Since even before the Apple Watch was officially announced, there have been a lot of eyes on it. Smart watches have existed for awhile now, but there's some extent to which Apple is expected to lead the revolution of keeping a touch screen on your wrist.
Well, the Watch will be publicly available very soon (April 24), and the first reviews are starting to roll in from tech critics around the nation.
So what's the verdict? So far, the response seems to be that the Apple Watch is beautiful but occasionally slow. Sometimes good for a glace but other times overbearing with its notifications. Sometimes useful but other times kind of pointless.
Some reviewers say it's the best smart watch available right now, but that it doesn't make the smart watch a device everybody needs to own. Some say the battery is fine, others say it doesn't last long enough. Nobody seems to think it will be a huge hit purely by fashion standards with one reviewer saying "Nobody notices this watch."
I'm not fortunate enough to have had any hands on time with the device myself, so below you can find links to people who actually have.
The Verge
"Let's just get this out of the way: the Apple Watch, as I reviewed it for the past week and a half, is kind of slow. There's no getting around it, no way to talk about all of its interface ideas and obvious potential and hints of genius without noting that sometimes it stutters loading notifications. Sometimes pulling location information and data from your iPhone over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi takes a long time. Sometimes apps take forever to load, and sometimes third-party apps never really load at all. Sometimes it's just unresponsive for a few seconds while it thinks and then it comes back."
The New York Times
"It took me at least a day to feel confident at shuttling around the different parts of the watch. Since it's a brand-new device, it stands to reason there will be a bit of a learning curve involved. Still, the Apple Watch presents an uncharacteristic first impression, one that many may find daunting."
Bloomberg
"The watch is not life-changing. It is, however, excellent. Apple will sell millions of these devices, and many people will love and obsess over them. It is a wonderful component of a big ecosystem that the company has carefully built over many years. It is more seamless and simple than any of its counterparts in the marketplace. It is, without question, the best smartwatch in the world."
CNET
"You don't need an Apple Watch. In many ways, it's a toy: an amazing little do-it-all, a clever invention, a possibly time-saving companion, a wrist-worn assistant. It's also mostly a phone accessory for now."
Re/Code
"Of the half-dozen smartwatches I've tested in recent years, I've had the best experience with Apple Watch. If you're an iPhone power user and you're intrigued by the promises of wearable technology, you'll like it, too.
But that doesn't mean Apple Watch is for everyone."
Yahoo! Tech
"And this much is unassailable: The Apple Watch is light-years better than any of the feeble, clunky efforts that have come before it. The screen is nicer, the software is refined and bug-free, the body is real jewelry. First-time technologies await at every turn: magnetic bands, push-to-release straps, wrist-to-wrist drawings or Morse codes, force pressing, credit card payments from the wrist. And the symbiosis with the iPhone is graceful, out of your way, and intelligent."
The Wall Street Journal
"If you can tolerate its flaws, you can wear the future on your wrist and keep your iPhone in your pocket."
