2016 has been a year of comfortable predictability for Apple the new iPhones seven were exactly what we expected from the company and the revised Apple watch doesn’t pack many surprises either that is to say it’s the best SmartWatch you can buy for the iPhone again cosmetics first if you liked the first Apple watch you’ll like the series too the design is the same rounded rectangle with prominent digital crown and squared off display a letdown if you were hoping for Apple to join the round watch ranks but I do want to give the company credit for installing an incredible display it’s really just mesmerizing to watch some of these watch faces and it’s over two times as bright as the first Apple watch moving over to the casing the space gray option is a welcome addition to the economy choice this year yes this is the aluminum Apple watch not the steel Hermes or ceramic edition I did go for the nylon band this year though which I think looks pretty cool even though it holds on to water for a long time after a swim that’s one of the big improvements this year instead of just splash proofing there’s 50-meter water resistance so you can leave this on for all the baths you like there’s an option to lock the screen so you don’t splash text your ex’s and when it’s time to dry off you get to try out my favorite party trick spin the crown and the watch puts out a tone that forces water from the speaker cavity so you can talk on it again speaking of speaking each year I review a new Apple watcher Samsung gear and each year I’m reminded how uncomfortable it is to talk on a wristwatch you really feel the Bern after a minute the speaker is still not as loud as I’d like but if you’re in a quiet room it works just fine I was surprised how much I liked using it actually and all three callers I talked to said I sounded great none of them could tell I was using a watch which surprised me too you still need to be connected to an iPhone or a Wi-Fi network to use most of the watch’s features there’s no cellular connection here but I don’t count that against the Apple watch just as I don’t for my daily wearable the Moto 360 in my view smart watches still shine best as second screens for your smart phones and that’s how I make the most use of the Apple watch checking notifications as they come in replying to the occasional message and remembering to breathe just kidding I disabled it after a day if you dig it cool but it seems so forced like a move
Samsung might have made years ago disguising a really thin specialty APIs some kind of core enhancement data breathe does serve one important purpose it calls attention to the repositioning of the Apple watch as a health and fitness companion which wasn’t emphasized as strongly in the first generation Serenity’s review over a time or has the skinny on workouts my usage was confined to the odd power walk across the city but as an occasional outdoorsman I will say that I loved the inclusion of standalone GPS for tracking a hike or a kayak trip and Apple health is still a pleasure to use from the simple fun of filling the rings to the gentle stand up and stretch prompt those notifications like all of them really do feel like a light tap on your skin apples taptic engine still makes every other smartwatches vibration feel primitive I just wish the watch was contextually smarter I got several of those stand up and walk suggestions while driving a car which you know is dumb on the software side most apps which have been optimized for watch OS 3 are speedier once you get past the first boot I like how many of them are available for the watch – the interface is still more complex than it could be overall but it is somewhat simpler than earlier versions my personal favorite features were accomplishing simple tasks through voice control with Siri and paying for coffee without taking out my phone old hat for you Apple watch veterans I know but this noob was impressed finally battery life if you use the watch like I do and you have the larger 42 millimeter version you’ll almost certainly make it two full days between charges and that includes wearing the watch as a sleep monitor overnight which I’ve made a habit of be a little more cautious and you can stretch it out to three or even four days until you top up again as I did before I installed a bunch of apps just remember to bring that charger with you on road trips and by the way for the price Apple’s asking for the watch I’m still pretty disappointed that you don’t get a nice cradle with it that price $369 and up makes me think most folks will be plenty happy saving a Benjamin and getting a series one or even the release version of the Apple watch now retired personally I’d probably go for a pebble because ninety percent of my use case is notifications I’d say only if you really need the full-on waterproofing or standalone GPS should you spring for the series too but if you
do you’ll be getting one version of the best SmartWatch there is for your iPhone and truthfully one of the best smartwatches period I saw you looking at that Casio check out my review of that monster and subscribe on YouTube so you don’t miss more mr.mobile until next time thanks for watching and stay mobile my friends .
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