Apple Watch
I have had my Apple Watch for a week now, and wanted to share some first impressions. In no specific order, here is a quick Apple Watch review.
The watch is lighter than expected for the size. I have the 42mm sport version, and while it is larger than a traditional men’s Movada that I have been wearing, it is lighter. It feels natural on the wrist.
I like the sport band, more than I thought I would. Even before I ordered the watch I had already ordered an adapter to use standard bands, but the sport band is very comfortable. The genius part is how it hooks and then tucks under so easily; why no other watch manufacturer ever did this is beyond me, but it is slick.
The battery life is amazing. As I write this I am at 55% at 9:42pm and have been using the watch since about 7:30am. I have done dozens of texts, responded to alerts, took a long walk and use the activity recording features, used it for directions to a client, and even did a phone call with it. When I ordered it, I also ordered a second charge cable, but have not even even worried about it to this point. I have heard of some getting 1.5 days out of it. Why can’t all electronic producers be like Apple and under-promise and over-deliver?
The most handy feature that is making a difference for me is the activity tracking and alerts about progress towards goals. I listened to a podcast that said the watch was not a must have yet, and to wait for version 2 or 3, but that means you would wait 1-2 years or more to get the health benefits. I am not going to live long enough to wait, so let’s get it on now! I tend to look at that little gauge of activity goals and respond with more activity.
Siri works phenomenally well. The Cleveland Cavaliers are in the playoffs, and I wanted to know what time the game was starting. If I were using my phone to check that, I tend to open a web browser and search. But with the watch, there is no web browser. So I just long hold the crown button and it prompts me to speak my command and I say “What time do the Cavs play tonight” and in a moment the answer is displayed with the channel, the series win-loss stats, etc. Perfect.
And finally, the fact that I can just leave my phone in my pocket and still get things done is great – as I mentioned, texting, accepting calendar invites, following somebody on Twitter is all very convenient.
I am liking it.
what is the experience for the max distance you can be away from the phone and still use phone based apps like the golf app?
Hi Scott – I was not able to test this as well until a couple of days ago, it did not show anything on the screen but a logo when I was more than 30 feet from my phone, so this app will not work without the phone being connected actively. I did find that I can do the following without the phone:
Tell you the time
Be a stop watch, timer, etc.
Play music, audibooks, pcodcasts etc that were transferred to it
Record activity (steps, etc. – but no GPS)
Record heart rate
Do Apple Pay transactions, or get into a movie, etc. As long as the ticket was placed in passbook
Conrol an Apple TV
Provide access to any previoulsy sunced data (messages, emails, etc.)
In some respects it reminds me of early Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), when I used to sync my emails, news, music, etc. Using a cable, and then take it with me. Once I read all the news, I wa done for the day until I synced up again. I would create emails, etc. And then they would be sent later that day when I synced.
I suspect Apple made many decisions based on battery life, size, etc. They could have included a cellular antenna, wifi, etc. but did not because it would require more battery and a larger size. There is one Smartwatch that will have it from LG (http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/26/lg-watch-urbane-lte/), something to consider.