I got a Solo Loop over the weekend.
Using the print-out measuring tool, putting the wide part right were my watch would be, and wrapping it around my wrist, keeping it tight against my skin without putting any tension on it, I measure right in the middle of an 8 most times (wrist size fluctuation). If I pull the paper tight and put tension on it, I can get to the line between 7 and 8. If I really pull it as tight as I can, I can get to the middle of a 7. My wrist measures about 6 7/8" or 173 mm.
I made a home-brew elastic strap with a couple spare connectors I had so I could experiment. It seems like about 157mm band length was the most comfortable for me. I had seen that the apple size 8 loop is supposedly 155mm, so I thought I'd try it and ordered one when it came available.
Drove up to the apple store. Temperature checks, mask requirements, etc. My wife came with me and had no trouble coming in with me after I checked in. I asked if I could try on some bands and was taken over to that area. They gave me the same sizing tool, except theirs was thin plastic and had sticky on the back of the wide part. Same measurement. The employee said she would bring out 7, 8, and 9. I asked if we could try the braided also and told her we could just look at 7 and 8. My wife (who also has an apple watch) was also able to try on bands with me, though she didn't buy one.
The 8 Solo loop fix exactly as I had expected. Snug, but not too tight. I would be o.k. if it was a mm or 2 bigger, but a size 9 (supposed to be 160mm) would be too big for sure.
The size 8 braided loop was unquestionably too big. I have no idea why apple can't be consistent between materials, or if it has something to do with extra stretch or something, but there was no question that the braided was looser and I need to go down a size. With the 8 braided loop if I held my arm out and rolled my fist from side to side, the watch would flop and shift back and forth.
Impressions of the solo: more comfortable than I was expecting. It doesn't breath, of course, but that's usually not a big deal. It's not as easy to stretch as I had anticipated. From videos it looked like it was really easy to stretch. Like it's elasticity was not very strong or something. It stretches, for sure, but takes a little more force than I anticipated from watching videos. It returns to shape and size pretty reliably. Sometimes if I feel a little claustrophobic with it, I'll give it a good stretch and get maybe an extra mm or 2 out of it, but after a few minutes it's back to original size. I would be fine with a little bit of permanent stretch, but so far haven't gotten it (for anybody who may be counting on that).
