Apple's Watch Is Great But Do you Need it?
Apple's stylish smartwatch may be the world's best wearable device made so far, as it could make life easier while the move, reviewers say. On the other hand, the device seems to have battery life and app issues. The watch will hit stores on April 24 and the first reviews have already surfaced online.
"For now, the Apple Watch is for pioneers," the Wall Street Journal's Geoffrey Fowler wrote. "I won't pay the $1,000 it would cost for the model I tested, only to see a significant improvement roll in before too long."
"There's virtually nothing I can't do faster or better with access to a laptop or a phone except perhaps check the time," said Nilay Patel, who reviewed the watch for theverge.com.
Loading an app required the watch to pull tremendous amounts of data from iPhones, Patel said, adding that Apple had told him upcoming software updates would address performance issues.
"The maps app, surely the answer to wandering pedestrians' dreams, is so slow it makes me want to pull out my paper Rand McNally," the Journal's Fowler said.
Re/Code's Lauren Goode said the watch's battery life was not nearly as long-lasting as some other wearable devices. CNET's Scott Stein said the battery's recharge time was slow.
Paired with an iPhone, the watch allows users to check email, listen to music and make phone calls. It also tracks their health - for instance by monitoring heartbeats.
But the software is "initially complex" and not suited to tech novices - unusual for an Apple device, said Farhad Manjoo, who reviewed the watch for the New York Times.
"Apple has succeeded in its first big task with its watch. It made something that lives up to the company’s reputation as an innovator and raised the bar for a whole new class of devices. Its second task—making me feel that I need this thing on my wrist every day-well, I’m not quite sure it’s there yet. It’s still another screen, another distraction, another way to disconnect, as much as it is the opposite. The Apple Watch is cool, it’s beautiful, it’s powerful, and it’s easy to use. But it’s not essential," said Bloomberg's Joshua Topolsky.
The Apple Watch Sport will start at $349, while the high-end "Edition" will be priced from $10,000.