Both my wife and I have been wearing an Apple Watch Series 4 on our wrists for the past
2 months, and I’ve noticed a few things that really put into perspective who should
be buying an Apple Watch, and which Apple Watch they should be buying.
During Apple’s September Event, I found myself drooling over many of the Apple Watch
Series 4’s new features, like the larger rounded display, all the new fullscreen watch
faces, the redesigned crown, the louder speaker, the beautifully redesigned back, and more.
Over the past 2 months, I’ve found that a lot of that stuff doesn’t really matter
to me anymore.
I consider myself more of a casual user since my phone is no more than a foot away from
me at all times, so I find myself picking up my phone to reply to messages instead of
just using the watch.
I’ve realized that I’m not alone in that regard.
There are a lot of people who don’t use the Apple Watch to its full potential, which
makes me question why they bought one in the first place.
And it goes even further when you think about why they bought the Series 4 instead of the
Series 3.
My wife, on the other hand, has benefitted greatly from her Apple Watch.
She runs a business in the services industry so she’s constantly getting phone calls
and notifications.
Before the Apple Watch, she used to miss calls all the time and not reply to messages from
clients for over an hour sometimes.
Now, she can instantly reply to messages and answer phone calls using her connected AirPods,
all without ever touching or even looking at her phone.
So if you’re someone who runs a business and you struggle with missed phone calls and
messages that you don’t notice for hours, the Apple Watch will bring you immense amounts
of value.
Like my wife, a lot of girls carry their phones in their purses and end up missing out on
phone calls and notifications, so it’s even more of a value for girls.
So based on those reasons, she can’t leave the house, or even the charging dock, without
it.
Now if you’re like me and your phone is always in your pocket or at least a foot away
from you at all times, you won’t reap as many benefits, but there’s still a lot to
love about the Apple Watch.
I found that there are generally two main reasons to buy an Apple Watch.
#1 is as a fashion piece, and #2 is for the actual functionality.
When it comes down to it, the Series 3 is a beautifully designed Apple Watch, just like
the Series 4, therefore satisfying most of the fashion statement piece of it.
Of course, there are also those who buy the latest model for the fashion side of it as
well.
As for functionality, I’ve realized that the Series 3 can do almost everything that
the Series 4 can do, and a big part of that is health and fitness tracking, which it does
basically just as well as the Series 4, at least what you’d notice.
On top of that, the Series 3 supports of all the same great features that came with watchOS
5.
I’ve personally noticed that most of the improvements that come with the Series 4 are
actually luxury improvements that you don’t really need but will make your experience
a little bit better.
For example, the larger rounded display is nice to have, but you don’t really need
it.
The louder speaker is nice, but you’ll be fine without it.
The S4 processing chip is definitely faster, but the Series 3 already felt fast enough
almost all the time.
The older-gen sensors worked just fine on the Series 3.
The new back on the Series 4 is nice, but you’ll only see it when you take your watch
off to charge.
The new crown is a lot better, but the old crown works just fine.
You get the point.
The Series 3 was able to achieve almost everything that the Series 4 could, albeit not as well,
or not as luxurious-feeling.
The issue with that is that the Series 4 starts at $400, while the Series 3 starts at $279
and is more likely to be on sale in stores as well.
With that large of a price gap, are people really willing to pay that much extra for
luxury improvements?
Well, yes.
That’s why there are people who upgrade their iPhones every year.
The reason I purchased a Series 4 over a Series 3 is that I’m the type of the guy who will
never buy an older model of a device when a new one was just released, whether it’s
an iPhone or a MacBook, I won’t buy an older model, even to save a good chunk of cash.
In the last 2 months of using the Series 4, here are the features that actually made a
difference in day-to-day use.
The most important one is the Chronograph watch face.
I absolutely love that I can have up to 8 different complications on the screen, giving
me all the information I need with just a glance.
Another one is the digital crown.
It’s hard to explain but it feels and functions so much better than the old crown.
The Series 4 is also incredibly quick, but the difference while using the UI is small,
so you’ll never know it unless you go from a Series 4 to a 3.
I’ve also noticed a significant improvement in battery life.
I usually charge it every single night, but when I forget, it lasts the entire second
day and it’ll still have some left over by the time I go to bed.
And that’s about it.
Those are the changes that actually made a difference in day-to-day use.
Everything else comes down to watchOS 5 improvements, which the Series 3 also supports.
So if the Series 3 can satisfy both the fashion statement and functionality pieces of the
puzzle, who should buy the Series 4?
Basically, anyone who doesn’t mind throwing down some extra cash to make sure they have
the latest and greatest Apple Watch out there, while also enjoying some of those extra luxury
improvements.
Other than that, the Series 4 also features some new health and safety features like fall
detection and the ability to take an electrocardiogram, which is more than enough reason to go with
the Series 4 if you’re worried about health.
Here’s another thought.
A lot of people don’t really need an Apple Watch, but they want one.
This means that lots of Apple Watches are purchased as gifts, and if you’re buying
it as a gift, the $279 Apple Watch Series 3 is going to look a lot more attractive to
you.
You’ll save quite a bit of cash and it’s still going to put a huge smile on their face.
And I don’t see anything wrong with that.
The Series 3 will more than get the job done, so if you’re shopping for someone else,
just buy a Series 3 unless they specifically showed a lot of interest in the Series 4.
Now if you’re thinking about buying yourself an Apple Watch, after spending two months
with my Series 4, I honestly think that you’ll be perfectly happy with the Series 3.
Now if you don’t mind spending some more cash, then definitely buy the Series 4 for
all of the luxury improvements and added features.