When I was told that an Apple Watch had been bought for me, my first reaction was surprise, until I remembered who my husband is and realized I actually wasn’t that surprised. So I decided to go along with it. I am never the kind of person who wants or desires the newest shiny toys, but really wanted to give the Watch an honest shot. It definitely helped that there is a 2 week “grace period” so I could really give myself some time to decide if this was something I really wanted in my life.

Casey asked me to write a review from my perspective about the watch, a week in to using it. Much easier said than done, while watching an infant all day who is a terrible napper and has decided to get up earlier and earlier every morning for the past week (mommy is quite tired)! Forgive my terrible disjointedness; these are my thoughts that have been floating around since using the Watch.

From the day I first received it (surprisingly, I got it about a month earlier than originally thought), I have worn the Watch faithfully. All day, putting it on first thing in the morning after I shower, and taking it off right before bed. To be fair, I don’t really have time to fiddle around with it, but I have taken in everything I can about it, and frequently ask questions about how to do something. I really want to love this Watch.

Unfortunately, I don’t. I know it absolutely breaks Casey’s heart anytime I say something desparaging about it, and that does make me sad. I want to love it as much as he does, but I really just don’t.

Likes

What DO I like about it? Not to be trite, but the band is extremely comfortable. I’ve never been opposed to wearing watches, and having something on my wrist usually doesn’t bother me, but this is one of the nicest feeling watch bands I’ve ever felt. (On the downside my wrist doesn’t seem to like any of the set band holes - it’s either slightly too large or slightly too small for me at all times.) I also like the color. Given my propensity towards the color pink, Casey ordered that band for me. After seeing it in the store when Casey had his try-on appointment, I was not impressed. It looked to be more of a salmon color, which was ok, but I likely would have chosen a different color had I seen that first. What I received though, is more of a coral color, which I really like.

In addition, the fact that I can check a text message when I am doing something that limits me from checking my phone immediately (such as washing dishes or changing a poopy diaper), is genuinely convenient. Even if nothing can be done about it right that second, it can at least be checked when my hands are otherwise occupied completely.

Dislikes

These about sum up what I have found to be enjoyable about the Watch. What do I not like about it? The best way I can exemplify my feelings, as I’ve told others: you can see a lot on the Watch, but you can’t do a lot on the Watch. For example, if someone texts me a link to something, I have to look at it on my phone. Related, I will get a “an image has been sent; check your iPhone” message which must lead me back to my phone. For both of these, on numerous occasions I have forgotten that there is a link or image to look at by the time I get back to my phone. The sender either eventually asks if I received it (because of my lack of response) or I will finally notice when I go to send them a text about something completely different. Extremely frustrating!

When I do receive a normal text message and want to respond, many times the canned reply texts are not good enough for what I want to say. Usually, “yes”/ “no”/ “can’t talk now”/ etc. do not do enough. So, I have to go back to my phone again. I know I could use the dictation feature, but I have thus far refused to talk to my wrist, and do not see that changing.

There have been many times when I have missed notifications completely. Though since I first mentioned this to Casey, he bumped up the sensitivity, and it has gotten better, it’s definitely not 100%. So sometimes it might not be until quite a bit later (I don’t look at my watch “just cuz” very often) that I see something. Similarly, but more disheartening, is the fact that some sketches/ taps just don’t go through at all. I know one will be sent (I will hear or see a text saying something like “omg that is the worst thing I’ve ever drawn”) and it will never make it to my watch. However, I believe that the novelty of sketches/ taps/ heartbeats will wear off for everyone fairly quickly, so perhaps this will not be a problem for long!

The fitness part of the Watch is cool, but I already have a FitBit (and have for years), that satisfies that need. While there is something very satisfying about seeing a ring being completed, I actually prefer to see my fitness status on my FitBit (I feel its not as fiddly and easier to see at a glance). In addition, I’m told to “stand up” multiple times throughout the day… when I am already standing and usually have recently gone up or down stairs! (I’m also told this if I’ve been in a car for a while, which I can understand, but it still grates on my nerves a bit.)

Finally, many of the apps that are on the Watch I would rather check on my phone anyway, because the Watch screen is just too small for that kind of use (I know I have the smaller size watch but I don’t see this being much different on the bigger one, though perhaps I’m wrong in thinking that). Related, several of the apps on my iPhone aren’t supported by the Watch so I couldn’t use them even if I wanted to.

I honestly am not sure what I’m going to do about keeping or returning my Watch. That may come as a surprise given the amount of cons I have to pros. It certainly is not worth the money, in my opinion. The problem is, I want to love it. I really do. I just haven’t found any reason to do so.