My first 2 weeks with the Apple Watch

Okay... I admit it. I'm an Apple fan. I have been since my first iPhone in 2010. Our household possesses around 6 iPads, 4 iPod Touches, 2 iPhones, 2 MacBooks, 1 Apple TV, 3 iPod Shuffles and about 432 charging cables...

But it's all in the name of app development!

Before the Apple Watch came out, I had already received requests for apps for it. So I knew I had to get one in order to test these apps properly. At least that's what I told my wife...

I've had a Pebble Watch since October. The Apple Watch opened for pre-orders on April 10th. On April 9th, my wife had asked me to lay pebbles in the back garden. I duly obliged only to crush my Pebble Watch under a 20kg of pebbles from B&Q...

It was a sign...

Ay 8.02 am on April 10th, my order was placed. 42mm Apple Watch with black leather strap. I wanted the stainless steel strap but I couldn't justify spending over £300 on a strap! 

2 weeks later, my watch arrived on launch day and I raced home from the school where I work to try it out.

First Impressions

The box didn't impress me. I was expecting a watch case - something like you'd get from a jewellers. Instead, it was more like a variation of an iPhone box. 

I'm a lefty... So I hurriedly placed the watch on my left right wrist ensuring the digital crown was on the left side. What I didn't anticipate was this would mean that the strap would fasten upside down to how any watch I'd previously used would function. It felt strange. A bit like when you try and to do up shirt buttons on your own kids...

So, I detached the strap using the quick release buttons hidden underneath the watch and swapped the two parts around. Simple! Now the watch was on the correct wrist, the digital crown was in the right place and the strap fastened naturally. But it was a lot of hassle - and perhaps the only time I've only truly wished I was right handed!

Setting the watch up was a breeze. Much like any Apple device, a simple wizard and I was away. 

As this watch was replacing by pebble-crushed Pebble, I was most concerned with receiving push notifications on my wrist. And whilst this is the watch's greatest strength, it is also it's biggest weakness.

Notifications

They look great! They mirror your phone's notifications (unless you change this in the Apple Watch App on your phone). They are easy to interact with (you've all seen the videos produced by Apple!).

But I can't feel them!! The tapping on your wrist is so subtle that unless you are really tuned into it, you will miss it.

Now, I got increasingly used to it but what I found was that sometimes a message would cause my phone to vibrate as usual and sometimes only my watch would tap it out. There doesn't seem to be a reason why it varies.

What it does mean is that I'm still constantly checking my watch for notifications as I don't feel I can rely on it to tap out the notification.

Battery Life

The battery life was the big concern. But it's excellent. I finish my day with 50% of charge left. And of course, I interact with my watch a lot! Charging is no problem. I simply plug my phone and my watch in to charge at the same time as I go to bed. I wake up, and they're both good to go.

And my watch battery life far exceeds that of my iPhone 6!

Apps

So far, the apps are rubbish. They don't do much that is useful and they are slow to respond. I'm sure this will improve as developers now actually have devices to test their apps on. 

The app that interests me the most is a guitar tuning app. It seems to make sense to have this on your watch! Unfortunately, the only app that does this is currently £4.99 so I'm planning on making my own (not to release, just to use!).

Looks

I was concerned when Apple first announced the Apple Watch. It looked to me like a squashed iPhone 3G. But when it's on your wrist, it looks impressive. It feels like a quality time piece.

I've opted for the sapphire screen and so far, I've banged it against the conservatory door (my daughter's fault), my daughter's head (her fault), my daughter's bedroom wall (her fault again) and not a mark on it.

By all accounts, the stainless steel surround is prone to scratching but mine hasn't shown any signs of that yet.

Summary

I love it. I knew I would. And I'm biased.

It's not perfect - not by a long shot. You don't need it (but hey, who NEEDS an iPad?) but you'll want it.

It's expensive but beautifully designed. The real test for me is how long it will last for. Traditionally, I break my watches every 6 - 8 months. But I've never spent £600 on a watch before. So this one had better last longer.

And I can't help but think that the Apple watch has got a better chance of surviving a 20kg bag of pebbles than the Pebble Watch...