I know it’s taken me such a long time, but your so-promised-review on the Apple Watch is finally here. And I really hope that my takeaways will shed some light on its features.
Tell you the truth, I think I must have read at least 5 articles promising me how Apple Watch is going to be disappointing, uncomfortable, difficult to read and ultimately so complicated to use. And on top of this crap, it’s SO expensive.
Really???!!!
Anyway, let’s be clear about one thing right up front. If you’re not an iPhone user (I mean power user) and LOVER, then Apple Watch is not for you. Seriously! It’s no fun to pretend how cool you are but have no idea how it works. So better leave it to the tech enthusiasts.
Photo taken by RossanaPhotography
I have been wearing the Apple Watch for more than two months now, namely the Silver Aluminum Case White Sport Band 38mm, which starts at 390 Euro in Germany.
How does the Apple Watch work?
Well, you do need at least an iPhone 5 for the watch to work.
But what about the bad news that you’ll need to run with your iPhone?
Honestly, you only need to take your iPhone if you want to track your location via GPS and make calls, access the internet, etc – otherwise, the watch can estimate your pace based on previous GPS data and your average gait – so you don’t NEED the phone on a run. However, I personally don’t mind, that way I take some pictures too (of course, for you!).
Now I am going to focus on the things I love about this Apple Watch as the Internet has already plenty of downsides.
Top 5 Features I LOVE about Apple Watch Sport
1. The option of having a personal assistant
Siri is not just any virtual assistant, she is efficient, fast, always right, available 24h, and diplomatic too. Ask her what she thinks about you and see what she says. Love her answers! :))
Honestly, she is much better at controlling apps within the iPhone than she is at providing real answers.
However, what matters is that you can ask Siri to call up a friend, send a text message to a friend, check the weather and even give you directions or have her schedule a meeting in your calendar, start a workout session or to set up an alarm. So easy and convenient!
All you need to do is just say “hey Siri” and she will listen to your new command.
She only calls me by the name Kitty! Thanks, Siri! You are so AWESOME! 🙂
2. The ability to receive notifications on my wrist
One of my favorite features is the ability to receive notifications directly on the wrist when things are happening on my iPhone. For example, when you leave me a comment on the blog, I’m able to read it in real time (approve it too!). Cool, right?!
Of course, this affects the battery life, but that’s why I have a charger. And usually I am good to go only with the nightly charging.
One thing to consider is that too many notifications can affect your productivity by breaking your concentration, so you may want to exercise some restraint when selecting which apps you want to send you alerts.
3. The Health & Fitness Tracking
So Apple Watch Sport tracks your steps throughout the day, records your workout sessions (as a downside: you do need your iPhone with you for using GPS, but if you don’t need GPS, then you can run sans iPhone) and gives you a continuous heart-rate reading through your wrist.
How does this work? Simply. The back of your watch has infrared and green LEDs that and light sensors track your heart rate by the amount of green light reflected from your bloodstream. It is quite precise in most instances, and for those times when it’s less accurate – for instance when doing extremely intense weight lifting, you can pair it with a Bluetooth chest strap. And it shares all the info to the Activity app on your iPhone, which gives you an overview of your activity over time.
The Activity app collects data on all your movement in the day, whether it be standing, moving or running using its built-in accelerometer, gyroscope, and your iPhone’s GPS. I also like the regular reminders that Apple Watch sends me to get up and move my butt and raise my heart rate. You can of course dismiss it, but I find it fun, most of the time.
Tuesday’s run 🙂 Not bad!
4. The Digital Crown
So Apple Watch has this cool tool that makes navigating the small screen so much easier. The digital crown is a knob on the watch’s right edge that acts exactly like a home button.
Pressing it returns you to the main screen, and turning it lets you zoom into your favorite apps or scroll back and forth to options in the interface. It’s very much like the crown on a regular watch (the one you use to set the time) but it can be used for so much more.
5. The fact that I can store music
That’s right. I can store music on the watch now. And listening to music very often, I absolutely love this feature.
Just so you know Apple Watch can also help you change your habits over time. I love it!
With dedication for Edi and Razvan!
Great stuff! Congratulations! Thank you Cris!
Yay! :)) SO happy you liked it, Razvan! Thanks!
I too am OBSESSED with my Apple Watch, it’s fantastic 🙂
Gosh, it’s soooo nice to see I am not alone. 🙂
Hmmm, interesting! My colleague at work wears it as well. He started walking up the stairs more often since then, because he needed to get more steps done, hahaha
I guess it is quite handy with some stuff! Probably sooner or later I’ll try sth similar. I’m especially curious about sleep tracking.
Hi, Howie. 🙂 Sorry for such a late reply (I was taking some days off). I must admit I haven’t tried that yet. I prefer to charge it in the night, but one can easily do it.
My boss just got an Apple watch and I have to admit I’m a bit jealous. I’ve been researching what kind of fitness tracker/GPS watch I want. There are a few things that are steering me away from the iWatch. #1 reason is that it’s not waterproof, #2 would be battery life. Still, I’m sure it’s a good watch/GPS/fitness tracker
Hi, Lucie. First of all, thanks for stopping by. 🙂 I know that Apple Watch is not perfect, but it’s indeed a very good fitness tracker. I love it!