Apple Watch - 05/25/15 04:26 PM
Now that I have had it for about a week, I thought I would share my initial impressions of the Apple Watch. Electronically all Apple Watches are the same, the differences in the various models are the case construction (aluminum alloy, stainless steel, rose gold); the face material (specially hardened glass or sapphire crystal); and the watch band material (plastic, stainless steel mesh, classic buckle leather, leather loop, leather modern buckle, stainless steel link bracelet).
WHAT IS THE APPLE WATCH
I think of the Apple Watch as a really cool wearable user interface to the iPhone 5 or later running at least iOS 8. You cannot even setup the watch without resorting to the Watch app on the iPhone, much less use the watch as anything more than a relatively crude digital watch. With the iPhone however the watch becomes an amazing and highly flexible and useful accessory relegating the iPhone to a pocket or purse for most purposes.
BATTERY LIFE
I have heard and read several critiques of the battery life. Apple claims a battery life for the iPhone of 18 hours, but there is a catch to that. Apple's 18 hour life assumes a specific number of different power consuming operations during that 18 hour period. Last night when I put my watch on charge after wearing it for 17½ hours it had over 70% charge remaining. I had talked to Siri, checked the time, checked weather, and responded to a couple of texts but I had not navigated anywhere nor had I used any of the fitness options. One day, It did run down, but it turned out the charger cable was not completed plugged into the power supply so it did not charge. So far I have to say the claim of 18 hour battery life is VERY conservative. Since then I have learned to look for the message on the face that indicates the watch is charging.
USEFULNESS
An amazing number of Apple and third party iPhone apps already interact with the watch. Some of that interaction is minimal and getting everything fully setup requires both the watch and iPhone to accomplish, but it is useful. For example I can use my watch to pay for my Starbucks drink, or anything else that accepts Apple pay and choose the payment method on the fly. Notifications, texts, etc. that might otherwise go unnoticed cause a discreet tap on the wrist that is virtually impossible to miss. I can send email and/or texts from the watch using either canned replies or Siri dictation. In church, at the symphony, or any place else where you don't want to be heard or noticed looking at the iPhone or iPad a discrete glance at the watch will let you determine how critical a notification is and often will enable you to respond without anyone else being aware you are doing it. Some pundits have criticized the depth of the menus but I have not found that off-putting at all.
COMFORT
The Apple Watch with the leather loop band is hands down the most comfortable and most adjustable watch I have ever owned. For optimal usefulness the Apple Watch needs to be fairly fixed on the wrist and not flopping around and the leather loop and milanese loop bands are perfect for this.
LEARNING CURVE
There are a LOT of icons that show up on the watch and learning/remembering which is which is a bit of a challenge. Getting all the apps set up takes time and the "how to" is not always intuitive — especially with some third party apps. I still have a way to go before I consider myself fully cognizant of all the functions and features.
SUMMARY
Admittedly there is a definite air of gadgetry with the Apple Watch — it is unavoidable. But I have always loved good watches and for the last 9 or 10 years I have worn a stainless steel Movado chronograph so it is my standard of comparison for other watches. The Movado with its stainless steel link bracelet weighs in at 234 grams while the Apple Watch with the leather loop band tips the scale at a mere 83 grams and does everything the Movado does plus infinitely more with greater precision and accuracy and costs ⅔ of what the Movado did 10 years ago. Even better, as my eyes age I can quickly choose and customize the face of the Apple Watch to improve both readability and functionality. By that comparison alone I rate the Apple Watch a really good buy and a great watch.
WHAT IS THE APPLE WATCH
I think of the Apple Watch as a really cool wearable user interface to the iPhone 5 or later running at least iOS 8. You cannot even setup the watch without resorting to the Watch app on the iPhone, much less use the watch as anything more than a relatively crude digital watch. With the iPhone however the watch becomes an amazing and highly flexible and useful accessory relegating the iPhone to a pocket or purse for most purposes.
BATTERY LIFE
I have heard and read several critiques of the battery life. Apple claims a battery life for the iPhone of 18 hours, but there is a catch to that. Apple's 18 hour life assumes a specific number of different power consuming operations during that 18 hour period. Last night when I put my watch on charge after wearing it for 17½ hours it had over 70% charge remaining. I had talked to Siri, checked the time, checked weather, and responded to a couple of texts but I had not navigated anywhere nor had I used any of the fitness options. One day, It did run down, but it turned out the charger cable was not completed plugged into the power supply so it did not charge. So far I have to say the claim of 18 hour battery life is VERY conservative. Since then I have learned to look for the message on the face that indicates the watch is charging.
USEFULNESS
An amazing number of Apple and third party iPhone apps already interact with the watch. Some of that interaction is minimal and getting everything fully setup requires both the watch and iPhone to accomplish, but it is useful. For example I can use my watch to pay for my Starbucks drink, or anything else that accepts Apple pay and choose the payment method on the fly. Notifications, texts, etc. that might otherwise go unnoticed cause a discreet tap on the wrist that is virtually impossible to miss. I can send email and/or texts from the watch using either canned replies or Siri dictation. In church, at the symphony, or any place else where you don't want to be heard or noticed looking at the iPhone or iPad a discrete glance at the watch will let you determine how critical a notification is and often will enable you to respond without anyone else being aware you are doing it. Some pundits have criticized the depth of the menus but I have not found that off-putting at all.
COMFORT
The Apple Watch with the leather loop band is hands down the most comfortable and most adjustable watch I have ever owned. For optimal usefulness the Apple Watch needs to be fairly fixed on the wrist and not flopping around and the leather loop and milanese loop bands are perfect for this.
LEARNING CURVE
There are a LOT of icons that show up on the watch and learning/remembering which is which is a bit of a challenge. Getting all the apps set up takes time and the "how to" is not always intuitive — especially with some third party apps. I still have a way to go before I consider myself fully cognizant of all the functions and features.
SUMMARY
Admittedly there is a definite air of gadgetry with the Apple Watch — it is unavoidable. But I have always loved good watches and for the last 9 or 10 years I have worn a stainless steel Movado chronograph so it is my standard of comparison for other watches. The Movado with its stainless steel link bracelet weighs in at 234 grams while the Apple Watch with the leather loop band tips the scale at a mere 83 grams and does everything the Movado does plus infinitely more with greater precision and accuracy and costs ⅔ of what the Movado did 10 years ago. Even better, as my eyes age I can quickly choose and customize the face of the Apple Watch to improve both readability and functionality. By that comparison alone I rate the Apple Watch a really good buy and a great watch.