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Who else is still enjoying the S3?

wim.v

wim.v

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 13, 2011
105
47
Reading through the forum, I saw a lot of negative posts about the S3.

I bought mine on launch day (42 mm, space grey aluminum).
Since then, I have worn it every single day. I use it for my daily workouts - runs, walks and bike rides. I'm probably somewhere in between 1500-2000 workouts.

I put the watch around my wrist at 7 am and put it back on its nightstand at 11:30 pm with 70% of its battery charge left. Even after long workouts (1-2 hours). I just checked the battery health of my watch and the health is still at 95%.

I was thinking about upgrading to an S8 this year because of the watch's age and I would love to have a bigger screen, but I'm starting to doubt. The GPS accuracy is spot on and the battery health is still almost as new.

Is anybody else still happy with his / her S3 watch?
 
Me! I sold my Series 4 Alu and bought a Stainless Steel S3. Great watch and looks awesome in SS. My battery health is 92%. Takes the latest updates and works very well.
 
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To be fair, many of the negative posts revolved around a situation where Apple made it almost impossible to upgrade the watch. They fixed that a while back & it's no longer an issue. The other main complaint seems to be the fact that they are still selling it, even though it's several years old & the SE is a much better watch for not too much more $.

I'm wearing a Series 5 now, and I upgraded specifically for the better cellular reception on the 5, but had that not been a feature, I would likely still be wearing my 3. It was my favorite Apple Watch that I've ever had.
 
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wim.v said:
Reading through the forum, I saw a lot of negative posts about the S3.

I bought mine on launch day (42 mm, space grey aluminum).
Since then, I have worn it every single day. I use it for my daily workouts - runs, walks and bike rides. I'm probably somewhere in between 1500-2000 workouts.

I put the watch around my wrist at 7 am and put it back on its nightstand at 11:30 pm with 70% of its battery charge left. Even after long workouts (1-2 hours). I just checked the battery health of my watch and the health is still at 95%.

I was thinking about upgrading to an S8 this year because of the watch's age and I would love to have a bigger screen, but I'm starting to doubt. The GPS accuracy is spot on and the battery health is still almost as new.

Is anybody else still happy with his / her S3 watch?
Click to expand...


16.5 hours from 30% battery utilization after a two hour workout? You must be able to get three days from that if you’re careful. Does it have a micro nuclear reactor in there?
 
How do you check battery health?

I've had mine since it was launched and still wear it all day every day, however I had the first watchOS install issues in a long time with the latest release, and Strava app seems to have stopped working on it recently. So I am less impressed now.

I was thinking to upgrade to an 8, or whatever the more rugged one is, later this year, as I haven't bought any Apple kit this year. However, I have also been looking at the Garmin watches...
 
wim.v said:
On your Apple Watch, go to settings > battery > battery health

I use the Apple workouts app on my watch and the Healthfit app on my phone uploads my workouts to Strava.
Click to expand...
Thanks - I forget about the settings on the watch itself. My battery health is only at 82%.
 
I still "use" my S0 regularly (not going to say I "wear" it, because I wear a regular watch normally). I only need the workout tracking and heart rate features, and when I go out on a run I always have my iPhone on me for GPS tracking on Nike+ and music. So even the S8 wouldn't make a difference to me.
 
My S3 is at 91% and it works fine. I tend to charge it every night, and just leave it on the charger if I sleep in or work at home. I'm sure that anything newer would be faster, but it's the Cellular version and the only install problem I had was with the last update. Something about not being on WiFi, but it eventually resolved itself after a full restart (not reset!). Since I really only use it for a quick glance at notifications to know if I should pick up the phone, it's fine for my purposes. I'm sure it's a setting on the phone, but on weekdays, when I'm at work listening to music from my phone, the watch can drop to 10-20% by bedtime. Weekends, when I don't listen to music on the phone, it's usually in the 60-65% by bedtime. One of these days I'll look into whatever setting I should change, but it's not really bothering me.

Considering I used credit card points to buy it about 5-6 months after launch, it was worth every point. I'll swap it out when it either dies, loses connection to the phone because support finally dropped, or they add something I really, really need on a watch though I can't imagine what that could be. I'm not really an app user. I think I have more browsers downloaded than any other app on the phone. I only have a language learning app and a VOIP app for work otherwise.

I admit I'm probably not a typical iPhone user. I only have it because the VOIP for work was only IOS at the time, and the company bought me a new phone. Sometimes, it's good to be me. OK, just this one time, but I'll take the win!
 
I bought a used cellular 44mm 6 to replace my aging 42mm 3 and honestly, I don't see much value in the added features, and the increase in size is almost too big for my wrist. I like my 3 better.

Most of the bands I bought are 42/44 so even though the smaller size going forward (if I buy another) would probably be better, I feel stuck now with the larger size Apple watch.
 
I have my S3, 42mm, cellular edition Nike. It's the first Apple Watch I purchased. I got it a year ago, from a well known used electronics store in Bangkok for about $100 from a guy who had no idea what he was selling :O . Still works good for me.
 
I have a 42mm S3 with Cell (only used cell for a month or so then cancelled as always have my phone nearby). Battery at 93%. I see no reason to update until the glucose monitoring is an option
 
I wouldn't say I enjoy it, but I wear a S3 on my right wrist and a S4 on my left and I find the S4 better in every single way. When I get a new one I'll transfer the S4 to right wrist duty and retire the Nike S3.
 
Jack Neill said:
I wouldn't say I enjoy it, but I wear a S3 on my right wrist and a S4 on my left and I find the S4 better in every single way. When I get a new one I'll transfer the S4 to right wrist duty and retire the Nike S3.
Click to expand...

Why would you wear the S3 if you have the S4 on the other wrist?
 
I got my S3 used from a friend. It's been great with daily wear and a hour long run (plus music) nearly every day. Slower than the S7's I've seen, so I'll upgrade at some point, but otherwise very solid.

And 99% battery health here. Usually down to about 10-20% by the end of the day.
 
I had an S3 - 42mm SS ... it replaced my S0. I remember being thrilled about how responsive the watch was, compared to the S0. But then I got an S4 the next year because I wanted the rounded bezels and the new watch faces. To me, that felt like a pretty substantial upgrade.
 
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