leather loop. Meant to be a more dress style band. The magnet felt plenty strong.

I also have an extremely difficult time believing that you had an Apple employee stating ANYTHING negative about their new flagship product. That truly makes me question your statements and opinions.
 
I too felt the leather loop's magnets were plenty strong. I even mentioned that fact and the store employee and he agreed, then rattled off some number for magnet strength that I didn't recognize.

Anyway... I also made sure to ask how the leather loop connects to the watch, since it just looks like leather at the top. Well, there's a metal connector pin in there with all the strength of every other strap. It's not going to fall out, and the loop isn't going to fall off accidentally.

Just go try it out yourself.
 
I don't agree with the OP like everyone else haha!

I tried on the straps at the apple store today. the leather loop felt very secure. I had to peel it off for it to come loose and stayed very tight even when shaking my arm like crazy. If it were to come off that would be one freak accident.

As for the SS link, i was so highly impressed by its way to remove links so easily and the butterfly clasp. Had good weight. Definitely did not feel cheap. But everyone will have different opinions.
 
the leather loop was the best one i tried one . i even tried it on with the space grey which looks excellent.
 

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angle said:
I'm shocked you thought the link bracelet felt light / cheap. I had the completely opposite feeling (and I own a number of watches with link bracelets). I thought the heft of it was awesome, the ability to have the clasp be concealed while I was wearing it made it look super slick on my wrist.

Definitely NOT light or cheap.

The leather loop magnet felt study enough for me that as long as I wasn't purposefully brushing it up against something it would stay on. It's a leather loop. Meant to be a more dress style band. The magnet felt plenty strong.

I also have an extremely difficult time believing that you had an Apple employee stating ANYTHING negative about their new flagship product. That truly makes me question your statements and opinions.
Click to expand...

I mean believe what you will. Honestly I was shocked too. He actually pointed that out before I even said anything. I walked in planning on liking that one the most. He pointed out about rubbing it and it coming undone.
 
pnewelljr said:
Hey Guys,

Just wanted to share my experience. First, the reps seems like they are just kind of winging it, they of course hadn't seen them before today, but mine was very nice and trying his best.
Click to expand...
I just returned from my try-on also.

My rep seemed to know just about everything. He was clearly an Apple Watch "enthusiast" who has been waiting for the Watch like many of us. He ordered his watch first thing this morning, before he had handled them in person. He told me he had seen all the demo watches, under glass, when he helped close the store last night and they brought out the new demo tables. He didn't actually handle a watch until he came on duty today. He said his whole shift spent about an hour in the back of the store before coming on duty, trying on all the watches and fitting them on each other to get a better feel for the mechanisms. He said they've trained pretty intensively for the past few weeks.

I went in undecided about the size. I have tiny wrists, but couldn't shake the feeling that the 38mm was "intended" for girls.
Click to expand...

I'm a man and I also have VERY small wrists. I decided I could wear either size, but the 42mm looked, and felt, a bit too big. If I buy one, I'll probably buy the 38mm. But I'm not certain.
After trying both on, 38mm it is. The 42mm didn't look ridiculous, but it went from the top to bottom of the visible part of my wrist, and I prefer a little space. Both felt fine though, and I have very skinny wrists. The rep (a man) actually recommended I get the 38mm before I said anything, so they are obviously not training them to push 42mm on guys and 38mm on girls.

Leather Loop
What a joke. Completely insecure. Even the rep said he would never recommend it. It would be so easy for it to fall off. And the magnet is so weak that you could slide your wrist on a table and it could come undone. Shocked honestly. I suspect many issues in the future with this one. Look was fine, not spectacular.
Click to expand...

I had the opposite impression about the magnets. I was able to adjust it anywhere from loose to snug to uncomfortably tight. I shook my arm around pretty vigorously, flexed my hand, etc. I wasn't able to loosen the band at all.

I didn't like the look of the leather loop as much as I expected. The color contrast due to the texture seems more muted in real life than I expected from the pictures. I've seen a few people describe the look as "plasticy", and that seems like a pretty good description to me. It feels like very nice leather, but the appearance is too dull to excite me. I tried the blue one. The black might have looked better, but I didn't try it.

By the way, some people wondered if the end of the leather can pass through the loop. Yes, it can.

We unhooked the band where it connects to the watch. It's not just bare leather where it goes into the watch groove; it has a metal piece attached, so it should hold it's shape. There's a good click when you reattach the band to the watch.
Modern Buckle
Looks girly. (And I carry a manbag.) I'm sorry, but the buckle is just too big. I tried the navy one. Leather looks and feels kind of cheap for how much they talked it up. A big pain to adjust size and get on and off.
Click to expand...

I was also turned off by the large size of the buckle. Or maybe it was just to "loud". I wouldn't wear it.

The mechanism wasn't intuitive on my first (and only) try. After 3 or 4 tries it would probably be ok, but I wasn't interested.
Milanse Loop
Didn't LOVE it, but it is okay for the price. Feels extremely secure, and because of how it attaches, even if the magnet let go it won't fall off. Comfortable.
Click to expand...
I agree. Very comfortable. Very secure. Very good workmanship. I'd probably like a black one better if they offered it.

The end of the mesh band does NOT retract through the loop on this one.

Metal Link
Feels cheep. Was shocked at how light and cheap it felt for the price they are charging. Almost feels like plastic. Looks nice from a distance and in the case.
Click to expand...
Again I disagree with you. I thought the workmanship was excellent, as was the finish. The clasp seemed very precise and sturdy, and THIN. My first impression of the band overall was that it is heavy. But my rep stretched the rules and resized it to fit me. With a few links removed, and the floppiness gone, the weight and balance seemed good. Very good.

I wanted to see and try on the black one, but they didn't have any for trying on. My rep wasn't sure when they will arrive, but expects them eventually.

My one disappointment was the links were a little too ... coarse ... for my taste. That might not be the best word to describe it. I think I'd like it better if the links were about 75% as wide, so there would be more, but slightly smaller, links in the band.

One thing I noticed was that the pictures on Apple's web pages are not accurate. There are more removable links on the try-on band than you see in the web examples. The 38mm band has 5 link-removal buttons on each side, so you can remove 4 links per side, or 8 links total. Unless I miscounted, the 42mm band has 6 link-removal buttons per side, so you can remove a total of 10 links. The rep was nearly certain that these were standard retail configurations, with no extra links installed.

Sport Band
It felt very comfortable. Much softer than the rubber band on my exercise watch. I tried the white one, though I'd probably buy a black one.

Heart Rate Monitor
Alas, none of the try-on watches had real watch software running, only a demo loop. So I couldn't measure my heart rate and compare it to the rate my chest strap was measuring. This is what I expected, but I wore the chest strap monitor just in case I could try on a working watch.

The stand-alone demo watches on the counter seemed to be running more normal software, but the watch back was completely enclosed by the mounting /security hardware. So I couldn't get a measurement with those watches either.
 
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