Thanks for all the replies so far. Part of the appeal of having the cellular watch and not always having the phone with me is that I am required to have my work phone with pretty much always. Carrying two phones around gets old, so if I could leave my personal phone at times, and only need to tote the work phone with me would be nice.

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Originally posted by Phred:
Thanks for all the replies so far. Part of the appeal of having the cellular watch and not always having the phone with me is that I am required to have my work phone with pretty much always. Carrying two phones around gets old, so if I could leave my personal phone at times, and only need to tote the work phone with me would be nice.

Same, I have to be reachable all the time by work. I, like others stated, originally got a WiFi only watch years ago. I didn’t want to invest the $ in it, and thought when they came out it was a bit silly. A “wearable”. But it was nice mowing the yard, roaming around the house, the backyard, etc, and at the gym (keeping phone in my bag) without the pacifier on me. Also when I was at work I would lock my phone up at my desk, put it on vibrate so any personal shit the watch would let me know. Unlike everyone else up there surfing on their phones all day mine was put away while on the clock. FF years later, I love the damn cellular version. It’s freed me from that got damn phone. I leave the house running errands all the time and don’t even carry the phone anymore. Phones are so expensive now and they aren’t that little Nokia back in the day before smartphones, that just slips into a pocket and is smaller than a wallet. They carry like bricks. I couldn’t imagine having to carry 2 of the fucking things. But I prefer, even when I take the phone with me, to have it locked away in the vehicle. It’s not in the center console, it’s behind a lock. Then the locks of the vehicle, then the aftermarket alarm I have. I’m not worried about it sitting in the vehicle locked up. And on the phone is just too much intel, way too much. A friend in Cali has told me about people being robbed, made to unlock their phones, so they can get at all their shit. No thanks.

It’s been a total detachment of phone life. Emails, which as you know, most are bullshit, and I’m talking personal emails, you get the notifications. You can read them, you can delete them. SMS, same. Unless it’s important all that shit can wait. It’s my iPod now because the watch will do pandora. I can also field a phone call. I still get my push alerts for my vehicle alarm, home alarm, and even my surveillance system so it handles many of the home automation things I have set up. An example is my garage. Opening or closing it can be done from the watch. And my front and rear driveway cameras they even take a photo of whatever and send it to the watch.

What set me off and got me to get a cellular was just society in general. I’d be running around getting things done for myself, the k9, or the house. Many times I’d see a family exit a vehicle. Mom, Dad, two girls, teenagers. All 4 would exit their CUV simultaneously, and all 4 had the pacifier in their hands. I stopped point blank and said damn, this is America now? I remembered being a kid, wrecking my bike, busting my ass on a skateboard, getting into fights, no phones around. Had to hike it to a pay phone and drop a quarter. Then I thought of how bad society is because of these got damn phones. The social media apps on them + the smartphone has ruined society IMO. People are absolutely addicted to the phones. You should see any gym I go to. Big chain and I migrate around to see if one is better than the next. So many people just camped on phones like a squatter on land. Just sitting there 10, 15, 20, 30 minutes doing nothing but swiping their fingers. Well that watch means you aren’t swiping, head down driving, camping on gym equipment or being a got damn idiot at the grocery store face timing on speaker, etc, etc. You’ve got comms, on your wrist, necessity based only, and fuck that phone. It’s been got damn liberating. No more “where’s my phone!” Fuck that phone, it’s at home where it belongs.

I have the watch on and AirPod Pros in their case in my pocket. Phone call comes in I say hold, grab the pods, handle it, and get off the phone. Very happy with it, the change of lifestyle, the detachment, but don’t like the fact that I’m in an upgrade cycle with a 2nd device. Like a divorce, the watch costs so much because it’s worth it. When I no longer have to carry a smartphone because of the job I will not have one. I’ll have the watch and an cellular Ipad in the vehicle in case I need to do something. My life, and I think society, were much better when a phone was a just a phone doing calls and SMS, and your “computer” was at home. I’ll just mod that to have a mobile version in case of X, Y, Z.
I just did the Tom Brady highlights for today, and now they have furniture, I mean a couch, with built in wireless charging for phones. I didn’t hit skip fast enough and I let the game go to commercial. Now phones are so important they are making furniture to accommodate them. It’s just out of hand. Next will be wireless charging built into the movie seats at the cinemas as they try to save that business model.

Current one is the Ultra due to the decibel siren as I do ride a motorcycle and that’s all that is with me. 86 decibels ain’t much but it could save my bacon. Medical ID built into it as well. Hold the button down on the side for EMS/LE. I do hiking and MTB and that’s all I have with me. And I’ll be using it at the lake this spring for waypoints. My previous cellular watch I even took with me surfing and had to take a call while way out on a break, work call. Thank God I was able to answer that call too. Saved me from them blowing up my phone with 20 calls, texts, and emails. Ultra is expensive but if it was my choice with it side by side with their latest phone I’m taking the watch.