Reply With Quotecue "its a watch"/"its not a watch" scrap.
I notice a couple of these have hit SC already, so clearly there are some owners here. I'm curious how people are finding them, now they've had a chance to live with them for a bit. Has owning one changed your preconceptions, for better or worse?
cue "its a watch"/"its not a watch" scrap.
Frankly, not interested in that sort of BS as it's been done to death already. Just looking for honest opinions from those that have given it a go and either liked it, or didn't, for whatever their own reasons may be.Originally Posted by tekbow
My stainless steel, 42mm on leather strap arrived a couple of weeks ago. I use it while cycling to run Strava and give me mileage and speed. I use it in the gym connected to Bluetooth headphones so I don't need to take the phone for music. At work I get email notifications and at leisure it's great for text messaging. The variety of customisable faces keeps things interesting. Being lazy I enjoyed the way it automatically changed the time when travelling on holiday. Interestingly hardly anyone notices or comments on it, so it's certainly not bling. I was talking to a fellow cyclist last week and failed to notice that he was wearing one. Not everything works perfectly, but I give it a definite thumbs up.
So it works as a standalone iPod without needing an iPhone? I was not aware of that (albeit I'd have expected it, had it not been for the whole "it needs an iPhone" thing). Quite handy, as long as you're only using it for a short burst like at the gym, given the limited battery life.
I've got the 42mm on milanese and have used it for a day. Finding it a very enjoyable toy. Love being able to sneakily check messages while in meetings.
It's size obviously means its got a limited capacity battery, but it's so quick to charge back up I haven't found it a problem.
Only downside is I don't like the attention from wearing a new product and hide it under my shirt cuff as much as possible to avoid repetitive chat about it!
I sold my 38mm Sport and have a 42mm Apple Watch on Milanese coming tomorrow
Excellent bit of kit.
I heard there is a shortage for the Apple care replacement's with a waiting list till Christmas. Not sure how true it was but the watch was dropped by someone wanting to photo it and the owner hadn't had it long. This was in the US.
Definitely wouldn't buy one without giving it a whirl first. Some interesting points to think about.
Im definitely going to have one, what I've seen has been all good.
I may wait a few months for initial teething problems to hopefully subside.
Thread seems to be wandering slightly off-topic again. Still interested in more opinions from anyone that's actually owned an Apple Watch.
Its a thread on a public forum man. People will air their views
That as may be, but I asked a specific question. The other views have been repeated ad nauseum.
Hopefully including people who can answer the OP's question :-)
Mine was returned; faulty notification engine; allegedly running at circa 20% returns for faults
Mine arrived this week, and I am distinctly unimpressed so far, for the following reasons:
1) The battery life is awful
2) Actually telling the time seems very hit and miss, with a variety of hand gestures required to get the time to display.
3) If your iPhone is out of range, you get a red icon of a phone with a line through it on the face of the dial, which completely ruins the aesthetics of whatever dial you happen to have chosen.
4) The touch screen seems very hit and miss, to say the least
As for the OP"s questions, I was a 5 out of 10 on the scale of enthusiasm for them. I'm a massive Apple and tech fan in general, but had reservations about how useful a smart watch would be, and I'm afraid my suspicions mostly seem to have been confirmed. And I have to say that as an actual piece of kit for telling the time, it's bloody awful.I'm going to persevere with it for the fitness element, but other than that I think it's fairly pointless.
The sports strap is nice though.
I got one yesterday, mainly for the gym but also because I like new gadgets...
Very impressed with it. So easy to see who it is calling/messaging without looking for your phone.
Re the above poster... Telling the time couldn't be easier! Mine shows the time whenever I look at the watch. It only needs moving slightly forwards and the screen lights up. Very easy IMO.
I got one at the weekend and I've got to say I think its quite good.
I'm not expecting much out the battery tbh,the first day I was fiddling with it all day and by the time I'd got home it was on 20%, today it's still on 44% with normal use. Speed is ok all functions work ok.
Only downside is that you can't reply by typing on a text, you can either reply with a prefilled or by talking to it. Apart from that it's cool.
Each to their own.
Last edited by Franky Four Fingers; 24th June 2015 at 20:28.
Good thread, nice to hear that some are giving it a go, I'm more of an android user and have recently started looking at android smartwatch options, if you don't try how are you ever going to know.
Last edited by number2; 24th June 2015 at 23:47.
Please can someone enlighten me - what can the apple watch do when you do not have your iphone with you?
Thanks
Watch, timer, play music, view pictures, health app still works, and I'm sure a few other things I've not found out yet. There is however an update coming out soon apprently which gives the watch greater connectivity without the iPhone. Not sure what exactly but the sales chap was chatting about it at the weekend.
It'll be able to connect to wifi networks etc to update weather apps etc.
Is anyone finding they are quite buggy?
I've just spent 48 hours on a business trip with two Apple watch wearers. One couldn't answer a call via his - queue much banging of finger on screen and everyone laughing as he became more and more frustrated each time someone called and the answer button wouldn't work. The other person could answer calls but his watch threw up errors of its own - loss of functions mainly.
I don't want one but had I, the last 48 hours would have caused me serious doubt had I wanted to scratch the itch.
The ideal watch for idiots who must have the latest kit no matter how crap and pointless it is
I bought one last Wednesday, returned it Friday.
The main reasons being, it wouldn't get much if any wrist time and I didn't like how the time wasn't always on display.
Last edited by -Ally-; 24th June 2015 at 20:47.
You know what, I think you're right. I just had to have one because I wanted the latest kit. Sad I know but heyThe ideal watch for idiots who must have the latest kit no matter how crap and pointless it is
if it's facing away from you why have it on display, surely you could say the same for a normal watch?
I'm still not sure what it does over and above an iphone. How hard would it really have been to make it with an eco-drive style solar panel, and G-shock WR and iron out the bugs a low rent QC before bringing it to market?
Do you think a solar/ kinetic set up would be enough for what it does, I don't think it would probably keep it charged enough. With regards to what it does.My opinion is that it's just an extension of your iPhone, last night I was out tidying the garden but left my iPhone in the house it was pretty cool to chat with my brother on the watch. My mate text me later which was also replied to on the watch. It is what it is.....a techy gimmick which I'm sure will be common place in several years.
Last edited by Franky Four Fingers; 24th June 2015 at 21:24.
I've had my Apple Watch Sport for 9 days now. I bought it as a spur of the moment thing after receiving an email from Apple saying they were available to reserve. I checked and s Sport with blue strap was available at the Apple Store 10 minutes from my house. I reserved one and picked it up 45 minutes later when the shop opened. I also bought a black sport strap.
My main reason for buying it was using it as an activity tracker. My Fitbit One had just died and I was looking to replace that. I've heard very good things about the activity tracking of the watch so went for it. Since getting it I started a diet and have been trying to fill all the activity rings each day. As someone who leads a sedentary life working at a desk all day, this is a really good thing. The measurement of steps and heart rate work well. I've also found the notifications work really well too. When I set the watch up I only enabled a handful of the notifications on it, the really important ones to me. That has worked very well. I've only enabled 5 glances. This has meant I am getting excellent battery life. I put it on when I wake up at around 7am and take it off at around 11pm. The lowest the battery has been is 20%. Yesterday it was 50% at the end of the day.
I am very happy with the watch so far. I am looking forward to the release of watchOS 2 in September when native apps will be supported. This will speed up the loading time of the apps I use. The main ones are:
Dark Sky
Weather Pro
Overcast (podcast app)
Duo Mobile
Slack
Zoneplayer (for Sonos control)
I don't use the apps much though. I let the watch keep me updated with things rather than go into the watch and actively use it.
Using them at work as we're helping develop apps for some clients (or potential apps)....it's....okay. I was firmly in the "waste of space/pointless" camp but after playing with one for about 8 weeks now I can see some definite upsides. Not enough however to warrant me getting one.
I'll try and not go down the route of explaining what we're trying to do for clients but right now, it's a device with fairly limited use that I'm not convinced justifies the cost. Some things - bluetooth headphones for music, health apps are all perfect, highly useful but more a case of doing a couple of things very well vs a health only strap. I've not played enough with other smart watches to know if this is anything they can't do.
The 'iphone out of range' red line, as someone already mentioned, seems to be a massive UX/design balls up that I'm sure they'll fix somehow.
The battery life is pretty poor but it does charge quickly. For the apps we're looking to develop for clients that's a bit of a problem as certain functions seem to drain the life out of the watch (we're trying to do financial/banking apps). Noticed that the battery life is also very up and down, lacks consistency in use.
Notifications are still pretty hit and miss. Some seem to work but working on our project we're finding that trying to notify without it cramming a small piece of real estate is a big challenge.
The swiping/User interface things takes more time getting used to that it really should. Possibly due to it being first gen but I expected it to be easier to use that it was - possibly more my fault than the watch.
So overall, decent high-quality piece of kit but I'd wait it out until the second gen comes along and it's usefulness factor increases. By then, the notification and app design issues should be smoothed out and then it really can be a useful piece of kit that almost replaces your phone.
I have had a number of customers who have them. First thing i asked is if it was broken/damaged who you buy another the response from them was a universal no! Which kinda surprised me. I thought also the 42mm version seems awfully small on a mans wrist. I think they look kinda camp too.
Like i said before i am not totally negative on smartwatches.
I worked on some parts that live inside. I'm not going into details as they're incredibly touchy about it. Suffice to say I really want it to fly off the shelves. But.....
....I always questioned 'why' - what's it for?
You need to get your phone out do to anything meaningful - it's hardly a task to check who's contacting you, to warrant a purchase and enable a wrist glance. I'm still able to check my phone's display easily enough.
Regarding activity tracking and fitness in general: There's an app for that, plus numerous 10 quid wrist bands. It doesn't need a watch.
But then again....
I have had a 42mm pace Grey Sport for a week now and I will post some thoughts. As a bit of background I suppose you would call me a bit of a Techie, I have owned the major types of Smartphones and I have recently built my own liquid cooled, 8 core gaming computer when I couldn't find one in a store powerful or fast enough. I have my Apple Watch paired with a iPhone 6 Plus. I wear it on the opposite wrist that I wear my regular watch on and I will probably always wear both simultaneously.
1. I have found battery life to me very adequate, and it never has been below 45% at the end of the day, it charges quickly.
2. The aluminum Sport model with the rubber strap is extremely comfortable and light.
3. Retina screen is outstanding even when viewing my (much smaller) photos on it and readable in direct sun.
4. Easy to wear on either wrist as orientation of display can be reversed.
5. Taptic "nudge" the watch gives you on message or notification is quite unique, not really a vibration, just a gentle tap.
6. Apple Pay works seamlessly with it, just activate and hold watch near reader, Taptic notification tells you it worked.
7. With my prepaid coffee shop (Starbucks) card, it senses I'm in the shop and pulls up my card for wrist payment automatically.
8. If you remove watch from wrist, heartbeat sensor notices and locks watch requiring pass code, nice security feature.
9. Excellent for texting with programmed and custom responses and very good voice-to-text capability.
10. Very good for notifications, emails and news or weather bulletins and is completely customizable to fit needs.
11. Siri works well for calls, messaging, Nav or general information without having to go to phone.
12. Watch faces very customizable, I prefer data like weather, sunset time, battery life, as well as day, date and stopwatch.
13. "Glances" put all your favorite apps a swipe away, like fitness, stock market, CNN, calendar, maps, etc.
14. Camera app allows for remote control operation of the iPhone's camera.
Plenty of other things I like about it as well and hope this was useful for those interested.
Dave
Adding to what Dave said, another reason I bought one is that Apple Pay is launching in the UK in July.
Great posts above guys. Thanks for taking the time.
Apple Pay went live this morning. I now have two Nationwide cards added to on my 6 Plus and Watch. Hopefully my main card providers will support it soon too.
I bought a 38mm Sport, but returned it after nearly 2 weeks. For me, it just didn't seem to give a £300 benefit to life.
Pros
Love the design and well put together with quality materials.
Really discrete notifications and ability to read messages in meetings.
Stopped me missing calls and texts when my phones still on silent and I'm on the factory floor.
Maps on your watch, although small are pretty handy when on foot looking for somewhere.
Superb range of customisable watch faces that simultaneously display handy info.
Cons
Have to rotate wrist to uncomfortable position to activate screen. Found myself gripping it with my other hand and spinning it on my wrist.
Limited functionality in real world use. Have to use phone to reply to messages so creates a double faff situation.
Slightly awkward OS, but did get used to it.
Paranoid about scratching Ion X glass.
Slow to load up maps.
I'll likely buy another one of the first gen when they're reduced in price. Think I'd prefer stainless though to get the sapphire crystal. Software will be better by then too.
Last edited by MartC; 15th July 2015 at 07:01.
I don't have one (or any Apple product) but having seen one on the wrist of a (female) colleague I can acknowledge that it continues the Apple trait of being very well styled. It might be well-designed too but I couldn't comment on that having never actually used one.
Used Apple Pay on mine yesterday. Slick. Effortless. Brilliant. The long awaited "killer app"?
Going on the Internet rumours that the watch has been a flop in sales from Apple, then you would hope to see a price drop but they won't do that. Shame as I would like to try one but not at the prices they are selling for...
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