Apple Watch reviews: world's best smartwatch, but nobody knows what a smartwatch should do

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  • Reply 21 of 132
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    matrix07 wrote: »

    Yep. That's pretty telling about The Verge.

    Yes, Nilay Patel's The Verge
  • Reply 22 of 132
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,392member
    (Other noted the same thing).

  • Reply 23 of 132
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    smiles77 wrote: »

    Biggest surprise to me: can't seem to find any reviews by fashion mags.
    Do fasion magazines review watches?
  • Reply 24 of 132
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,165member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sflagel View Post

     

    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.


    I'd like to have battery states from my rechargeable power tools; that's just bluetooth and an app, but its another fraction of a minute that I don't have to do the checks manually.

     

    The purpose of the Apple Watch, in my opinion, is just to reduce friction in our lives, saving time and frustration, or to give us the state of our being and environment  and if it does that, then it is an easy success.

  • Reply 25 of 132
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,392member

    I heard a Johanna(?) someone-or-the-other, a reviewer for some newspaper, on CNBC this morning. She said her review recommends that people wait for the next gen. But when asked whether she would buy one, she unhesitatingly said 'yes.' Go figure....

     

    These reviews amount to a hill of beans, since most of them are clueless about all its possibilities (although Apple should not have shipped them without getting the software in tip top form -- that's a bit Google-esque).

  • Reply 26 of 132
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    mac_128 wrote: »
    I love that Apple has the resources and interest in providing this level of detail. But I can't help but cringe when it comes out along with reviews suggesting the watch still has some software issues. There's a lot of pumped up confidence from Apple in this launch, from the fashion push to the $17k price tag. So much effort and attention to detail, but still software problems. I'd rather they not talk about the custom jellyfish tank to capture details no one else can see until after they blow us out of the water with their engineering prowess.

    Well apparently a software update is coming so hopefully some of the issues reviewers had will be fixed by the time consumers start getting their watches.
  • Reply 27 of 132
    smiles77smiles77 Posts: 668member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Mac_128 View Post

     
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Smiles77 View Post





    Biggest surprise to me: can't seem to find any reviews by fashion mags.


    Do fasion magazines review watches?



    I'm thinking along the lines of Hodinkee and Vogue. And yes, there are already several articles about the Apple watch on many of these mags. I'm just surprised we haven't yet seen an official review using a unit from Apple today. 

  • Reply 28 of 132
    inklinginkling Posts: 744member
    I see little use for a touch screen that small. I do find some of the other features intriguing.Hopefully, the Taptic Engine features can be adapted to screenless and far less expensive devices we can wear on a wrist or ankle.

    Even better would be adapting the tactile awareness features that Apple created to deal with that too-tiny screen to the movements we make with our iPhones. It'd make it easier to use.
  • Reply 29 of 132
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    I'm surprised no review from Jim Dalrymple or iMore yet. But John Gruber has a long review up which I'm going to read now.
  • Reply 30 of 132
    dougddougd Posts: 292member
    I love Apple (Mac Pro, MacBook Pro, iPhone 6 Plus) and am an investor. But there's no way in hell I'm buying one of these. I don't need the aggravation of another device to charge and use
  • Reply 31 of 132
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    So Gruber's review isn't a full review. He's doing another one just for the user interface. The first one was pretty balanced. Negatives were not having an always on display, and having to charge every day. Positives were fit and finish of the device and force touch/taptic engine.
  • Reply 32 of 132
    My Apple-hating friends will have a field day with this, because they fail to see irony. One of them has a several Android Wear/Tizen watches--both 1st & 2nd gen Samsung Gear and the "flat tire" Moto watch. He'll declare the Apple Watch a failure if (1) it doesn't sell like the iPhone because (flawgic) that's the benchmark for all Apple products, or (2) if it doesn't offer any compelling value other than making using your phone more convenient. This is ironic because Fandroids don't judge [I]their[/I] smart watches according to the same standard. My friend regularly raves about how convenient his Moto watch makes it so he doesn't have to pull out his cartoonishly large Galaxy Note 4 to see SMS or Google notifications. Apparently a second screen for Google Notifications is sufficient for him to declare an Android Wear watch a success, despite selling in extremely low volumes relative to the supposedly huge marketshare Android has. But he'll declare the Apple Watch a failure if it does more and sells more.
  • Reply 33 of 132

    So basically we're seeing the same comments that we did when the first iPhone came out. Back then nobody could see the advantage of multi-touch (for example).

     

    I'm still not buying one, but my Wife is getting one for her birthday next month. She's into fitness/running, and has dropped a few "hints" about the Apple Watch. After playing with hers I'll see if it does enough to warrant getting one.

  • Reply 34 of 132
    sacto joesacto joe Posts: 895member
    sflagel wrote: »
    It's all about notifications (and to others, health, but I don't understand why). Question is, do you need such a sophisticated piece for notifications, or does a bluetooth chip in a Swatch/Tissot/Omega suffice?

    I will order my Apple Watch at 08:01 UK time and will decide then. At worst, its $ 350 thrown out the window.
    What, you don't think there will be any resale value in an Apple Watch? Boy, do I disagree
  • Reply 35 of 132
    icoco3icoco3 Posts: 1,474member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mac_128 View Post





    Do fashion magazines review watches?



    I doubt they review anything, most likely just promote.

  • Reply 36 of 132
    jfc1138jfc1138 Posts: 3,090member
    Like the iPhone, since the thing is a computer the smart watch will do whatever we want it to. And that's the beauty of it. It's going to be the apps, not the "watch".
  • Reply 37 of 132
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by shen View Post



    If your phone battery dies before your watch battery, the battery life might be sufficient for a first gen.



    Please Apple, in the name of all that is good, stop making the phone thinner and start improving the battery.

     

    if you review iphone history, youll see battery life has been improved all along, despite it getting thinner.

     

    i charge once a day, and not like clockwork. theres ample time for me to do so between sleeping or sitting at my desk each day.

  • Reply 38 of 132
    mj webmj web Posts: 918member
    The theory I advanced when the Watch was announced is playing out in reality. It enables iPhone 6 users -- and especially iPhone 6 Plus users -- to bypass their unwieldy phone while benefiting from a subset of its functions. Therefore I reiterate that iPhone 6 Plus users will be Watch v1's primary user base.

    One thing I haven't heard discussed is the possibility that the innards of the Watch are upgradable or replaceable for a fee. If Apple could stave off the obselescence of older models by upgrading them, that would be a compelling reason for fence sitters like me to buy one. Having heard no inkling of this, I don't think it'll happen.
  • Reply 39 of 132
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sflagel View Post



    It's all about notifications (and to others, health, but I don't understand why). 

     

    im an office worker, i dont stand or walk nearly as much as i should. a nifty notification system to do so along w/ game theory achievements sound like a good idea to me.

  • Reply 40 of 132
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Mac_128 View Post



    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.

     

    hey, thanks for letting us know -- i wasnt certain after you last couple hundred posts where you said the exact same thing, over and over. 

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