The merged "I returned/sold my Apple Watch because..." thread

[ArizonaKid]

Returned my Apple Watch 42mm sport after 1 week.

Why I purchased the Apple Watch? Because it's Apple and I've used their products for a long time, just checkout my join date which was many years after I started using Apple products.

I wasn't yet sold on the watch from all the reviews, but being Apple I had to know on my own how I would fair.

Reasons that caused me to return:

1. In the end too damn expensive / could not justify the price vs. added benefit and potential 1 year "new technology" shelf life.
   • My iPhone is usually 1-2 feet away from the watch. I'm quicker responding on my phone so 9 times out of 10 the Apple Watch was just notifying me to use my phone.
2. Social distractions - I'm already bad enough with my phone, I found myself ignoring people looking at my watch...and interacting with the watch when executing a task is slower then on my iPhone...so now I'm ignoring people for a longer time.
3. Android Wear simply has better hands free interaction. I could text and respond on Android Wear without touching the watch; however, Apple Watch requires touch confirmations - that was a major annoyance since I was aware how well those interactions worked on Android Wear.
4. Battery Life
   1. Probably won't purchase another smart watch until battery life is 3-4 days. It's not simplifying my life having something extra to charge.

I realize this is a 1.0 product, and for me it certainly felt like it. Features that would make me consider purchasing another Apple Watch would be 3-4 day battery life, price around $250 for 42mm sport, and GPS.

An upside to my experience was that the Apple Watch made me interested again to wear a regular watch. I forgot how useful telling the time is without having to pull out your phone. So after I returned the Apple Watch that cost me over $450, I proceeded to the fossil store and got a much better looking watch for about $165.

 

[steviek]

Hi, first of all let me say that I absolutely love my watch but think I might need to return it.

Reason being I am finding that it's irritating my wrist, the back of the watch is making me itch !

I've tried it looser and it still causes the irritation, has anyone else had this issue ?

Will give it another week or so but how easy is it to return the product ; I only bought it last week

thanks

 

[steviek]

Hi, first of all let me say that I absolutely love my watch but think I might need to return it.

Reason being I am finding that it's irritating my wrist, the back of the watch is making me itch !

I've tried it looser and it still causes the irritation, has anyone else had this issue ?

Will give it another week or so but how easy is it to return the product ; I only bought it last week

thanks

Do I just take my watch back to the store I bought it from and they will refund my card ?

Do I get a full refund on the apple care +

Am in the UK if that makes a difference

Thanks in advance

 

[Imsuperjp]

I returned my apple watch last Sunday after having it for a week. I loved the convenience of not having to carry my phone around the house but could not justify the price tag.

I bought my the watch again last night after missing not having it for a few days. As for the price tag, I've spent more money on less useful things.

 

[PsychOK]

After two weeks with the Apple Watch Sport, it already had a small scratch in the screen. I took very good care of it so this was a bit disappointing. Luckily, the Apple Store today allowed me to return it and upgrade to the Stainless Steel Apple Watch with the sapphire screen. Anyone else getting scratches on their sport?

 

[T-Will]

A couple weeks after I got mine, I noticed 6 or 7 super small scratches on the curved part of the glass, luckily it's only noticeable at certain angles. A little annoying nonetheless, but this is why I bought the "cheapest" Watch.

 

[The Doctor11]

I got a pretty damn big scratch that runs across the right side of the screen

 

[David58117]

I bought a screen protector on day 1 for my sport - works perfectly and I don't even notice it.

 

[wchigo]

I only wore my Sport for I believe just under 2 weeks and luckily I managed to avoid getting any scratches on it. I was pretty careful with it though and I wear a suit at work, so the watch is usually covered under my sleeve whenever I'm not at my desk.

I've switched to the SS model since then and have bumped it into some things here and there and so far it's held up admirably.

 

[Sean006]

I'm returning mine today. Yes it's very useful but price tag and size is a killer for me.

I mean I'm 5'10 230 this thing looks like a tic tac on my arm. It should have been 46 or 48mm maybe next release they will make one bigger.

 

[Lexical]

Its funny as i wrote up a post about 10 days ago saying how impressed i was with the watch. But.... I returned it today.

I came to the conclusion that no matter how much i liked it, its just too much money for what it is. My combo cost me £470 and i just couldn't see how it was worth it. If it was half the cost i probably would have kept it. but to have that thing on your arm which cost almost as much as your phone with 10% of the functionality, seemed pretty silly to me.

I think Apple went a bit far with this product. I needs to be cheaper. A lot cheaper... I don't see why they are charging so much for it. Its not like the Sport is a particularly fancy product.

Also, i don't think it looks that great. I would probably buy a 2nd gen product which is a bit thinner, better designed with maturer software and, hopefully, cheaper.

 

[Lexical]

Also thought it was a bit amusing because the guy who did my return in store said it was the first time they'd had a watch returned and they 'weren't sure how to do it'. What a load of bollocks, bet they've had loads of returns. 'Don't know how to do it' my arse, its like every other product return. Felt like it was a last ditched attempt to get me to keep it.

What a nonce.

 

[Ben_Dover]

Hi, first of all let me say that I absolutely love my watch but think I might need to return it.

Reason being I am finding that it's irritating my wrist, the back of the watch is making me itch !

I've tried it looser and it still causes the irritation, has anyone else had this issue ?

Will give it another week or so but how easy is it to return the product ; I only bought it last week

thanks

Unfortunately for me, it never gotten better after time

 

[terminator-jq]

3 Days with the Apple Watch:

Making the Purchase: I had been working a lot of overtime the past few weeks and I ended up getting a nice sized paycheck that left me with some extra money, so I thought I'd treat myself to something nice for working so hard. It just so happened that on that day, I ended up riding an elevator with a guy who was wearing an Apple Watch. After talking to him for a bit about it, I ended up making an admittedly impulse decision to make an appointment at my local Apple Store and pick one up. Buying an Apple Watch is probably one of the coolest experiences you can have at an Apple store. They really make you feel like your a celebrity picking out some custom high end jewelry. However, it didn't take long for buyers remorse to kick in. Was it really worth spending $400 on this thing?

Friday - Day 1: The design is fantastic! This is Apple engineering at its best. Pairing it with my iPhone was simple and painless and there are already plenty of apps that support it. The OS takes some getting used to but overall its a sweet little device. I found myself staying up late into the night experimenting with all the various features.

Saturday - Day 2: I'm getting more familiar with the OS. For the first time in years, I am no longer taking out my phone just to check the time. In fact, not having to take out my phone as much is one of the best features of the watch. I can see Text, tweets, and who's calling without even touching my phone. The health features are also very cool, I found myself surprised at how many calories I burned in 1 day. I can definitely see this watch motivating people, to get more active. I was also very pleasantly surprised with the battery life. Though it's not as good as it should be, it was definitely better than most reviews would have you believe. After a full day, I still had about 40-50% left.

Sunday - Day 3: I tried taking a call on the watch which worked somewhat well other than the person on the other end having a hard time hearing me. I could feel the sense of nostalgia come in a huge wave. All those years of childhood, playing spy with my friends and siblings and for the first time in my life, I was actually taking to a real person using my watch. How cool is that? I also tried using the watch for GPS directions which worked fantastic. I have no doubt that this will prevent a number of accidents sense taking a glance at your wrist is much faster than taking a glance at your phone. Unfortunately, as I arrived at my destination I felt this odd feeling. I realized that my enthusiasm for the watch was starting to disappear.

Was it the features? No. The Apple Watch has plenty of great features considering its small size. Anyone who expects it to fully replace their iPhone is expecting way too much. At the end of the day, its a companion to your phone, not a replacement.

Was it the style? No. The Apple watch looks great. Sure it's a little thick and the square shape takes some getting used to but for a 1st generation product, this thing is very nice looking. I got a few nice comments on it from various people.

So, if the features are good and the styling is great, why was I loosing motivation? At the end of the day, Apple has created the best smart watch on the market. It stands far above the Android wear watches and Pebble. It's got great software support, a fantastic fit and finish, cool fitness features and it certainly reduces the amount of times you have to pull your phone out of your pocket. However, after 3 days of using it, I just could not justify the $400 price tag. I had little to no sadness in my heart as I repackaged my Apple watch into its box to get returned to the Apple store. If Apple were to drop the price to $250 or $300, I would buy it back in a heartbeat but as of now, the Apple Watch is overpriced and a little overhyped.

Everyone will have to make their own choice and obviously, I can't tell you the value of your money but I urge you to really think about it: is it really worth $400 (plus tax) of your hard earned money to have a device that is really only good for saving you the few seconds that it takes to take your phone out of your pocket?

TLDR:

I had the Apple watch for 3 days, played with all of it's features and found it kinda useful to have around. The Apple Watch is a near perfect device for what it does but there is absolutely no way that it's worth $400.

 

[steviek]

Unfortunately for me, it never gotten better after time

Returned mine; was getting close to the 14 day mark so it had to go, your irritation was way worse than mine though

 

[astoxos]

I returned my apple watch because it didnt make any sense keeping my rolex submariner in the drawer for any kind of smartwatch.

 

[Glideslope]

By this time next year the AW will be relegated to Mac Mini Status. It's an overprice iPhone accessory that was doomed the day it was released. Very poor QC in the march toward that God Given 36-38% Margin.

 

[Night Spring]

I had the Apple watch for 3 days, played with all of it's features and found it kinda useful to have around. The Apple Watch is a near perfect device for what it does but there is absolutely no way that it's worth $400.

On the one hand, I agree that $400 does feel a tad expensive for what it does. On the other hand, does any other product do the same things now for cheaper?

I think the tad overpriced feeling (as well as the actual price) is the price we pay for being early adapters of a new technology. It's just that ever since the square Nano, I've been wanting an Apple smartwatch, and now that it's here, I don't want to wait a day longer, overpriced or not!

 

[JOSEPH99]

i spent $599 for the SS with Sport Band. I also picked up the Milanese and Blue leather loop. So i spent about $1000.

Is this watch worth $1000? No

But I sure am glad to have it! It's a keeper.

 

[astoxos]

i spent $599 for the SS with Sport Band. I also picked up the Milanese and Blue leather loop. So i spent about $1000.

Is this watch worth $1000? No

But I sure am glad to have it! It's a keeper.

Oh God.

 

[iPhysicist]

On the one hand, I agree that $400 does feel a tad expensive for what it does. On the other hand, does any other product do the same things now for cheaper?

I think the tad overpriced feeling (as well as the actual price) is the price we pay for being early adapters of a new technology. It's just that ever since the square Nano, I've been wanting an Apple smartwatch, and now that it's here, I don't want to wait a day longer, overpriced or not!

The iPod nano 6 cost nearly half of what the cheapest apple watch (sport) costs and did next to nothing in comparison. Yet the 'want to be hip' people where all over it as a fashion accessory. And you had to buy that strap separately.
Most of those who are returning their watch(es) where caught by the hype and did not want to buy it in the first place.

 

[burgman]

Oh God.

We won't make fun of you for owning a Rolex, if you actually do

 

[SIR-Blade]

I too have decided to return my watch.

I originally had the Space Grey Sports, but returned that as it looked and felt a bit like a "kids" watch without the steel link, so decided to go for the Space Black, Black Stainless Steel link.

Had it for a week, and find myself "babying" the watch. Always concerned about getting it wet, and knocking into something potentially chipping off the DLC coating.

I'm a user of Casio G-Shock watches, and they sure are tuff, wear em/forget em type of watches, so to be always aware of this £1000 watch on my wrist is unfamiliar to me.

Coupled with the fact that the Haptic engine is noticeably less prominent compared to the sport, and the fitness apps still need a lot of work, I've decided to give this generation a miss.

When they are waterproof, i.e. guaranteed to at least 5ATM, and by then the apps should be a lot more mature, viable apps like the Polar Heart/Flow available for the Apple Watch I'll look into it again.

Shame really as I do like the style and form, but no waterproofing for me is the deal breaker.

 

[astoxos]

We won't make fun of you for owning a Rolex, if you actually do

Why make fun of me? I think we both agree that apple watch doesnt worth $1000.

 

[Night Spring]

When they are waterproof, i.e. guaranteed to at least 5ATM, and by then the apps should be a lot more mature, viable apps like the Polar Heart/Flow available for the Apple Watch I'll look into it again.

Shame really as I do like the style and form, but no waterproofing for me is the deal breaker.

Well, what do you want to do with the watch? It's water resistant, so it's ok to get it wet. Some people even shower with the watch, and some have even gone swimming with it. I personally wouldn't wear it while swimming, but I don't feel the need to worry about it while washing the dishes.