Apple watch 1yr old now. Pos/Neg experiences from buyers?
Apple watch 1yr old now. Pos/Neg experiences from buyers?
Author
Discussion

RDMcG

Original Poster:

20,901 posts

237 months

Sunday 27th March 2016
quotequote all
It no longer a novelty , but I am curious to find out if it created any addictions, (or the opposite). I use a lot of Apple products, but my watches are largely mechanical and I own no smart watch. I might have bought one if it had been MUCH thinner, but it seemed to have a clunky appearance and I was not too sure of what features I would use.


Not a thread to knock the product, (or to defend it), just trying to understand if it is going to impact the future from people who have had one for a while.

Salesy

850 posts

159 months

Monday 28th March 2016
quotequote all
I was an early adopter, received mine in the last week of April '15. Firstly the size is not too bad ( i have the 42mm) it fits comfortably on my wrist and doesn't look out of place. I was a little sceptical about how much i may use it or not but i can honestly say its been great, not once have i had to reboot it due to it crashing or the like.
I work as an electrician so the watch has the potential to get knocked around so i opted for one of the bumpers to go around it, so far so good as there are only some very minor surface scratches on it. Where this watch comes into its own is for me not to repeatedly have to remove my phone from a pocket whilst up a ladder/down a hole. I can see any important messages or call alerts and deal with them as i wish.
I regularly use the fitness app as well to monitor my daily movements and use Strava for my proper activities, again checking progress without getting my phone out whilst on a run.
The phone side of things is a little gimmicky and can sometimes be hit and miss.

All in all i find it very very useful, others may not. Would i buy it again? Definitely. Is it worth the inflated Apple tax asking price? possibly not, but it has saved my iPhone from becoming battered (even though in a case) so i guess you could argue the cost implication there.


I will be interested to see what the Watch2 looks like and the extra functions will be. They do however need to improve the phone.

272BHP

6,940 posts

266 months

Monday 28th March 2016
quotequote all
Got one for Christmas, liked the notifications for awhile but after a few weeks I just pull the phone out of my pocket as I its easier to read the message/email and certainly easier to reply.

The fitness aspects are an absolute nonsense, completely inaccurate and therefore useless. The fitness software also lacks even basic functionality - people are gathering lots of bad data about themselves with no way to actually analyse it once it is stored.

So in summary, its good for telling the time, but seeing as it needs to be charged every day just to do that then it is a waste of money in its present state.

RDMcG

Original Poster:

20,901 posts

237 months

Monday 28th March 2016
quotequote all
Interesting responses..thanks. I have a feeling that this technology will still be important, but like many such moves, will take a few generations to mature.

Hoofy

80,138 posts

312 months

Monday 28th March 2016
quotequote all
Disappointed to hear the fitness aspect isn't good. Thought Apple would have nailed it?

Eddw86

742 posts

217 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
quotequote all
Bought one after asking a few questions on here. Ended up returning it after a couple of weeks to get my money back.

My thoughts are that its almost there but not quite. Whilst I did like it it needed to be more polished. It's a 3/5 device for me, which isn't good enough given the price premium and the fact it's Apple. However it did make me see the uses of and want a smart watch. I'm keeping a close eye on the Apple Watch 2, and will likely purchase one if it's improved.

It needs to be bigger - by that not necessarily the size but the actual useable screen - the bezel takes away a couple mm which I found very noticeable - always craving a little bit more real estate.

The syncing to phone was great, I liked the notifications but needs more apps to use it - what'sapp to use it properly etc. I didn't find it greatly reduced my phone useage though as the interface between it and the phone needs further work.

I liked the fitness software and found the heart rate close to my Polar chest strap.

The price for the stainless steel one is still too high for me.

Smart watches are going to grow though, and I do miss mine!

jonamv8

3,296 posts

196 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
quotequote all
I got mine early on, liked it but after a while switched off the notifications as they annoyed me. Fitness I'm unsure about.

Quite liked the phone function worked ok for me, great when you'd jumped into someones car without bluetooth and your phone was ringing.

I still wear mine occasionally but had considered selling it.

I bought a sport and then a seperate black SS strap which I had fitted, all in cost me about £30. Looks much better for it

Hoofy

80,138 posts

312 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
quotequote all
jonamv8 said:
after a while switched off the notifications as they annoyed me.
The only notifications I have are texts and missed calls. I used to have a lot more but it really isn't that important. I have largely turned them off on my phone, too. If I get 3 missed calls from the same person I'll know it's important and call them back!

R8Steve

4,150 posts

205 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
quotequote all
jonamv8 said:
I got mine early on, liked it but after a while switched off the notifications as they annoyed me. Fitness I'm unsure about.

Quite liked the phone function worked ok for me, great when you'd jumped into someones car without bluetooth and your phone was ringing.

I still wear mine occasionally but had considered selling it.

I bought a sport and then a seperate black SS strap which I had fitted, all in cost me about £30. Looks much better for it
Where did you get the SS strap from?

dc2rr07

1,238 posts

261 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
quotequote all
272BHP said:
So in summary, its good for telling the time, but seeing as it needs to be charged every day just to do that then it is a waste of money in its present state.
I think this is one of the major stumbling blocks, I would certainly be interested if they could improve the battery life, you can get digital watches that have all manor off functions (I know not like the Apple watch) and manage on a solar powered fuel cell.

otolith

69,373 posts

234 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
quotequote all
I got one for Christmas. I like it. I use the fitness functionality, the ability to quickly see messages on the screen and sometimes to reply using the shortcuts or voice recognition, the ability to control music, the ability to use Siri without taking my phone out of my pocket.

It's disappointing to hear that people think the fitness functionality is unsatisfactory. It looks as if Apple made a lot of effort to validate the device's measurements;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdEBaz-az24

It works well enough for my purposes, though.

Zoon

7,305 posts

151 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
quotequote all
272BHP said:
Got one for Christmas, liked the notifications for awhile but after a few weeks I just pull the phone out of my pocket as I its easier to read the message/email and certainly easier to reply.

The fitness aspects are an absolute nonsense, completely inaccurate and therefore useless. The fitness software also lacks even basic functionality - people are gathering lots of bad data about themselves with no way to actually analyse it once it is stored.

So in summary, its good for telling the time, but seeing as it needs to be charged every day just to do that then it is a waste of money in its present state.
I certainly don't find it easier to get my phone out of my pocket to read a message. I agree with the replying element, assuming you don't use siri which depending on the situation may not be possible.

How do you know the fitness aspects are inaccurate? What basic functionality does it lack?

From the comparative tests that have been done the fitness tracking is as accurate as any other device out there.

I charge mine every couple of days.
And if you want to just tell the time only you can put it in power reserve and it'll last over a week.

otolith

69,373 posts

234 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
quotequote all
Zoon said:
I charge mine every couple of days.
I charge mine every night, but it will usually last two days if I don't.

devnull

3,869 posts

187 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
quotequote all
I wear my AW most days and the stainless model with the stainless band looks quite a timeless design IMHO. However, I forget it runs apps.

I think the only thing i've really found useful with my AW is using the navigation when I am walking to a new client's office in a new city.

The lack or urgency for the watch to load apps essentially killed the concept for many, i feel.

otolith

69,373 posts

234 months

Tuesday 29th March 2016
quotequote all
devnull said:
I think the only thing i've really found useful with my AW is using the navigation when I am walking to a new client's office in a new city.
I've done that too, works well.

272BHP

6,940 posts

266 months

Thursday 31st March 2016
quotequote all
Zoon said:
I certainly don't find it easier to get my phone out of my pocket to read a message. I agree with the replying element, assuming you don't use siri which depending on the situation may not be possible.

How do you know the fitness aspects are inaccurate? What basic functionality does it lack?

From the comparative tests that have been done the fitness tracking is as accurate as any other device out there.

I charge mine every couple of days.
And if you want to just tell the time only you can put it in power reserve and it'll last over a week.
The heart rate monitor lags terribly and is almost always inaccurate. I have been out for a few runs and it hovers around 185bpm when I am barely jogging to nearly 200 when I am at a reasonable pace but still have another couple of gears to go. One day I will see how high I can get it. So for me it is about 30-40bpm over what it should be. It is more accurate with bike riding or jogging on a treadmill but still greys out too much to be of any use.

As accurate as any other device? possibly they are all poop then. If you really need HRM (and hardly anyone does) then it has to be a chest strap properly fitted I feel.




otolith

69,373 posts

234 months

Thursday 31st March 2016
quotequote all
Interesting. I got identical pulse readings from my mum's blood pressure monitor the other day, but that was just resting pulse.