My experience switching from Apple Watch to a $40 Timex.

[blastair]

I just published this article on Medium that I thought this forum might find interesting.

TLDR: After 6 months of wearing my Apple Watch everyday, I returned to a $40 Timex to see what I would I would miss. It was surprising how much I appreciated some features of a cheap quartz watch, and the experience helped illustrate the comprises of a first-generation device.

I would love to hear any of your thoughts!

 

[Cowboy1629]

Maybe you should post this in a Timex forum.

 

[Newtons Apple]

The Apple Watch is not for everyone. Some will like while others will not.

It is up to the user to decide

 

[blastair]

The Apple Watch is not for everyone. Some will like while others will not.

It is up to the user to decide

The interesting thing is that I actually loved the Apple Watch for much of the time that I wore it. That's one of the reasons that it surprised me how much I enjoyed the experience of returning to a cheap quartz watch.

 

[newtestleper]

You could have charged your watch quite easily while typing all that.

 

[WarHeadz]

Your only legit point on there was the one about not being able to view the time at a glance without flicking your wrist. Other than that, meh.

The point about the scratches and dings is true for any expensive watch compared to a cheap Timex, that shouldn't have even been in the article because it's not specific to the Apple Watch.

As for the charging, never been an issue for me. I don't travel much, and when I do taking an extra wire isn't a big deal, I'm already lugging a phone charger with me. I have one power brick that charges both my iPhone and Watch, no biggie. Battery life is pretty amazing too.

 

[jasie02]

I just published this article on Medium that I thought this forum might find interesting.

TLDR: After 6 months of wearing my Apple Watch everyday, I returned to a $40 Timex to see what I would I would miss. It was surprising how much I appreciated some features of a cheap quartz watch, and the experience helped illustrate the comprises of a first-generation device.

I would love to hear any of your thoughts!

Timex has instand notification and can received message or phone call at the moment, without missing any and without have to hold my iPhone, unlock constantly after it is locked, and stare at it all the time?

 

[blastair]

You could have charged your watch quite easily while typing all that.

Thanks for reading.

Your only legit point on there was the one about not being able to view the time at a glance without flicking your wrist. Other than that, meh.

And the point about the scratches and dings is true for any expensive watch compared to a cheap Timex, that shouldn't have even been in the article because it's not specific to the Apple Watch.

Touche. But I can only write from my own experience, and the Apple Watch is the first expensive watch I've ever purchased. I'd bet that it's the same case for many others.

 

[L.C.W.]

enjoy the Timex. bye

 

[jasie02]

I am pretty sure a lot of people could survive without car (just walk or public transporation), without smartphone (landline), without iPad/laptop (desktop), and without high speed internet (dail-up or library).

But other than $$$, not sure why?

 

[bjet767]

The best part of a cheap quartz watch is...

1. It doesn't matter if someone steals it (of course who would)
2. Who care if the face gets scratched.
3. It tells time ("it takes a licking and keeps on ticking").
4. CraigsList doesn't sell them.
5. ...

 

[jasie02]

The best part of a cheap quartz watch is...

1. It doesn't matter if someone steals it (of course who would)
2. Who care if the face gets scratched.
3. It tells time ("it takes a licking and keeps on ticking").
4. CraigsList doesn't sell them.
5. ...

For me, the only part make sense is cheap.

 

[Mac2me]

Have to say the article was a waste of my time reading, sorry I clicked on the link. I'll probably never understand the underlying reason why we see articles like this or what the motivation to post links here is. So people decide they don't like it. OK, not for everybody, yet I don't see people posting they stopped wearing a certain type of jeans or something like that.

Here's my feedback on the article since I read it.

When I bought my Watch back in April I knew it wasn't always on and still don't see that as a big problem.

Knew about the battery life and with WatchOS 2 it got better and it always got me through my day; and when I brush my teeth each night I set my watch on the recharger so don't see the big deal about that either. At some point you need to recharge digital watches and a set routine assures you won't forget about it and find yourself without battery during the day. To me makes more sense to do it daily than every second or third day or such. And it's not like digital watches, Apple or any other, will ever stay charged like a traditional battery watch because digital watches do so much more than tell the time unless battery technology makes a big leap forward.

Dings and scratches. Well don't know what to say about that. People who buy nice quality things know to expect that and use reasonable care. When the lady hit my car this year, I wasn't happy about it either. Accidents happen; it's part of life. If you are constantly fretting over any marks on your Watch, you really should be wearing a Timex or other disposable watch. I know they sell those Dollar Store rubber band watches that keep time too. With that you'd only lose $1 instead of $40.

Personally I get a lot more pleasure from having my Apple Watch on my wrist than not. And I say this with regard to probably any digital watch out there although I like the Apple offering the best. Love all the extra things it does for me in addition to keeping track of the time. Hope you feel good selling your Watch. Maybe the next owner will enjoy it more than you.

 

[maxsix]

I just published this article on Medium that I thought this forum might find interesting.

TLDR: After 6 months of wearing my Apple Watch everyday, I returned to a $40 Timex to see what I would I would miss. It was surprising how much I appreciated some features of a cheap quartz watch, and the experience helped illustrate the comprises of a first-generation device.

I would love to hear any of your thoughts!

Kudos for a good article.

I bought an Apple Watch and found that it just didn't have anything of benefit for me.

Suunto has been my training / cycling / triathlon competition watch for years. Using the newest AMBIT 3 model, they've got a wonderful web site with mapping, data recording, very well though out by athletes... for athletes. It's a high quality, rugged purpose built watch that's far more accurate than Apple's rather gadget like device.

On one hand Apple Watch is a gadget lovers dream as one can spend hours fiddling with it, but that's just a time waster for me. The alerts and notifications are a real nightmare for those of us that are proactive and used to staying on top of our appointments. Even when only using a few alerts, it's just not my style. So I returned it, happy that Apple has such a great return policy.

 

[blastair]

Have to say the article was a waste of my time reading, sorry I clicked on the link. I'll probably never understand the underlying reason why we see articles like this or what the motivation to post links here is. So people decide they don't like it. OK, not for everybody, yet I don't see people posting they stopped wearing a certain type of jeans or something like that.

Here's my feedback on the article since I read it.

When I bought my Watch back in April I knew it wasn't always on and still don't see that as a big problem.

Knew about the battery life and with WatchOS 2 it got better and it always got me through my day; and when I brush my teeth each night I set my watch on the recharger so don't see the big deal about that either. At some point you need to recharge digital watches and a set routine assures you won't forget about it and find yourself without battery during the day. To me makes more sense to do it daily than every second or third day or such. And it's not like digital watches, Apple or any other, will ever stay charged like a traditional battery watch because digital watches do so much more than tell the time unless battery technology makes a big leap forward.

Dings and scratches. Well don't know what to say about that. People who buy nice quality things know to expect that and use reasonable care. When the lady hit my car this year, I wasn't happy about it either. Accidents happen; it's part of life. If you are constantly fretting over any marks on your Watch, you really should be wearing a Timex or other disposable watch. I know they sell those Dollar Store rubber band watches that keep time too. With that you'd only lose $1 instead of $40.

Personally I get a lot more pleasure from having my Apple Watch on my wrist than not. And I say this with regard to probably any digital watch out there although I like the Apple offering the best. Love all the extra things it does for me in addition to keeping track of the time. Hope you feel good selling your Watch. Maybe the next owner will enjoy it more than you.

I appreciate you taking the time to read the post, and I'm sorry you viewed it as a waste of time. The purpose behind writing it was simply to share my experience in comparing "old" tech with new tech. It was intended as an attack in any sense, and I indeed did love many things about the Apple Watch. I'm glad you are enjoying it.

 

[blastair]

Kudos for a good article.

I bought an Apple Watch and found that it just didn't have anything of benefit for me.

Suunto has been my training / cycling / triathlon competition watch for years. Using the newest AMBIT 3 model, they've got a wonderful web site with mapping, data recording, very well though out by athletes... for athletes. It's a high quality, rugged purpose built watch that's far more accurate than Apple's rather gadget like device.

On one hand it's a gadget lovers dream as one can spend hours fiddling with it, but that's just a time waster for me. The alerts and notifications are a real nightmare for those of us that are proactive and used to staying on top of our appointments. Even when only using a few alerts, it's just not my style. So I returned, happy that Apple has such a great return policy.

Thank you for reading the article— I am glad that you enjoyed it. I'm realizing how honest criticism of Apple can be viewed as a personal attack, which was definitely not my intention.

 

[Newtons Apple]

The interesting thing is that I actually loved the Apple Watch for much of the time that I wore it. That's one of the reasons that it surprised me how much I enjoyed the experience of returning to a cheap quartz watch.

I loved mine, too. I still do but not enough to replace my FitBit which does a far better job at what I need. I was all excited about the health/fitness aspects of the watch, Apple made it sound so good.

Like I said, some will like and other will not.

 

[Night Spring]

The interesting thing is that I actually loved the Apple Watch for much of the time that I wore it. That's one of the reasons that it surprised me how much I enjoyed the experience of returning to a cheap quartz watch.

It is kind of interesting to hear you enjoyed returning to a quartz watch. I have some old quartz watches sitting in my drawer, which would probably work if I replaced their battery. Thing is, ever since I started carrying iPod touch, I've had zero interest in wearing them. I could usually tell the time by pulling out the touch (and later the iPhone), and the times when that wasn't feasible was few and far between. People here talk about the battle between traditional and smartwatches for the wrist space, but for me, the battle was over long ago.

 

[zetaplus93]

I just published this article on Medium that I thought this forum might find interesting.

TLDR: After 6 months of wearing my Apple Watch everyday, I returned to a $40 Timex to see what I would I would miss. It was surprising how much I appreciated some features of a cheap quartz watch, and the experience helped illustrate the comprises of a first-generation device.

I would love to hear any of your thoughts!

Having read the article, was it a combination of issues that you experienced, along with the expectation that future generations of the AW will address many (but not all) of these issues, that led you to sell the AW?

Having been a watch wearer for many years, I've tried going back to my mechanicals, but ended up going back to the AW primarily for the activity rings. So interesting to read about your experiences.

BTW, do you miss the timing capabilities (count down, count up, alarms, etc)? As funny as it may sound, I really missed those rather simple capabilities when I wasn't wearing the AW (I was wearing simple 3-handlers then). A simple digital Timex remedies that, of course, but not quite so good looking as analog watches.

 

[convergent]

The only benefits to the Timex are that its cheap and you don't have to flick your wrist. You didn't really need to write an article to get that... its kind of obvious. I am happy with the Apple Watch and will not be trading it in on a Timex, nor have I felt a desire to go back to my Bulova that I wore before getting it.

 

[Ulenspiegel]

Thank you for reading the article— I am glad that you enjoyed it. I'm realizing how honest criticism of Apple can be viewed as a personal attack, which was definitely not my intention.

It was an interesting read. An opinion. A different one of many.
I like gadgets, but I had the same experience as maxsix. Smartwatches are the future, but the road is long.
You have a point, but as you can see "honest criticism" - as you have put it - of some products can be also valued. As it should be, even in a Macintosh Forum.

 

[blastair]

It is kind of interesting to hear you enjoyed returning to a quartz watch. I have some old quartz watches sitting in my drawer, which would probably work if I replaced their battery. Thing is, ever since I started carrying iPod touch, I've had zero interest in wearing them. I could usually tell the time by pulling out the touch (and later the iPhone), and the times when that wasn't feasible was few and far between. People here talk about the battle between traditional and smartwatches for the wrist space, but for me, the battle was over long ago.

I am actually a recent analog watch convert— until about a two years ago I have only used iPods, phones, etc. to check the time. I started wearing a watch when I was commuting by train, because I didn't want to pull out my iPhone in sketchy situations. The habit stuck for me, but I can understand how many people are fine with using a non-watch device to tell the time.

 

[blastair]

Having read the article, was it a combination of issues that you experienced, along with the expectation that future generations of the AW will address many (but not all) of these issues, that led you to sell the AW?

Having been a watch wearer for many years, I've tried going back to my mechanicals, but ended up going back to the AW primarily for the activity rings. So interesting to read about your experiences.

BTW, do you miss the timing capabilities (count down, count up, alarms, etc)? As funny as it may sound, I really missed those rather simple capabilities when I wasn't wearing the AW (I was wearing simple 3-handlers then). A simple digital Timex remedies that, of course, but not quite so good looking as analog watches.

Yes, part of the reason I sold it was knowing that future generations of the device would alleviate many of the issues that the first-gen device has.

I really liked the fitness capabilities, but I soon ran into the same problem that I've had with past fitness tracking devices (Fuelband and Fitbit). After you wear it for a while, you know what it will take to fulfill each goal. If I went for a bike ride or walk, I would accomplish my Move goal. If I didn't, I wouldn't. So at a certain point, I realized that I didn't really need to wear it to know if I was being active enough. If that makes sense.

I actually almost included that I missed the timer functionality of the AW— it's something that I used quite a bit while cooking. For some reason, though, the transition back to the phone hasn't been too bad with those features.

 

[mchlwise]

It was an interesting read. An opinion. A different one of many.

Yep.

I read it too, and like many others I can see your points but don't agree with them.

The one thing I agree with is that a cheap timex is easier to read the time on. I wish I didn't have to move my wrist to see the time, but occasionally I do.

Charging: not an issue for me. I don't put my watch down just any-old-where. I have had a hard time with misplacing things and I learned to make a home for every thing, then the thing always goes in it's home. My apple watch's home (a spigen stand) happens to have a charger attached to it. NO BIG DEAL to put it down on the charger when I take it off. The additional cord is an additional cord, but not a concern as I don't travel much.

I wore a mechanical watch before the apple watch, and for over 25 years (since I dropped a watch I liked on the tile floor destroying it) I've been very careful with any watch I care about. I'm not more careful with the apple watch than I was with any other watch.

The convenience of notifications on my wrist is one of the things which I like best about it. It reduces the need to take my phone out of my pocket A LOT.

It also tracks my steps, which is a big thing for me. It wouldn't be apple watch vs quartz watch for me, it would be apple watch vs. quartz watch + fitness band, which would have to go on the other wrist.

For me, the positives of the apple watch FAAARRR outweigh any negatives. Barring extended power outage, or going back to a time without electricity or something, I won't be going back to a "dumb" watch.

 

[blastair]

Yep.

I read it too, and like many others I can see your points but don't agree with them.

The one thing I agree with is that a cheap timex is easier to read the time on. I wish I didn't have to move my wrist to see the time, but occasionally I do.

Charging: not an issue for me. I don't put my watch down just any-old-where. I have had a hard time with misplacing things and I learned to make a home for every thing, then the thing always goes in it's home. My apple watch's home (a spigen stand) happens to have a charger attached to it. NO BIG DEAL to put it down on the charger when I take it off. The additional cord is an additional cord, but not a concern as I don't travel much.

I wore a mechanical watch before the apple watch, and for over 25 years (since I dropped a watch I liked on the tile floor destroying it) I've been very careful with any watch I care about. I'm not more careful with the apple watch than I was with any other watch.

The convenience of notifications on my wrist is one of the things which I like best about it. It reduces the need to take my phone out of my pocket A LOT.

It also tracks my steps, which is a big thing for me. It wouldn't be apple watch vs quartz watch for me, it would be apple watch vs. quartz watch + fitness band, which would have to go on the other wrist.

For me, the positives of the apple watch FAAARRR outweigh any negatives. Barring extended power outage, or going back to a time without electricity or something, I won't be going back to a "dumb" watch.

Thanks for your reply and perspective. It's interesting how the Apple Watch is able to be many different things for different people. I am excited to see the future of the platform.