Getting my first Apple watch

[lucky penny]

I've been thinking for a while about getting an Apple watch. I know, I know, they've been around for a while, but I'm ready to get started.

There's an Apple store nearby (in walking distance) with great service, one of the things I love most about Apple products. I converted from a PC 10 years ago (so glad I did!) & got a new MacBook Pro in 2020; an iPhone4 was my first smartphone & I upgraded to an XS. With all my Apple products there was a big learning curve at the start; I got some initial instruction at the store, then took a couple of classes there & eventually kept teaching myself. A friend with a Mac helped me get started, but I kept learning, taught myself a lot & ended up teaching him. My friend is gone now, so it's just me. I'm eager to challenge myself but no genius.

Any recommendations on what model to buy & how to get started? I want something, easy to use, that can store data & have apps to measure sleep, etc. What are the options? What should I know to get started? How do you learn how to use it?

I'm grateful for any advice & inspiration.

 

[COcheesehead]

I got an Apple Ultra for one reason. We are active and found if we used the GPS to track our hiking/biking, the battery would sometimes not last the day. With an Ultra the battery charge lasts three days. The screen is also bigger and it has a number of health related/exercise apps in it.

 

[timbervest]

I did get an Apple watch but realized that it really just mirrors my iPhone and I have that with me almost all the time. I traded it in for a FitBit Sense which looks just like an Apple Watch and accomplishes what I want the watch for: steps, heart rate, sleep tracking, alarm/timer, iPhone messages and phone call alert (I am a little hard of hearing) and the battery lasts 4-5 days at half the price. Not for everyone but works for me.

 

[Midpack]

DW bought a Series 8 Apple Watch last year (her friends have them) and she loves it. She uses the Activity app, but mostly the Watch just tells her when to pull out her iPhone, or not. She answers texts using voice when she’s playing pickleball or otherwise busy, but answers texts on her phone more often than not. She likes the convenience of using her (GPS only) Watch with Apple Pay which we use as often as possible, and it works even when she doesn’t have her iPhone with her. She used the sleep app a couple times, but she wears her Watch all day and charges at night so the sleep app is not convenient. She “asks Siri” with her Watch sometimes but usually has to pull out her iPhone to view replies. She sets alarms and timers with her Watch.

OTOH I haven’t been tempted to buy one, it’s not inconvenient to take my iPhone out and almost all functions and apps are much easier on the iPhone than the Watch IME (she would agree). Calendar and Apple Maps on the Watch are too hard to read.

She has 4 bands now. 3 are aftermarket at about 75% less $ than Apple bands, and look just as good.

Buy the largest face size you can stand on your wrist, easier to read and charge lasts longer, but DW consciously opted for the smaller 41mm size anyway with her small wrists. You probably don’t need the cellular model, but depends on your actual use case - this might help https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205547

 

[audreyh1]

I think you’ll be fine with the regular model and I don’t get the cellular data version as I never use it that way.

BTW with my watch I almost never need to pull out my phone which I love.

I’m fine with the smaller watch face, I have a small wrist.

When I got my first one someone from Apple called me to go over the features. I’m sure someone in the store can help.

 

[EastWest Gal]

I’m on my second watch. I decided it didn’t need cellular, as I keep my phone near me most of the time. I highly recommend getting one that is waterproof. Swimming is the only exercise that I thoroughly enjoy, and it tracks my laps and distance which is amazing.

I use the exercise tracking feature almost every day.

It pairs nicely with the health app on my phone. It measures my O2 saturation, though sometimes it reads falsely low (random readings of 87% while I’m awake and doing fine). Falsely low O2 saturation can be caused by inadequate pulse detection, so I’m not concerned.

I don’t want an always on display. It comes on when I look at it. Why have a watch that burns through your battery when you are not looking at it?

The highest end models are probably more than you need, IMO. Make a list of features that you value, then do some research.

 

[foxcreek9]

Watch the prices for Series 8, not enough changes to justify 9. Just upgraded DW series 5 for the 8, was 225 for a day at Amazon.

 

[frayne]

Growing up in the 50s and 60s the thought of having a Dick Tracy watch, the kind advertised in comic books was a dream never realized back in those days. I love Apple products but have yet to submit to wearing another timepiece which I forsake the day of my retirement almost eighteen years ago. Yes, I know it is so much more than a watch but I'll trust my handy iPhone 12 Pro Max in meantime.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

I love my Series 8, recently upgraded from a 3. As was said above, watch for sales on the 8 since the 9 came out not long ago. I think Target may have been having a sale recently.

 

[COcheesehead]

Everything should accessible on the watch face, even talking on the phone. All texts, weather, calculator, exercise tracking, all the apps, etc. It’s not just toggling through, swiping left or right brings up more information. As long as the phone is nearby, you don’t even need the phone on you. So it’s not just an indicator to pull out your phone. I don’t have cellular, but the watch is as robust as the phone, just smaller.

 

[braumeister]

Apple has plenty of information here: https://www.apple.com/watch/ but you definitely want to try a couple on in the store to see which size you like best.

 

[zinger1457]

I have the series 8 that I got through the Heartline study for $70, good watch but doubt I would have paid full retail, the battery life is terrible, especially if you use GPS for anything. Have to say the heart rate monitor is excellent, the best of any watch I've used over the years.

 

[tmitchell]

I got the S8 about a month ago on sale, no cellular. Agree it's great for swimming and keeping track of fitness generally. I find it helpful for motivation since it notifies me if my activity levels are low.

Other than that it's just a fun gadget IMO. Definitely hasn't changed my life

 

[iloveyoga]

I have the 7, it is my second iWatch and I love it. I use all the apps mentioned above and I use the timer quite a bit too. I did recently buy an Apple sports stretch type band instead of the rubber one it came with and I like the new band a lot better.

 

[Qs Laptop]

With all my Apple products there was a big learning curve at the start; I got some initial instruction at the store, then took a couple of classes there & eventually kept teaching myself.

Everything should accessible on the watch face, even talking on the phone. All texts, weather, calculator, exercise tracking, all the apps, etc. It’s not just toggling through, swiping left or right brings up more information. As long as the phone is nearby, you don’t even need the phone on you. So it’s not just an indicator to pull out your phone. I don’t have cellular, but the watch is as robust as the phone, just smaller.

I don't have Apple products but I do have and Android smart watch to go with my Pixel phone. As such I can't give any buying or how-to advice, but you did ask for inspiration, which I hope to provide.

What COcheesehead said is true, most of the important functions of your phone can be done on your watch, and yes, you can answer phone calls on your watch without it being a cellular version, so long as your phone is in bluetooth range of your watch. Also, the audio sound quality of speaking on your watch will be very good, not tinny at all (at least it's not with my setup.)

However, as you said, there is a learning curve. It's probably steeper than switching from a PC to an Apple computer. BUT, it's worth it, IMO. Most of the learning is memorizing the various menu commands and swipes needed to perform whatever task you are wanting to do with your watch that you previously did with your phone. Unfortunately, most of these are not intuitive. But after a while you will get the hang of it.

One of the most difficult things for me was to wean myself out of pulling my phone out of my pocket and rely on using the watch instead. Eventually, after much repetition and trial and error I got to be pretty good at it. Now the game is to try to not pull my phone out of my pocket!

 

[Chuckanut]

I bought my Apple Watch for its fall detection ability and help notification feature. I live alone and don’t want to end up lying helpless on the floor for two days like one of my neighbors did.

I enjoy its various other features, but, they are not enough to justify the expense. The fall protection is.

 

[foxcreek9]

Not sure why some have battery issues, I exercise 60 to 180 mins a day (bike rides up to 3 hours, otherwise weights, walking). Put it on at 6 am and off at 9pm and it is usually 50-60% battery left. As mentioned it great not to have phone around, although at times messages, alerts do not get sent to watch, for reasons only the apple universe seems to understand. But no worries, every spam text gets through to the watch.

 

[COcheesehead]

Not sure why some have battery issues, I exercise 60 to 180 mins a day (bike rides up to 3 hours, otherwise weights, walking). Put it on at 6 am and off at 9pm and it is usually 50-60% battery left. As mentioned it great not to have phone around, although at times messages, alerts do not get sent to watch, for reasons only the apple universe seems to understand. But no worries, every spam text gets through to the watch.

The batteries have a life. When new mine held up longer too, but as they age, they start to not hold a charge. At 80%, you can check the life on the watch, they start to die quickly. It took about 2-3 years to get to that point. The Ultra as I mentioned holds for three days.
There are also low power modes and not enabling some apps that save on power as well.

 

[Sue J]

For comparing models I recommend this - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Watch

I've been pretend shopping for a new Apple Watch. It's only pretend because a few months ago my son got himself a new Series 8 and gave me his old Series 2 (GPS, no cellular) from 2016. I am Apple proficient, I have a iMac, iPad mini, iPhone 13 and I still use an old iPod Touch. I had no experience with the Apple Watch so I wanted to learn all I could about the Series 2 on my wrist and also if I needed or wanted to upgrade to something newer. The only issue my son had with his old one was that the battery would run low on him by late afternoon if he wore it all day.

My old one has most of the functions that the new ones have. My favorites are the selection of watch faces and using the complications (additional info on a watch face such as temp/weather, day/date, battery level, sunrise/sunset and more). My old one cannot access some of the newer faces but I still have many choices and customizations. I often use the alarms or timers. I have it tap me and chime on the hour. I am using the Siri function occasionally, but I'm not a big Siri user on my other Apple devices. I use the texting feature often, easy to receive and read texts, replying is easy with the default replies, a little more effort to create a response but I can do it. Mine doesn't have a keyboard, there is a scribble pad instead.

Even my old watch is swim proof, water resistant to 50 meters I think. I learned how to use the watch to take a picture with my iPhone which is very clever and useful! I use the weather apps frequently and heart rate thing. The newer watches can do oxygen level and ECG. One of the best functions is Apple Wallet. It works just like on your phone if you've used that. You can make calls and answer calls on the watch but it's a little awkward.

I've decided to keep the old watch until the battery goes bad. So far it's been working well for me. I had one day last week where it didn't charge overnight and when I watched it trying to charge it was intermittent, not a good sign. I looked up the issue and read about resetting the watch. Did that, charged to 100% and have had no problems with the charging since then.

This happened on Prime Day and I even had a Series 8 in the cart at Amazon. But I realized that I enjoyed keeping the old one going and if I could solve the battery issue I would keep it. For now at least.

Since I wasn't buying a new one I've been buying new watch bands for the old Series 2. Lots of great band options for far less than Apple's prices on bands.

I've been having a lot of fun learning about the world of Apple Watch. Not a necessity to me, my old analog watch still tells time just fine. Amazing technology and very useful features.

To the OP, watch some Youtube videos where people show and review the newer Apple Watches. You can find ones where they compare Series 8 to Series 9 and Ultra. There is also the SE version (Special Edition) with a lower price and omitting some features.

 

[Lsbcal]

...
Any recommendations on what model to buy & how to get started? I want something, easy to use, that can store data & have apps to measure sleep, etc. What are the options? What should I know to get started? How do you learn how to use it?

I'm grateful for any advice & inspiration.

If you are near an Apple store then sign up for the watch lesson class after you purchase. I assume they are still offered. Naturally you will play around with it before the class but this can help with some other uses. Of course, depends on the instructor too.

I haven't used it for sleep. Would be interested in what good that does as interpretation is not really given I think. How do I know if I've done a good sleep job? Last night slept 8 hours but that nightmare on waking wasn't fun. Lost everything in my wallet and had to confront a guy who looked like the lead in "Better Call Saul".

I find the watch is quite useful even if I have my iPhone in my pocket. If I can't get at my phone quickly I take the call and then switch to the phone from my pocket. I time some events like how long I've been on this PC. Oops, time to take a break ...

 

[foxcreek9]

The batteries have a life. When new mine held up longer too, but as they age, they start to not hold a charge. At 80%, you can check the life on the watch, they start to die quickly. It took about 2-3 years to get to that point. The Ultra as I mentioned holds for three days.
There are also low power modes and not enabling some apps that save on power as well.

Mine is a 6 and almost exactly 3 years old. I do have limited apps on the phone, most are not needed.

 

[COcheesehead]

Mine is a 6 and almost exactly 3 years old. I do have limited apps on the phone, most are not needed.

Location services and GPS when in activities mode seem to be the biggest power suckers for me.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I have a 8 within cellular and bought it because I live alone so can use it to get emergency help if ever needed. I got 6 stretch bands on Amazon for 12 versus 50 I paid to apple. They all are washable.

 

[COcheesehead]

Yes, don’t buy an Apple replacement band. So many less expensive options out there. I have 4 or 5 bands all bought off eBay for only a few dollars. I wear until dirty, switch, wash, repeat.

 

[bloom2708]

I use my series 7 every day. I heavily use Fitness + and use it to track my walking, running, steps and other activities.

I have the GPS only and everything syncs back up after a run, walk or bike ride.

Target has the smaller Series 8 for a good price right now. Highly recommend.

I bought a pack of bands from Amazon that work great. No reason to pay the high price from Apple.