OCD Overland
Explorer
My wife went to try one on the other day and of course had the opposite reaction. She said even the small one seemed too big for her.
Apple Watch and its competitors
- Thread starter haven
- Start date
Consumer Reports tested 11 smart watches, and liked the Apple Watch best overall. In this news report, they mention scratch resistance and ease of pairing with the iPhone as important advantages. (Unfortunately, you have to subscribe to read the full test results.)
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/...-consumer-reports-smartwatch-tests/index.htm#
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/...-consumer-reports-smartwatch-tests/index.htm#
Cole
Expedition Leader
I've had my 42mm Apple watch for a few days now and thought I would offer a few first hand perspectives.:coffeedrink:
Before I dive into that, I should give a tiny bit of background info here. I've had a top tier Android phone since the original launch day G1 up to the Nexus 5. I finally switched over to an iPhone 6 and have loved the experience. I could give an easy dozen reasons why, but I won't. This is about the watch.
Secondly, I'm a "watch guy" I've got far more money and time into watches than I'd like to admit. I'm seriously afraid that the usefulness of the Apple watch will kill my mechanical watch hobby simply because it takes up the same arm real estate.
I bought the watch becuase I ride motorcycles, mountian bikes, ski, snowboard, hike, haul a toddler everywhere, etc. All activities where my phone is often buried deep inside a backpack or gear pocket where it can't be heard, felt or accessed quickly. When I'm not doing those activities I'm usually doing something that is dangerous to the well being of my phone.(welding,wrenching, carrying stuff, working out, etc) *hands full* type of things that prompt me to set my phone down "in a safe place".
I figured being able to peek at a watch to see if a notification is worth stopping to dig my phone out would be useful. (Pushing up a sleeve on a motorcycle/ski jacket is far easier than stopping to take off a back pack "just to check")
I also figured the health tracking abilities would be useful.
Here is what I have discovered so far in just a few days of use.
-The sleek look and tiny 42mm case are just not my style. Most of my watches are outdoorsy military style and greater than 50mm. So I may stick this thing in a "rugged" case just to give it some much needed bulk and character.
-I have the notifications filtered to just the most needed (texts and certain emails). So far it has been very helpful to quickly reply from the watch. I'm thinking this may extend the life of my phone since it can spend most of its time in a safer place. Not being yanked out of my pocket every 5 minutes.
-I've answered a couple of calls on the watch. This works surprisingly well. I use my speaker phone a lot anyway as my hands are normally full. It was nice to be able to walk around with stuff in my hands and still hve the speaker phone with me.
-Apple pay works awesome when you have a toddler in one hand and groceries in the other! (Why must the toddler always want to be carried over the pocket with the phone in it?)
-I can see being able to control music from the watch while skiing or riding the bike being extremely useful. I had an Android phone killed by rain on a 6 month trip. So now I burry my phones in safer places. Being able to control them with the watch will be a good way to protect the communications device itself(phone)
-The fitness tracking will be nice to follow over time.
-The remote control for the iPhone camera is a useful feature.
-The remote for the Apple TV is also very useful, usually because the toddler has hidden the Apple remote!
Before I dive into that, I should give a tiny bit of background info here. I've had a top tier Android phone since the original launch day G1 up to the Nexus 5. I finally switched over to an iPhone 6 and have loved the experience. I could give an easy dozen reasons why, but I won't. This is about the watch.
Secondly, I'm a "watch guy" I've got far more money and time into watches than I'd like to admit. I'm seriously afraid that the usefulness of the Apple watch will kill my mechanical watch hobby simply because it takes up the same arm real estate.
I bought the watch becuase I ride motorcycles, mountian bikes, ski, snowboard, hike, haul a toddler everywhere, etc. All activities where my phone is often buried deep inside a backpack or gear pocket where it can't be heard, felt or accessed quickly. When I'm not doing those activities I'm usually doing something that is dangerous to the well being of my phone.(welding,wrenching, carrying stuff, working out, etc) *hands full* type of things that prompt me to set my phone down "in a safe place".
I figured being able to peek at a watch to see if a notification is worth stopping to dig my phone out would be useful. (Pushing up a sleeve on a motorcycle/ski jacket is far easier than stopping to take off a back pack "just to check")
I also figured the health tracking abilities would be useful.
Here is what I have discovered so far in just a few days of use.
-The sleek look and tiny 42mm case are just not my style. Most of my watches are outdoorsy military style and greater than 50mm. So I may stick this thing in a "rugged" case just to give it some much needed bulk and character.
-I have the notifications filtered to just the most needed (texts and certain emails). So far it has been very helpful to quickly reply from the watch. I'm thinking this may extend the life of my phone since it can spend most of its time in a safer place. Not being yanked out of my pocket every 5 minutes.
-I've answered a couple of calls on the watch. This works surprisingly well. I use my speaker phone a lot anyway as my hands are normally full. It was nice to be able to walk around with stuff in my hands and still hve the speaker phone with me.
-Apple pay works awesome when you have a toddler in one hand and groceries in the other! (Why must the toddler always want to be carried over the pocket with the phone in it?)
-I can see being able to control music from the watch while skiing or riding the bike being extremely useful. I had an Android phone killed by rain on a 6 month trip. So now I burry my phones in safer places. Being able to control them with the watch will be a good way to protect the communications device itself(phone)
-The fitness tracking will be nice to follow over time.
-The remote control for the iPhone camera is a useful feature.
-The remote for the Apple TV is also very useful, usually because the toddler has hidden the Apple remote!
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Cole
Expedition Leader
Haha:coffeedrink:
I'll be interested to see how it works out long term.
I've been surprised by all the reviews so far. I don't think they are looking at these type of devices in the right light.
I can imagine a dozen good use cases in business too.
Cole
Expedition Leader
Just to add to the post above.
I've worn the watch about 16 hours a day so far and the battery is around 70% when I take it off. So far better than the claims so far.
I've found it incredibly handy for "confirmation" texts. The ones where someone say "I'm on my way" and your only reply is going be a confirmation that you got the info, some thing like "ok". I apparently send more of those than I thought. A quick glance at the wrist and 2 clicks.
I've worn the watch about 16 hours a day so far and the battery is around 70% when I take it off. So far better than the claims so far.
I've found it incredibly handy for "confirmation" texts. The ones where someone say "I'm on my way" and your only reply is going be a confirmation that you got the info, some thing like "ok". I apparently send more of those than I thought. A quick glance at the wrist and 2 clicks.
The I Ching is available for Apple Watch. Here's some background.
http://www.wired.com/2015/05/quest-bring-hippie-mysticism-apple-watch/
And you thought there was no reason to own the Watch!
http://www.wired.com/2015/05/quest-bring-hippie-mysticism-apple-watch/
And you thought there was no reason to own the Watch!