The smartwatch sector was supposed to revolutionise the wearable market with tech blending in with fashion. Google was one of the first ones to embrace wearables with Android Wear, but they’ve been underwhelming and the smartwatch market was more or less stagnant.
Honestly, I was cautiously less optimistic for another smartwatch.
But when Apple entered this space, they changed the smartwatch game. A few weeks with the Apple Watch Series 4 were enough for me to understand Apple's Midas touch with smartwatches. I've hated Android Wear for how little they brought to the table and for how much effort they'd demand. But things were very different in this camp. My first encounter with the Apple Watch was enough to understand why they've dominated the global smartwatch scene.
Here's a memoir of my tango with the Apple Watch Series 4.
My time was spent with the 40mm, space grey variant, with cellular and GPS, along with the blue sports band. I'm glad I opted for the smaller dial as it is one of the few watches that look good on slim wrists, such as mine. Some users may prefer the brighter aluminum or gold colour variant but I was fine with how stealthy it looked. Apple offers robust customization capabilities on their website, so there should be something that caters to everyone's needs.
A watch is supposed to be on you at all times, even when your phone is not in your pocket and hence, the fit and comfort are crucial. Thankfully, the Apple Watch is! The dial size and weight are just perfect to not feel like a toy or a clunky metal piece. The slightly convex structure of the heart-rate sensor is ideal for it to continue monitoring my pulse, and had little issue catching the correct artery through my hairy hands. The sports band is made of silicone and seems really easy to wash and keep clean; an important aspect for guys living in regions such as Mumbai.
This is the first time the smaller Apple Watch gets a body that is 40mm wide. The display is crazy good and by far, the best on a smartwatch. The OLED construction is evident at first glance, thanks to the punchy colours and deep blacks. There's quite a bit of empty space in the UI for the blacks to shine (not literally). Some of the watch-faces have an animated background and those look stunning! Perfectly smooth 60 fps visuals.
For the most part, the interface blends in with the rounded bezels, providing for an immersive viewing experience. Not a big deal for watches but a good touch. I'll get to the individual software aspects in a bit, but one of the first things that I noticed was how well-thought most of the functionality was. The digital crown is very aptly named considering that it is a rotating piece but the haptic feedback is so perfect that you can almost feel the non-existent friction that a conventional time piece would give.
The haptic feedback is actually a big part of the entire watch experience. During each scroll, swipe and tap, you are bound to notice it. Basically, each time something moves in your display, you will be reminded. Since a smartwatch is supposed to be an extension of your phone's notifications, the haptics play a vital role in ensuring that you don't miss a notification. Once again, the Apple Watch shines here. The vibration is more like a couple of taps on your hand demanding you to pay attention to it. You can't miss it.
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Diving in, some of the first features I noticed were related to fitness, which get into action even before you pair your iPhone with it. Honestly, I've not been a big fan of fitness trackers and believe that very few people actually need it. But the Apple Watch offers something for everyone, irrespective of where you lie on the spectrum or how much you care about fitness. This makes a lot more sense than plain vanity metrics.
For example, the Breathe app will remind you a couple of times daily to take a step back and just focus on your breathing and be mindful. Here too, the haptic feedback does a crazy little trick that I didn't really believe for the first few times: each time you breathe in, there's a slow buildup of micro vibrations and when you breathe out, there's a load of quick shorts taps. It was pretty accurate and should get you to take longer breaths.
Similarly, the Stand functionality will keep an eye on how long you've been just sitting at your desk and will remind you to stand for a minute and stretch a bit. These small additions will be appreciated by everyone, especially if you are easy to guilt.
While it does retain the usual music control functionality like every other 'wannabe' smartwatch, the other features are in a league of their own. The digital crown gets so intuitive over time where each time I'd want to scroll content on the screen, my finger would naturally reach for the crown instead of potentially smudging the tiny display.
I was particularly surprised by how good the Apple Watch handled phone calls. I remember this particular time when I got a call during lunch and my hands weren't available to pull the phone out of my pocket and respond, and I could finish the entire conversation with just the watch. The mic is on the right side - between the crown and the bottom, and the speakers are on the left, but none of the people on the other side were able to make out that I was talking through a tiny watch.
If you want, you can also get an e-SIM installed on your watch, after which it can function like a legit replacement to your phone. You will be able to access all the features without needing to carry your phone. These extend to calls, music, GPS, the entire Siri suite of functionality and most importantly, during fitness activities. In India, Airtel and Jio offer e-SIM cards and the setup process can take a couple of hours, based on your carrier.
There's also a fun Walkie-talkie app where you can directly talk to other people with a compatible Apple Watch. The initial connection was a little fussy but once connected, it soon became the most used app on the Apple Watch. Just hold down the 'Talk' button on the screen and Converse in real time with others. The volume and quality was acceptable.
The Apple Watch Series 4 is also entirely water-resistant (fresh water only) and can also track your stats during activities such as swimming. After one particularly intense photo session in a lake, the watch prompted me to eject the water out of the watch. It's kinda hilarious but it works perfectly: you begin the water ejection process by clicking on the water drop icon on the control panel, and unlock it quickly rotating the digital crown after which the watch will make weird buzzing noises to push the water out of the speaker grilles.
Apple is also positioning this for fitness purposes, and that is evident from the initial setup process. You have to set your activity targets and how many calories you aim at burning, and the Watch will show how far along you are in the form of rings that close. You can also add friends to compete with, if that motivates you.
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There's almost every form of exercise imaginable in the 'Workout' app. Weight training was notably missing, but opting for the 'Other' option under exercises was enough to get the Watch to track my metrics, such as heart rate and calories burned. In case you forget to turn on 'exercise tracking' before a workout, the Watch will itself understand and prompt you to turn it on, and will also preserve the data even before you begin it. This is truly smart.
The battery life would last about a day and a half on regular use, and a little higher if you're using every feature and activity tracking. The charger is also one of the better ones that I've seen with no finicky contact points or pins; just one simple wireless charging cradle where you can drop the watch and forget about it for an hour.
The Apple Watch Series 4 was a really enjoyable smartwatch and has raised the bar for me for what a smartwatch should offer. At a price of INR 52,900, it is definitely not the most affordable but, it offers so much that even some phones fail to offer, giving it a monopoly of sorts, and thus allowing it to be priced according to Apple's whim.
For most potential customers, I feel that even the older generation Apple Watches should suffice if you're looking to save some.
This watch has changed my outlook towards smartwatches and just made me more wishful that they'd play well with Android.
Images: Esmail Bagasrawala, Aakash Jhaveri / Mashable India and Dhawal Bhanushali / Mashable India
