Gadgetory

in mobile technology it's the same thing over and over new device comes out new device gets reviewed new device gets forgotten almost no one follows up no one follows along no one sticks around to see how well a gadget ages over time because there's always something new to drool over so let's do something about it let's revisit the SmartWatch leader at least by a sales figures and see if it's still worth the Apple tax I'm high memory better with pocket now this is the Apple watch sport and this is episode 51 of after the buzz if you haven't been approached at least by one person to ask you hey is that the Apple watch then you're lucky Apple does this so well they see a market that's still experimenting and launch a competing product that infuses maturity through simplicity and elegance all the while marketing the hell out of it in order to drive that consumer awareness that makes people know what the Apple watch is while completely ignoring your Moto 360 it's proven to be brilliant with the iPod iPhone and iPad markets which Apple didn't really invent but that did help jumpstart but oddly it hasn't been the same story with the Apple watch surely Cupertino is selling five times more watches than all its competitors combined but not necessarily with a far better product than the rest for starters this continues to be the oddest looking watch for its price range wristwatches have existed for decades and people have historically paid thousands of dollars for them but it seems that only Android wear devices like the Huawei watch and LG watch urbane have decided to pay respects to that mentality by contrast Apple has decided to challenge it with a product that instead mimics old Casio watches from the 80s which are okay for people like me that grew up using them but that you'll rarely see in the market today for obvious reasons yes there is some cool to the way you can quickly replace the watch bands and some third-party accessories do contribute to adding some style to the watch but if anything it stands out as a different product not necessarily a more elegant one aging is also a mixed bag if you've joined me in choosing the Apple watch sport well I do love how readable this peel that display is even in direct sunlight I still hate having to move my wrist to see the time every now and then since it does lack an always-on mode you'll also be annoyed by the scratches on the ionics clasp which are clearly visible at some angles and the same can be said about the composite back which looks even worse after six months of use thanks in part to the scratches from the Apple wall charger also do yourself a favor and don't buy the white poly asked from a band option mine has survived my two hours of daily gym routine but no matter how much I wash it there will come a point where it'll just look dirty regardless about the only thing that still looks like new is the 7000 series aluminum chassis which I'm still shocked to report has survived without a single scratch even after all this time watch OS has also aged in a mix way if you measure its usability the whole digital crown UI continues to be more confusing than revolutionary if you can't press it to select anything and I have yet to use the context button for anything else than turning the watch on or off yes this is one of the few watches out there that allows you to pull it too crazy by being able to call your contacts from this button but the speaker is just so terrible you will rarely ever want to even use it the operating system has an H well if you measure it against competitors as well while Android wear has evolved to become far more usable in the way it stacks notifications third-party applications and health metrics with the Apple watch well it depends for example even though watch OS 2 now allows you to act on notifications when they arrive sadly that won't work unless third-party developers have chosen to create a native application that uses this drives a lot of confusion and even frustration since applications like outlook give you a bevy of ways to respond to an email and then whatsapp just kills everything for you not having a native application shouldn't lead to a cumbersome experience but it does in most cases if you get more than one notification of any of these the Apple watch just starts giving you a number of notifications pending and then forcing you to dismiss them and call on the notification tray to read them or just pull your phone out which just completely defeats the purpose of having a SmartWatch uploading times are also a mixed bag at this point we're already using watch OS 2.1 and we still have a hard time figuring out which of these applications are native in which aren't native applications were supposed to load faster but instead we noticed that even the native applications take time to load if you haven't been using them complications now also allow you to add information to your watch face that weren't available before but again it depends on how many developers have decided to support it and right now the list is rather small as a result the lack of consistency makes you forget that the watch actually has third-party applications or third-party complications in my case in particular if it's not part of the watch face or part of the notification tray or a part of the few glances that I use every now and then I can go for days without remembering that these third-party applications are there or that the complications are also useful something that has also deteriorated over time is the way the Apple watch handles fitness after watch OS 2 it could be the scratches on the composite back that have led to the sensors providing less accurate readings but we'll have a separate pocket now fitness segments to provide you with more details and comparisons over how the Apple watch has aged over time in the fitness department about the only thing that has aged well and that I would rather recommend the Apple watch for is battery life I usually end my days with around 50% of juice which is actually good compared to most of the Android wear offerings out there and actually makes this the go to watch that I wear whenever I travel or I'm planning a night out for example overall this is the set curse of the early adopter today people have forgotten that the first iPhone didn't half 3gr couldn't run third-party applications and that the first iPad was a heavy brick that really couldn't even multitask Apple is known for its restraints when launching a new category and then there is a lot of that with the Apple watch yes there is a lot of promise with watch OS 2 but developers clearly still need to catch on and you know what maybe you should too there's a lot of cool with this watch and it continues to be the better option for fitness when compared to most but it might not be cool enough to pay $350 or $400 for this particular unit if you're in the market for a SmartWatch I would highly suggest you wait for the Apple watch to in 2016 and save yourself the frustration but if we just really want a SmartWatch right now you might as well just get yourself a pebble for any of the Android wear offerings that already work with Apple's ecosystem as well folks just like with the Apple watch every other product comes of age so stay tuned for more episodes like this one of after the buzz at the same time make sure you also follow us on social media so strep change of channel as well you can follow me on Twitter hi matter squirt Yvette are on Instagram at home it'll be better please give this video a thumbs up if you liked what you saw I am Hilah Tori better thank you very much for watching we'll see you on the next one