I felt the same. I had my original Apple Watch since it’s launch back in 2015. I was immensely excited, and wore it almost everyday over that summer. However, I continually found myself turning to my fenix 3, and the love affair soon started to dwindle. I did continue to use it, but probably not as much as I had initially anticipated. Sure it was a nice enough watch, but I often found it slow and lacking in features.
For the past 6 months I've been using the Garmin forerunner 935 as both my daily and sports watch, wearing it pretty much 24/7. At this point, I really had not used my AW in months. Then after watching the WWDC Keynote by Apple in June 2017, I took notice of how far along the Apple Watch had come, and with the promise of Watch OS4 on the horizon, I began to pay interest once more. Roll on to the September Keynote, Apple finally unveiled the Apple Watch Series 3.
I have now had the Series 3 for one week, and have been using it every day since then. In short, it is brilliant. Here are some of the features I have found to be most compelling over the original Apple Watch.
-Watch OS4. Arguably, the biggest overhaul. The new OS makes the Apple Watch much more intuitive to navigate and use. Easily selecting options from the dock, using Apple Pay and changing Watch faces is a breeze now.
-Apple Pay. This is the first time I have started to use Apple Pay on my watch. Double clicking the dock button brings up the option, and I cannot believe I had been missing out on this. I’ve only used in a handful of times, but it has been incredibly convenient in comparison to pulling my phone out to pay.
-Siri voiceover. Now Siri can audibly respond from the Apple Watch. Previously, there would just be a typed response.
-More intuitive watch faces. The Siri watch face is particularly useful, as displayed information continually changes throughout the day.
-Faster to respond to messages.
-Water-resistant to 50m. The original Apple Watch was ‘splash proof’ and I had no problems washing my hands with it. I probably won’t be taking a swim or shower with it, but it is good to know that the option is there.
-Much improved battery life. I used to get barely a day of battery life with my original Apple Watch, and with users with users reporting an even bigger drain since upgrading to Watch OS4. The Series 3 easily gets me through the day. I could potentially stretch it to almost 2 days with my use. I charge mine every evening, and still have just over 50% when I do so.
-GPS capabilities. This is something that is useful for maps, which are much faster now, too. It also means that the Apple Watch can be used for sporting activities without tethering to your iPhone, which brings me to my next point below.
One thing the AW cannot do is replace my Garmin for running. It just doesn't have the data, metrics and battery life I use and need.
So rambled on a bit here, but I think that the Series 3 is (conclusively) a HUGE upgrade. Definitely got me back into the AW camp and arguably what it should have been from the beginning. But we all here know how Apple work...