Apple Watch: hands on with the best smartwatch in the world

The Apple Watch may not be the product we cannot live without, but it'll make millions of lives simpler, says Matt Warman

When Apple launched the iPhone it did nothing that was not available elsewhere on the market already – touchscreens, smartphones, contacts and calendars had all been done before. But nobody had ever done them quite like the iPhone, and nobody other than Apple could put them together into such a perfect package. With the Watch, eight years on, Apple has done it again.
So the Watch, which starts at £299 and will spiral up to an 18-carat gold £13,500, offers a host of features from controlling music to showing stock prices and from dictation to accurate timekeeping, not one of which is truly groundbreaking. There are gimmicks that let users send each other their heartrates, which is probably of more use to a cardiologist than a partner, and there’s the option to draw tiny digital notes and send them too. But these are the least compelling features of a product that Apple believes could be as big as the iPhone.

What is compelling is the usual Apple combination: in so far as it goes, Apple Watch just works. So that means even in a sea of tiny app icons on a 38 or 42mm screen, I found it impossible to hit the wrong one. Tapping on the Uber app showed instantly how far away a cab was, while tapping on messages brought a reply via Siri voice dictation just a couple of clicks away. The fitness app first asks you to choose what activity you are doing and then learns which ones you like and places them intelligently on the list. If you never use a rowing machine, it will be at the bottom, accesible only if you scroll down.

And there are scores of other clever features too: the heart-rate monitor both senses when the Watch is on your wrist and locks it when removed; the magnetic straps can perfectly adjust to your wrist; the digital crown lets you scroll through menus at a perfect pace. None of these has yet been mastered by Samsung, LG, Pebble or other smartwatch manufacturers. The build quality, of course, is peerless, and the device feels solid and robust without, except in gold, feeling conspicuously heavy. But if you buy gold that’s presumably what you’re paying for.

While Apple emphasises timekeeping accuracy, ease of messaging and fitness use, it can’t get away from the fact that with two buttons and a tiny screen, the interface is often fiddly. The digital crown effectively acts as a back button and the other, side button as a quick access route to favourite contacts, and it demonstrates primarily that the Watch is best for doing simple things that don’t need much attention or the full power or size of a smartphone, and don’t justify the hassle of getting it out of a bag or pocket and unlocking it anyway.

Indeed, it’s the way that the Apple Watch will save users from endlessly staring at their iPhones, while also necessitating that they buy one, that makes it such an impressive product. In an age where many of the beeps and buzzes are basic notifications, many users feel tied to screens. The Watch will provide an opportunity to change the lens.

None of this, however, assures Apple of great success: the Watch proposition is based on the idea that the iPhone-maker can once again succeed where every one of its rivals has so far failed. It is assured of the support of more app developers than anyone else, and so the Watch can already be used as a hotel room key or to recognise music. It has developed a range of styles that turn its traditionally minimalist design into something that can match any look but doesn’t need to look ostentatious. 

But as with the iPhone, it is Apple’s unique combination of competence and brand pulling power that will decide whether the Watch really attracts the following in the millions that many analysts predict will come by the end of the year. At 18 hours, the battery life overcomes the only real functional hurdle.

Does anyone need an Apple Watch? No. But it will make millions of lives simpler, save hours spent looking at smartphones – and like the iPhone in 2007, today’s Apple Watch is simply version one.