The Nerdiest, Most In-Depth Apple Watch Review Ever

Writing for AnandTech, both Joshua Ho and Brandon Chester have put together the most insane, in-depth review of the Apple Watch that I’ve read so far. The review covers analysis of the hardware, software, including the S1 chip, battery life,  communication and fitness, the Taptic engine, and much, much more. If you are serious about understanding everything there is to know about the Apple Watch, then this is the review to read.

Here’s just part of what they concluded:

Although this is a review of the Apple Watch, the Apple Watch will ultimately be quickly forgotten with the launch of future iterations of the Apple Watch. After all, Apple is not trying to sell the world on the idea of a smarter watch, but the idea of a watch altogether.

For those still deciding on whether the first Apple Watch makes sense, I have no reservations in saying that it’s the best wearable I’ve ever used. However, at the same time I find it hard to recommend this first-generation Apple Watch. It’s clear that there are far too many obvious areas to improve upon, areas where Moore’s law will help to dramatically improve the experience. In the case of smartphones, Moore’s law made it possible to deliver true all-day battery life and fluid app performance. After spending a few months with the Apple Watch, all I can see is a need for more compute and battery life, like what happened with smartphones.

Finally, we get back to the question of whether Apple will be sell people on the concept of a watch. In the months since I first used the watch I’ve ended up wearing it every day. I distinctly noticed its absence when I forgot the charger on a trip. I don’t know if Apple will succeed in convincing others of the utility of a watch, but they’ve definitely convinced me.

I agree with pretty much every word here. Apple isn’t just selling you on a smartwatch, they’re selling you on a watch altogether. Sure, there may be some people who look at the Watch today and stack it up against an analog one, but I don’t think that’s Apple’s long term goal. I think they eventually want you to look at the Apple Watch the same way you look at an iPhone versus a feature phone. That one is so much more capable than the other, it almost seems ridiculous to compare the two.

I also agree that internal hardware improvements are going to dramatically make the experience of this device better. That and of course software, which I would argue is even more important.

I also agree that while it’s not a necessity for everyone, for me the utility of it in my life is something I have come to really enjoy. I love not having to have my iPhone within my line of sight at all times. I love measuring my health with it. I love getting small notifications right on my wrist silently. They’re all small features, but I love them all.

Seriously, go read this review. It’s the best I’ve read.