OT: New Apple Watch

[ravdg316]

https://www.apple.com/apple-watch-series-3/

I've been keeping my eye on these for general biking/nav, but didn't like how the previous version required a phone. This one seems to correct all the flaws of the first one.

Is somebody here willing to be the guinea pig??

[Mark McM]

The Boston Red Sox seemed to like it.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_te...ing_signs.html

[ojingoh]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

The Boston Red Sox seemed to like it.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_te...ing_signs.html

[Davist]

I wonder if you don't need a phone if you need a separate sim card/phone number.. Not sure how it would work otherwise, right? It's an extra $70.. ($329 gps vs $399 gps/cell). EDIT: looks like it has "wireless" capability, so maybe it works like a walkie talkie or something

[djg21]

Originally Posted by Davist

I wonder if you don't need a phone if you need a separate sim card/phone number.. Not sure how it would work otherwise, right? It's an extra $70.. ($329 gps vs $399 gps/cell). EDIT: looks like it has "wireless" capability, so maybe it works like a walkie talkie or something

From https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/09/...th-review.html

Rather than putting in a physical sim card, which would take up too much space, they went with an electronic SIM (eSIM), which is a SIM card without the physical card part. Meanwhile, the antenna for the watch is the front of the display.

Of course with a SIM card (of any type), you get a phone number. That’s true today of Android Wear watches and any number of other SIM-based devices you may have in your life today. But what’s mostly unique here is that with their eSIM, your phone number is shared with your phone. Thus you have one single phone number no matter where you are.

With that phone number you can take a call directly on the watch itself without any phone nearby. The watch includes both a speaker and microphone. To demonstrate this they had an employee stand-up paddle boarding out on a lake and took the phone call live using her watch.

If carriers don’t charge a separate device fee given that the watch and iPhone use the same cellular number, this seems like it’s going to be a no brainer. It would be great to be able to leave my phone behind when I go on a ride, or to stream music to my watch and listen on my AirPods without carrying a phone.

If Verizon does try to charge an additional fee to use the watch on its network, there’s not an ice cube’s chance in hell that I’d ever buy one.

[dbnm]

$10 a month EXTRA on Verizon and AT&T

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/09/12...rizon-pricing/

[vqdriver]

samsung has already done this with their gear watches. you have the option of bluetooth or cellular. with bt you need to be connected to a phone, cellular is standalone and requires a data plan to activate. unsure if you actually get a new phone number with it or if it just mirrors your phone (which would be cool)
either way, gps is already included in the watch itself.

fwiw, 10/mo is pretty standard to piggyback onto an existing account just for data, such as with a 4g enabled tablet.

[djg21]

Originally Posted by vqdriver

samsung has already done this with their gear watches. you have the option of bluetooth or cellular. with bt you need to be connected to a phone, cellular is standalone and requires a data plan to activate. unsure if you actually get a new phone number with it or if it just mirrors your phone (which would be cool)
either way, gps is already included in the watch itself.

fwiw, 10/mo is pretty standard to piggyback onto an existing account just for data, such as with a 4g enabled tablet.

$10/mo is too much for a watch, especially when one already is paying connectivity fees for one or more iPhones (and iPads) already. On my Verizon account, I pay device fees for a second iPhone for my wife and two iPads.

I could justify $5/mo for a watch perhaps, but I have difficulty paying Verizon anything additional.

[MattTuck]

Top selling watch in the world, apparently. I still don't see the point of it.

[EPIC! Stratton]

Originally Posted by MattTuck

Top selling watch in the world, apparently. I still don't see the point of it.

Top selling heart rate monitor as well iirc.

[JAGI410]

I'm still enjoying my Series 1 watch, none of the new improvements have swayed me to upgrade yet.

[chiasticon]

would be pretty cool to have a phone for emergency use while riding, without having to carry a phone. but for $10/mo just to have that ability, I can just carry my phone.

[chiasticon]

Originally Posted by EPIC! Stratton

Top selling heart rate monitor as well iirc.

I wish they'd improved the exercise utility of the watch with this revision. specifically, improving the HRM. it's notoriously sketchy for actual exercise, but great for just monitoring throughout the day. if you really want accurate monitoring during exercise, you need to use a chest strap.

[AngryScientist]

i got the series 2 nike edition when i was running a lot last year.

the significant drawbacks for me were:

1) i wear a watch on the looser side, and the HR data was consistently wonky.

2) needs buttons. running indoors and sweating a lot, working the touchscreen with sweat soaked fingers is very tricky, and interval training is frustrating when you need to work the buttons.

3) you need to charge the damn thing every day. i'd like to see a few days of charge at least out of a watch

4) no way to keep the display on, that i know if. i want the time displayed, or whatever i'm monitoring ALL the time, not when i flick my wrist to a viewing position.

all told, i found the watch, with the Nike band to be supremely comfortable and the form factor and size are spot on for my preferences, but the actual operation of the thing left a bunch to be desired.

these days i wear my Garmin Fenix 5s almost all the time, and it does everything i want it to do - flawlessly.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by djg21

If carriers don’t charge a separate device fee given that the watch and iPhone use the same cellular number, this seems like it’s going to be a no brainer. It would be great to be able to leave my phone behind when I go on a ride, or to stream music to my watch and listen on my AirPods without carrying a phone.

I'm sure that carriers will charge an extra fee. Although it shares the same phone number, it is a separate device, so the cellular system must maintain an independent connection to it, with separate registration and routing, etc. As the Apple watch can use the same sevices (voice, data) as a cell phone, it takes all the same resources to support it.