I want to know if gps or heart rate monitor accuracy is improved. On a 5 mile run my watch is off by 0.2 miles. The sampling rate is too slow and the watch is probably not really ready (satellite-wise) at the start of workouts. Similarly, I get dropouts in heart rate when go go back and look at workouts. To keep me off of Garmins I would like to see these become priorities.
The specialized Garmins do work better as run trackers than the generalized AppleWatch -- at least the high end versions do. That's to be expected. The Garmins are limited to just doing a single, narrow task well -- and they do.
But, I run 5 days a week and experience NONE of the complaints you list for the AppleWatch. None.
Particularly laughable is your contention that it's "not really ready (satellite-wise) at the start of workouts". Reality is quite the opposite: Even from the Gen0, the AppleWatch was ready to go immediately at the start of a run while the Garmin owners are standing around holding their wrists in the air waiting for a signal.
If you're satisfied spending $600 for a specialized product that's only good for a single, narrow purpose then go for it. But don't make up stuff about the AppleWatch.
I want to know if gps or heart rate monitor accuracy is improved. On a 5 mile run my watch is off by 0.2 miles. The sampling rate is too slow and the watch is probably not really ready (satellite-wise) at the start of workouts. Similarly, I get dropouts in heart rate when go go back and look at workouts. To keep me off of Garmins I would like to see these become priorities.
A lot of people have tested the Apple Watch vs other wrist worn heart rate monitors and they're essentially identical to the best of class (as good as Garmins).
They're not as good as those you strap around your chest though.
As for GPS the delay in acquiring satellite is I think to prevent too much battery usage.
DC Rainmaker had a lot of comments in his review of the 3 (go to his web site).
Once it has acquired the satellite, the 3 it's essentially as good as any other top end watches.
Not sure if they've changed it for the 4; probably would be more a software change than hardware.
As for being off, how did you measure it? On a track.
That's the only way to be sure of distance and even then you'd be off by a few as much as a 20 meters depending if you ran on the inside vs outside of the first lane the whole way for those 20 loops.
Well said -- except the part about the GPS signal. I'm up and running with the touch of a screen while my Garmin wearing buddies are standing around waiting for a GPS signal.
That goes all the way back to the Gen0 where Apple original advertised how, unlike its Garmin competitors, it was ready to go immediately without waiting. They didn't say how they pulled that off. But, now we (probably) know: it learns your running style, pace and such from each run and can estimate your pace and distance without a GPS signal when needed. It's not perfect -- I find its estimates to be off by a few percentage points no matter how fast I'm running. Over a 5 mile distance it can make a difference. But, in the few minutes till the GPS gets fully sync'd to the satellites its plenty accurate enough
I like the rectangular design, but it’s interesting that some of the new watch faces are circular. I wonder if that’s setting the stage for a circular design (in addition to rectangular) in the future?
Apple has definitely put an emphasis on circular designs since the beginning. By rounding the corners of not only the active display area, as well as broadened them on the physical case, they have pushed the Series 4 much more toward a circle than before. Add to the fact that they have increased the physical watch in size from 40mm-44mm, they are now much more in line with the round Android watches currently on the market which range between 42mm-46mm, there isn't quite as much advantage to the smaller dimension Series 0 which they originally introduced. The 38mm in particular was a breakthrough for people with small wrists who previously didn't have many options in smart watches, but Apple has started to leave that advantage behind with the Series 4. They have however, increased the active display area to approximate that offered by existing round watches, like the Huawei 42mm Watch.
By rounding the corners, Apple has more or less set the stage for an easy transition to a round design as you suggest, by creating a platform where developers are keeping their screen layout within round-friendly constraints. Note in this graphic comparing the 40mm watch active display area with a 42mm round display. There is marginal overlap on the corners which a little scaling could easily handle. But for the sake of example, let's overlay some actual 40mm watch screens onto an actual 42mm Huawei watch which is currently on the market.
In each example, you'll see that even just laying Apple's new round-rect display area into the round shape, the negative space is much less obvious than it was with the smaller active display area on the 38mm. The 8 complication watch face looks like it was designed for the round watch as is.
And of course, none of those watch faces have been optimized for a round face which the following examples demonstrate taking advantage of the greater display area and a more ergonomic layout for the shape. If 8 complications are good, how about 12!
In the last text example, the text has been enlarged on the round watch (equivalent to the 44mm Apple Watch) showing approximately the same amount of legible text, but easier to read, with more words per line. For fans of reading large blocks of text, the round watch actually has the potential to display much more of it per screen, depending on the font size.
Keep dreaming. The rest of us have accepted the obvious reality — without sweeping hands, round makes zero sense. It’s why you don’t see round as the default for paintings, photographs, televisions, tablets, books, or monitors.
Keep dreaming. The rest of us have accepted the obvious reality — without sweeping hands, round makes zero sense. It’s why you don’t see round as the default for paintings, photographs, televisions, tablets, books, or monitors.
Keep dreaming. The rest of us have accepted the obvious reality — without sweeping hands, round makes zero sense. It’s why you don’t see round as the default for paintings, photographs, televisions, tablets, books, or monitors.
PLEASE! Don't give Jony any ideas! LOL!!!
I’m sure Jony Ive has no plans to design round televisions, tablets, or monitors. He likely doesn’t have the same problem with false-equivalency that some members of this forum do.
As for paintings and photographs, I’m sure people will continue to crop and frame them within circles as they have have for centuries. A book is a blatant straw-man in this context. And of course, the Apple Watch continues to have sweeping hands, so … I’ll take Jony at his word when he says that ‘people have the expectation of choice when they wear something’, and assume he will design accordingly as technology and style warrant.
Keep dreaming. The rest of us have accepted the obvious reality — without sweeping hands, round makes zero sense. It’s why you don’t see round as the default for paintings, photographs, televisions, tablets, books, or monitors.
PLEASE! Don't give Jony any ideas! LOL!!!
I’m sure Jony Ive has no plans to design round televisions, tablets, or monitors. He likely doesn’t have the same problem with false-equivalency that some members of this forum do.
As for paintings and photographs, I’m sure people will continue to crop and frame them within circles as they have have for centuries. A book is a blatant straw-man in this context. And of course, the Apple Watch continues to have sweeping hands, so … I’ll take Jony at his word when he says that ‘people have the expectation of choice when they wear something’, and assume he will design accordingly as technology and style warrant.
Citing that other display form factors such as paintings and photos and tablets and monitors aren’t round is not a fallacy at all. While you’re trying to say there are *some* cropped paintings and photos, you ignored that I said the *default* is rectangular. For good reason. Round is stupid if there are no sweeping hands on an axis because of the loss of usable area. It’s simply a fact, and has been for centuries.
Comments
By rounding the corners, Apple has more or less set the stage for an easy transition to a round design as you suggest, by creating a platform where developers are keeping their screen layout within round-friendly constraints. Note in this graphic comparing the 40mm watch active display area with a 42mm round display. There is marginal overlap on the corners which a little scaling could easily handle. But for the sake of example, let's overlay some actual 40mm watch screens onto an actual 42mm Huawei watch which is currently on the market.
In each example, you'll see that even just laying Apple's new round-rect display area into the round shape, the negative space is much less obvious than it was with the smaller active display area on the 38mm. The 8 complication watch face looks like it was designed for the round watch as is.
And of course, none of those watch faces have been optimized for a round face which the following examples demonstrate taking advantage of the greater display area and a more ergonomic layout for the shape. If 8 complications are good, how about 12!
In the last text example, the text has been enlarged on the round watch (equivalent to the 44mm Apple Watch) showing approximately the same amount of legible text, but easier to read, with more words per line. For fans of reading large blocks of text, the round watch actually has the potential to display much more of it per screen, depending on the font size.
I’m sure Jony Ive has no plans to design round televisions, tablets, or monitors. He likely doesn’t have the same problem with false-equivalency that some members of this forum do.
As for paintings and photographs, I’m sure people will continue to crop and frame them within circles as they have have for centuries. A book is a blatant straw-man in this context. And of course, the Apple Watch continues to have sweeping hands, so … I’ll take Jony at his word when he says that ‘people have the expectation of choice when they wear something’, and assume he will design accordingly as technology and style warrant.