Comment by ProfessorLayton | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ProfessorLayton | Hacker News Reader

ProfessorLayton

Overall I still regret buying my Generation 1. The hardware was just not ready (Neither was the software, but the updates have improved it quite a bit over the 1.0 disaster). I knew I'd be an early adopter, so some rough edges are to be expected. Even so I experience(d) the following:

- Severe lag when triggering Siri

- Slow mail updates, to the point where I pull my phone out of my pocket anyway

- "This message contains elements Apple Watch cannot display". Seen way too often and it is frustrating.

- The wrist band mechanism failed to lock after ~4mo. Apple sent me a replacement Watch no questions asked which was great, but it took ~1mo to do so.

- The digital crown no longer rotates smoothly and instead feels like there's stuff clogging it. Washing the watch helps for a short while.

- Slow location updates, meaning a quick glance for at the local high/low weather is still often cities away after I arrive somewhere. Use case: Will I need my jacket with me later, or can I leave it in my car?

The heart rate monitor is great and my favorite feature, but not worth the $400 I paid for it.

I almost sprang for the v1 Watch, but waited for the Garmin Fenix 5. It's a far superior product IMO. Garmin is actually really good at designing interfaces for small screens, and t has buttons instead of touch, which I wanted. The battery lasts almost a week (long enough that I don't think about charging it, I just kinda plug it in when I notice the battery indicator below a quarter, which happens not very often). The heart rate was the big feature for me, plus the sapphire crystal (scratches on watch faces drive me crazy), plus the focus on fitness tracking, built-in GPS + GLONASS, and looking like a regular watch while being rugged enough that I don't have to worry about bumping it into stuff. The Garmin connect app works pretty well, with only occasional inabilities to sync. The Suunto Ambit 3 I have previously was much worse in this area. The app syncs with HealthKit and Gyroscope and generally works well for doing what I want with a fitness tracker. The vibration alerts also work well and remind me of meetings even when my phone is sitting in the dock on my desk and I'm working with headphones on.

I think that the Apple Watch really needs some killer features and excellent usability to separate it from the rest of the pack and drive sales. I see all of these smart watches as 5-year-max lifespan products before they're hopelessly obsolete, so spending half a grand+ on any of them is not going to be appealing to the masses.

Fenix is too heavy.There is no way general public would wear something like that.

I have a Garmin Forerunner 935. It runs the same basic software as the Fenix but it's lighter and cheaper. Worth considering.

As a counter point, I'm still using my first gen (not even Series 1!) Apple Watch after 2 years and it runs well enough for my uses. I would likely use Siri more if it was more responsive, but I use the notifications, Now Playing view, activity tracking and more all the time and it is really nice.

I too have a first gen, and have corrected that! I was under the impression that S1 was a renamed G1, but perhaps not?

Its good to see that others are finding it more useful than I did, but in retrospect I should have waited.

The processor in the first gen Apple Watch is so slow that the Series 1 actually included a faster processor :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Watch#Second_generation

The good news is that Apple Watch appears to hold its value like other Apple products. I just spotted a recent one on eBay that's exactly the same as mine which sold for $135.

The Series 1 is the original Apple Watch but with the processor from the Series 2. It's a different device because of that, and lots of us call the original a Series 0. However, go on Gumtree and you'll see plenty of peppy claiming they're selling a Series 1 when it's actually an Original Apple Watch.

To make matters worse, the SoC in the original Apple Watch is called the S1, and the chip in the Series 1 and Series 2 Apple Watches is called the S2, making the numbering more confusing and preventing us from shortening anything to S1/S2.

Thanks Apple!

"runs well enough" for a device that is barely two years old and several hundred dollars, already obsoleted by the manufacturer, is hardly a ringing endorsement.

Fair enough, though I wouldn't say it's obsoleted. I can still run the latest WatchOS and that's true of the forthcoming WatchOS as well.

I didn't feel compelled to get a Series 2 watch and unless there's something dramatic in this fall's hardware, I'm not planning to upgrade to the next one either. I'm happy with what the watch does.

Don't buy v1 (or series 0 in this case) of Apple devices. The series 2 is a nice device. The battery goes for a couple days, it's fast enough, and the new beta OS also seems address many issues.

People forget how rough the original iPhone was around the edges.

Edit: fixed typo series 1/0

The Series 1 and Series 2 CPU/GPU are identical. The Series 1 lacks GPS, has a dimmer screen, and is less waterproof.

The original Apple Watch is sometimes referred to as the "Series 0".

You mean don't buy the series 0 (the original AW). The more recent series 1 and 2 have the same internals..

You can fix the sticky crown by rotating it and clicking it a few times under a stream of running water. This method is recommended by Apple themselves:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204639

That's interesting, I have the opposite experience.

I'm still wearing my first gen (i.e., Series 0) Apple Watch from the day of release until now. It tracks my daily runs, gives me a quick (and private) glance at notifications, tells the time+weather, and I use the heart rate monitor from time-to-time.

I shower, swim, go to the beach with the watch on. I'm surprised it has lasted this long. Especially considering it's not really "waterproof" but I treat it like it is.

I use a bunch of cheap wristbands from eBay as well as the Apple one that came with it.

The only thing that has started going wrong is the battery is starting to lose charge a bit earlier than normal (around 10pm at night some days). I'd be happy having the battery fixed and using this watch for another year or more.

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