A little over a month ago, I bit the bullet and purchased an Apple Watch (I have the series 8 with GPS). I was such a hold-out. As with most people, probably influencers especially as we rely so much on them for work, I have a love / hate relationship with my iPhone. I need it for work and to stay connected to my loved ones but I also try to distance myself from it.
Funny enough, it has become one of my most favorite possessions and even made me less connected to my phone… go figure! I forgot my charger during my trip to Belize and really missed using my watch. I now feel a little bit silly for resisting so long, as I love it so much.
My Apple Watch
How I use my Apple Watch
I use this mostly for activity and movement tracking. My Peloton app syncs with my phone (which in turn syncs with the watch) for tracking my workouts. I also use it for tracking my steps and movements. Completing my rings has become a (healthy!) obsession. I will also add that the other function I probably use most (lol) is the find my iPhone button. This feature is amazing as I am always putting my phone down and not remembering where it is!
The bands I use
I did get the Hermes band for mine as I find I’m more likely to wear it if it looks good. It makes it feel more a part of my outfit and something stylish vs. something utilitarian. And I have this one too if I know I’m going to get wet and/or sweaty.
My “ring” goals.
Every day I try to hit 12 hours of standing up (this is just standing up for a few minutes every hour, NOT standing for a whole hour), an hour of exercise (if I don’t work out I will go for a long walk or watch a show + walk on the treadmill), and 600 movement calories. I had the goals lower when I first got the watch but I find that I move more if the goal is higher. Everyone’s motivation style differs: some of my friends set an easier goal because they like always hitting it. I like to have my goal be a little bit of a challenge so that I push myself.
There have been some surprises.
First of all, I move way more than I thought I did. I am always running around my house, straightening, doing chores, going up and down the stairs, etc. But I rarely have my phone on me when. Upon starting to wear my watch, my daily step count doubled. This was some nice, positive reinforcement. I’m not as lazy as I thought.
The other surprise of course is that I feel less attached to my phone when I have this. I will regularly leave my phone on the charger and go out for a run, or when I’m just in my house doing chores etc. I’ll listen to Audible using the watch. Lastly boyfriend strangely prefers the audio quality of my watch to to my phone — weird!
Apple Watch vs. Whoop
I have gotten asked to do a comparison of this vs the Whoop bracelet. In fact, I had planned to write a review of the Whoop but decided against it as I had very little nice things to say. I liked it at first but stopped using it after a few months. I had originally planned on doing a review of it here but decided against it. It’s ugly, I hated charging it (the charging system wasn’t convenient), it gave me a million push notifications if I accidentally left it home or traveled without it, and after a bit, the data just stopped being interesting after a couple months.
Also, you really had to wear it at all times so that it can calibrate and best understand your body. The only thing that was interesting was that it detected a change in my heart rate just before I got COVID (last May) and told me I might be sick. That was kinda cool!
The Whoop does not track your steps and I get that steps aren’t everything (they have whole blog posts written about why) but I don’t care… I really really like knowing my step count. I appreciate the Apple Watch’s more simple interface. The key things it measures are steps, exercise, and movement calories. I also like the added fun features like playing music, taking a call if I’m away from my phone, listening to audiobooks, and of course… that “find my phone” button!
I am not here to yuck anyone’s yum.
If you are a Whoop person and you love it, that’s fantastic! I think with these tracking devices, consistency is key and the most important thing is to find something that works for you. I know a lot of people love Whoop but it wasn’t for me. The Apple Watch seems to be a better fit for me.
As I am new to my watch, would love to hear any fun tricks/tips you have for the watch! Sound off in the comments!
I love my Apple Watch! I use it multiple times a day for reminders “hey siri, remind me to pack Calvin’s library books in an hour…” and to add things to lists (groceries/Costco/work stuff) whenever I think of them. The lost phone pinging is also a top feature
Oh that is so smart! I haven’t tried using Siri yet!!!
I love the timers — for stuff at work, reminding myself to do that thing I need to do, for cooking and for holding myself accountable for 10-more-minutes-of-whatever. The timers are great. Weather on my watch is nice and so is sunrise/sunset information.
I also use my Applewatch for diabetes notifications which is absolutely amazing!
Thank you!
OMG! The most important — the page-my-phone feature! So helpful!
SO helpful!
I was also a holdout on the watch and now I love it! My condo building has an entry system that is operated by an app, which is on my watch, so I use my watch to enter my building. Very Inspector Gadget!
No way! That is so cool!
I bought the series 6 because that’s the first one that had fall detection on it and I have a seizure disorder when and I happen to fall and was rendered unconscious I had no way of contacting my daughter or 911. What I love about my watch is if I fall it alerts me with a vibration and if I don’t respond it automatically calls 911!!!!
Wow that is really, really cool! Thanks for sharing.
It’s a kool watch but one thing I don’t like is it doesn’t let my notifications sound on my iPhone as far as I know. The notification sound is to low to hear sometimes in a busy environment on my watch. I have a Nike watch. Bit old but still kool.
I walk every day and I upgraded to the ultra, like you actively is important plus it lets me listen to my music, timers, alarms are also great, check my oxygen level, heart rate also, only thing to me that would make any Apple Watch better, the best, would be to check my blood pressure and blood sugar, I’m sure it can be added on, can’t understand why Apple is remaining behind, hope you enjoy yours.
What color or type of metal is your watch?
I don’t think you can choose, it’s like a silvery gunmetal!
I love that you can control your iPhone’s camera from your watch to make taking group photos a breeze! Plus you can preview what you look like on the watch before hitting the button to take the photo!
Wait WHAT!? That’s so cool, I did not know. I need to learn how to do this ASAP.
I have epilepsy and have Covid-19. I used Siri to call my family for help in different ways. One was living with so they saved my life.
I can call out of State if I have to on the series 7 IPHone watch.
In school we had to focus on our buying attitude and why we buy things. I recently purchased an apple watch series 9. I have been an apple user for 15 years now. A couple years ago my apple watch had got stolen out my car and I did not have insurance on the product. Well last year my best friend purchased an apple watch series 8 and she was saying how much she enjoyed it. And it brought back my memories of my apple watch and how much I enjoyed the product. I loved that apple made an Apple watch that came in pink I was sold lol. The best part about the apple watch is that I can keep up with daily activity and I have the workout option, so when I am on my daily walks, I can keep track of my heart rate, how many miles I walked, my steps per second. I also love that I can buy so many different bands unlike a traditional watch.
My all-time favorite thing about the Apple Watch is that I can leave my phone and still receive all my calls and text. I tend to leave my phone behind and on silence, so I keep my watch on and keep it off silent just in case I do not have my phone, or the phone is on silent. This was a knowledge buy usually I buy apple products just because I am an Apple geek, but this purchase fits the lifestyle I am trying live which is being more fit and active. What better product than a watch to count my steps and more. This purchase was also a social buy I was socially influenced to buy this product after talking to my best friend. Overall, I am satisfied with the series 9 Apple watch.