AppleWatch 2
Over the last year, I have had the opportunity to use the AppleWatch (version 1 & 2) and really get a sense of how it works, where it works best and ways it can help me daily in my work/life balance.
Early in 2017 I updated to the AppleWatch 2 largely for a better battery life and a little more responsive interface. I also decided that January would be the start of NOT having a iPhone or iPad charging in my bedroom and this allowed me to switch to a device I could sleep in and use the silent alarm to wake up and not disturb others in my home.
I have been very happy with this “experiment”. I go to bed and unless there are frequent texts or calls (which will break through the do not disturb) I am able to rest and not look at or to a device to fill time when getting ready for bed or if I happen to wake during the night. This creates a nice seperation of technology in my life.
The battery at the end of the night (I’ll charge it from 7–9pm at home before going to bed) is at about 95% (5–7 hours of sleep) and if it requires a charge, the watch will charge to almost full power in about 60 minutes (from <10%)! I usually do not set it back on the charger until the following night. Excellent!
The way the watch works is smooth, the flexibility of having apps on the watch and access to weather, news, tweets and map (to name a few) info is very helpful and overall the watch is noticeably more responsive when opening any of a myriad of apps on the watch. The exercise tracking and general fitness software (Apple’s workout or one of my long-time favorite apps RunKeeper) work very well and it is nice to have basic workout tracking from the watch (sans iPhone).
Through the day, I get alerts for news, texts and emails. It is NOT non-stop and very reasonable (when you figure out the necessary tweaks around not having everything alert you all the time it is a nice addition to data flow without being overwhelming… I also find that if I am engaged in something I can overlook (for good or bad) the messages to allow me to continue to focus on a meeting or discussion… I have found the AppleWatch to be helpful without being overwhelming.
All-in, I have been very happy with the improvements of the AppleWatch 2 (over the AppleWatch 1 which did work very well but was sluggish) and if you are looking for a wearable device, you already have and use an iOS device, I highly recommend Apple’s Watch.
And, of course, there is an AppleWatch 3 expected for fall of 2017…
