6 Years of Apple Watch – A Non-Fitness Review

Introduction

Having owned and worn an Apple Watch everyday since its release, I felt it was time to give a review of my experiences with the device.

I am not a fitness person, nor am I the workout type. A brisk walk for about a mile almost everyday is all I do for exercise. As such, the Apple Watch has always had limited appeal to me as a fitness device. Each year I care less and less when it is crammed full of these type of features. So it is that I went from the original version and upgraded to the Series 3—I have felt no compelling reason to upgrade further.

Thus, I can anticipate the question arising already: I was attracted to the precise horological features of the watch, in addition to the other included more practical, daily features such as alarms, timers, calendars. Then, the prospect of future features, and as a development platform, was also too intriguing to me; I felt I had to learn it in order to keep up pace in the mobile development world. It must be remembered that Apple initially did not fully tout the Watch as a fitness device, but more of a device that made notifications easier and more manageable.

As it turned out, I had not much use to develop for it. Features I would have expected have not materialized (e.g. ability to design or code custom watch faces), and the increasing focus as a fitness and health device has left me unconcerned what each new iteration will bring.

How then does the watch perform as a very basic timekeeping and social device for someone not inclined to use the fitness features? Is it worth the price to own and use it in this way? I hope to answer some of these questions in this article.

Taking Calls

Don’t. This has been my experience using the Apple Watch as a way to answer calls. With both iterations I have owned, the device almost never stays connected during a call, dropping the connection a few minutes into a conversation, or the connection is so poor that we can both hardly hear each other due to breakup. This has been a disappointment. Even when my phone is next to me the connection is not any better. I would assume that this has been improved in recent revisions of the hardware, but the fact that it has persisted through at least two generations does not inspire me with confidence. I only have the WiFi version so perhaps the cellular one would provide a more stable connection.

There is also a physical limit in taking anything but the shortest of calls. A person can only hold their arm up to talk for so long. Letting your arm swing freely means either it’s hard to hear the other person talking or they find it difficult to hear you.

Messaging and Email

This is much more manageable and pleasant an experience. The Apple Watch is great for quick replies to messages. The emphasis is on quick. Anything longer than say, 30 seconds, suffers the same problem as taking calls: arm fatigue will make it uncomfortable due to the way you have to hold your arm and wrist. Thankfully, canned responses and dictation make this easier.

I have never had much use for email on the watch; it’s just not part of my daily workflow that would need immediate attention or quick replies. After all, that is kind of the point of email, in that it can be ignored until action is convenient. However, if a reply is needed doing so in the same manner as a message is doable.

Timers, Alarms and Stopwatch

A good digital timekeeping device should have good ways to measure time. Timers for everyday tasks are immensely convenient to have on your wrist. And now with the inclusion of multiple timers, the experience is even better.

The stopwatch is incredibly helpful during my workday. I can time how long certain operations take during testing and development in order to get an accurate picture of how an application is performing. Obviously, with built-in metrics in IDEs, this is much more helpful when manually testing an app. Precise measurements can determine even the slightest improvement in performance.

Watch Faces

From a horological standpoint this is likely the most interesting aspect of owning an Apple Watch. It is the one aspect that is the most intriguing when considering the device as a pure timekeeping one.

The Apple Watch has many faces that mimic high-end mechanical pieces and everyday useful watch faces. The 24-hour and world timer faces are quite amazing to behold. When considering that these types of mechanical watches alone cost several times that of the Apple Watch, it becomes a much easier pill to swallow.

There are also GMT and a ‘count-up’ watch face, the latter being a dive-style bezel recreation. Combined with all the other choices, one can switch out to whatever tool, dress or everyday face they desire, all in one device.

It is clear Apple is trying to subsume all the many types of watches out there into a digital version for use on their device. It is no doubt appealing to those with a horological affinity and a taste for practicality. I can attest to that.

Health Features

These features would be those not related to fitness/workouts. Features like the Mindfulness app and heart rate monitor would be what I would consider health features. These are a little more practical for those who do not workout religiously. They can be set to remind you (in the case of the Mindfulness app) or run in the background (heart rate monitor). They gather the data into the Health app on your phone which you can then peruse to see a history of your heart rate, its recovery, and more. The watch will also track your steps and gait and give you useful information for those as well. What is interesting about this is that it can be shared with your GP who might be able to tell useful things about your state of health and physical fitness just by your everyday motions. That can certainly be useful for those that aren’t vigorous workout people, but who want to track their health in the background.

Apps

Sadly, apps are sparse for the watch. In my own usage, I have downloaded very little that have been worth keeping or even using daily. Dark Sky was one such app that was the most I used, but since Apple bought them most of their features have now been incorporated into the default weather app, which is what I now use.

While reading I might use Siri to find the definition of a word. If an idea strikes me I might again use Siri to set a reminder or take a quick note. Siri does have a habit of failing on the first time claiming it was unable to hear my dictation. A second try usually gets it.

This problem is amplified in the car while driving. The road noise makes it difficult for the microphone on the watch to pickup whatever you’re trying to say, usually to the point of futility. It is best to not consider the Apple Watch as a replacement for handsfree while in the car. Use CarPlay instead, if your vehicle is equipped. Trying to dictate a message is not safety-inspiring; and hearing a call on the little speaker amongst the cabin noise is not practical.

Siri is also much slower to process on the watch. I can’t say if new models are faster, but prepare to wait several more seconds for a response that is usually instant on the iPhone.

Compared to Quartz Watches

If the Apple Watch is to be used as an almost strict timekeeping device, the benefit of it over a quartz watch is almost nil. A quartz watch will keep accurate time for the majority of people and cost a fraction of what the Apple Watch does. In addition, it will last for many years, far past the upgrade cycle of the Apple version. The Apple Watch does have the ability to always sync the time so it never has to be touched to account for drift or timezones. There are more advanced quartz pieces that will do this but they require some input from the owner to do so. They are still usually not as expensive as even the cheapest Apple Watch.

Compared to Mechanical Watches

This is a trickier proposition. In terms of strictly price, both pieces are comparable. One could purchase an entry-level mechanical watch and keep it for longer than the Apple kind. The upgrade cycle of 4-5 years for an Apple Watch keep these two types of wrist-worn devices close in check when one factors in the cost of a mechanical watch potentially needing multiple services throughout the years. If one wants a heirloom piece then a traditional watch is the answer. If one wants a technical pieces, with all that entails, then the Apple device is the one to get.

Final Thoughts

Would I recommend the Apple Watch for someone not interested in the fitness features? No, I would not. I just don’t find the other features that compelling or necessary to justify the cost of a device that will sit on my wrist going unnoticed and unused a majority of the day. Most of the time, in my experience, I will just pull out my phone to do anything because it’s easier to operate and faster to do so, not to mention a more pleasing experience. Unless Apple adds some more compelling features then I will not be replacing this watch with a new one.

However, the addition of body temperature, blood pressure and blood sugar monitoring would make the watch much more enticing to me. These features target exactly my family history and would be amazing to have on such a small device in order to moniotr them without having to always go to the doctor. With COVID still around temperature and blood pressure would be very meaningful to see each day.

In that case, I would upgrade and be happy with the purchase. It would do more than I would have imagined or asked of it.