Thoughts after a few months’ use

[Bodhitree]

So I got my Apple Watch Series 8 towards the end of last year, and have been using it off and on in that time. The main things I have found it useful for were these…

* heart health monitoring: with the right watch face you can see a graph of your heart rates during the day, you can use the ECG to do spot checks, you can monitor your performance during workouts. All good stuff.
* notifications on wrist: it can be nice to be immediately notified of incoming texts, although answering them from the watch is a chore and I often found myself going to my iphone
* as a watch: I spend so much time on my ipad and iphone that I’m usually aware of the time from just glancing in the top-left corner, I refer to the weather forecast once a day, and most of the remaining complications don’t add much, but when wearing it I do glance at it occasionally

Other notes:

* fitness tracking and closing the rings: I found myself largely getting annoyed by this after an early burst of enthusiasm
* unnecessary functionality: it seems to be able to do lots of things I don’t need
* the pleasure of wearing a watch: I noticed I take more pleasure in my Junghans solar powered watch than in the Apple Watch, I think of it more as a gadget than as a watch
* charging: its awkward to charge it every night

On the whole, I don’t think Apple made the right choices with the Watch. It needed a much longer battery life, it probably needed a different screen technology, and it could have done a lot less. I feel a more minimalist device would have felt more like a watch, and less like a gadget. In the end the device they made established its own category of devices, but for me its largely superfluous. I got this device as a gift, and I don’t think I will be upgrading it, and although it has been useful for taking a look at my health it hasn’t told me much that I didn’t already know.

 

[the future]

On the whole, I don’t think Apple made the right choices with the Watch.

The market has spoken and completely disagrees with you.

If it‘s not for you, it‘s not for you. But Apple obviously made the right choices in order to become the biggest watch company in the world.

 

[Monkswhiskers]

It's not for everybody. That said, I never wore a watch for 30yrs until I bought my AW3. I bought it to replace my ageing Garmin 310XT for sports tracking and never intended to wear it full time, in the end it got me!

 

[jz0309]

ok, so you tried it and don't really like it. that's totally fine.
there are plenty of threads already on the first page of this forum already that tell us why some people like and others dislike the AW, to each their own.
Apple certainly is the leader in this market segment and thus far has made all the right decisions.

 

[BlackBun]

I bought 4,5,6,7,8 & now Ultra for the activity thing. Wouldn’t be without it. I didn’t buy it to check emails or messages or even whatever. Suits my needs perfectly.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Your review largely tracks with my Apple Watch experiences

It ultimately led me to a Garmin I'm quite happy with (Instinct Crossover Solar)

Battery life and simply not having to think about it more than about once a week or so (sometimes much longer depending upon how much fitness tracking) completely changes my happiness factor with this type of device.

All the AW's seem to just do too much and take too much charging (for me)

 

[Bodhitree]

My gut feeling says there is a better product yet to be made in this space. Steve Jobs’ approach was not to throw a lot of features at a product and see what proves popular, he believed in ‘making something wonderful’ and then putting it out there. The Apple Watch, after 8 iterations, looks to me like they are still adding more features but they are losing sight of what a watch is, and it doesn’t feel magical or transformative. Just my 2c.

 

[akash.nu]

My gut feeling says there is a better product yet to be made in this space. Steve Jobs’ approach was not to throw a lot of features at a product and see what proves popular, he believed in ‘making something wonderful’ and then putting it out there. The Apple Watch, after 8 iterations, looks to me like they are still adding more features but they are losing sight of what a watch is, and it doesn’t feel magical or transformative. Just my 2c.

I genuinely think that apple in general doesn’t follow the whole, what Steve would do - approach anymore. He’s been dead for years now.

 

[the future]

My gut feeling says there is a better product yet to be made in this space. (…) The Apple Watch, after 8 iterations, looks to me like they are still adding more features but they are losing sight of what a watch is, and it doesn’t feel magical or transformative. Just my 2c.

I’m sorry, but you are in a tiny minority with your opinion/feelings. The features that you call „unnecessary“ are essential for other people. FWIW most folks lament that Apple is adding not enough new features to new Watch versions. Also, you can turn off many of the things that seem to annoy you.

Actually, it is the strength of the Watch that it has so many functions that add up. Not everyone needs/uses every single one of them, but that‘s ok. Maybe you should just accept that the Watch is not just a watch, but a computer on the wrist, with all the variety of usefulness that this entails.

 

[xDKP]

I’m sorry, but you are in a tiny minority with your opinion/feelings. The features that you call „unnecessary“ are essential for other people. FWIW most folks lament that Apple is adding not enough new features to new Watch versions. Also, you can turn off many of the things that seem to annoy you.

Actually, it is the strength of the Watch that it has so many functions that add up. Not everyone needs/uses every single one of them, but that‘s ok. Maybe you should just accept that the Watch is not just a watch, but a computer on the wrist, with all the variety of usefulness that this entails.

Completely with you here - I bought the original version because of curiosity and later fell in love with it as a fitness/running watch from the GPS-equipped S2.

From there on I have completely loved the fact that it actually does more. The running aspect is still insanely cool, but having weather, iMessage, incoming calls etc. directly available let's me leave the phone for hours I would not do otherwise.

Quite surprised to see a thread like this at the moment in time. The watch is not for everyone at all, but it's evolved to an amazing personal device, with software way better than what it has been initially for the first couple of generations.

For many, I think the key might be to adjust the incoming push-notifications on the watch a LOT before using it. All of your phones push-notifications doesn't need to go to your watch at all. Select the most important and leave the rest phone-only.

 

[TheJackal]

@Bodhitree

I understand your sentiment as I myself went through a similar experience although I've learnt to use a few more features to make it worthwhile and fit in with my routine:

• Integration with home automation (Home Assistant)
• HR monitor for a Cycling app (no native cycling in Apple Watch)
• Phone calls from your wrist (useful when taking care of kids and your phone isn't to hand)
• Charging every evening - fast charging is really a plus here

I will say that I don't agree with the level of praise that suggests the Apple Watch is the best thing since [insert your favourite thing here] or the pushback you're getting. The Apple Watch has its flaws and I seem to find from speaking (outside of forums) to other people that they've sort of forced the "features" into their life instead of making them fit their needs. I've focused on doing the latter.

I took the plunge and went from a non-Apple smartwatch (Amazfit GTS3) to an S8 Apple Watch. Is it that much better that the previous smartwatch for what I use it for? Sorry to disappoint but no it's not. Would I move back? No, I've learnt to use some additional features (see above) which I would then miss.

Worst thing about Apple Watch? Rubbish sleep monitoring. It only works during the "sleep" period you define. So if you take a nap or decide to go to bed earlier/later, you really have to remember to manually activate Sleep focus mode. This is a good example of having to force a feature into your routine. Most other smartwatches will detect when you fall asleep and log that sleep data. The purists might argue that the Apple Watch is far more accurate than anything else and that's why Apple don't auto-detect. I say: sub-par for the price and inconvenience!

 

[Bodhitree]

I took the plunge and went from a non-Apple smartwatch (Amazfit GTS3) to an S8 Apple Watch. Is it that much better that the previous smartwatch for what I use it for? Sorry to disappoint but no it's not. Would I move back? No, I've learnt to use some additional features (see above) which I would then miss.

I came from a Xiaomi Mi Band 5, and the AW has far superior accuracy for the heart rate tracking, which is basically what I got it for. I’ve found the AW useful from time to time, especially when I went on a hiking holiday, but it hasn’t been able to overcome my dislike for wearing watches full-time. Still I expect to keep it and use it when the need arises.

 

[Apple_Robert]

So I got my Apple Watch Series 8 towards the end of last year, and have been using it off and on in that time. The main things I have found it useful for were these…

* heart health monitoring: with the right watch face you can see a graph of your heart rates during the day, you can use the ECG to do spot checks, you can monitor your performance during workouts. All good stuff.
* notifications on wrist: it can be nice to be immediately notified of incoming texts, although answering them from the watch is a chore and I often found myself going to my iphone
* as a watch: I spend so much time on my ipad and iphone that I’m usually aware of the time from just glancing in the top-left corner, I refer to the weather forecast once a day, and most of the remaining complications don’t add much, but when wearing it I do glance at it occasionally

Other notes:

* fitness tracking and closing the rings: I found myself largely getting annoyed by this after an early burst of enthusiasm
* unnecessary functionality: it seems to be able to do lots of things I don’t need
* the pleasure of wearing a watch: I noticed I take more pleasure in my Junghans solar powered watch than in the Apple Watch, I think of it more as a gadget than as a watch
* charging: its awkward to charge it every night

On the whole, I don’t think Apple made the right choices with the Watch. It needed a much longer battery life, it probably needed a different screen technology, and it could have done a lot less. I feel a more minimalist device would have felt more like a watch, and less like a gadget. In the end the device they made established its own category of devices, but for me its largely superfluous. I got this device as a gift, and I don’t think I will be upgrading it, and although it has been useful for taking a look at my health it hasn’t told me much that I didn’t already know.

Sounds like you made an unnecessary “got caught up in tech forum hype “ purchase and now making excuses. Many on that forum have fallen victim.

Not sure why you felt the need to make announcement about it.

 

[Bodhitree]

Sounds like you made an unnecessary “got caught up in tech forum hype “ purchase and now making excuses.

Many on that forum have fallen victim.

Not sure why you felt the need to make announcement about it.

I received it as a gift for my 50th birthday. I tend to post up reviews of all my tech purchases, not all here, especially when my thoughts are a little different from the mainstream. I’m sure someone will find it useful.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I’ve been wearing mine for 6 years now and it does everything I need. I not buy the aluminium Watch variant though as I don’t think the product is worth more than that to be honest.

The AW isn’t for everybody though and most if my friends still wear expensive mechanicals as do I from time to time.

 

[the future]

The running aspect is still insanely cool, but having weather, iMessage, incoming calls etc. directly available let's me leave the phone for hours I would not do otherwise.

This is a thing many people don‘t understand. If you curate the Watch settings carefully to your own needs, it helps to spend less time with a phone/tablet. It‘s a kind of digital detox device then while still being connected in case of emergencys etc.

I will say that I don't agree with the level of praise that suggests the Apple Watch is the best thing since [insert your favourite thing here] .

For many of its functions, it absolutely is. The thing is regularly literally saving lives. Can‘t say that about many other “gadgets“, can you?

The Apple Watch has its flaws and I seem to find from speaking (outside of forums) to other people that they've sort of forced the "features" into their life instead of making them fit their needs. I've focused on doing the latter.

What „forces“ them? I‘m hard pressed thinking of a feature you can‘t turn off if you don‘t want it.

Worst thing about Apple Watch? Rubbish sleep monitoring. It only works during the "sleep" period you define. So if you take a nap or decide to go to bed earlier/later, you really have to remember to manually activate Sleep focus mode. This is a good example of having to force a feature into your routine. Most other smartwatches will detect when you fall asleep and log that sleep data. The purists might argue that the Apple Watch is far more accurate than anything else and that's why Apple don't auto-detect. I say: sub-par for the price and inconvenience!

Sorry, but you are wrong. The Watch hardware absolutely can automatically detect when you fall asleep, it‘s just that Apple‘s first-party software was implemented differently. Many of us used sleep-tracking before it was „built-in“ and other apps work exactly as you describe, e.g. Auto Sleep.

 

[TheJackal]

For many of its functions, it absolutely is. The thing is regularly literally saving lives. Can‘t say that about many other “gadgets“, can you?

I'm not questioning its health related functions, it does combine a number of them into a single package but, to myself, that doesn't make it the best thing since whatever. Also there are a number of life saving gadgets on the market that also save lives.

What „forces“ them? I‘m hard pressed thinking of a feature you can‘t turn off if you don‘t want it.

No idea what truly forces them, from conversations I've felt there's a need to justify the price with "look at what I can do on my watch", maybe a bit of Apple hysteria in the mix. Don't really care to be honest, to each his own!

Sorry, but you are wrong. The Watch hardware absolutely can automatically detect when you fall asleep, it‘s just that Apple‘s first-party software was implemented differently. Many of us used sleep-tracking before it was „built-in“ and other apps work exactly as you describe, e.g. Auto Sleep.

The Apple Watch is the sum of both its hardware and software capabilities. I am aware that there are other (freemium) sleep apps out there that can do what WatchOS doesn't out of the box but you seem to have missed my point, the way Apple have chosen to implement it in software (out of the box) forces you to follow the regimented / manual sleep tracking enablement pattern. Again, for my own use-case and having come from an auto-sleep tracking reality, this is sub-par.

 

[the future]

the way Apple have chosen to implement it in software (out of the box) forces you to follow the regimented / manual sleep tracking enablement pattern.

But no-one „forces“ you to use the Apple sleep tracking app, just use another.

I personally now do use the Apple one, and it really isn’t a problem to enable sleep mode manually if you don‘t want to put in a schedule. It‘s literally one swipe and one tap.

 

[ndouglas]

I received it as a gift for my 50th birthday. I tend to post up reviews of all my tech purchases, not all here, especially when my thoughts are a little different from the mainstream. I’m sure someone will find it useful.

I enjoyed your review, I don’t know why many seem personally offended or indignant about it. To each their own but don’t worry about the naysayers… thank you for posting the review!

Also, semi-off-topic, I am interested in the Junghans watches now that you mentioned them and I looked them up out of curiosity. Nice looking devices and I’ve often wanted a solar powered watch. I might be in a small minority but I wish their advertised “radio-powered” feature was actually an FM radio capability… it seems not… but that* would be a super useful feature for me, to be able to listen to the radio via watch and some Airpods or similar headphones.
…
And I’m very much not a “Steve Jobs would…” person, but since you mentioned him, I bet he’d appreciate the elegance of the look of the Junghans models.

 

[TechnoMonk]

@Bodhitree

I understand your sentiment as I myself went through a similar experience although I've learnt to use a few more features to make it worthwhile and fit in with my routine:

• Integration with home automation (Home Assistant)
• HR monitor for a Cycling app (no native cycling in Apple Watch)
• Phone calls from your wrist (useful when taking care of kids and your phone isn't to hand)
• Charging every evening - fast charging is really a plus here

I will say that I don't agree with the level of praise that suggests the Apple Watch is the best thing since [insert your favourite thing here] or the pushback you're getting. The Apple Watch has its flaws and I seem to find from speaking (outside of forums) to other people that they've sort of forced the "features" into their life instead of making them fit their needs. I've focused on doing the latter.

I took the plunge and went from a non-Apple smartwatch (Amazfit GTS3) to an S8 Apple Watch. Is it that much better that the previous smartwatch for what I use it for? Sorry to disappoint but no it's not. Would I move back? No, I've learnt to use some additional features (see above) which I would then miss.

Worst thing about Apple Watch? Rubbish sleep monitoring. It only works during the "sleep" period you define. So if you take a nap or decide to go to bed earlier/later, you really have to remember to manually activate Sleep focus mode. This is a good example of having to force a feature into your routine. Most other smartwatches will detect when you fall asleep and log that sleep data. The purists might argue that the Apple Watch is far more accurate than anything else and that's why Apple don't auto-detect. I say: sub-par for the price and inconvenience!

Did you just make up the detecting sleep problems for AW? I use Auto sleep. It autodetects when I am sleeping, and when I am awake. Pretty accurate compared to a sleep study I did recently. It automatically captures any naps during the day.

 

[TechnoMonk]

So I got my Apple Watch Series 8 towards the end of last year, and have been using it off and on in that time. The main things I have found it useful for were these…

* heart health monitoring: with the right watch face you can see a graph of your heart rates during the day, you can use the ECG to do spot checks, you can monitor your performance during workouts. All good stuff.
* notifications on wrist: it can be nice to be immediately notified of incoming texts, although answering them from the watch is a chore and I often found myself going to my iphone
* as a watch: I spend so much time on my ipad and iphone that I’m usually aware of the time from just glancing in the top-left corner, I refer to the weather forecast once a day, and most of the remaining complications don’t add much, but when wearing it I do glance at it occasionally

Other notes:

* fitness tracking and closing the rings: I found myself largely getting annoyed by this after an early burst of enthusiasm
* unnecessary functionality: it seems to be able to do lots of things I don’t need
* the pleasure of wearing a watch: I noticed I take more pleasure in my Junghans solar powered watch than in the Apple Watch, I think of it more as a gadget than as a watch
* charging: its awkward to charge it every night

On the whole, I don’t think Apple made the right choices with the Watch. It needed a much longer battery life, it probably needed a different screen technology, and it could have done a lot less. I feel a more minimalist device would have felt more like a watch, and less like a gadget. In the end the device they made established its own category of devices, but for me its largely superfluous. I got this device as a gift, and I don’t think I will be upgrading it, and although it has been useful for taking a look at my health it hasn’t told me much that I didn’t already know.

Sell it on eBay. Looks like AW isn’t for you. Wear what makes you happy.

 

[ForkHandles]

Apple watch is a great fitness tracker. If it wasn’t for this feature I would feel similarly to you about the device, does loads but not useful to me.

I run and cycle and the watch keeps track of this very well. As I enjoy listening to music the headphone integration makes it invaluable, allowing me to leave my iPhone at home. And I still have Apple Pay

My high end Garmin watch has been consigned to a drawer as although it is a superior training watch it is lesser match to my lifestyle.

 

[Bodhitree]

I enjoyed your review, I don’t know why many seem personally offended or indignant about it. To each their own but don’t worry about the naysayers… thank you for posting the review!

Also, semi-off-topic, I am interested in the Junghans watches now that you mentioned them and I looked them up out of curiosity. Nice looking devices and I’ve often wanted a solar powered watch.

Thank you. Yes I recall buying the Junghans watch because it seemed to be the perfect combination od durability and precision. It has understated looks, tells accurate time synced to the Atomic clocks, it is entirely solar powered, can last up to 30 days on battery without sunlight, and is made of titanium with sapphire quartz glass. It’s super low maintenance and does what it does perfectly.

Maybe the Apple Watch will grow on me, once I’ve configured it a bit more.

 

[the future]

I enjoyed your review, I don’t know why many seem personally offended or indignant about it.

Please quote one post where the poster was „personally offended“. If you post your opinion in a forum, you have to expect that some folks will (respectfully) disagree; nothing else happened here.

 

[BanjoDudeAhoy]

All fair, albeit (of course) subjective points from OP.

Personally, I love my AW 6. I was worried I’d ignore the health/fitness stuff after a week but ever since I got it I’ve become a lot more active and I will go for a walk/run/cycle if I haven’t closed my rings.
The gamification is great imo.
Since my partner got hers, we’re either doing stuff together or compete against one another.
And my screen time on my phone has decreased a good bit as well.

So yeah, sounds like it’s just not the thing for you, OP. Nothing wrong with that, though.