Apple Watch reviews: world's best smartwatch, but nobody knows what a smartwatch should do
Journalistic luminaries have begun to go public with their views on Apple's new wearable in the days before it goes on sale, and they have generally found it to be a beautiful device that ultimately succumbs to the fact that smartwatches have yet to find their niche.
via Bloomberg
Apple's new Taptic Engine produes "strikingly realistic sensations," Topolsky says, and the digital crown makes navigation easy. He found the Watch faces' complications "one of the most useful parts of the watch, offering the kind of information that really does elevate the device beyond a simple timepiece."
"After using it, I had no question that the Apple Watch is the most advanced piece of wearable technology you can buy today," he wrote. He loved the Watch's timekeeping, which is so precise that every Watch in a room will tick at exactly the same time.
Topolsky wasn't thrilled with the responsiveness --?or lack thereof?-- of the Watch's automatic display activation, and said that the user interface requires some getting used to. He did like the new Activity app, but found new features like Digital Touch and the new animated emoji to be of limited utility.
In all, Topolsky believes that Apple has "made something that lives up to the company's reputation as an innovator and raised the bar for a whole new class of devices," but has yet to find a way to make the Watch an essential device.
via the Wall Street Journal
Fowler does not believe the Watch can replace a phone, but he does find it more useful for some tasks. "It has made me more present," Fowler wrote. "I'm less likely to absent-mindedly reach for my phone, or feel compelled to leave it on the table during supper."
He found the Watch's display to be "adequate" outdoors, though apps like the wrist-worn Maps app was "so slow it makes me want to pull out my paper Rand McNally." Software issues plagued Fowler's testing, and he did not find the Watch's home screen easy to use.
Fowler believes that "the Apple Watch is for pioneers," and says he will be picking up the Sport version when it becomes available. "That's worth paying for a front-row seat for what's next in tech," he added.
via Re/code
Goode didn't experience the same issues with Apple's apps as other reviewers, but did note that the third-party app ecosystem remains barren. She found the quality of phone calls made with the Watch's built-in speaker and microphone to be "very good," and said that those on the other end of the phone "couldn't even tell I was calling from a smartwatch."
Apple Pay on the Watch was "pretty cool," and battery life was better than expected. Goode's iPhone often reached critical battery levels before the Watch did.
All together, "Smartwatches are still unproven, but Apple has made a pretty strong case for them," she believes.
via The Verge
The display is "simply terrific," but Patel echoed Topolsky's complaints about its responsiveness and enjoyed the display's complications. "If the Apple Watch had no other functionality except for what you can do from the watch face, it woudl still be competitive," he believes.
Patel also found the user interface somewhat confusing, but enjoyed using Apple Pay, calling it his favorite feature on the Watch. Digital Touch "is remarkably small-time," and "a cool demo and not much more."
According to Patel, "if you're going to buy an Apple Watch, I'd recommend buying a Sport model; I wouldn't spend money on how it looks until Apple completes the task of figuring out what it does."
via Bloomberg
Bloomberg
Writing for Bloomberg, Joshua Topolsky found the Watch's hardware "beautiful in a surgical way," with a design that "wouldn't seem out of place in a futuristic lab or sci-fi movie." He sees the Watch as an "inconspicuous thing" that grows on the wearer, though doesn't approach the level of sophistication of a traditional wristwatch.Apple's new Taptic Engine produes "strikingly realistic sensations," Topolsky says, and the digital crown makes navigation easy. He found the Watch faces' complications "one of the most useful parts of the watch, offering the kind of information that really does elevate the device beyond a simple timepiece."
"After using it, I had no question that the Apple Watch is the most advanced piece of wearable technology you can buy today," he wrote. He loved the Watch's timekeeping, which is so precise that every Watch in a room will tick at exactly the same time.
Topolsky wasn't thrilled with the responsiveness --?or lack thereof?-- of the Watch's automatic display activation, and said that the user interface requires some getting used to. He did like the new Activity app, but found new features like Digital Touch and the new animated emoji to be of limited utility.
In all, Topolsky believes that Apple has "made something that lives up to the company's reputation as an innovator and raised the bar for a whole new class of devices," but has yet to find a way to make the Watch an essential device.
via the Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal's Geoffrey Fowler thinks that the Apple Watch "is a computer built to spend [your time] better," and while he was not impressed with the battery life, apps, or "inevitable obsolence," buyers will be able to "wear the future on [their] wrist."Fowler does not believe the Watch can replace a phone, but he does find it more useful for some tasks. "It has made me more present," Fowler wrote. "I'm less likely to absent-mindedly reach for my phone, or feel compelled to leave it on the table during supper."
He found the Watch's display to be "adequate" outdoors, though apps like the wrist-worn Maps app was "so slow it makes me want to pull out my paper Rand McNally." Software issues plagued Fowler's testing, and he did not find the Watch's home screen easy to use.
Fowler believes that "the Apple Watch is for pioneers," and says he will be picking up the Sport version when it becomes available. "That's worth paying for a front-row seat for what's next in tech," he added.
via Re/code
Re/code
The ability to read iMessages and email and browse photos without pulling out an iPhone intrigued Lauren Goode of Re/code, and she echoed Topolsky's admiration for the device's fitness tracking functions. The Apple Watch is also the best looking smartwatch on the marketing, though "Apple Watch strives for high fashion, but it still looks like a techie watch," she wrote.Goode didn't experience the same issues with Apple's apps as other reviewers, but did note that the third-party app ecosystem remains barren. She found the quality of phone calls made with the Watch's built-in speaker and microphone to be "very good," and said that those on the other end of the phone "couldn't even tell I was calling from a smartwatch."
Apple Pay on the Watch was "pretty cool," and battery life was better than expected. Goode's iPhone often reached critical battery levels before the Watch did.
All together, "Smartwatches are still unproven, but Apple has made a pretty strong case for them," she believes.
via The Verge
The Verge
At The Verge, Nilay Patel called the watch "an extraordinarily small and personal device," though it is "surprisingly heavy." He found it "kind of slow," though Apple says a forthcoming software update will address those issues.The display is "simply terrific," but Patel echoed Topolsky's complaints about its responsiveness and enjoyed the display's complications. "If the Apple Watch had no other functionality except for what you can do from the watch face, it woudl still be competitive," he believes.
Patel also found the user interface somewhat confusing, but enjoyed using Apple Pay, calling it his favorite feature on the Watch. Digital Touch "is remarkably small-time," and "a cool demo and not much more."
According to Patel, "if you're going to buy an Apple Watch, I'd recommend buying a Sport model; I wouldn't spend money on how it looks until Apple completes the task of figuring out what it does."
Comments
As for the social annoyance of lifting your wrist to check your watch, that will have to be worked out, but it will, just as loud mouth's using their headsets in the bank were given the evil eye.
Glance don't stare, and give a head's up in a conversation that you have need to make a quick check. That, and 5 second's isn't going to torpedo a conversation.
Please Apple, in the name of all that is good, stop making the phone thinner and start improving the battery.
I will order my Apple Watch at 08:01 UK time and will decide then. At worst, its $ 350 thrown out the window.
For those who want to read all the reviews (not just the 4 listed here), here are links to the rest I've found.
Wall Street Journal
Bloomberg Business
Re/code
The Verge
New York Times
Mashable
Techpinions
USA Today
CNet
Independent.co.uk
Daring Fireball
Biggest surprise to me: can't seem to find any reviews by fashion mags.
Well, at least I won't be lusting after 100% of Apple products...
Bring on the iPad Pro!
http://www.wired.com/2015/04/apple-watch-design/
Reviews are entertaining but I can't take them seriously. Usually people use the devices for a week or less and write something silly.
Maybe if they lived with devices for a while they'd get a long term perspective.
For the time being smart watches seem to me to be a solution in search of a problem.
I think they'll sell plenty of watches to early adopters and it will obviously continue to improve incrementally in future versions.
But seeing the steel link bracelet on this guys wrist only reconfirms my initial reaction -- I'm not a fan. No doubt it's impressive in person, reading about how it is made is compelling. A great idea in theory, but to me it makes look like a cheap digital watch from the 70s.
Compared to the Android hockey puck watches, the Apple Watch looks like a thin mint.
The compelling use case for any smartwatch, Apple Watch included, really hasn't been clearly defined. We had already seen reports that Apple's version isn't what they had originally envisioned (no fault of theirs) requiring them to change focus and marketing plans. IMHO it will take a couple of years to see whether a wrist-worn smart device adds enough value to attract the 10's of millions of buyers required to make it worthwhile for a dozen or more companies to bother targeting.
For the time being smart watches seem to me to be a solution in search of a problem.
It seems to me that three use cases have already been identified:
1. Health, including biometric tracking (don't care much about this)
2. Notifications (the most obvious one, I find that really useful)
3. anything that requires identification, such as replacement for keys, payments, tickets, work security passes (I think this is convenient but just a nice to have; and besides, I always wondered why Passbook never took off)
The question is, do you really need such a sophisticated device for these functions, or is bluetooth and an NFC chip enough?
Although I'd love to hear more ideas from the forum members.
The Verge gave the Apple Watch a score of 7 and the Moto 360 a score of 8.1. That's pretty telling.
Yep. That's pretty telling about The Verge.