CUPERTINO, Ca. – The Apple Watch will make its debut on April 24, but already tech experts have had a chance to put it through its paces. The verdict is mixed at best. Some have labeled it the latest toy, but not really a “must have” tool.
A CNET.Com columnist said he wore the watch for about a week. Her is how he rated it:
The Good – The Apple Watch is a beautifully constructed, compact smartwatch. It’s feature-packed, with solid fitness software, hundreds of apps, and the ability to send and receive calls via an iPhone.
The Bad – Battery barely lasts a day and recharge time is slow; most models and configurations cost more than they should; requires an iPhone 5 or later to work; interface can be confusing; sometimes slow to communicate with a paired iPhone.
The Bottom Line – The Apple Watch is the most ambitious, well-constructed smartwatch ever seen, but first-gen shortfalls make it feel more like a fashionable toy than a necessary tool.
The Apple Watch comes in three different models, two different sizes, and six different finishes, with a range of swappable bands and prices ranging from $349 all the way up to $17,000. It’s designed to be Apple’s most personal product: fashion as much as it is tech. Apple’s products have been fashionable for years, but now Apple wants these watches to transcend into jewelry.
Smartwatches may one day be the future of phones, or a seamless extension of both them and your home, or any number of connected devices. Right now, they function as phone accessories. And that’s where the Apple Watch lands. Apple designed the watch to help us look at our phones less. I’d call it more of a smaller screen in Apple’s spectrum of differently sized screens. I used it instead of my phone, sometimes. Then, I’d go back to my phone. Has it changed my behavior? It’s too early to tell yet, but it might.
