We go wrist-on with Apple's first wearable
Apple reckons everyone else has been doing smartwatches wrong - has it created the perfect formula?
What's the deal with the Apple Watch? Does this mean that smartwatches are now a thing if Apple gets involved, or is the brand trying to make a market that doesn't really exist?
The early signs are good: The Apple Watch is sold out everywhere, it's sold more than Android Wear has managed in a very long time and it's already recognisable on the street - I had at least three instances where people I'd never met or didn't know well asked me about it.
But then again, there were probably many more making judgements about me that didn't say anything, as there's a certain label that comes with owning an Apple product when it's just come out, a palpable sense of auto-categorising me as a follower of whatever Apple does.
To some, that's no bad thing. Apple makes things really nicely, always seems to charge a little too much for them but never makes something people hate - at the worst it's something that they might be ambivalent to, but they always look nice.
And the Apple Watch is the epitome of this. Coming in at anything from a little under £300 to a dizzying £13,000 (although it's more like £1,000 for most, as the Edition is for people that just don't really care about money) the Watch feels like it needs to be impressive from the outset to be a winner.
Design
It's tricky to talk about the way the Watch looks and feels, simply because there's so damn many of the things. You can start at the bottom end: the Apple Watch Sport comes in a selection of jazzy rubberised (technically fluoroelastomer, but trust me when I say nobody will be impressed if you tell them that) straps that say 'hey yeah, I'm sporty and stuff' and not 'I didn't want to spend loads on a new smartwatch'. No.
We tested this and the 'main' stainless steel Watch, with the Milanese chainmail-style band, and the latter is definitely the one that got more attention. It looks more like a grown up watch for a start, and as it uses frickin' magnets to clip onto your wrist it's a perfect fit each time.
However, it's not great for fitness as it will very slowly get looser when being lifted up and down rapidly during exercise. The good news is that the straps are super easy to switch over, with a simple clip to poke letting you slide different designs and materials in.
The bad news is these straps can cost easily over £30 each, so it's another outlay on the significant amount you've already plopped into Apple's coffers.
But more good news: Apple is all about third parties making straps, so in the future this should be easy to switch up.
In terms of design, the digital crown is the obvious bit, sticking out at the top of the right hand side (or bottom of the left, depending on which wrist you wear the Watch on - and, yes, you can change the side in the software.
It clicks in to help make selections and switch apps, and scrolls to help you navigate through menus without having to swipe with a finger.
Apple says this allows you to not have to cover the display - which sounds fine in theory, but we never had an issue using my finger to scroll through lists, and it feels far more intuitive.
Above the digital crown is the imaginatively named 'Side Button' which feels like the power key, but is actually used to get you into your favourite people section.
Actually it is technically the power button, as it's the way to turn the Watch off, but tapping it doesn't turn the display off as you feel it should.
In terms of weight and size, Apple is giving you the option between a 38mm and 42mm size for your daily smartwatch needs - some have categorised this as 'female' and 'male', but in reality it's just giving you the option for your style. We’d recommend the larger one though, simply as it's easier to navigate through.
Neither feels particularly weighty on the wrist, but the Apple Watch weighs more than its Sport counterpart, so should be checked out on the wrist before purchase.
The display is beautiful - it looks clear with great contrast ratio and nearly everything looks great on the smaller display, whether it’s the 38mm or 42mm option you go for.
The only annoying thing about it is the face it’s not on all the time - you have to raise your arm to see what’s going on. This is mostly fine as Apple has made the motion so accurate, but when lying down or in a meeting you’ll have to tap the Watch just to find the time - and if a Watch can’t tell the time, that’s a little bit of an issue.
Battery life
We were actually quite impressed with the battery life on the Apple Watch, as we expected it to be abysmal. It’s like seeing the film 'Hitch' for the first time - our expectations were so low we were rather impressed by Will Smith's mad romp through the treacherous dating scene of New York.
Tim Cook is like the trailer - making it seem that it wouldn't last long / be any good, before delivering the goods on the wrist. This metaphor is falling apart faster than Smith and Eva Mendes relationship two-thirds the way in, so we’ll end it there. (Spoiler: it's all alright in the end).
Let's talk numbers: the quoted time is 18 hours before needing to be tethered to a charger, but in reality we never got to the end of the day with no power left. Using the exercise function was the biggest suck of power, but nothing major. Even a two hour run saw it keep going just fine.
There is a touch of the 'Nokia syndrome' here: like the Finnish Symbian phones, the battery life is good because after a while you stop playing with it idly because it doesn't do a lot.
Even if you get to the end of you juice, Power Reserve will kick in so you can tell the time by a press of the Side Button - but that’s it, and it takes an awfully long time to actually see the time when pressed.
Props for the magnetic charger: it's cool. Magnets are just generally cool. Science, innit. Although there were a few times when I wasn't sure it was properly connected and had to keep fiddling to make it charge, but once connected it stayed on just fine.
Interface
We’re not taken by the method Apple's put together to help you flick through your new digi-timepiece. It's a tremendously high learning curve for something made by the Cupertino brand, and not what we expected.
We’ll put it simply: when in the clock app (the default view) you can drag down to see notifications, and drag up to see 'Glances'- which are the most widget-like thing Apple's ever made.
Tap the digital crown and you're taken into the spherical realm of all the apps you've got installed on your Watch - scrolling will zoom in and out, and a simple finger touch lets you move around, with a tap taking you in.
But the Glances and notifications are only available when in the time app, not pervasively as I'd expected. Having to press the digital crown feels cumbersome (a double tap on the screen, or using the new 'Force Touch' ability, where a hard press can be registered by the clever screen.
After a week we gradually worked it out, but the amount of times we went to do something incorrectly felt weird... very un-Apple.
Appy fun days
Apple's been spending some decent time in its labs recrafting the Watch apps to be something, well, a bit more Watch friendly. On top of that we're getting reams more entering the fray every day as brands and developers try to nab a slice of the wrist action that's on offer.
Apple's versions are the most interesting though, with the messaging app the most intriguing. When you get a missive on your Watch a tap opens it up - and the watch then works out whether there's a clever retort that won't need loads of effort to use.
So if someone says: 'Do you want fish or chips for dinner?' the Watch will work out that the options should be 'Fish' or 'Chips' and let you reply as such.
Although there's no option for 'both', so it's not that smart. Everyone loves fish and chips.
Siri is also an option, and the voice dictation accuracy really is superb, getting the right message nearly every time.
But if your friend has an Apple Watch too, then the merriment is magnified. Press the side button and you’re taken into a clock face of all your favourite people - and with those that have a Watch you’ll see a little finger icon below.
Tap this and you can poke the screen a few times, press with two fingers and you can send a heartbeat (and there are already countless sites where people are posting their email addresses to receive anonymous beats). It’s a weirdly intimate experience and while the heart rate monitor isn’t as accurate as you’d hope a lot of the time, it’s a fun trick.
But one that will soon fade after the novelty wears off.
The other option is to send a digital sketch to a Watch-wearing chum. And we know what you’re thinking. And yes, it’s mostly just weirdly-proportioned sketches of male genitalia.
(Well, apart from a certain previous member of the T3 team who would occasionally send a note simply saying ‘Kill’.) Again, we can see this being an early novelty for anyone that fancies picking up a piece of Apple wrist jewellery, but after that it will be consigned to the dust.
It makes the need for a side a button a little pointless. The ability to make and receive a call is possible from here too, with the mic and speaker allowing you to chat like the boring Dick Tracy reference that most smart watches seem to inspire. It’s fine, but only something you’d use for very quick chats and when you’re hopefully alone.
The third party apps aren’t much to get overly excited about right now, with most being a simple case of just creating something to be on the Apple Watch at launch. A few are more impressive than others, with the ability to open hotel doors or monitor your garage doors from afar through home cameras.
Apple Pay is also another big feature that many (including us coffee-hungry lot at T3) are looking forward to getting their hands on, with the inbuilt NFC in the Watch allowing you to mimic a contactless card and pay for goods up to £20 (soon to be £30 - brave new world, kids) without even needing the phone present.
However Apple Pay isn’t here yet, and it won’t be until the end of the year… at which point we could be on the verge of seeing the next version of the Watch story.
Fitness
One of Apple’s favourite things to tout about the Watch is its ability to help you get fit, with the brand parading Christy Turlington-Burns on stage at the March launch to tell us all about how she’s using the new gadget to help her train for the London Marathon.
The myriad options on the Workout app are good, with the ability to track everything from an outdoor run to a session on a stepper machine, with the accelerometer taking the brunt of the work.
This is because the Watch doesn’t have GPS onboard, which makes it slightly redundant for running for anyone serious about learning their distance. It can pair with your iPhone though, meaning it can hook into the location info from you handset to get a more accurate reading.
What’s more, it will learn about your stride rate over time, which means the Watch itself will become more accurate when you lose the handset and go out wearing nothing but your wrist buddy (clothing is recommended though).
In tests it seems that the Watch is mostly decent at working out how far you’ve gone - but not perfect. Even with the iPhone tethered the distances run are a little generous, and without it you’re into something of a lottery if trotting long distances.
There’s no way to get fitter though using the Watch - Apple’s not given any training plans on there, and the only information you can grab from the small display when starting up the Workout app are beating your previous best time / calorie burn / distance.
In terms of poking you all day long, the Apple Watch is adept there too. We mean that the activity ring, which encourages you to get 30 minutes exercise, stand for a minute 12 hours in the day and burn a certain amount of calories is there as your constant life coach.
It’s more annoying than helpful though, with the Watch constantly telling you to stand throughout the day - even at times when just having sat down. It’s a nice idea, to stop the world being so sedentary by encouraging them to stand up, but after a few days you’ll start missing a few, fail to hit your goal, then probably give up altogether, with the constant pokes to stand nothing more than an annoyance.
The heart rate monitor is also something we’d hoped would be a bigger part of the mix. It’ll take readings from you at regular points throughout the day, placing this information in Apple’s Health app, but again it’s not as accurate as we’d like.
During runs it sometimes struggles to get a fix, and although it seems OK at taking readings during the day, it’s not something we’d rely on for accurate info.
The third party app are what will make the health and fitness side of the Apple Watch worth buying into, but without the additional sensors like GPS on board, it’s hard to see the first generation Watch being the device that achieves that peak of fitness zen.
Verdict
The Apple Watch is a decent device that manages to already beat most of its competitors in the smartwatch arena. Chances are you’re not going to buy an iPhone or Android handset based on the power of the watch that goes with it though, so the comparisons are moot.
Apple has put a huge amount of work into the craftsmanship of the device - combined with the Milanese loop, it looks the part, and once the world has got its head around smartwatches you’ll be proud to have this on your wrist.
We liked
The clear and crisp OLED screen shows off whatever you’re in need of knowing with beauty - the watch faces that use jelly fish and moon phases are fun to look at. The accuracy of the Watch when raising your wrist was mostly pretty darn good too - and the design was so nice we enjoyed having a look at it once in a while.
We disliked
The biggest issue we encountered was wondering if this really gave you enough to warrant being an early adopter, especially when plenty of people already have a watch.
The interface feels better suited to a round display, with the spherical apps menu looking tailor made for it.
The third party apps could be a lot better too - and in time we’re sure they will be, but right now you’ll have to put up with your Watch not doing an extraordinary amount.
Oh, and you’ll probably end up turning off the activity notifications, because no, you’re not going to get up and stand for a minute when watching a movie in the cinema.
Verdict
Apple’s definitely made the smartwatch appeal to the mainstream in a way Pebble and Android Wear didn’t. The Watch is really nicely crafted, and elements like being able to send digital sketches to friends are fun, if not necessary.
The issue is that it doesn’t do a huge amount right now. Sure, you’re buying into potential, but we can’t help feeling that the next version will be much better with more sensors and a longer battery life - when that will be is hard to gauge (there’s no indication Apple’s bringing out a Watch with the same regularity as the iPhone) so you might be waiting a while.
Take the plunge and splash the cash and you’ll find you’ve got something you’ll love to tinker with day after day - plus you’ll be pulling your phone out of your pocket a lot less.
But the Apple Watch is luxury over necessity - there’s a lot to like, but nothing to love.
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