Apple Watch: My In-Store Demo
The first shipment of Apple Watches reached eager owners on April 24. We stopped at an Apple Store in New York City to test one out.
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It's official: The Apple Watch has made its public debut. Starting today, you'll be seeing its early customers talking to their wrists, sending heartbeats, tapping Watches at checkout, or jogging in style. You'll also see them on display in stores like the one in New York's Grand Central Terminal, where we went to get a sneak peek of the wearable.
The Watch is largely supported by the iPhone, which is required to achieve the full extent of the smartwatch's functionality. Like iPhone, it will support a range of third-party apps designed to boost everyday convenience for consumers and businesses alike.
Reviews for the Apple Watch have been mixed so far. While testers seem to agree that it's the best smartwatch on the market in terms of design and construction, there are quite a few flaws in the first iteration that Apple will hopefully address in future updates. Reviewers speak to buggy apps and less-than-desirable battery life.
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Apple started accepting preorders for the wearable on April 10, and demand was great enough to push back shipping times to July. Analysts estimate that almost one million people have placed orders for the pricey smartwatch.
If you decide that a Watch is on your shopping list -- and you're prepared to wait -- you'll have to hop online. Angela Ahrendts, Apple's retail chief, stated that the company will be exclusively selling Apple Watch online through June.
While it won't be available for sale in Apple Stores, the smartwatch can be found in boutiques located in major cities around the globe. Paris, London, Tokyo, Berlin, and Los Angeles are among the lucky few; sadly, New York was not.
In typical Apple fashion, the Watch doesn't come cheap. The least expensive version, Watch Sport, costs $349 for a 38mm face and $399 for 42mm. Most people who preordered Apple Watch opted for the Sport; the rest selected Apple Watch, which starts at $549 and runs up to $1,099 for certain models.
After testing it, I can safely say that Apple Watch has a lot of potential. Sure, version 1.0 has room for improvement, but overall I found it to be a comfortable, sleek, and useful device. Click through to "Watch" what happened during my first hands-on experience with Apple's wearable.
We saw a pretty big crowd at the Apple Store today. Fortunately, you're required to book 15-minute appointments ahead of time. The Grand Central store is never empty, but the Watch tables had much more of an audience than others did today.
Based on the images I've seen, I imagined the Sport band would have an uncomfortable plastic or rubbery feel. I was wrong. The band was extremely comfortable to wear and easy to adjust. The Watch also wasn't as heavy as I thought it would be, but it did feel bulky once I put it on. It's not the kind of watch that slips under your sleeve easily.
I opted to test the Watch Sport, Apple's least expensive smartwatch. This is the larger 42mm version, which is fairly large by general watch standards, but not terribly big for a smartwatch. The screen is a decent size for navigating its home screen and various apps and settings. I had no problem scrolling through music, watch faces and photos (it can hold about 1,000), though I imagine the app icons might be a bit small for someone with larger fingers.
Given that Apple is emphasizing the health and fitness capabilities of the Apple Watch, I would love to take it for an actual test run and explore the full range of its activity apps. Watch Sport is aptly named. Its band seems comfortable for exercise, and wouldn't get ruined by sweat the way a leather or fabric band would. The Watch doesn't require phone compatiblity during a workout. It can log miles completed and sync health data to your phone after you're done.
Apple Watch is extremely customizable, with a broad variety of colors, case materials, and bands. (Going forward, I think we'll see a ton of new band designs from third-party providers for Watch-wearing fashionistas.) But the customization capabilities extend to the device itself, which has a range of impressive options for viewing time, date, and other information. Its 10 watch faces let you choose from different colors and themes.
This is the smaller Sport with a 38mm face. If I were to choose a Watch, I would definitely choose this one over the 42mm. Although there wasn't a huge difference between the two in terms of size, there was enough that the smaller version felt more like a traditional watch and less like a smartwatch. Although Apple doesn't market either size to a specific gender, I can see why more men might opt for the larger 42mm face, while women might lean towards the smaller 38mm version.
This is the smaller Sport with a 38mm face. If I were to choose a Watch, I would definitely choose this one over the 42mm. Although there wasn't a huge difference between the two in terms of size, there was enough that the smaller version felt more like a traditional watch and less like a smartwatch. Although Apple doesn't market either size to a specific gender, I can see why more men might opt for the larger 42mm face, while women might lean towards the smaller 38mm version.
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