A realistic assessment after several days...

[Greg Maass]

For those of you on the fence, or those who are still waiting to receive their watches, here are my experiences and thoughts. Executive summary- good, not great. You'll be happy when you get yours, but will wish you hadn't been as anxious to get yours (and I was as anxious as everyone else.).

I'm a fairly active middle aged guy with a wife and a couple of teenagers.

Activities:

Keeping in touch-Definitely the killer app- having texts come up on your wrist is super handy. Never miss a text, and respond with canned responses or super accurate dictation. Love this.

Gardening- Terrible. With gloves on it is impossible to check the time if the wrist flick doesn't work, Super annoying. At least I could still get texts when they come in.

Biking- Either Runkeeper or the built in calorie counter is wrong- they were very much in disagreement. Also, wearing biking gloves would constantly push and hold the button, causing the power off screen to keep coming on. I will have to adjust my biking gloves. On the plus side, super convenient to be able to read and respond to texts without having to dig out my phone. Also really handy to be able to control my podcasts from my wrist instead of digging out my phone.

Eliptical trainer- not sure how accurate the calorie counter is for this. Really nice to have a heart rate monitor.

Roller blading- Just like biking, super convenient to get texts and control music/podcasts.

Cooking- Nice to not have to dig out my phone and touch it with food covered hands. Setting timers with Siri is super handy, but annoying that you still have to touch your watch to confirm the reminder after Siri sets it up correctly.

Working/General Office- I work at a computer, and use the pomodoro technique for focus/time management. Using the built in timer for this, and really like being able to see the countdowns on my wrist. In general, it is nice to not have to look at my phone during work, and still not miss anything.

Driving/Walking- I like the navigation and taps-pretty slick and well thought out. Useful

I have always worn a watch, and have the Steel version with the sports band.. I definitely notice it more than I did my old Seiko with a metal band, especially when exercising.

Other notifications- once you get this all figured out, and are getting the notifications on your watch instead of your phone, it is really great. I wish that you could reply to emails on the watch, like you can for texts.

Glances are nice in principle, but in practice many of them are too slow to be useful- Dark Sky is the only one I'm using right now.

Reminders- Great to have reminders come up on the watch, but why is there no native Reminders app on the watch? I use reminders for groceries and task management, and it would be so useful to check things off from my watch. I assume this is coming down the road.

I'm keeping mine- the good features that work well are very good and compelling, but everything is not a slam dunk.Some of this is software/hardware related and will improve, but some of it is due to the nature of trying to use a smartwatch for as many things as possible.

 

[kch50428]

Thanks for sharing...

 

[Bigeric23]

Good assessment! Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.

 

[Trees]

Nice assessment. Your activities mirror many of mine. I'm now especially interested in how the bike gloves will play out. For gardening/landscaping, I rarely use gloves, but am looking forward to using the watch while working around outside and in the garage - and not have to carry the phone.

 

[Ledsteplin]

When I was 30, if I could have "dug out" a device like the iPhone from my Pocket, I would have been totally amazed and happy that I didn't have to drive around looking for a pay phone just to make a short call @ .25? a call. (Later .50?). Times sure have changed. Thanks for the review. I hope you get the kinks worked out.


Sent from my ancient but trustworthy iPhone 5. ☮

 

[Jsince80]

I love mine as well and sure it's not perfect but for me as a law enforcement officer and an active guy daily it def helps to not have to take my phone out all the time and honestly it's bought my charge times down. Watch lasts all day and I've yet to drop below 55% battery and I'm only charging my 6 Plus maybe every two to three days which is great

 

[cardfan]

The idea of mixing gadgets with workouts, gardening, or anything that could get it messed up still hasn't registered with me. I guess it's those years of babying smartphones. Hopefully they can bring this durability to iphones and ipads.

 

[Bigeric23]

The idea of mixing gadgets with workouts, gardening, or anything that could get it messed up still hasn't registered with me. I guess it's those years of babying smartphones. Hopefully they can bring this durability to iphones and ipads.

I'm too frightened to use my Apple Watch for questionable tasks. Workouts, yes. Gardening, no. I for one am not going to take those risks.

 

[arin.failing]

One thing to point out, though, is that you CAN, in fact, turn on the Watch screen (and thus check the time) with gloves on by pressing either the side button or Digital Crown. This works even with "Activate on Wrist Raise" turned on.

 

[ela1n3ko]

Thank you for sharing! Very descriptive! I do not have an apple watch but I was anxious about it when it came out. I'm still debating whether I want to purchase it or not.

 

[Bigeric23]

Thank you for sharing! Very descriptive! I do not have an apple watch but I was anxious about it when it came out. I'm still debating whether I want to purchase it or not.

My recommendation: unless you are really a die–hard early adopter, wait until Apple Watch version 2.

 

[cwilliams706]

This is a great, honest assessment. Thank you for sharing! I'm sure it'll assist others with their purchases decisions.

 

[impaler]

My recommendation: unless you are really a die?hard early adopter, wait until Apple Watch version 2.

Have you used one yourself, to be able to make this assessment and recommendation? If so, can you please share your assessment with us? I'm interested in how or why you came to that conclusion.

 

[Just_Me_D]

I don't baby my Watch. I wear it in the same manner I did with the watches I've had before it. I've even helped people unload a couple of trucks while wearing it, and there's not a dent, scrape, scratch or crack anywhere on it. The most I've had to do is clean the bands from dirt, dust and sweat. Furthermore, I do not have a case on it and I will not put a case on it. Why buy the Watch just to end up being afraid to wear it? Maybe my attitude is such because I've worn a watch almost my entire life and this one simply does more than your typical watch, but it's still a watch nonetheless. Anyway, that's my 2?....

 

[Bigeric23]

Have you used one yourself, to be able to make this assessment and recommendation? If so, can you please share your assessment with us? I'm interested in how or why you came to that conclusion.

Yes, I have an Apple Watch Sport (received on day one), and I've had the watch on my wrist all day every day--sans sleeping and showering. I really like the Apple Watch, but it has numerous shortcomings.

The exercise functionality--which I use daily--leaves a lot to be desired. Third-party applications are horrific for the most part, not to say there aren't a few good apps. The navigation on the watch could use some tweaking, too. Without a doubt, it's obvious this is a first-generation product, with all the expected pain and suffering that accompanies such a release.

So . . . if you're like me (a die–hard early adopter with money to burn) it's worth all the hassle; however, if you're the average person, my recommendation would be to wait for version 2.

Disclaimer: I am a huge Apple fan whose family owns four iPhones, four iPads, an Apple TV, one Apple Watch, an iMac, a MacBook Air, and a MacBook Pro. Nevertheless, when it comes to recommending a product to someone else, I have to allow honesty to trump any affinity for Apple.

 

[lv1]

I have been using the watch for over a week and am very satisfied with it's capabilities and do not consider it as a device for early adopters only. I wasn't completely sure before I got it and was prepared to return it. It is an excellent activity tracking device. The heart rate monitor is very accurate. I compared it to the Polar chest strap which I used before and this is within 1-2 BPM when I workout. The other very useful thing is the notifications and glances. It makes you less dependent on the phone or tablet for some things. It allows one to prioritize. I like the fact that it serves as an IPOD and sores some music with no need for the phone to be present. Attached to a bluetooth headset and you have a very small and portable music player. Finally it is a great timepiece that is highly customizable as well as fashionable.

 

[Terb]

Great "realistic assessments" from all above. Not much more to say, except I am keeping my watch also.


Sent from my  iPhone 6 Plus using Tapatalk

 

[Bigeric23]

I have been using the watch for over a week and am very satisfied with it's capabilities and do not consider it as a device for early adopters only. I wasn't completely sure before I got it and was prepared to return it. It is an excellent activity tracking device. The heart rate monitor is very accurate. I compared it to the Polar chest strap which I used before and this is within 1-2 BPM when I workout. The other very useful thing is the notifications and glances. It makes you less dependent on the phone or tablet for some things. It allows one to prioritize. I like the fact that it serves as an IPOD and sores some music with no need for the phone to be present. Attached to a bluetooth headset and you have a very small and portable music player. Finally it is a great timepiece that is highly customizable as well as fashionable.

I completely respect your opinion, and if the watch only cost $200, I would agree with you.

 

[Just_Me_D]

Yes, I have an Apple Watch Sport (received on day one), and I've had the watch on my wrist all day every day--sans sleeping and showering. I really like the Apple Watch, but it has numerous shortcomings.

The exercise functionality--which I use daily--leaves a lot to be desired. Third-party applications are horrific for the most part, not to say there aren't a few good apps. The navigation on the watch could use some tweaking, too. Without a doubt, it's obvious this is a first-generation product, with all the expected pain and suffering that accompanies such a release.

So . . . if you're like me (a die?hard early adopter with money to burn) it's worth all the hassle; however, if you're the average person, my recommendation would be to wait for version 2.

Disclaimer: I am a huge Apple fan whose family owns four iPhones, four iPads, an Apple TV, one Apple Watch, an iMac, a MacBook Air, and a MacBook Pro. Nevertheless, when it comes to recommending a product to someone else, I have to allow honesty to trump any affinity for Apple.

Is it possible that some of the shortcomings you referenced could be remedied with an OS update?

 

[Bigeric23]

Is it possible that some of the shortcomings you referenced could be remedied with an OS update?

I have no doubt that some of my concerns "could" be addressed with an update, but not all of them. Moreover, by the time we see an update, the next Apple Watch will be looming just around the corner. And my crystal ball shows:

A thinner watch with more speed, storage, and improved usability. (Apps will be better by then, too.)

If the Apple Watch cost $200, my thought process would be entirely different.