Apple Watch. Great or waste of money?

[MadeForThis]

I though I had a great idea for DH's birthday present - Apple Watch. But after playing with one on the shop it seems like a watch that also has iphone notifications. Not much else.

Am I missing something? He needs his iPhone close by for the GPS version. He can and does check his notifications on this. Both sales assistants I spoke to said they don't reply to messages etc on the actual watch, just check notifications. I don't know what I was expecting but definitely more functionality.

If you have an Apple Watch what do you use it for?

I think my expectations were wrong. I pictured a mini iPhone on your wrist.

He probably could do with a new watch anyway. But am I better spending £300 on a watch from a jewellers?

You can answer calls on it, and send brief replies to texts. There's quite a lot of stuff on it.

I have one, but preferred my Fitbit, as I use it more for logging my exercise and sleep.

Well obviously there’s the fitness tracking. You very quickly get used to notifications on your wrist rather than picking up your phone. I use the Walkie talkie to talk to DH all the time, but that’s no use if you don’t know someone else with an Apple Watch. I can set our smart alarm on mine. I use the timers all the time and I just discovered yesterday that if I leave my phone behind my watch informs me. Very useful. I can control my music from it if I have my phone in a dock or something, if you’re following directions it vibrates on your wrist when you reach each turn, useful when walking. There’s loads more, I love mine. But it does depend on your DG being the type that will find out what it does, and use it.

Oh, and Apple Pay is cool.

Erm. I love mine; but it does what I need it for.... I use it to track fitness, to see messages when my phone is away from me, to keep an eye on work notifications, to keep track of the time/weather, to pay, to follow directions...

You can reply to messages on it but I don't tend to, it's a bit laborious. And you can answer calls on it, but you're then on speaker and everyone around you can hear the call, so I don't tend to do that either, it seems really rude.

But it's not a small phone; and if your DH tends to have his phone in his hand all the time anyway, he might not find it as useful. And they've been out for a while now, so if he's never mentioned wanting one, I'd presume he's come to the same conclusion...

What type of watch does he generally like?

I love mine. I can read messages on it without needing to on my phone, answer calls, it encourages me to exercise, can control music and it vibrates if I need to turn left or right whilst using google maps. Also it's obviously a watch and fitness tracker. You do need your phone on and close by and if I have the Bluetooth on it does drain my phone battery a bit. That's the only downside to me.

Oh yes Apple Pay is much easier and also you can ping your phone to find it in the house. That's really cool

I like the fitness/sleep/heart rate tracker.

Other features I use a lot are:

• contactless payments, just hold my wrist over the machine
• unlocking much iPhone when I'm wearing a mask and Face ID doesn't work
• calculator
• asking Siri to set timers or add things to my shopping list
• reading notifications, sending short messages

I really love that it counts my lengths when i go swimming

He has a Fitbit that tracks steps etc and he wears that most days.

Don't know anyone else with an Apple Watch so the walkie talkie function won't work.

He works in an office most days so phone is on the table beside his laptop. No issue with being able to check his phone other than the odd meeting.

Apple Pay is good but he has had an iPhone for years and never bothered to activate it. But he might.

He uses the iPhone for google maps.

Will it work with Amazon music as he has a subscription to that?

He wears a normal leather strap watch now. But he's had it for almost a decade. He would be happy to update it.

Buzzing when he leaves his phone behind would be a very useful feature

Our son has one. Not sure what it can do but I know he uses it to pay in shops.

Yes it works with Amazon music

Mine is mostly for tracking runs and I can see if I have an urgent message or school is calling without looking at my phone. I also use it as a phone in the car. Best function for me it that I can use it to find my phone (because I’m always putting it down at home). It’s improved my life just for that function

You can remote control your phones camera too. Good for family selfies where you can’t get everyone in at arms length.

I think I just need to revise my initial impression of an Apple Watch.

It is a watch primarily that also has notifications and links to some apps.

I kind of imagined I would be buying him a mini iPhone.

So would he want/need a £300 watch is what I need to decide.

Hmm. If he’s got a Fitbit, he might not want to lose all his data. It tends to be a bit competitive, in my experience! A bit like buying a Mac person a PC.

If you have the GPS version, you don't have to have your phone with you to do lots of things: track workouts, track activity, see the time (also able to use Alarm, Timer, and Stopwatch apps), play music from a synced playlist, display photos from synced albums, make purchases with Apple Pay, check heart rate, use the Breathe app, and listen to podcasts stored on Apple Watch. If your iPhone is off or out of range, the Apple Watch can still connect to known Wi-Fi networks and do several other features. It does drain the battery a bit faster though.
I use mine for Apple Pay, to find my phone, to check where DH is when he's on a walk, track my workouts, answer messages & WhatsApp messages (usually by dictation), check emails as they come in, use the timer, as a pedometer and getting notifications of all kinds of stuff. It's just so much more convenient even than using the phone.
DH was sceptical when I got mine, but he got his own two months later.

Oh yes, I forgot the remote for the camera - very useful!

I love that it knows I'm washing my hands and counts my 20 seconds

Love leaving my phone at home on dog walks and listening to radio/audible etc

If you're buying the GPS version for tracking walking / running without needing to carry a phone then they don't get the best reviews compared to brands such as Garmin.

I love mine. I always have my phone at the bottom of my bag so miss calls/texts etc. No more thanks to my Apple Watch. I also get alerts from my ring doorbell and camera on it so I can see what is happening instantly.

It is a great fitness tracker (I work out nearly every day) and an efficient oximeter.

I really recommend it if it is in your budget.

You don't have to get the very latest one, and you can also look at refurbished models, so it could be quite a bit cheaper than that.

apparently you can get it to unlock your front door if you have the right sort of lock installed, which I think sounds useful! (But no idea how to get that sort of lock, how secure they are, and whether I'd be allowed to do that in a flat anyway).

how does it know about washing hands?! Mine has never told me anything about that! Or alerted me when 20sec is up

He wouldn't use any fitness features other than step counter. He tends to lift weights in the gym rather than run or cycle.

He controls his music on his wireless headphones I think.

Does it vibrate to wake you as an alarm clock? He uses the Fitbit for that sometimes.

He's a nightmare at forgetting phones and bank cards so that feature would definitely be useful.

He would probably like a lot of the features but I don't think he would need them if that makes sense.

I really like my Apple Watch, I wear it on the school run so I don't have to take my phone with me, it makes paying for things in the shop super easy, I've definitely missed a lot less calls and messages since I've had it (I have a habit of sticking my phone on silent and forgetting). I also really like the fall detection feature, I badly broke my ankle last year and I'm a bit paranoid of falling when I'm out and about now, knowing that there is something on me that will know If I've fallen and alert someone if I can't is helpful. I like it as an extension of my iPhone and can't see myself without one now.

I wear mine in bed and use it as an alarm which I prefer as picking my phone up I tend to start looking at it and get up late ha ha

@PeppermintMocha - hand washing function is on watch 4 or later - you can turn it on in the Watch app on your phone - My Watch- Handwashing. It can remind you to wash your hands if you haven't done it a few minutes after you get home, and times it for 20 seconds while you're making handwashing movements and the tap's running (you don't have to leave the tap running once it's started, if you're concerned about saving water)