S2->S3 First Impressions

[rstark18]

I picked up a Aluminum S2 last week when they went on sale because I didn't want an LTE watch and I liked the idea of the sapphire back. It was my first AW and honestly I wasn't that impressed. I liked it but everything seemed a little slow to me. I guess I'm used to the iPhone 7 being nice and snappy. I decided to place an order for a S3 and compare the two. If they seemed similar then I'd just keep the S2 and return the S3.

First thing I noticed was the setup. I didn't time it because I assumed it would take an hour or two as my S2 did. It didn't. It was done in maybe ten or fifteen minutes. Now I'm not sure if it's because it was loading a backup instead of setting up as new. Does the load from backup take that much less time?

Next is the UI speed. It is NOTICEABLY much faster. On the S2 when I would swipe watch faces it seemed to lag and sometimes take a few swipes to move to the next face. With the S3 it is super fast and smooth. Opening any app is almost instantaneous.

This is the watch experience I was expecting. I will be returning the S2. I'm disappointed that they went with a composite back but hopefully it wont get scratched up in the two or three years I plan on keeping this.

 

[AppleZombie]

Man, I just bought a Nike Series 2, I am coming from the original AW which is Sllloooooowwww. I might have made a mistake. Was watch OS4 installed?

 

[rstark18]

Man, I just bought a Nike Series 2, I am coming from the original AW which is Sllloooooowwww. I might have made a mistake. Was watch OS4 installed?

Yes I installed wOS4 on the S2 as soon as I got the watch out of the package

 

[paapplefan]

I’m coming from the Nike Gen 2 as well so I’ll add my two cents here. I also noticed the set up and pairing process was pretty quick. I’m on Verizon and the set up was flawless. I took it out for a test drive to walk the dog, leaving my phone behind. With the AirPods it was the experience I wanted as well. Probably the experience Apple imagined when they introduced the original. Using the double tap, it was nice to skip to the next song. I received several text messages no problem. I did notice the watch logged onto one or two public WiFi networks that my phone was familiar with. That really wasn’t an issue as I kept walking. The watch switched back to LTE quickly. So my only complaint is no podcasts - please Apple work on this!

 

[AppleZombie]

So final verdict. Should I return the S2 and just get an S3. The specs should be the same correct? Maybe I didn't pay attention to the specs. I am not trying to get an LTE.

 

[richard371]

Faster operation overall, barometer.

So final verdict. Should I return the S2 and just get an S3. The specs should be the same correct? Maybe I didn't pay attention to the specs. I am not trying to get an LTE.

 

[gorkt]

Paring was much faster and nicer, and swiping between faces is much quicker and more responsive. I haven't tested the LTE yet. I will try it tomorrow.

 

[comptr]

So is Series 3 worth the extra cost of a Series 2 ? Is the series 2 that slow ? I am coming from the Series 0.

 

[rstark18]

As I said in the first post the speed and smoothness is very noticeable. It is worth it to me. I guess it comes down to how much of a discount. For me the discount wasn’t the main reason I initially got the S2, it was the sapphire back. But I’ll deal with the composite back to get the increased performance.

 

[comptr]

As I said in the first post the speed and smoothness is very noticeable. It is worth it to me. I guess it comes down to how much of a discount. For me the discount wasn’t the main reason I initially got the S2, it was the sapphire back. But I’ll deal with the composite back to get the increased performance.

Well a S2 42mm SS with Sport band is down to 500.00 and a S3 42mm SS With sports band is 650, so that is a 150 difference.

 

[rstark18]

Well a S2 42mm SS with Sport band is down to 500.00 and a S3 42mm SS With sports band is 650, so that is a 150 difference.

That does make the decision harder.

 

[comptr]

That does makes the decision harder.

Ya I want to buy the S3 but that price the S2 looks to be a better price.

 

[NotSafeForWork]

So is Series 3 worth the extra cost of a Series 2 ? Is the series 2 that slow ? I am coming from the Series 0.

I have a Day 0 Series 0 (first day delivery of original SS Apple Watch) and today got my first upgrade (a non-LTE Series 3).

It's night and day. Both are on Watch OS4 and the Series 3 is basically instantaneous for everything. Instant screen switching, instant swipe and instant app loading (<1 second versus >4 seconds).

Speaker is much better for phone calls (clearer, louder). Heart rate measurement is much faster. Overall watch is like a whole new experience.

 

[Kronen]

Proud member of the Red Dot Club.

After 24 hours of use, the S3 is noticeably snappier and more responsive than the S2. In fact, because of the speed increase I find that I am more likely to open the apps that I had mostly forgotten and rarely used on my S2.

A very solid upgrade, even from an S2.

 

[tcellguy]

I have an S2 on WatchOS 4 and an S1 that I left on watchos 3 because of the removal of the ability to browse the iPhone music library with the new operating system.

It’s amazing how much faster the S1 seems on OS 3. I feel like OS 4 really downgraded my S2 experience. For example, opening the control center often takes two swipes, and it lags in the middle of coming up. Also the app switching animations are painfully slow. I also have to press the crown several times to get the watch to respond. Finally, just waking the screen to show the time takes at least a full second and sometimes screen doesn’t come on at all. It was working perfectly on WatchOS 3 before I “upgraded.”

Well I have a cellular S3 coming soon so I guess I will be going back to my S1 for a while.

I am surprised by how many people say that watchOS 4 actually improved the speed of their watch. I guess there could be something wrong with mine?

Edit: I just unpaired and re-paired the watch and the performance is much improved. It still feels a bit slower than on watchOS 3, but nowhere near as slow as before I re-paired it. I think something went wrong when I initially updated.