Apple Watch Review: Huge Anticipation, Swift Irritation

Much to the chagrin of my friends and colleagues around me, I am a helpless Apple devotee, and have been for as long as I can remember. My childhood was spent in front of a Mac. My parents sent me off to college with a brand new iBook G4. A few years later, I upgraded to the PowerMac, and lastly the MacBook Pro in grad school. I am on my fourth Apple computer now. Once you go Mac, there’s really no going back.

The other day I was in Alfred’s office at Absolute Marketing Solutions HQ when I saw his mint Apple Watch was sitting on his desk, untouched, collecting dust. While he might be in the pro-Android camp (and I knew he was in love with his Samsung Gear S smartwatch), I still felt a pang of injustice that the Apple Watch wasn’t getting the attention it deserved.

As a lover of Apple products and an iPhone user, Alfred told me I could try it out. I leapt at the opportunity. I confided that I had been more than reasonably excited about the Apple Watch since the rumors first surfaced online. So when I finally got my hands on it to try it out, I had big expectations. Here is how the Apple Watch made an impact in my life.

The First Day

First impressions are always the most important, and technology is no exception to this rule. The 38 mm Apple Sport Watch looked fabulous on me. The screen resolution looked crisp and great, and although this model doesn’t have the sapphire crystal, it felt like a solid, premium product.

Syncing the watch with my phone and setting up was ridiculously easy. It took all of five minutes. However, my joy soon turned to irritation as I started receiving deluge of notifications – everything from text messages to Facebook alerts and every single app I had ever downloaded to my phone was now going off on my wrist. Panicking, I turned everything off and took a deep breath before going into the app and adjusting my notifications one by one. One day in Starbucks I was receiving a call and was locked out from my phone. I’m not sure if it was my own fault or not, but it did leave a bad taste in my mouth.

As a fitness tracker

As a fitness tracker, the Apple Watch not too shabby. Luckily, my wrist was fair and smooth enough to find that the heart rate monitor worked well during my runs, providing comparable data with other devices I’ve used in the past by Garmin. Seeing my life quantified by color-filled graphics makes me giddy, and it often encouraged me to complete my daily fitness goals. It also reminded me to get up and walk around every hour when I was too sedentary at work; something I feel everyone who works in an office needs.

As a wearable

The Apple Watch, for the most part, was a great companion to my iPhone 6, but didn’t come close to replacing it entirely. I want to be able to go for a run solely with my Apple Watch, to be able to stream music to my headphones, take photos and send e-mails. I want to make calls without being tethered to my phone. I want all the functionality of my phone in watch form. The Apple Watch (and every other premium wearable for that matter) just isn’t there yet.

Final Verdict

While the Apple Watch is beautiful, niche and I did enjoy my time with it, it is not revolutionary enough of a device for me to invest in at this point in time. If you find yourself searching for the ideal smartwatch, the kind you dreamt about as a child, then my advice is to wait a little while longer for a second or third generation product. If you really can’t wait, the Android competition is vastly ahead of Apple on this one. As much as it pains me to say it, I cannot deny the truth.

Since I can remember, Apple was always known for pushing the limits of form and technology with sleek, futuristic design. Perhaps part of that innovation faded when its founding visionary Steve Jobs passed away. His defiance to be pigeonholed, or to be told something was impossible only served to push the envelope further.

I still have faith in the Apple franchise, despite my disappointment with its inaugural wearable. Undoubtedly, Apple will turn this around with a future product that will be sure to compete against the heaviest of its Android competitors, just give it some more time.