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  • I am looking forward to 3rd party testing on most accurate heart rate. Because I have both Series 11 and Google Fitbit Air and the Air is so much better in everything, from accuracy, when to track and display of information.

    I just wish they made a band without all the hassle. I don't use my Watch for anything other than Stop watch, Alarm Clock and Health Tracking.

    I will try the Audio note taking, although my current Boss constantly lie and deny she have said something I am not sure how useful will this feature be.

    by ksec
  • I have had many fitbits, but for my mom I purchased an Apple watch because it had sleep apnea notifications. I think that's essential for almost everyone.

    I can't imagine why google would skip such a critical feature in Health Tracking.

    by saxenaabhi
  • It'd be more accurate to make claims compared to the smartwatches listed in the study, than claiming it's the most accurate on the market.

    > Participants wore an Apple Watch on one wrist, and a comparative wrist-based device on the other, while using a Polar H10 ECG based chest strap as reference. Wrist assignment was randomized such that Apple Watch was worn on the dominant hand approximately 50% of the time. Wrist-based devices studied included Apple Watch Series 12, Garmin Forerunner 970, Google Pixel Watch 4, Huawei Watch 5, Samsung Galaxy Watch 8, and WHOOP 5. Oura Ring 5 was also worn on an index finger, per the manufacturer's stated best practices3

    source, via the footnote: https://www.apple.com/HRAccuracy/

    by m01
  • I wish they made it stupid thin. I wear my Whoop everyday, even sleep with it on. I could never do the same with an Apple Watch due to it's size but also due to the notification anxiety.
    by nkotov
  • I think they really need a separate product that can have no screen or a minimal screen and ditches the need for app compatibility. Just selling the Apple Fitness features without the screen for apps would provide a lot of value and let them play with form factors and lower price points.
    by stetrain
  • I have a $20 smart fitness watch from Amazon which I use for sleep tracking, though it's a pretty capable watch. Much smaller than an Apple Watch and the battery lasts like 10 days on a charge. It connects to Apple Health and puts the heart rate / fitness / steps / sleep data in there.

    If it could do the "make my phone beep" feature I'd probably switch to it as my main watch. But of course that's Apple exclusive proprietary :(

    by xp84
  • You can remove all notifications.

    I have done so with all my devices since ~15 years ago. It's incredibly refreshing. When I see others reacting monkey-style to any notification or vibration from their phone or watch, I secretly smile inside.

    by simonebrunozzi
  • I wish they would make one without all the health crap. Drop the sensors and add more battery.

    I only really care about a few things (besides telling the time):

        - notifications
    - unlocking a Mac on proximity
    - Apple Pay
    - alarms
    - skipping a song
    I couldn't care less about all the health sensing stuff, I have to take it out when I work out because it's either in the way or would break.
    by juancn
  • That’s where you just get the SE on the cheap and don’t use the health stuff.

    The battery life isn’t an issue, especially for the kind of light use you describe. Charge it when you sleep.

    by Grombobulous
  • My left wrist had formed an indent where I wore my se3. It was not worn tight, I tried different straps. In 6 months it looks like the tissue underneath has mostly moved away. I can feel my bone when I touch it. My right arm by contrast looks full like a regular arm.

    Looked up apple watch indent reddit and I saw much more serious cases after years of use.

    I’ve worn a samsung watch for a year it didn’t leave a mark, casio watches, none. Until apple fixes that weird dome shape never wearing one again. That watch is staying in the box it came in.

    Edit: There seems to be people promoting other brands in this thread. Just want to make clear I do not recommend the samsung one either. Don’t want to be labelled as such. Just get a regular watch. Wear it when you go outside and take it off when inside. You were never using the mostly inaccurate health data anyway.

    by adithyassekhar
  • Do you wear it to sleep as well?
    by aurareturn
  • This is true of most objects that are constantly worn on your skin - my engineering ring has created a near-permanent indent in my pinky finger. It fades over time when it's not worn. It's an odd thing to hold against a wearable.
    by aareet
  • Apple killed support for three generations of Apple Watch hardware with its latest OS update: Series 6, Series 7, Series 8, and the original Apple Watch Ultra. So much for its commitment to the environment, perfectly capable hardware is being sent to the bin.

    There's literally no new features on the watch. Adding in AI nonsense.

    by Ecstatify
  • I thought it was understood that Apple gives hardware 5 years.

    If the watch still works with the current OS on it, what's the issue?

    by JKCalhoun
  • Am super salty about them killing support for the original Apple Watch Ultra. I, along with many others, bought it on launch day as both an Apple tragic / early adopter and to support what I thought was going to be an exciting new platform.

    Instead we barely got a new feature over the 4 years since it launched, and now its been killed (from a software support pov) way ahead of schedule of the vast majority of other Apple devices.

    For shame.

    by dansquizsoft
  • Why sent to the bin? The devices still work. I recently used my series 3 for a couple of weeks and it worked surprisingly well.
    by thih9
  • I think Apple Watch is a great device for wearing to gym, to sleep, and somewhat during the day + occasional quick text reply maybe, and otherwise forgetting all about it, because the true value lies in what's being collected in the Health app. Stop trying to do things on it imo. Maybe there are a couple of useful things you can do, or if you're a runner, maybe you can leave your phone at home. I don't have these use cases, but it's valuable to me even without them.

    My recommendation is: buy the cheapest material one every few years. I only ever had 2 and 5 (upgraded due to always on screen), and am considering to finally upgrade to 12.

    by hakunin
  • I don't know. Apple marketing has been really effective at this health thing. Whereas, studies of continuous monitoring of eg heart with even better sensors and higher risk populations have shown conclusively no improvement in health outcomes.
    by doctorpangloss
  • Agree. Was really hoping for a Fitbit style band this year that just has a Siri button and Apple Pay. An iPod for your wrist perhaps.
    by mglikesbikes
  • Over the years I have had Garmin Fenix 3HR, 6, Instinct, 7 Pro, Apple Watch 8, SE3 and now I have S11. The last one I must admit was an impulse buy. I realized that marketing works really well selling people the idea that all that collected data is actually important and may improve your life in a meaningful way. In fact, the formula is simple: eat clean, move, sleep well, do blood tests twice a year to ensure you don’t have deficiencies. It’s that simple. You don’t need your every heart beat to be recorded or your sleep tracked. You wake up and you already know if you slept well. I even consider health tracking wearables doing more harm as they distract people from what is important giving them a false sense of comfort if they managed to close all the rings.

    One a side note, I tried CGM out of curiosity and seeing how your body (and this is quite individual) reacts on various food, how high glucose spikes you can get from only a handful of blueberries has had a tremendous effect on my diet. Controlling glucose levels has helped sleep better, recover faster, lose some weight and overall have more energy. Wearing CGM for only one month has had more impact on my life than years of wearing various health trackers.

    by xscrew
  • I ditched the screen and got a band with health metrics on it. Its tiny and comfy, no screens, only a wakeup buzz in the morning when I'm most able to wake apparently. Battery lasts maybe a week? Been great. Best of all no advertisements pinging me every few hours.
    by the_sleaze_
  • Maybe it's just a general fatigue from AI, notifications, microphones, and cameras everywhere, but I'm pretty sure my next watch will be something from Germany or Switzerland containing springs and gears.
    by encomiast
  • Or Japan? Having digital accuracy and 10 year battery life is pretty nice.
    by smlacy
  • I went from an EV to my first manual car earlier this year for similar reasons I think
    by zaken
  • I can really recommend an automatic watch. Go to a jewelry store, try some on in the below 300 euro category (like, 10 euro to 300 euro range), and get one. Suddenly you can leave your phone somewhere, and not panic-check the time on it and get distracted.

    And they look nice, feel nice. Some of them even have a glass/crystal back, so you can watch the mechanism, relentlessly ticking on.

    Get an analog automatic watch. It doesn't need to be second-accurate. Everyone else is keeping track of nanoseconds, you'll be okay not knowing.

    by lionkor
  • Don’t forget Japan! There’s some great Japanese mechanical watches. I’m a fan of the Seiko spring drive movement.
    by Frost1x
  • I really just want an Apple version of the new Fitbit Air.

    I had an Apple Watch for five years. Battery didn't even last a day.

    I realized generally I have my phone or laptop with me all the time anyway, I don't need a watch with weather or app widgets.

    So in June I bought the fitbit air and it's great. Battery life lasts about 6-7 days. No distracting screen. MUCH more comfortable to sleep with since it has no buttons and a smaller form factor.

    If Apple made their own version of the Air but with Apple Pay I would switch back over in a heartbeat.

    by spike021
  • Moved to Garmin.

    Maybe less powerful but battery life is the most important feature for me.

    by sccxy
  • Assuming you’re using the Garmin for fitness related reasons — are you really carrying your phone around with you for music? I guess it works if you bike?
    by jeromechoo
  • Moved to Suunto, and I couldn't be happier.

    I had an Apple Watch series 7, which I had to charge twice a day now. I was on a fence between buying a new AW or switching to another brand, but Apple dropping the software support for my model have made the choice for me. I

    by shantara