The AppleWatch – Do you need one?

The AppleWatch has been on my “converted stuff” list, ever since the original series 1 watch was released in 2015. I knew of a few people that had them early doors and I’d even seen a few school children wearing them (which burned me more than it should have). Every time I saw one I thought  2 things:

“I want one!”

and

“I wonder if that would change the way I use my iPhone”?

I’ve always wondered if an AppleWatch would genuinely help in my day-to-day life or if it’s just a bit of fancy bling for tech magpies like myself.

First reactions to The AppleWatch

In all honesty, my first reaction was one of confusion. It’s the first time that I’ve used an Apple product that made me work for my understanding. Most of Apple’s products have you reaching the “Oh, I get it” and/or “Yeah, that’s smart” moments within minutes of opening the box. With my AppleWatch, that moment comes after a day or 2 of moderate usage. With no discernable “home” button, that we’ve all become very accustomed to, the ‘Crown’ and ‘Side Button’ buttons require a slight adjustment in the way that use/think about the AppleWatch. It’s just not quite as intuitive as I have come to expect from Apple.

Living with the AppleWatch

Once you get used to the AppleWatch, it starts to become clear what it’s role is. It provides a glimpse into your digital world. Like a truncated data feed/notification centre for what’s happening online. If your Watch asks for your attention, you can take a quick look and decide if it’s something you want to take a look at or if you’re just going to carry on with whatever you’re doing. You don’t really want to do any heavy typing/viewing on your AppleWatch, you can just decide if you want to pick something up on your other, more amenable devices.

Best things about the AppleWatch?

• Battery Life – Contary to initial reactions on it’s launch, I’ve found that the battery life easily lasts a whole day and more. Obviously, you just charge it when you sleep, so there’s no complaints here in that department.
• GPS – As you may know, I play golf from time to time, so instead of dropping £200-300 on a dedicated golfing GPS watch, my AppleWatch (combined with it’s own GPS functionality) will happily double up as a rangefinding golf watch too. Bonus!
• iPhone App – Rather than fiddling around on a small screen to change settings, the dedicated AppleWatch app is jam packed with features and settings you can change remotely via your iPhone. Nice.
• Apple Remote – I’m constantly losing my AppleTV remote (first world problems, I know), so having a constant one attached to my wrist is a bonus.

Is the AppleWatch worth the price tag?

Ok, so my witterings above surmises the entire functionality of what is a very impressive device into a couple of wistful paragraphs. It has much more to offer than just being a postage stamp sized porthole, but it’s the first Apple device I’ve owned where I thought “I could easily get by without this”. And obviously, I know I CAN live without my iPhone/iPad/Macbook etc… but they have a discernable impact of my day to day life and productivity.

 

• Do you need an AppleWatch? – Probably not.
• Does it help you in your day to day life? – Yes, a bit.
• Should you spend a month’s rent on one? – Absolutely not.