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Apple Watch review: Beautiful, but not life-changing

SINGAPORE — With all the pre-launch hype and speculation, the Apple Watch was probably the most anticipated product launch by the tech giant since the iPad, or even the first iPhone.

The Apple Watch can control music played from the iPhone. Photo: Bloomberg

The Apple Watch can control music played from the iPhone. Photo: Bloomberg

SINGAPORE — With all the pre-launch hype and speculation, the Apple Watch was probably the most anticipated product launch by the tech giant since the iPad, or even the first iPhone.

I got my hands on a review set only a day before the device’s official launch in Singapore. Photos do not do the watch justice — it looks so much better in reality, especially on my wrist.

I spent a week trying to figure out all its functions, and customising it to match my preferences.

While the watch is enchanting in its beauty, it is not as life-changing as the iPad or iPhone.

Most of the device’s key functions, for now at least, are simply extensions rather than outright replacements of those in the iPhone.

Phone calls or messages can be answered through the watch, but messaging is limited only to SMSes and available apps such as WeChat, KakaoTalk and Telegram, but frustratingly no Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp.

The watch can also control the music played from the iPhone. I used this function a lot — until iOS 8.4 became available on my iPhone on June 30,which allowed me to choose the next song to play.

Regardless, there are apps that point to the greater potential of wearable tech. Apple Maps is excellent, user experience-wise. I no longer had to hold out my phone for walking directions; instead, the watch gave off a slight vibration when it was time to turn left or right, and all I had to do was take a quick glance at the device to know the right way.

Day-to-day apps such as Calendar, Mail and Twitter are also fairly well integrated into the watch. Having notifications that I could view with a quick glance saved me the trouble of digging out my phone from my pocket.

For travellers, apps by Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Starwood Hotels are really useful. The SIA app sends a notification when a flight is ready for boarding, while some Starwood hotels allow the watch to be used as a room key.

The level of personalisation the watch affords is impressive. According to Apple, there are more than a million ways to customise the look of the device — during work hours, I set the watch to show the events I had for the day; while for a night out, I chose a more classic watch face.

Ultimately, the timepiece is incredibly nifty and well built. Its only flaws stem from the expectations built up over the past few years.

The propriety straps I tried all felt very comfortable and unless one is constantly on the device, battery life can last nearly the whole day on a full charge.

There are three variations of the device: Apple Watch Sport, Apple Watch (the mid-range option), and Apple Watch Edition (the luxury version). They are available on the Apple Online Store, with prices ranging from S$518 to S$25,500.

 

FACT BOX

Tips and Tricks:

Alerts

• To ensure you don’t miss any important notifications, turn on Prominent Haptic to preannounce.

Active vs Total Calories

• You can see both measurements in the Activity app on your iPhone.

Music

• You can allocate up to 2GB on Apple Watch to store music locally. Go to the Apple Watch app on iPhone > My Watch > Music

Camera Remote

• Apple Watch can be a viewfinder for the iSight camera on your iPhone, so you can take a perfect selfie or join the group shot.

Mute Gesture

• Mute alerts by resting your palm on the display to cover it for at least 3 seconds. You’ll feel a tap to confirm.

Mail

• A shortcut to quickly deleting an email from your inbox list – just swipe left

Activity

• Force Touch in the Activity app to change your daily move goal anytime you want

• Swipe up from the 3 ring summary view to see more information: Active calories, steps and distance

• You can see a breakdown of your total active time vs exercise time in the Activity app on iPhone. Go to the Activity app on iPhone > day view > swipe left on the Exercise summary

Workout

• Force Touch during a workout to end or pause a workout (or swipe all the way to the left) then scroll down to save or discard it

• If you prefer a simplified display during workouts, you can turn off the graphics and see only numbers. Go to the Apple Watch app on iPhone

Calendar

• Force Touch in Calendar to switch between list view and day view

• Force Touch on a calendar event to email the organiser

Notification Centre

• Force Touch to Clear All

Digital Crown

• Double-click to jump to the last app

• Click and hold down the Digital Crown for Siri

Messages

• Force Touch in the Messages inbox to compose a new message

UI

• You can increase legibility by increasing text size or using bold text. Go to Settings > Brightness & Text Size

Digital Touch

• In Friends, you can see who also has an Apple Watch by looking for the hand icon (bottom centre) to know if you can send a Digital Touch

Unlock with iPhone

• You can set the Apple Watch to automatically unlock when you’re wearing it and you unlock your iPhone. Go to the Apple Watch app on iPhone > My Watch > Passcode > Unlock with iPhone

Show Last App on Wrist Raise

• If you’d rather see the last app you used when you raise your Apple Watch to look at it, go to the Apple Watch app on iPhone > My Watch > General Activate on Wrist Raise

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