Please: Help me choose - Apple Watch

[CoffeeLatte25]

I need to choose a watch. I need help deciding as I'm procrastinating & I just need to hurry up & get one!!

Sorry it's a bit long, but just trying not to drag it out/drip feed.

I haven't worn a watch for years as I prefer not to, but, due to a health issues I'm now risk of falling (weakness & nerve issue in one leg) & not being able to get up by myself (leg, knee,hip issues & general
illness). I'm in my 50!s & cognitively fine.

I need a watch with a falls alarm & one I can call neighbours/friends from if I get stuck. It needs to be able to be worn in the shower.

'Your stride' watch is fabulous, except it's not waterproof, My phone is Apple, so I think an Apple Watch is probably my best option, but open to suggestions. I know they are all waterproof.

Several months on, I'm fed up of trying to have my phone on my person 24/7, especially as the rehabilitation clothing I'm wearing is very loose & without pockets & not having much use of one hand/arm im already restricted to what I can carry.

I live alone & it's a pain in the backside having to remember to take my phone whenever I go to the loo or into the kitchen or bedroom.

i have rung Apple, but the customer support wasn't very helpful. They tried to be, but clearly don't use the functions. (Of the 3 I spoke to, none of them had an Apple Watch themselves).

Question1. Cellular or not? How near to my phone does my watch need to be to work
if I don't buy cellular?

(phone is a lot more expensive, but also I'd need to change my phone plan from GiffGaff to either EE or O2 plus pay for monthly watch contract. (Approx £30 per month I could do without adding to monthly commitments while I can't work! But if necessary I'd do it,).

I think outside of home it will be ok as I can't see myself going much of anywhere without my phone (camera) anyway.

Question2: are the screens in S10 much better than thise in the SE?

Question3: Is the S10 worth paying the extra for, for the Sleep Apnoea Alert? Is it any good??
(I know I snore & I wake up as tired as when I go to bed) but is it fairly useless?

& lastly, what other advantages do you think the S10 has to pay twice as much for it

TIA
X

Makes sense. There is a sleep mode facility, and you can also control which apps send alerts to your watch. There’s lots of information on the Apple forums and Youtube but it is a bit overwhelming!

I've had the sports straps with the Velcro but I've found I much prefer the loops that you just stretch to pull on, it's so much less hassle.

If your phone is on Do Not Disturb the watch will be too, I've just tried mine. I've never had any problems with charging but I do mine overnight, I don't wear mine in bed. You can also put into cinema mode by pressing one of the side buttons then a screen button so it doesn't light up when you move your arm, you then have to tap it to light it up.

Apple Watch, whichever newer model you want and can afford. Get cellular. The fall detection is great.

The main problem with cellular is they are limited to just a few providers, the more expensive ones so could be quite an expensive contract because I think the phone has to be on the same one, that was the reason I didn't consider cellular but I must admit that was several years ago but it seems it still hasn't changed, OP mentioned it in one of her posts.

I’ve had an SE for years and loved it. It fell off my wrist and the screen Smashed 😭 so I’ve now got the 10. I haven’t played around with it much yet but it seems the same! Inc the terrible Battery life! But I still love it. I think for your needs the SE would be absolutely fine!!

Hi again
its good there's a sleep mode.

Yeah, I'm really not well at the moment, a quiet MN chat is as much as I can cope with 🥲

sometimes I really hate living alone 🥲

My worry with that (though I've not yet seen one in person) is it coming off too easily.

Interesting, thank you.

Getting cellular is going to mean both a more expensive phone package & one for the watch. I'm not well enough to work & given how bad I feel today & have been this week, I'm not sure I ever will be.

I need to be able to justify (to myself) that extra expense.

What benefit di you think I'd get out of cellular?

Yeah, it's still the same. I'd have to change and add the watches cellular plan.

admittedly it's not hugely expensive now, around £30 a month, but in my situation I can well do without adding any unnecessary expenses to my life.

I don't think you need cellular.

Thanks.

what type of strap did you have on your SE & did that cause it to fall off?

You're probably right. Another thing I considered was buying the cellar but changing contracts unless I find I need it, but it's an expensive way around deciding!!

Shamelessly following.

Watch straps - I also have limitations to the use of my dominant hand & I’ve swapped to a magnetic strap so I don’t have to struggle; mine is on a Garmin but they make them for Apple too.

Clothes - I too struggle with zips but the cheat I found - I went onto eBay and found a few antique button hooks - I have one in the bedroom, one in the bathroom & another on a carabiner in my handbag - that might work for you.

Let me know how you get on with the watch as I want to move from my Garmin shortly as I also need the fall alert & ability to call from
the watch.

Only pay all the extra for cellular if you're ever expecting to nead emergency contact service on the watch while out of bluetooth (10-20 meters unobstructed) and wifi range of your phone. It uses both for redundancy. So eg if you're at home and left the phone indoors but you get enough wifi in the garden for signal, you're still covered even if you're outside bluetooth range.

I'd suggest a refurb Series 7 for about £150 off ebay (musicmagpie etc the big sellers) rather than a brand new one, unless there's some feature on a newer one/the SE that you can't live without. Which reading your posts, there isn't :)

Recharge is about 45 minutes, so if you're wearing it at night then pop it off for an hour during the day for the daily charge.

Hi

Sorry to hear you now feel you need a falls alert too, it's crap isn't it. I never thought I would at 55.

I know there are aids to help with zips/buttons, but once the garments are on & done up I still can't wear them as j have lost the ability (I didn't even know I had!!) to keep them up, they just fall off. Maybe if I bought smaller ones that were tighter they might stay on better, if I could get them on?! (I know how mad it sounds, I would have thought 'what??' Before this too)

At the moment I'm too unwell to faff or care what I'm wearing.

I'll keep updating 🤗

Thanks for your post. I had thought it would be nice to be able to go for a walk etc without my phone, but realistically don't know how often I woukd without my phone (as a camera) ?!

Oh tell me about it. 55 and disabled is such fun. Not. Especially since my brain keeps trying to behave as if the body it controls is still 25 and fit. And then wonders why it has to have several days in bed.

Yeah. Plus it still tries to do things if used to be able to & can't anymore & causes hurt or chaos or both!!

Not how I thought my life would be at 55 🙇🏻‍♀️

Yesterday informed they didn't do some test they should have done 6 months ago (🙄🙄) so now being booked in on the emergency list & more worry about those results . It's just the gift that keeps giving 😩🥲

And then they say you need test (b) but the waiting list is x months and 18 months late you’re still waiting. Thank god for the NHS. For all their faults, at least it’s not making us bankrupt as well as disabled.

Sending you a v gentle hug. If you want to chat pm me.

@AnonymousCatLady3 thank you.