Discussions

I’m interested I hearing everyone’s opinion on Apple Watch and which series. I prefer not to have a big face so not sure which one would work best. I am wanting it to make/receive calls,text, heart rate, fitness tracking. Just looking for opinions on you that have one. I do have have an iPhone and IPad so I’m looking to stay with Apple. TIA

I would recommend a non cellular series 3 38mm if you don’t want it too big. It is waterproof (I have snorkelled in the sea with mine). It does everything you want it to do and reasonably priced now. $259 from Apple.

I would never buy an Apple Watch. Batteries are terrible. I think a full charge is supposed to last 18 hours. It has to be on a charger every night so you can’t wear it to bed. You can go a week with a Fitbit.

but...we need to start a new thread. Because...that's not the question that was asked.

I’ve got a series 4, 40 mm face....it’s not as big as I thought it would be. The battery does not last, does need to be charged every night. I thought about upgrading to the series 5 just so I could have one where the watch face is always on, other than that I am happy with it.

Gift. This is my second.  
I had a 38mm series 3 and upgraded to 40mm series 5.  
I don’t find the battery depletes like others have suggested. The series 5 with the always on face lasts as long as or better than my series 3. I was expecting battery life to not be as good as it is.  
I used to use a Fitbit but honestly found they didn’t last long before they died. I had issues with the bands and then they stopped charging. My last one was a Charge 2 and I went through 3 bands with it. To upgrade Fitbits they were getting more expensive so opted for an Apple Watch.  
I am a daily wearer of my apple watch and I love it. I have several watch bands and have the ability to change them out depending on what I’m wearing that day. I’ve had no trouble with my Apple Watch or any of the sports bands.

If I take mine off the charger in the morning, I can't wear it overnight and have it last all day the next day. When I had a Fitbit, the battery definitely lasted longer, but I still like my Apple Watch more.

I have a series 3 42mm cellular and love it. I can usually go about 3 days before charging. It tracks my daily fitness and calories and heart rates. It tracks sleep patterns and can provide insight into ways to get better sleep and all sorts of interesting bits of info.  
 
If battery life is bad on yours, unpair it from you phone and resync it. One big battery drain on these watches is the raise to wake feature.. As any time you move your wrist basically, it turns the screen on. I've had android watches in the past and found them less refined and functional ( one area apple exceeds others in )  
 
I don't have mine connected to cellular as i already pay enough per month for the phone plan so that also helps battery life. With cellular the battery life will likely drop to 1-1.5 days.  
 
The watch is one area i don't care to upgrade every 2 years like my phone. New ones have better hardware and do have always on face and that emergency fall protection thing for 911. I don't see value in those for my lifestyle though.  
 
I know people with Fitbits, like nurse friends and love them as they are light and are very good at the fitness tracking side but not an awesome experience for calls / messaging / other features.  
 
If you get a bigger screen fitbit you may as well just go Apple. The smaller fitbit's are great for fitness but if you get the bigger ones, I'm of the opinion an Apple watch is considerably better overall.

I've had both Apple Watch and Fitbit. When it was time to upgrade my Fitbit, I noticed that the nicer models were a high enough price that I might as well pay the extra and go with the Apple Watch. In almost every aspect I like it better. I use it all the time with Siri to set myself timers, or as a flashlight, I use it to ping my phone when I've lost it in the couch cushions. I control my music with it when I exercise, I set alarms easily and can use it for Apple Pay. The face shows me a ton of info in a single face, including weather, calendar, text message notifications. The display of the text messages is great, I can dictate texts easily or draw the letters on the face. It's overall just a really good user experience.  
 
The downsides (compared to my Fitbit) is that for some reason Apple Watch doesn't have a built in pedometer feature to display which actually shows your steps (something I was really used to with a Fitbit) You can use a 3rd party app but that feels clunky. The battery lasts me almost 2 days (series 3) unless I'm using it a whole lot - and it charges quite quickly, so I will often charge it when I plan to sit on the couch for awhile or take a bath, etc. The fitbit battery was a good week - but it had way less features, too! (Charge 2)  
 
If you like the Apple ecosystem, I'd say take the plunge. If you don't get the most current model you can get them at a pretty decent price. Also the 38mm screen is really manageable for size.

I had a Versa from Fitbit. First one failed and was replaced on Warranty. (It wouldn’t turn on). Replacement failed a year later off warranty. After that, I would stay away from the particular model.

I am interested in buying an Apple watch but need some clarification on music apps while I’m out running. Will it play spotify? Or is it all Apple Music? TIA!

Yep, Spotify works with the Apple Watch but it only works as a remote to change songs and playlists (and sometimes annoyingly.. the volume), so you can't use just the watch with a pair of bluetooth headphones, it will require the iPhone.

You can load music and playlists on to your watch so you don’t have to take the iPhone with you. All you need is some Bluetooth headphones and away you go

Thank you for the responses! Just to clarify- can I load spotify playlists to the Apple Watch?