I bought the stainless case with sapphire face, it is as rugged as any watch I have owned. I have had it for 4-5 years (I think, I cannot recall when I bought it) and it looks like new.

I can wear it to sleep and to work and it charges in a short time after I get home and for 30 minutes when I wake up. It holds charge well.

I got cell service mainly to have access while out in an emergency. I find the sleep monitoring helpful and it can store your music, track your steps, workouts, yard work etc. Since it tracks heart rate it does pretty well in tracking how many calories are burned.

There are too many useful features to list, I was never an Apple fan, I used to hate Apple. But my last two android phones made me switch years ago. I still hate Apple but I like their products and the watch is worth buying. I actually bought my first one second hand from someone on the forum.

while I don't have an apple or samsung watch (battery life is too short) - I do have an amazfit GTR3 which does everything the higher priced ones do (all of the health tracking) AND it has 12+ day battery life. I like it - I can check (and mostly ignore) notifications without having to take my phone out of my pocket.

The O2 monitoring and EKG are nice functions. Sleep tracking is also nice (and does 'monitor' for things like sleep apnea).

I've chosen a watch face with weather info on it since I fish a lot and it's nice to see the forecast for the next few hours without having to take my phone out.

quote:

Originally posted by Bulldog7972:
How rugged are they? I'm rough on watches and am interested but concerned about the durability.

If you want ruggedness I highly recommend the Ultra model

quote:

Originally posted by Bulldog7972:
How rugged are they? I'm rough on watches and am interested but concerned about the durability.

My wife has an aluminum SE which is probably the least rugged model. So far it has survived two kids, a very busy toddler and a pre-schooler, which is more than can be said about a lot of our household and personal items.

You can leave your phone home & still take/make calls and SMS messages.

quote:

Originally posted by CQB60:
You can leave your phone home & still take/make calls and SMS messages.

If you have a cellular version.

My wife gave me one for an anniversary present after I had a nasty trip-and-fall in our driveway.

The Watch has a fall detection feature and will automatically call 911 and any (all) numbers that are designated as emergency contacts. This feature is on Series 4 and newer Watches.

I’ve been an Apple Watch fan for years. I think my first one was a Series 3, now have the Ultra.

Previous to the Ultra, I bought the SS/Sapphire models because I am hard on watches. Never had a problem, but I also used screen protectors and body covers. Easy to pop off and change from utilitarian to fancy bands when “dressing up”.

Evidently with the Ultra, I still use the protection. Cheap insurance and keep watch looking new.


I use mine for…

Appointment/event reminders
Workout and activity tracking
Cycling data (ride map/stats)
Sleep monitoring
Food/Water calorie tracking via “LoseIt” app
Heart rate and O2 saturation monitoring
Hearing aid control
Checking incoming phone calls and texts, sometimes even making/receiving calls
Alarm notifications
Controlling lighting and Ecobee thermostat
Use Apple “Find My” for devices and AirTagged items (keys, wallet)
Lock/Unlock vehicles remotely via “FordPass”
Medication reminders
Control Bluetooth Speakers playing music
Compass when outdoors
Countdown timer
Stopwatch
Calendar alerts and checking for upcoming calendar events
Navigation alerts
Weather Info
Calculator
Remote camera control


And probably a few other things


Sure, lots of this can be done on phone or other means but it is convenient to just glance at my watch when a call comes in and decline it instead of stopping what I am doing and digging phone out of pocket when it rings only to be another scam call.

Having the watch vibrate for upcoming turns while navigating means I don’t have to have spoken commands interrupting my music or look at map navigation screen


Also as I get older I need more “reminders” for things, easier to keep track of than a bunch of post it notes.



The newer models, 7(?), 8, Ultra support “fast charging” and my Ultra will go from 50% to full charge in about 20-25 minutes. I can get 3 days on a charge if needed, but I always find time to charge it/top it off daily and wear it while sleeping so it track sleeping and does my wake up alarm.

I was gifted one for my birthday. I ended up wearing my regular mechanical watch on my left wrist and my iwatch on my right wrist.

I find it useful enough for the following things:

1) It shows what my next scheduled event is.

2) It tells me the UV rating outside to remind me to put sunscreen on since I'm in a high altitude in AZ.

3) It reminds me to stand up when I've been sitting for long at the computer.

4) It apparently tracks my physical activities and measure it against last week.

5) when I email or phone call or text comes in, it vibrates on my wrist to notify me. I usually have my phone on silent.

6) I set timers with it a lot faster by just saying siri.

7) I use it to find my iphone.

8) when i'm away from my iphone, I can receive calls on it and talk.

My apple watch is AMAZING!!!

Two Rolex watches have been secreted away in my dresser drawer since getting the Apple watch.

The apple watch continues to amaze me - it just does so much, and boy, is it accurate. Fort Collins, Colorado atomic clock interfaces with the
Apple watch.

Rolex is a thing of the past!

I wear Fitbit Charge 5 and the battery actually last about a week before needing recharging. I can control which notifications I get and can perform simple replies/actions to them.

The battery life and fitness tracking were what sold me.

emotionally I prefer my Omega.

But I'm wearing the Apple watch now. It doesn't stir the soul, but it does track heart rate, activity, O2 level, background noise, UV, and tells me who's calling so i can ignore them...

I don't know what my older sibling uses but it told him to go to the e.r. once he didn't know why at the time,
Turns out he was having heart problems,

And he claims that it has a fall alert for he and his wife.
Just in case they are not together.

I like mine for so many of the reasons already mentioned but one I haven't seen brought up is that it's saved me a lot of money. This forum was just starting to get me into nice watches that I haven't bought because I have an Apple watch.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
I don't know what my older sibling uses but it told him to go to the e.r. once he didn't know why at the time,
Turns out he was having heart problems,

And he claims that it has a fall alert for he and his wife.
Just in case they are not together.

About a year and a half ago I was at work and noticed one of my coworkers looking at this Apple watch with a puzzled/concerned look. This guy is fit male, mid-20's.

I asked him what was up and he said his watch was telling him it was detecting signs of a-fib. He restarted his watch and the warning came back.

I was also wearing an Apple watch so we swapped. When I put his on the warning went away, but when he put mine on it started warning of A-fib.

So we then went to our medical staff (RN's and LVN's at that moment) who were happy enough to do a quick ECG which confirmed A-fib.

A quick call to a MD buddy of mine who said it would be wise to go to ER, so off we went.

So yes, his Apple watch notified him of an important and unexpected health issue.

Today a white tail deer suddenly crossed the street in front of me. I slammed on the brakes; the deer
made the crossing unharmed, and a woman's voice from my Apple watch pleasantly asked if I was OK!

Well I broke down and bought a series 8. Wow, what an upgrade from the series 3!

I don't usually wear it around the house, but I've found it very useful when I'm expecting a call like from a contractor or doctor's office. Just slap in on and go anywhere in the house or garage without having to depend on a phone in your pocket.

Damn, like I need another thing to spend money on.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
And he claims that it has a fall alert ...

It does. Even my Apple Watch SE, which is the "economy" version, has that.

It works, too. Ask me how I know

At my age, and despite the fact I'm in relatively good health, I felt the heart rate monitoring and fall detection were good ideas.