# One month of continuous wear of the Apple Watch SE -- my observations



## Lee_K (Jan 20, 2016)

So, I've worn the Apple Watch SE exclusively for one solid month. In general, I like it a lot. Here is a list of my observations:

Pro:

1. It has a fantastic feature set, better than any watch I've ever owned including a number of ABC G-Shocks. Timer, stopwatch, weather, access to the internet, ability to send and receive phone calls, read texts, music playback, podcasts, requests of Siri -- pretty much everything that an iPhone can do, so can the watch albeit with an abbreviated screen size.
2. While in my home wifi network, I can put my phone down in one place for the entire day and the watch will continue to be connected to the phone no matter where I happen to wander. Even as far away as 100 meters from the house, the watch has uninterrupted communication. For a good amount of the time in a given day, I'm free from having to carry my phone at all.
3. Legibility in all lighting conditions is superior. I have the "King of Lume" in the Seiko Monster, but the Apple Watch just kills it in regards to checking the time in darkened rooms or overnight. Its display is bright enough to be very easy to read in bright desert sunlight, too. I don't sleep with my watch and have a tritium tube Traser by the bedside to check the time in the wee hours of the night, but if I wanted to wear the watch on my wrist it would be significantly better than the Traser.
4. It's incredibly light (65 grams) and comfortable on the wrist. Only my GW-M5610 G-Shock is lighter. I bought a Barton Watch Bands adaptor so any two-piece 20 mm strap that I own can be utilized and swapped out as my mood dictates. So far, the OEM silicone bracelet has gotten the lion's share of the wear. Other than an unconventional way of attaching the clasp which takes some getting used to, it adds to the overall lightness and comfort.
5. I charge it overnight and get probably 30 hours of uninterrupted wear out of it before it needs another charge. Yes, I expect that to change over the coming years and if my experience with all the other lithium ion devices that I own tells me anything, then I will need to buy another watch four years from now when the current battery gives up the ghost. So there's another $300 expense to plan for. No big deal -- it's still less than what I would be charged for a service on a mechanical watch. I just got my Omega Planet Ocean back from Swatch Group and it cost me $700.
6. It beats my G-Shocks as an exercise companion. While riding my bike I can easily access any texts or phone calls that come in that I can respond without having to stop and pull out my phone. It's also tracking all my calories burnt, miles traveled, and monitoring my heart rate. If I happen to crash or fall due to an injury, it will sense an emergency and offer to call an ambulance if I approve.

Con:

A. It can be a bit of a nag as the software tells you to breathe, or stand up, or if I haven't reached my daily exercise goals. I hike 20 miles a week and bike another 50, week in and week out, so I don't really need reminding to be active or even be tracked. Yes, I can turn all this stuff off and mostly have, but every once in a while something sneaks through like weekly screen time announcements or Amber/Silver alerts.
B. Probably my biggest concern is the aesthetics, or lack thereof. Most of the time it is a featureless black square on my wrist, kind of like a TAG Heuer Monaco with no face. It's not very pleasing to look at. The SE doesn't have the always-on display feature that the Series 6 watch does, so maybe next time I will go for the slightly more expensive variant to get that upgrade.
C. It's a bit dorky-looking. When I have long-sleeved shirts on it's not an issue, but with a t-shirt it looks pretty dumb, in my opinion. I think during the summer months I will be less inclined to wear it rather than a traditional watch.
D. It has totally disrupted my collection and what direction I thought I was heading in this hobby. Instead of dismissing it as would be predicted of a guy who has been exclusively wearing automatic and manual wind watches for the past six years, it stands a very good chance of making me want to sell off a good half of my collection and only keep a few cherished pieces for wearing when I need something dressier.

TL;DR - I think the Apple Watch is quite a versatile product and I can see me becoming very used to its considerable conveniences. But it has also got me thinking about what I do as a Watch Enthusiast and if I even want to continue with the hobby. It may very well be the mythical Exit Watch for me. I certainly didn't expect to feel that way before I started this experiment.


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## BarracksSi (Feb 13, 2013)

Lee_K said:


> ....
> 2. While in my home wifi network, I can put my phone down in one place for the entire day and the watch will continue to be connected to the phone no matter where I happen to wander. Even as far away as 100 meters from the house, the watch has uninterrupted communication. *For a good amount of the time in a given day, I'm free from having to carry my phone at all.*
> ....
> 5. I charge it overnight and get probably 30 hours of uninterrupted wear out of it before it needs another charge. Yes, I expect that to change over the coming years and if my experience with all the other lithium ion devices that I own tells me anything, then I will need to buy another watch four years from now when the current battery gives up the ghost. So there's another $300 expense to plan for. *No big deal -- it's still less than what I would be charged for a service on a mechanical watch. * I just got my Omega Planet Ocean back from Swatch Group and it cost me $700.
> ...


On these highlights:

2. This is a crazy shift, isn't it? Between my MBP and my AW, I can manage nearly every message or call that I need to attend to, and the phone can sit somewhere else in the house, basically like a data hub. And I don't often _need_ my phone in my car, either, as the AW connects via Bluetooth for calls and music. (if it weren't for how great CarPlay is, I could leave the phone at home almost all the time)

5. Even disregarding servicing, the amount of flipping - and losing money on - watches that so many do here on WUS would more than pay for an AW every few years.

C. I had a Hamilton on my list and got the go-ahead from MrsBS to get one, but I sat on it for a while. Then the AW was introduced, and after a few months, I got my first AW instead of the Hamilton. Haven't looked back since then. Any future watch purchase will probably be One Nice Watch that I would expect to wear for special occasions, maybe to the office, and well into second retirement. But the daily wearer, with its wide variety of dials and straps, plus its insane amount of functionality, is my AW.

Anyway, I'll also plug my old thread since my assessment hasn't changed much since then (aside from getting more functionality by upgrading to a cellular Series 4).








Comparing my AW to the rest of my collection (pic heavy)


It's not my intention to steal DougFNJ's thunder so soon after his carefully-written thread. I've been mulling on this idea for a while, too, and had enough time tonight to take pics (while my wife stared and laughed; also possibly while DougFNJ was writing his post). Here's a shot of almost*...




www.watchuseek.com


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## Lee_K (Jan 20, 2016)

Thank you, Barrack! I read your Comparison thread several times before taking the plunge with the Apple Watch SE. Your comments are spot-on regarding the versatility of the watch, the craziness of money lost buying and flipping watches, and the integration with the One Nice Watch.

I expect that I'll get a bunch of pushback from traditionalists, but I've always been of the opinion that if you like watches as a whole (and I do), then one shouldn't be so wedded to a particular technology. Quartz versus mechanical, Spring Drive versus automatic, solar versus battery-powered, and so forth. They are all attempts to satisfy the need for knowing the time on a portable device that can strapped to the wrist, and all of the methods are actually ingenious. I may or may not make any changes to my current collection of traditional watches -- I want to make darn sure that I don't make some moves that I will later regret, but the Apple Watch has pleasantly surprised me in ways that I didn't expect.


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## jkpa (Feb 8, 2014)

I may get one. I like all types of wrist watch movements so an AW is likely in my future. One problem is my Fitbit. I can wear the Fitbit with a mechanical but definitely not with an AW on my left and Fitbit on my right wrist, so maybe the Fitbit would be retired.
I think it it kind of makes sense to have an AW plus some watches of different types as well and mix up technologies. I enjoy that aspect of watches a lot (see sig).


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## leadbelly2550 (Jan 31, 2020)

When you say the watch is good within a certain distance from your phone, are you saying you don't have a separate cellular plan for the apple SE? I'm asking because I purchased an apple SE for my spouse, for our anniversary. It will be her first apple watch. heck of a lot less expensive than the Cartier tank I got her for our 10th. Her goal is to be able to work out or be at work, where she regularly interacts with the public, without having to pull out or even bring her phone.


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## Lee_K (Jan 20, 2016)

leadbelly2550 said:


> When you say the watch is good within a certain distance from your phone, are you saying you don't have a separate cellular plan for the apple SE?


That is correct -- I did not get the variant of the SE that has cellular connectivity. My carrier, Verizon Wireless, charges an additional $10 a month for that privilege, and I didn't think it was worth the extra cost. I do have things that I need my phone for, such as display of wilderness maps while I'm out in the field on a rescue mission (I'm a member of my state's SAR team). But your wife could certainly leave her phone at home if she does get the LTE version of either the Series 6 or the SE.


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## BarracksSi (Feb 13, 2013)

leadbelly2550 said:


> When you say the watch is good within a certain distance from your phone, are you saying you don't have a separate cellular plan for the apple SE? I'm asking because I purchased an apple SE for my spouse, for our anniversary. It will be her first apple watch. heck of a lot less expensive than the Cartier tank I got her for our 10th. Her goal is to be able to work out or be at work, where she regularly interacts with the public, without having to pull out or even bring her phone.


I eventually got an LTE AW (Series 4 in my case) and can say what the functional differences are between the celular and non-cellular versions.

_Without_ cellular: 

The AW and phone primarily connect via Bluetooth as it's the radio that requires the least power.
If they're on the same wifi network, though, they can also communicate over wifi. So the phone can be out of Bluetooth range but the watch can still work normally -- make calls, send & receive messages, get data for apps, etc.
If the AW is within range of a wifi network that the phone had previously connected to, it will attempt to connect to wifi.
 * So, if it connects to wifi, the AW will actually communicate with the phone over the internet.
* This means that if, say, the phone is at home but you're at the gym with your non-LTE watch, the watch may still receive messages via the phone.
* It also means that apps which reside fully on the watch will still have all their functionality. Some AW apps are actually simple front-end portals for apps that live on the phone; other AW apps can operate completely independently.
- If the AW is away from wifi, it's pretty similar to a regular fitness watch.

_With_ cellular:
- All of the above, plus the watch will use LTE only if the phone is out of range. You can also turn off LTE if you don't want to use cellular data for whatever reason (I switched it off when I traveled to Korea a couple years ago).

The neat thing is, all of this is transparent to the user. You don't have to dig into the watch's settings to choose which radios should be given priority. Any wifi networks that your phone has used are automatically synced with the watch (and if needed, you can join new ones from the watch manually, too).


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