Smart watch apple iwatch review. What features does Apple Watch have? Three device versions

In early September of this year, Apple organized a presentation of a new gadget - the Apple Watch smart watch (the name "iWatch" was originally announced, however, as we can see, it was changed).

We are already familiar with such devices, thanks to the recently presented device from Samsung (this is the Galaxy Gear), and companies such as LG (LG G Watch) and Motorola (Moto 360) also released their smart watches. However, the new product from Yabloko threatens to blow up the watch market (and, of course, gadgets) and the minds of users. Let's see why this can happen.

Specifications

External view

If you carefully consider the photo of the Apple Watch, presented below, then even without analyzing the characteristics and advantages, you can see how convenient this gadget is.

Classic style The appearance of the watch on the hand Apple Watch apps window

However, we will nevertheless note the advantages.

Advantages

• Digital Crown Button, which looks like a conventional crown, but has functions for zooming the image, selecting the desired items in the menu, as well as navigating through them.
• The back of the gadget contains windows for flash, thanks to which they will determine the owner's pulse and his sports capabilities (read about applications that analyze this information below)
• The ability to choose wallpaper to your liking. The basic ones are represented by both standard dials and their various variations with the addition of a background, which can be quite funny (who would refuse a watch with Mickey Mouse on the wrist?). However, major watch brands (for example, Tissot, Armani, Swatch) sounded the alarm and banned digital copies of their own dials. Who knows if they will change their mind in the future, but for now they will have to give up the idea of ​​showing off the "branded" dial of their watches.
• There is no need to adjust the time when working in different time zones: when synchronizing with the iPhone, the gadget is constantly checked against the global time and automatically adjusts to it.

Three device versions

The watches are available in three versions of the gadget, which differ in the material from which they are made, the type of glass covering the screen and a variety of straps. Let's briefly consider each of them:

The case size is presented in two versions: 38 mm and 42 mm.

Built-in functions

Fancy and entertaining features:

• Drawing and sending sketches that instantly appear on the interlocutor's watch in the form of animation
• The ability to entertain friends and acquaintances with ambient sounds: this is possible thanks to the presence of a microphone and a built-in speaker. Such an interesting gadget is called Walkie-Talkie.
• Ability to create and send different types of touches. Recipients will instantly feel them on their wrist.
• A function that signals when notifications have appeared. For example, if a message has arrived, the gadget will notify the owner of this with a light touch.

Activity App

The Activity App is for those who do not leave their own health for later.

In this application, information is shown in the form of three rings, each of which is tied to one of the indicators:

• Assessment of physical activity - the number of calories burned per day
• Assessment of physical activity - how much time was devoted to sports per day
• Assessment of body position - what is the frequency of separation and rest from the workplace (specifically - sedentary work)

Useful Apps

• Workout App... An app designed for cardio training. Keeps statistics for the day, allows you to set goals based on previous results, shows achievements.
• Built-in maps with navigation system and best route calculation
• Passbook. Application for storing discount coupons, concert and movie tickets, airline tickets and much more.
• Glances. A convenient function that collects information from all available applications and arranges it in such a way that the user, by looking at the display, instantly understands what was taken from what and where.

Sales start

The Apple Watch is scheduled for release in early 2015, and the announced price starts at $ 349.

Already, the pre-order of new items is available, and the Internet is seething with reviews and assumptions - how convenient the watch will actually be, is it really as good as it was shown in the presentation and the video released, how long the charge will last, whether this watch will revolutionize the world of digital devices, etc. Well, we are waiting for the start of official sales, because there is very little left.

Video presentation

Not a clock ">

All Apple Watch reviews are subjective only. But most authors agree on one thing: Apple Watch before buying it is necessary necessarily hold in your hands. Why do some watches catch on, while others do not? Why do some, walking with them, fall in love with Apple Watch forever, while others go to the camp of opponents?

Two aspects of one device and Apple's headache

People are divided into those who previously wore a watch and for whom Apple Watch (hereinafter abbreviated. AW) will be the first in life. Each audience has to work in its own way because expectations differ.

To understand AW, let's look back.

When the iPod was developed, within the Apple team, discontent was ripening with all portable music players that played music from cassettes, discs, MP3 media.

When the touchscreen iPhone was developed The Apple team hated phones with physical keys.

A few years later, the entire mobile industry has moved towards touchscreens.

When AW was developed, the whole team ... loved their wristwatches. See the difference? LOVED. Neither Tim Cook nor Jony Ive nor Mark Newson watch industry for yourself. Therefore, if you expect to see a watch in the face of AW, you will be upset.

The N1 task of all traditional watches is to display the time on the dial. Preferably exactly. Every self-respecting expensive brand must obtain a certificate from the Swiss Institute of Chronometry (COSC). The deviation of an expensive mechanical chronograph per day should not exceed -4 / + 6 seconds, so tourbillons were invented to compensate for the Earth's gravity. Special alloys with low temperature coefficients are used to minimize the effect of ambient temperature.

The AW has a stroke error of 1 / 500th of a second per day (when there is no synchronization with the time service). Lovers of "mechanics", quartz, electronics, relax: Apple Watch is a watch in so far as it is. They don't even know how to show the time. You heard right.

Traditional watches show no AW.

You can't catch a glimpse of the AW and find out what time it is. For this device, showing the time is not the main task.

In order for the AW to light up the screen, you must either unfold the brush horizontally, or tap on the screen, or click on the Digital Crown ( crown- further).

When you bring the watch to your face, the gyroscope is triggered and the display lights up for 6 seconds with a slight lag in time. When you press something, the screen burns three times longer - 18 seconds (they say, once you pressed it, it’s not without reason, you can shine a light on the owner).

When you sit in a chair like this, type text and suddenly want to know the time on AW, you will see a completely black screen. This is annoying! Even if you bring your hand to your face, nothing will change, because the gyroscope has memorized your working position of the hand and instructed the watch not to respond to hand movements. And the time, please, find out on the computer or ask a colleague.

Is this how a watch made by Apple itself, which pays attention to detail, should behave?

• If you are reaching for the money to buy an AW in hopes of buying a Watch, you will be disappointed.
• If you already have 3-5-6 ... hours in your collection and want another Watch, you will be disappointed.
• If you have never owned a watch and have had such a case ... you will be disappointed.
• If you want to buy a second screen, remote control, digital companion to keep your iPhone out of your pocket all the time, your time has come.

Apple marketers have two challenges:

1. For those who do not have a watch, to show that AWs can be quite suitable for the role of the first wearable electronics, which, among other things, displays time. This audience can be instilled with the right habits from a blank sheet of paper. For example, that the device needs to be charged every day.

2. For those who have a watch, tell us that AW can be used along with a regular watch. For this, show business is involved, fashion magazines are published with the image of AW on the models' wrist, etc.

In addition, many potential traditionalist users are deterred by a weak battery.

Or not weak?

There is a battery inside the watch. For example, the Pebble has a 130 mAh battery and is enough for 5 days of active use.

But the computer called the AW has slightly more advanced tasks than the Pebble. The brainchild of Apple has a powerful filling in the face, although it is programmatically slowed down, like in the iPhone 2 / 3G / 3GS, so that the user does not end up with the screen off on the way home from work.

The AW screen goes out just to save power. And when the charge remains critically small, the watch switches to Power Reserve mode, when absolutely all functions are turned off, except for the time display.

In Power Reserve mode, the watch can live for another 72 hours if you look at it no more than once every 15 minutes.

Apple has combined its Magsafe technology and induction charging technology to allow the watch to be charged wirelessly. To do this, they must be placed with their back cover on a magnetic stand. At night.

A full charge takes 2.5 hours. In this case, in the first 1.5 hours, the watch is charged by 80%.

Now the entire world of wearable electronics industry rests on. 18 hours of work for the AW filling is a good result. Or buy a quartz watch and wear it for 6 years. Do you need a complete meal or a diet on water and bread?

Clock management and software

Only in conjunction with an iPhone is the full potential of AW revealed. No other device other than an iPhone can communicate with the watch. If you want this watch, buy an iPhone first.

AW has many settings and they are all available inside the Apple Watch.app application.

If some program in the app store has a version for AW, then it is installed automatically in the clock memory.

The device has 8 GB of memory on board. 75 MB are allocated for photos and pictures, 2 GB for music (yes, you can download your tracks and listen to them via bluetooth without a phone, which is convenient in sports), you can put software in the remaining space.

For the most part, all programs for Apple Watch are auxiliary screen what happens on the iPhone, although there are full-fledged games.

There are many versions of Tamagotchi among the games.

If you don't have a girlfriend or few friends in your life, you will find them in the AW world.

The Yandex.Taxi developers, in an attempt to keep everything to a minimum, left only one "Yes" button. What "yes? Well I pressed.

And Taxi drove out to me. I had to cancel via iPhone. I mean, immediately get ready to get the cut-off functionality of familiar applications without explaining how what works.

Program icons are located on the watch desktop, where you can access by pressing the crown. There are no screens like on iPhone / iPad. This is the growing galaxy around Orion's neck.

Over time, there is a lot of software and you start to get confused about where the right icon is. I recommend stirring your favorite programs at the edges of the galaxy, and dumping what is not often used in the center.

You can navigate through the pages / menus / icons by tapping or using the crown. Many call it a groundbreaking solution, and Casio has been using this navigation method in its analog ji-shocks for several years. The Japanese were the first to invent it and called it Smart Access.

Pressing the crown twice returns to the previous program.

Pressing the watch power button displays Favorite contacts.

Contacts can:

– Call... The watch has a built-in microphone and speaker, so speakerphone is available. I really liked it, the sound is clear.

– send SMS. There is no keyboard in the watch, so we send a template or speak the text into the microphone, and the watch will convert it into text.

– send hand-drawn message - doodle. Only works between AWs.

In its watches, Apple has introduced a technology where a stronger press leads to additional responses in programs, such as pressing the right mouse button to invoke Options. To make the tactile feel really good, the watch responds with the vibration of the Taptic Engine. In new MacBooks, this is also. Guess which device will be next in Apple's lineup?

Camera

The watch itself does not know how to take pictures, but it acts as a second screen for an iPhone. I already wrote about a smart lens. Now in front of us is a smart screen with a remote control. Suitable for selfies on the back camera of the phone.

Strap

The sports version has a strap made of fluoroelastomer. This is the same silicone, but with antimicrobial properties. It is often used to make gloves for chemical laboratories.

For design of all The watchbands were also in charge of the iconic industrial designer, Jony Ive's great friend, Mark Newson, whom Apple served as senior vice president of design.

In the sports version of the watch, the abandonment of the strap tip lock seemed painfully familiar to me. This is true! - a similar solution was implemented in Ikepod, which was developed by Newson.

The solution is so ingenious that it can be patented and the rights to use Casio sold - and all G-shock lovers will give a standing ovation.

To change the strap, you need to press the button above the groove where it is inserted.

IPX7 protection

Screen and body variations

There are AWs with large and small OLED screens - 38 (290 ppi) and 42 mm (302 ppi) with the same 4: 5 aspect ratio.

In three variations:
Apple Watch Sport, Ion-X glass + aluminum - $ 349-399
Apple Watch, sapphire + stainless steel - $ 549-1099
Apple Watch Edition, sapphire + gold - $ 10000-17000

There are 38 varieties in total. How to choose the correct size and try on the watch for yourself, we wrote and.

Sports activities

The watch can measure heart rate, track physical activity.

The discrepancy between the Apple Watch laser heart rate monitor and the TomTom chest strap was 2-3 beats per minute. In the Bluetooth settings, the same TomTom can be paired with a watch. Then the lasers of the latter are turned off and the pulse data is received directly from the tomtom.

However, when practicing in the gym, the strap had to be pulled tighter, and when the hand became damp with sweat, it had to be wiped off with a towel so that the heart rate monitor data would not jump up and down.

I was pleased with the availability of a choice of several types of workouts in the Workout application:

• Outdoor run
• Outdoor Walk
• Outdoor Cycle
• Indoor run
• Indoor walk
• Indoor cycle
• Elliptical
• Rower
• Stair stepper
• Other

Without an iPhone, the watch will not be able to track the trajectory of movement, but it has one amazing feature that Apple did not mention. The gadget knows how to learn. If you have run several times with the iPhone + Apple Watch, then the latter remember the number of your steps, the pace of the workout in accordance with the distance, and in the future, without the iPhone, they can show the approximate distance covered.

So far, the watch cannot analyze sleep, and there were no third-party programs in the app store. Because they did not have time, since this kind of software is tested on a working device, and not in an emulator.

Read our articles:
–
–
–

Having bought a watch, be sure to go for an hour to walk in training mode Walking for .

Bugs

There are enough bugs. And I am surprised by people who expect to get everything from the first product at once. It doesn't work that way. The watch has a modified iOS 8.2, and the Russian Siri, for example, appeared only in 8.3. The Apple Watch is doing well in hardware, but in software it will tighten up over time.

Looking at the haters of these watches, I was reminded of an American talk show where a teenager complained that there was often no Internet on board. To which the presenter remarked:

- My boy, you, who do not have wings, nevertheless fly comfortably at an altitude of 11 km, when overboard is -60 degrees. Isn't it a miracle?

Take a time machine, travel back to the 80s, show the Apple Watch to the then engineers and look into their eyes. Then tell them what you're not happy with, including:

- Disappearing album covers;
- Sometimes when there is an incoming call, there is no notification on the clock. I have to pick up an iPhone;
- Photos of contacts disappear;
- Pressing is often not recognized, including Force Touch;
- Some applications refuse to work as they should. For example, Alfa-Bank shows the card balance in 2 cases out of 10. Apparently, this is a consequence of the fact that the developers sawed the application in the simulator and did not test it on a working sample.

It seems to me that the generation of the 80s will consider you at least inadequate :) They will take away your watch, devote international symposiums to them, write dissertations on them, defend doctoral theses, young Steve Jobs with an engineer Wozniak sobbing with delight will walk the streets for long evenings and discuss the stuffing of this amazing gadget.

Moscow, too, was not built right away.

And the boy who complained about the lack of internet in the sky needs to fly on a long-haul plane from the 1930s. Here you have 100-megabit Wi-Fi, reclining chairs, and multimedia centers on the backs - use it.

Readers' opinion

On our Twitter account, I asked readers why they wanted to buy an Apple Watch, and here's the picture:

Mikhail G., the owner of the Apple Watch, has 4 Ulysse Nardin models, collectible Chopard, Breitling, Rolex, home has the entire line of Apple products

I bought AW as a gadget, because as a watch they are more than ordinary ones. In general, the feeling that they are like a radio-controlled car for a child. I really want to, but no one drives these cars for more than two days. The feeling that there was a global epic fail and the mountain gave birth to a mouse. You can watch the time. You can tell everyone that you have this watch.

Contents of delivery:

• Charger
• Instructions

Positioning

Watch from Apple is the first product, the development of which began without Steve Jobs, he had nothing to do with their idea and implementation, it is the brainchild of Tim Cook and the team. Looking ahead, I want to say that Steve Jobs was clearly not enough for the watch, because it was he who determined how the products should work, paid attention to the little things and made them redo many times until he achieved the result that satisfied him. In recent years, Apple has repeatedly proved that the absence of Jobs is detrimental to the company, the number of small and large problems in the software has become noticeable to everyone without exception. Nevertheless, the inertia of the Apple brand is so strong that the heights already reached guarantee a noticeable interest in any new products, people do not pay attention to what exactly they are selling. This is a huge plus for Apple, their watches will be in demand regardless of the quality and usefulness, necessity. We have already discussed the possible sales volume for this watch in the "Sofa Analytics", it will be the most massive smart watch on the market, there is no doubt about it.

But the volume of sales and the purchase of such an individual accessory as a watch are still different planes of existence. Who is the Apple smartwatch for? The company itself focuses them only on iPhone users starting from the 5th version, it is impossible to connect the watch to other devices, and this is not only Android, but also iPad. Such a watch is an additional accessory that cannot be used apart from the iPhone, as such, they are useless. The potential of the watch is revealed only in conjunction with the iPhone, and Apple believes that the main feature of the watch is in a variety of applications that the user can install.

The buyers of these watches will definitely not be those who already have good Swiss watches (some people, yes, but massively no). This may be the first expensive watch for young people, and it is also a fairly universal gift - you can't buy it for yourself, but it's nice to receive it. Also, the stratum of those who always buy devices from Apple is quite large, simply because they are Apple devices. Apple Watch has no other noticeable audiences.

Watch design and variants of Apple Watch

There are 38 different variations of the Apple Watch in total, which can confuse anyone. An attempt to find a coherent explanation was in vain, so let's try to figure it out together. So, there are three collections of watches.

The basic version and the most inexpensive one is Watch Sport, in turn, the watch size differs - 38 or 42 mm. Apple believes that a slightly larger watch with a slightly larger screen, this is where all the differences end, should cost $ 50 more. That is, the cheapest Watch Sport will cost $ 349 excluding taxes. Silicone strap. They are 42 mm - $ 399. In total, there are 10 different watch variants in this series. They have an aluminum body. Also, unlike the older models, the screen is covered not by sapphire, but by ordinary glass, which is much easier to scratch.

There are 20 models in the Watch series, also in two sizes (38 and 42 mm). The price is 549 and 599 dollars, respectively. The case is already made of stainless steel, depending on the strap, the price can go up to 1,099 dollars.

And finally, the third Watch Edition. There are 8 models in total, the case is made of gold, the price is from 10 to 17 thousand dollars.

Even if we discard the gold models, the choice of watches from 30 models is not so simple, and it is extremely difficult to do it in absentia. A watch is a personal thing, you have to try it on, try it and choose it for yourself. I doubt that even the most-very Apple fans will buy watches without preliminary fitting, focusing only on pictures.

After trying the watch, I got a double impression. I liked the metal braided strap in absentia, but it turned out to be not very beautiful in life. Another point is that there is a magnet on the strap that fixes the watch. The metal on the clasp is polished and very quickly covered with scratches, which is not surprising, the clasp is located exactly in the place where the watch touches objects - a table, a computer when typing, and so on. The scratches are noticeable, in fact, in one day, the clasp in my watch turned into trash. Using Apple Watch with a MacBook is contraindicated. If something similar happened to any Swiss watch, it would be a global problem and free replacement of straps.

I cannot judge how the second type of metal bracelet will behave in life, but there is a fear that it will also wear out. Moreover, it is ugly to do it, the metal there is very similar in dullness to the one on this fastener. Of the advantages - the ability to remove unnecessary links, adjust the strap to fit your hand.

Even before I started using the watch, I tried it in the store. There it seemed that the clasp could loosen with sudden movements, the watch slipped on the hand. Already using the watch, I can say that this is not the case, they are securely fixed on the hand and there are no problems.

The second metal bracelet is more interesting, but here you can see the lack of attention to detail. Opening the latch reveals metal that does not look properly crafted. Any Swiss watch is an order of magnitude better executed, there is a gloss, and if they are matte, the surface looks different. I would like to emphasize that this is in any more or less normal watch of the same price group. The fact that Apple did not take into account the experience of watchmakers is somehow surprising.

The silicone strap is quite simple and does not look very interesting.

Oddly enough, I liked the leather strap, it looks great on the hand and is in harmony with the watch.

The straps can be purchased separately, they are not cheap, but replacement is easy, just pull out the strap from the side, after pressing the button on the inside. The fixation is good, it is unlikely that the clamps will loosen or come off over time.

The most correct thing is to look at the watch in the store, try it on. There is no other way to see which model suits you and how they look. I will dwell on a few little things that will annoy perfectionists forever. Regardless of which version of the watch you have, the black bezel around the screen will be quite wide when it is running. The body itself is massive and fits snugly against the hand, there is a heart rate sensor on the inside, these are green LEDs that translucent the skin.

For the heart rate measurement to work correctly, the watch must fit snugly against your hand. But bad luck, then the hand under them will sweat. In most smartwatches with such sensors, they are taken out as a separate platform, it protrudes slightly. And its area is small, unlike the Apple Watch. In a word, here too, ignoring the decisions of other companies, which have already released several generations of their devices. For example, see how it's done on FitBit Surge.

Apple has been over-the-top with water resistance as well. So, formally, protection against water is declared at the IPX7 level. That provides for the possibility of hours to be under water for about 30 minutes at a depth of one meter, this is what this standard testifies to. But all documents indicate that the watch cannot be immersed in water, sellers emphasize this separately. Obviously, some parts are not designed for immersion, as a result, they may fail, and this will not be a warranty case. It is possible that in key markets, for the first time and for the first customers, drowned people will be replaced, for Apple this is a standard practice. But you can't assume that the watch will survive in water, Apple claims the opposite. Therefore, the maximum is to wash your hands in the Apple Watch.

Another drawback is that the watch is quite chubby, they are small in area, but at the same time plump. When you look at them head-on, you don't see it. Sometimes you look at your hand at an angle and then you pay attention. The feeling is strange, especially against the background of the fact that the vast majority of watches of this size are thin, and if they are made massive, then the dial is larger.

Display

Depending on the version of the watch, the screen is also different - in the 42 mm case, the screen is larger, both diagonally and in resolution (312x390 pixels, 302 ppi versus 272x340 pixels, 290 ppi in the 38 mm case). The AMOLED screen has good viewing angles. I like the picture on the watch, it is bright and contrasting. But there is one serious drawback - the screen works only when an event occurs. By default, this is a black screen, on which you cannot see anything.

You can customize the screen so that it lights up when you receive notifications, but you will simply be wasting battery power, so you shouldn't. You don't look at your watch all the time, do you? I advise you to turn on the activation of the screen when raising your hand, it will respond to a gesture, which is not bad.

The screen remains readable in the sun, although the picture fades, it is no longer so clearly visible.

One of the curious moments for me was how convenient it is to get to the icons that are located on the display, they are too small. It turned out that this is not difficult. Even with your thumbs, you can select the desired icon the first time, zooming is also supported, although it is not very convenient, and is not necessary in most cases. With the clock crown on the right, you can increase or decrease the standard icons in the menu, if you suddenly need it, the image zoom also works.

The screen glass in the older models is sapphire, no scratches should appear on it. In the younger ones, everything is not so rosy (ION-X “glass”), so scratches will appear there over time, this is another reason not to take the Sport option.

In some menus, you can see that the screen lacks resolution, icons or buttons look a little out of place, their geometry does not match the watch case, they are noticeably larger than they should be. This sometimes creates a strange impression, as if the interface had not been finished yet.

Battery, running time

Apple said the watch will run in mixed mode for about 18 hours, or daylight hours. This concerns work in different modes, but, as you remember, the screen is off most of the time. If you constantly refer to the display, then the operating time will be sharply reduced, it also depends on the brightness of the backlight.

The battery is built-in, its capacity is 205 mAh. Even the most notorious optimists, who will not use the watch to its fullest, will see that the watch works on the strength of daylight hours. With very active use, they will last until the evening at best. The charging time of the watch is about 2.5 hours, which is typical for such products. In this case, the charger is simply applied to the body, this is wireless charging. Up to 80 percent of the charge goes in 1.5 hours, the remaining 20 percent - in another hour. It is best to leave the watch on its charge overnight.

The battery is guaranteed by Apple for the first year, so it won't cost you anything to replace it. The replacement cost would then be $ 79. The company says the battery is rated for 1,000 cycles, after which the battery capacity will drop to 80 percent. It turns out that under ideal conditions, when you discharge the clock to zero and then fully charge it, the battery will last about 2.5 years. I think in reality it will be 1.5-2 years, for especially unhappy ones - about a year.

As you can see in the iFixIt photo, replacing the battery is easy. I am sure that many will master this procedure at home.

The declared standby time is up to 72 hours (!), That is, it's just a connection with the phone. In training mode or playing music - up to 6.5 hours (our watch worked in the mode of measuring heart rate and distance traveled for only 4.5 hours). In the talk mode, the clock can work up to 3 hours.

Considering that the screen does not work all the time, and there are many similar watches on the market that work for two days or more on a single charge, here the Apple Watch loses completely. At the same time, the screen itself is far from the best available, it is average.

A watch that needs to be charged daily is, to put it mildly, not a very comfortable watch. And this is one of the bold minuses of the Apple Watch that you can't get around. Also, synchronization with the clock negatively affects the operating time of the iPhone, with a lot of notifications, it is reduced by about 10 percent. It should be understood that the watch shifts the main load to the companion phone in order to ensure a longer life.

Platform, memory, performance

In wearable electronics, it is not processor performance that comes to the fore, but the trade-off between speed and time. Small batteries do not allow you to roam too much, it is necessary that the device works as long as possible. In the Apple Watch, the company has supplied a processor it has designed itself, it is called the S1. And it noticeably limited its performance, in particular, when scrolling between applications or screens, you can see that the clock sometimes slows down. Unexpectedly for Apple, and for this Steve Jobs beat his developers in the head, in his absence this does not happen, which is sad. There is no person who would carry out the acceptance of the product according to his taste.

In third-party applications, slowdowns are completely normal, since they do not get the same access to the system as Apple gave for native applications. And this is even more amazing. I can't say that everything slows down, but data from the iPhone is loading slowly, the download icon is spinning all the time.

The built-in memory is 8 GB, but it is distributed in an extremely strange way. So, the watch can be used to take pictures from your phone, a kind of remote viewfinder. And immediately save the photo on them. A whopping 75 MB of photo memory is allocated! You will not clear up. For music, the watch was allocated 2 GB of memory. The rest of the space is reserved for applications. If you remember that the watch only works with the iPhone, this memory allocation is no longer surprising. The same memory for music is not needed, it is stored on the phone. Rather, it is additional volume.

The first setting of the clock, applications, work with the interface

You need the Apple Watch app on your iPhone to control your watch. When you first connect, you can point the iPhone screen at the watch, they will automatically pair (the picture on the watch screen is recognized), or you can do it manually.

As you know, a watch cannot live without a phone, it is doomed to coexist. You are prompted to select a security password (numeric - 4 digits by default), which will need to be entered on the watch if you remove it from your hand.

In my opinion, the second option is more interesting, when the watch is unlocked when working with the iPhone, that is, the phone's security system is used, including it can be TouchID. True, then you will have to unlock the phone permanently or disable security altogether. As a result, I settled on the first option, take off my watch and then, having put it on, I type a password that is short in length.

By default, all programs that are on your iPhone will be transferred to the watch, but if they have an appropriate mode of operation. When setting the clock for the first time, this process can take from ten minutes to one and a half hours, everything depends on the number of applications, the need to update them. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the Apple Watch application has a section with software that runs on the watch.

You choose the program, you see how it is arranged and works. The application selected for the watch is also installed on the iPhone; separate installation of applications, such as on the Gear S, is not possible. That is, this is an ideological difference that should be borne in mind - in the Apple Watch, all applications for watches are dependent, they are secondary in relation to those that are on the phone itself. And, as a result, you waste space both in the memory of the watch and in the memory of the phone for installing them. Is it logical? In my opinion, not very much - but this is the ideology of the watch-companion, which dictates such rules of the game. It also follows from this that applications for watches are always secondary in relation to them on the phone, that is, it is often a remote screen showing some information, often cut off and incomplete.

For each application, the default behavior is the same as on the iPhone, that is, all settings are copied from there. But you can choose your options and specify how the apps will behave on the watch.

In the system settings, I will note the ability to change the spelling of the font (Bold), as well as adjust the font size. I advise you to leave the default setting, it is quite comfortable, large print is ugly and takes up a lot of space, most of the messages will be unreadable.

A red dot is shown above the dial, these are notifications, pull down and see what came to you while you were not looking at the clock. And here lies the biggest ambush. Notifications are not very good, let's talk about this with examples. To begin with, there is no Facebook application for the watch yet, but notifications from the phone come. You can view them, but you cannot open them either on the watch or on the phone. That is, you have to go to the phone, open notifications there and watch everything from there. For comparison, all alternative smartwatches have an “Open on phone” option, when you immediately open the desired program there, you just need to pick up the phone.

Another example is the Instagram app, which is adapted for the Apple Watch. You look at the notification, you see that something has been written to you, but this is not the full text, but only two lines, the username and the first few words. Is it a shame? Not that word. You still have to open them on your phone to read them.

I could go on to list such shortcomings, they are typical for most applications, there are no exceptions. Everyone was clearly trying to get their Apple Watch apps up and running and were oblivious to the functionality. I hope that during the first year of the watch's life, the developers will correct such annoying jambs and this moment will become much better implemented.

The most interesting thing is WatchFaces, that is, screens with different watch faces.

In standby mode, hours are shown, you can select dials that have other information. The main menu is a set of icons, they are piled up in one pile, you can scroll the screen.

Such a display is called Glances, and you can disable individual applications, then they will not be displayed in this cloud of icons.

You can enter the application by clicking on its icon, exit - one level higher, using the button on the right side. It is very easy to figure out how the clock works, and a child can cope with it.

A double tap on the crown takes you to the last app you worked with. All that remains to be said about a feature like Force Touch is when you can forcefully press the screen and something happens. In fact, this option is now used in applications to trigger one action, usually the creation of a new thing, such as a message. This is true in standard messages, we see exactly the same on Twitter. This movement is easy to learn, although there are no clues.

Swiping the clock up reveals a display of the main programs, with your apps added as screens on the right. The list turns out to be quite large, the screen on the left is a quick setting (airplane mode, night mode, iPhone search). Immediately - music, heart rate measurement and the like.

The key under the crown calls up your favorite contacts. For them, you can quickly dial numbers, send messages. Moreover, there are templates in the messages, you can also edit them to your taste, there are pictures and emoticons, the ability to recognize the text or send it as a file. There is a small flaw that sets Apple apart from all other products. If you do not have iMessage configured and an error occurred while installing it, the watch will not accept even ordinary SMS messages that you see on your phone. They don't read them. At all! This is called freedom of choice - in SMS it is impossible to receive the very same SMS. I use an iPhone from time to time and iMessage was set to a different phone number, hence there was a problem reading SMS on my watch. Truly a device for those who only use Apple and ignore common standards.

With standard functions, Apple is clearly clever, for example, you cannot enter a person's address on the watch, you have to type it by voice or select it from a list. Let's say that voice input is not always convenient, let's try to scroll through the list. And here the funniest thing begins - in this list the names are in no particular order, that is, on the phone they are presented normally, but here they are out of order and by last name .. Moreover, there is no search in the list, so voice input remains the only real way to do something quickly to do. Obviously, this was done for show and believed that few people would start writing SMS from the clock. But they did it all the same crooked.

Another glitch that I caught was my chosen friends, my numbers are recorded as two contacts - Eldar Murtazin. Inside there are different phones, pictures (dog and zebra, respectively). The watch, unlike the phone, for some reason perceives these two contacts as one when sending SMS-messages, but when receiving calls everything is correct, different pictures are shown.

Standard functions are common, they are a calendar with a monthly display, alarms, a to-do list and the like.

When navigating, the watch can show the route, and the screens are divided so that you can see your movements. You can turn off the screen, then the clock with the help of vibration will prompt you where to go. The method is intricate, I could not get used to it, it is not very convenient. It is necessary to plot the route on the phone, then it is already transmitted to the watch.

When making calls, you can answer them from the watch, then the microphone and speaker are used. Talking is not very convenient, as others can hear your conversation.

The connection with the phone is via Bluetooth. The watch does not have its own GPS, so all coordinates will be received from the phone (phone settings for GPS are a priority, keep this in mind). The acceleration sensor located in the watch counts steps, it is relatively accurate (compared to FitBit Surge, it received a discrepancy of 10-15 percent, Apple's watch is lying down - let me remind you that FitBit is a kind of benchmark in the pedometer market).

The same goes for how the heart rate is measured. In Apple Watch, it is several bumps lower than in FitBit Surge, at rest. Usually the discrepancy is insignificant - 55-57 hits on Apple Watch, 60-65 hits on FitBit Surge. Under load, the discrepancy becomes more noticeable, Apple Watch lowers the heart rate. This is curious, since in FitBit, the main complaint about measuring the heart rate is that it is greatly underestimated, at peak loads among athletes, the discrepancy with real values ​​can reach 25 percent, which threatens with serious health problems. Apple Watch has roughly similar algorithms, and they lie exactly the same way. This is another point that does not allow us to say that the watch is interesting for sports activities (serious), for everyday walks and fitness they will be enough for the eyes.

Conveniently, for notifications, you can set up different signals, vibrations. You are free to choose which notifications to receive. Moreover, the more there are, the faster the battery will run out. I tried to display all notifications in my social profiles, the clock started to warn you constantly, they were enough for 6 hours of work, and nothing more.

Integration of the Apple Pay service is available for iPhone 6 and higher, it works, as you understand, only in the USA. The service will not appear in Russia in the foreseeable future. The convenience of paying from the watch is that you don't have to take out your phone. But so far Apple Pay itself is not very popular and widespread, and user reviews are rather negative.

There is also Siri, which does not work for the Russian language (in the future, of course, there will be, we have been waiting for the Russian Siri for so many years, and it appeared, here the wait will be shorter).

Third-party apps are curious but offer nothing new or unusual. We saw all of them or their capabilities on other watches. No breakthrough happened here, and this is the biggest frustration from the watch. Apple's approach was to give a ton of apps to the watch as if it were a smartphone. Not sure if this is the correct approach that will work in this case. All applications are secondary in relation to their versions on the phone, let me remind you that they are installed both there and there.

App notifications aren't great. Using social networks on the watch is a complete torment, for example, 6 messages from the feed are shown in the official Twitter client. Roughly the same approach on Instagram. That is, flipping through the tape, as on other watches, is impossible, you must press the "More" button every time.

It looks at least strange and is very different from what we see on the iPhone. The applications themselves are few, many of them are paid and are quite expensive. There are no toys as such, and those that are present can be safely called in one word - self-indulgence, and for one time only.

It is not very convenient to make or receive calls from the watch, the speaker volume is minimal, and the quality of the microphone also suffers a little. The interlocutor hears you muffled, in noisy conditions he probably does not hear you.

Music control on the phone is usual, it remains to say that you can synchronize playlists from the phone, load music into the watch's memory. Why this is needed is completely incomprehensible to me, since this music is already stored on the phone, and you cannot connect wireless headphones to the watch (you can connect them to the phone and control the music from the watch on them). What's the point? You will see everything on your phone anyway. If you leave your watch somewhere from the phone, then you can listen to music, but only through the speaker, this is still a pleasure. A strange solution that I don't understand. In other watches, downloading music has nothing to do with what music is on the phone, you can download completely different songs, which is logical.

Another point that puzzled me is the real-life scenario of using the clock. Walking down the street, listening to music on headphones, the bell rings. I don’t want to reach for the phone, I see an opportunity to answer on the watch, but the iPhone-Apple Watch pair doesn’t understand that it’s more convenient for me to talk over the headset, which is already in my ears. Instead, the answer on the watch will activate the speakerphone on the watch itself. Marvelous. Even more surprising, Apple clearly understands that a person is listening to music, since with such a call the watch screen does not turn on, that is, it is assumed that I can hear everything through my headphones. Of course, you can answer the call by pressing a button on the headset, but then you will not see the caller's number. A minor flaw that should not be exaggerated, but the Apple Watch is all about such minor flaws.

Impressions and conclusions

Many expected from Apple that the company, unlike its competitors, would be able to invent use cases for smartwatches that would be different from anything that was on the market. Explain why this watch is so good. This did not happen. At the presentation, they did not even talk about the use cases, they missed this moment. And this is very strange - that is, Apple does not have an answer to this question. However, competitors also do not know what to offer buyers.

The only value of an Apple watch is that it comes from Apple. There are no other achievements in them, but technically this is a frankly weak product (operating time, lack of protection from water, notifications and applications work). The high cost is comparable to entry-level Swiss watches (mechanics). And it is impossible to compare the Apple Watch with a Swiss watch, these are different worlds, and the comparison is not in favor of the product from Apple.

Most of those who already have a good watch will not look towards the Apple Watch, this makes no sense, since the first generation does not have any special functionality or any kind of image in the watch segment. After all, Apple for the majority is an electronics manufacturer. At the same time, for children and adolescents who do not have high-quality watches, such a toy will be ideal, but very expensive; moreover, it should come with an iPhone. A large group of Apple Watch consumers in configurations up to $ 1,000 will be those who do not have a good watch and denied their need in modern society, the status character of this accessory. Now they have a relatively inexpensive option (cheap compared to a good watch) to be fashionable, to show their technological prowess, which is imaginary. If any other company had released such a product, it would not just not be in demand, but would receive a lot of negative reviews. In Apple's case, this watch was forgiven by many in advance for all its shortcomings.

The life of such a watch will be 1-2 years at most, then it will be necessary to change the battery, and new generations will appear, which will definitely be better (faster, larger screen, will work longer). In the smartwatch market, rectangular screens are typical for the first generations of devices, in 2014-2015 these are round dials that people like more. Apple did not have the technical ability to create a product with such a dial, apparently, we will see it in a year. The company is catching up, but the market gap is very noticeable. Once again, I will repeat a simple thought - the fact that Apple Watch is technically weak does not care about its target audience at all. It doesn't really matter. The Apple brand will pull out their sales, make them record-breaking, but there is no practical need for such a watch. There is no practical scenario for using them in practice. That is, the Apple Watch is exactly the same fashion accessory as a Swiss watch, but they have a peculiar charge of their image.

At the moment, watches are sold only in the Apple online store in a small number of countries, gold versions can be bought in the largest trading houses in Europe, where luxury is usually presented. You can try on watches in Apple stores, then order the ones that you like. When such a watch will appear in Russia officially, it is unclear. If sales in Europe are weak, then it will be at the beginning of summer. If there is a deficit, then only at the end of the year. Russian official prices will start, at best, from 25-26 thousand rubles for the simplest model. Resellers already have watches, prices range from 80 to 200 (!!!) thousand, that is, at least 3-4 times overpayment. Given the shortage of this toy, it looks like a perfectly normal premium to sellers, but an unjustified purchase from all points of view. It’s hard for me to imagine how many people will buy watches for that kind of money, given that for a comparable price you can buy a normal Swiss watch, good mechanics that will live for many decades and belong to a completely different class of products.

The watch is not adapted to Russian in any way, there is no localization, Siri only works in English. This isn't a big deal, as you almost never need to use Siri on your watch.

Trying to find some serious advantages over a Swiss watch in terms of image in the Apple Watch, I did not find them. They can only win against other manufacturers of electronic watches due to Apple's image, but not even functionality or any convenience that is not there (daily charging is definitely not a convenience). The lifespan is short, the image charge will last for several months, and then the hype will subside. It is interesting that the watch will obviously not look like a suit, it is to some extent a toy. My personal opinion is that outwardly they do not look at all, although there is no dispute about tastes. You can talk about Apple Watch for a long time, but there is no point in this, you buy it if you believe that Apple is fashionable, and everything else does not interest you. For sensible people who do not waste money, this product is not of the slightest interest. And for fans there is another time bomb here, the watch does not give a lot of emotions, like a phone or a tablet, although this device is much more individual. Here's a paradox.

The Sport version does not deserve attention at all - for the high cost you get the absence of a sapphire crystal, a cheaper charger without metal, and so on. A budget watch that's not worth it. However, in terms of functionality, all versions are the same, and this raises most of the questions. Very often I see a comparison of this watch with the first generation of the iPhone, they say, then they finalized and did everything well. It is possible that such an analogy has a right to exist. But while Apple watches remain an expensive and, by and large, useless toy, they are even slightly more useless than similar watches from other companies. Which does not make them better, I don't see any use for them, but in comparison with the Apple Watch, they have gone far ahead. The same Pebble is damp in software, but it works for 5-7 days, is always on and can do a lot. Even Android Wear can do more than the Apple Watch. Apple has come out with an extremely crude product that will be finalized for at least one or two generations.

Will you buy an Apple Watch? If so, why? And tell us which watch you already use. Welcome to comments.

We are grateful to the cplaza.ru store for the watch provided for the review.

First look at the most anticipated product of recent years

On April 24, sales of Apple Watch started - smart watches, which the market has been waiting for more than two years. Over the past two years, on the wave of rumors about a future Apple product, a whole industry of smart watches has emerged: the most active players here are the main competitors of Apple - Samsung and Google. The South Korean company is already selling its third generation of its Gear watches, and Google has been trying to implement the Android Wear operating system for almost a year now. In the meantime, the release of the Apple Watch was postponed and postponed, and two announcements of this gadget (autumn and spring) caused a mixed reaction from the market: they criticized the release date, price, and the absence of any killer features. However, ordinary buyers were not embarrassed by this: on the very first day, almost a million people bought the watch! That's more than sales of Android Wear watches in 2014.

Of course, sales in this case are not at all an indicator of the quality of the device (at that time, no one was able to test the Apple Watch). This is the result of a long wait, an indicator of brand confidence and, to some extent, evidence of dissatisfaction with the devices that are already on the market. For two years we have tested many smartwatches, among them there were more successful and less successful models, more beautiful and less beautiful ... But in the discussion of almost every article, readers wrote: "and still it is not clear what this toy is for."

Manufacturers experimented with a new class of devices, tried different materials, tried (not without success) to make a round screen and a thin body, but categorically could not come up with such arguments in favor of their products that would make everyone exclaim:

In addition to this, truly stylish Android Wear devices have just begun to appear: these are the Asus ZenWatch, LG G Watch Urbane, Huawei Watch (the latter have not yet gone on sale and are not expected until the second half of the year). Manufacturers who are used to thinking in terms of technical characteristics, megahertz and megapixels were not ready to put style in the center of the corner. A prime example: Samsung has made excellent curved screens in the Gear Fit and Gear S. Well, what prevented you from making leather or metal straps for them?

Not to mention the fact that the Android Wear interface doesn't feel stylish and sophisticated at all. Of course, some manufacturers tried to make their own branded dials or some beautiful software add-ons (for example, the Moto 360's charging screen), but all these are just add-ons that do not change the very essence.

In turn, Apple immediately clearly showed that a watch is, first of all, a fashion accessory, and only in the second place - everything else. Hence, there are many modifications (with different screen sizes, different straps, different body materials), a huge range of prices, up to $ 12,000, which is already a real luxury.

In a sense, this is the quintessence of the whole philosophy of Apple: not so much a technical device as an object of desire that affects the user's emotions and gives him the same "fan and experience." And this, in general, was clear after the announcements. However, the main question remains open: does the watch have any unique functional purpose? Has Apple been able to find a way to use the Apple Watch that is different from anything we've seen before? We will try to answer this question (thanks to the company for providing a sample for review).

Video review

To get started, we suggest watching our video review of the Apple Watch smartwatch:

Equipment

The packaging of the Apple Watch evokes a surprised exclamation and immediately sets up that something unusual is before us. The long white box looks completely different from all the other smartwatches that we tested.

Obviously, this solution is not practical. Such a box is simply less convenient to store. But on the other hand, this immediately shows a special attitude towards the watch, which is not folded into three deaths, but stretched out inside the box "to its full height."

Note that the watch is not just on cardboard, but in a special case made of hard white plastic.

The package includes an extra larger strap, wireless magnetic charger with USB cable, charger and, of course, various leaflets and guides.

Wireless charging deserves special attention. It is a white, round "tablet" of relatively small thickness. The watch should be placed on top of it with the back of the case, and it doesn't matter how you turn it.

It's a little inconvenient that the charging is symmetrical, so sometimes you put it on the wrong side. You bring it to the watch - it repels, not attracts: it means that you need to turn the charge over. However, if you have a permanent place for it at home, then you can put it on once, and then just put your watch on it without worrying about anything.

Design

Well, now let's take a look at the design of the watch itself. When Apple first unveiled their look, there was a lot of controversy as to why the screen wasn't round. Indeed, among competitors, it was the round screen that was considered special chic. But Apple decided not to imitate classic wristwatches and make a kind of mini-iPhone with rounded edges and a flat rectangular screen, the edges of the glass of which, however, are effectively rounded.

We tested the simplest version: Apple Watch Sport (with silicone strap and aluminum case). But even she looks very pretty. They are fully inherent in the Apple style. Sophisticated minimalism is the definition that best fits this product.

It is important that, unlike many other smartwatches, the Apple Watch does not look bulky or too thick. But at the same time, one cannot say that they are very thin. But in general, the look is harmonious and pleasant.

The watch strap is removable, it consists of two halves, each of which is attached to the watch with a special clip (in the photo above there is also an additional strap from the kit). Simply insert the base of the strap into the groove and pull towards the center until it clicks lightly. To detach the halves of the strap, press the metal buttons on the back of the watch case, and then pull the strap to the side. A very elegant solution!

Let's pay attention to the sensors on the back of the case: they measure the heart rate and allow you to determine whether the watch is on the wrist or not. If the watch is not on your wrist, the screen is locked, and you have to enter a PIN code for any action (you create it when you turn it on for the first time). But if you put the watch on your wrist and unlock it, then while the watch is on your wrist, you will no longer need to enter the PIN-code. According to some reports, this function does not work correctly if the user's arm is full of a tattoo.

In the photo below, you can see the grooves for attaching the strap, and you can clearly see the rounding of the glass that protects the screen.

All physical controls are located on the right side of the case (if the watch is worn on the left hand): these are the Digital Crown button and wheel. The button seemed to us very useless - more precisely, for a short time testing the watch, we could not try it in action. The fact is that it allows you to communicate with other owners of Apple Watch, that is, send them emoticons, the rhythm of your heart, etc. We didn't have any acquaintances with an Apple Watch, so we couldn't test the button. We will definitely come back to this issue in the future.

But the Digital Crown is just an irreplaceable and very important element. It has several functions at once. First, it works like a button. When you press it, the clock returns either to the splash screen or to the applications menu (if we are already on the splash screen). Secondly, you can turn the wheel, and then in the application menu, as well as in some specific applications (for example, Maps), the image will be scaled, in other applications (Mail) the wheel will act as a scroll.

Here are two screenshots of the application menu. In the left screenshot, we see the icons in the same size in which they are displayed by default, and in the right screenshot - the same screen after slightly turning the wheel. If we twist in the other direction (that is, increase the icon), then the application in the very center (which, as it were, in focus) will come as close as possible to us and launch. Very interesting, cool effect! Although its practical use is not obvious: the same icon can be selected simply by touching the screen with your finger. In addition, in order to transfer "focus" from one application to another, you still have to touch the screen.

Theoretically, the use of scaling this screen using the Digital Crown may be when dozens of applications are installed on the watch, and it will be easier to first arrange the swarm of miniature rounds in the desired way, and then use the wheel to zoom in on the desired one. Although, again, you have to make sure that the desired icon is exactly in the center.

Returning to the design of the device, we note that the wheel turns very easily, without any effort, it can be done with a completely relaxed finger. However, the scaling speed seems excessive, that is, it is worth just scrolling the wheel just a little - and you will already have some kind of application (not always what you wanted).

As a finishing touch to the design conversation, a curious and funny detail: it looks like this is the first Apple mobile device that does not have a branded apple anywhere. Well, except, of course, the tiny badge on the back next to the description.

Note also that Apple says almost nothing about the technical characteristics of the Apple Watch, focusing specifically on user qualities. But enthusiasts, of course, could not deny themselves the pleasure of disassembling the novelty and finding out what was inside. This is described by and.

Screen

The watch is available in two screen sizes: 38 mm and 42 mm. Accordingly, their resolution also differs: 272 × 340 and 312 × 390, respectively. We had a watch with a screen diagonal of 38 mm and a screen resolution of 272 × 340.

We have carried out a detailed examination of the screen using measuring instruments. Below - the conclusion of the editor of the section "Projectors and TV" Alexei Kudryavtsev.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface slightly curved towards the edges, resistant to scratches. On the outer surface of the screen there is a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (effective, slightly better than that of Google Nexus 7 (2013)), so fingerprints are removed much more easily, and appear at a slower rate than in the case of ordinary glass. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are slightly better than that of the Google Nexus 7 2013. For clarity, here is a photo in which a white surface is reflected in the switched off screens:

The screen of the Apple Watch is slightly darker (brightness in the photos is 77 versus 79 for the Nexus 7). There is no doubling of reflection, which indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen. When the white field was displayed on the whole screen, the maximum brightness value recorded by us was about 450 cd / m², the minimum - 15 cd / m². Automatic brightness control always works according to the light sensor (as we know, it is located under the screen). The user can only make adjustments to the operation of this function by choosing one of three levels. When the external light conditions change, the screen brightness only increases, it decreases after the cycle of switching to standby mode and activating the device. In general, the range of brightness change and good anti-glare properties allow using the device both on a summer day outdoors and in complete darkness - even after adapting the eyes, the watch screen will not seem excessively bright. At high brightness, there is modulation with a frequency of 60 Hz, but its amplitude is small, so flickering is not visible. At medium brightness, there is practically no modulation. And at the lowest it appears again, but with a frequency of 50 Hz and a large relative amplitude. In the latter case, the flickering may already be noticeable, but we did not see it, apparently due to the low absolute amplitude of the brightness. However, everything will depend on the individual characteristics of a particular individual, looking at this clock in complete darkness. The graphs of brightness (vertical axis) versus time (horizontal axis) illustrate the above:

This screen uses an AMOLED matrix, an active matrix organic light-emitting diode (OLED). A full-color image is created using subpixels of three colors - red (R), green (G) and blue (B) in equal numbers, which is confirmed by a fragment of a micrograph:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of photomicrographs of screens used in mobile technology.

We observed a similar "structure" of the screen, for example, in the case of the Samsung Gear S smartwatch with a curved screen. Something tells us that most likely this watch has a screen from the same manufacturer. The spectra are typical for OLED - the areas of primary colors are well separated and appear as relatively narrow peaks:

However, there is also cross-mixing of components (programmatically), so the coverage is not too wide, but adjusted to the sRGB borders (which, by the way, Samsung did not do in its watches):

Accordingly, the images on the screen of the Apple Watch have natural saturation. This is confirmed by a photograph of the screen with a test photograph displayed on it, which was used in our tests (the picture is almost out of focus, but the pixel structure does not interfere with this):

The color temperature of the white and gray field is approximately 7000 K, and the deviation from the spectrum of a black body (ΔE) is 5 units. The color balance is good. Black is just black at all angles. So black that the contrast setting is simply not applicable in this case. When viewed from a perpendicular view, the uniformity of the white field is excellent. The screen has excellent viewing angles with much less drop in brightness when viewed from an angle compared to LCD screens. In general, the quality of the Apple Watch screen is very high.

Smartphone connection

To get started with Apple Watch, you need to connect them to your smartphone. Naturally, this is the iPhone. IPads are not supported. As for the iPhone versions, the watch is compatible with all models on which iOS 8.3 can be installed. The Apple Watch app is already preinstalled in this OS version.

The clock connection is incredibly effective. After clicking on the "Start pairing" button on both devices, we will see a beautiful animation on the clock screen, reminiscent of either a galaxy or a milky way ... In general, something cosmic. And you will need to position the watch in the field of view of the rear camera of the iPhone so that the watch screen matches the marked area. Apparently, this animation contains some encrypted information, and after reading it, the smartphone establishes a connection.

I must say that we have repeatedly had problems with smartwatches from other manufacturers: either the watch was not detected by the smartphone, or it was detected but not connected ... In the case of the Apple Watch, everything worked out the first time and without any problems. This is one of the things Apple loves for.

After establishing the connection, we are offered to choose which hand we will wear the watch on, turn on geolocation services and enter our Apple ID.

Since the watch has not yet been officially presented in Russia, the Russian language is not supported on the watch. Consequently, Siri will also be disabled, which we are warned about.

Another curious moment is the ability to unlock together with the iPhone. This is really good, because entering the PIN code on the watch is very inconvenient: the numbers are too small.

The last step is to install programs on the watch and synchronize. You can automatically install all companion applications for those programs that are on your smartphone, or you can install only the basic set. We chose to install all applications, and the synchronization process (apparently, this means installing programs, and exchanging data, and setting up) took about five minutes.

So what will we see in the Apple Watch smartphone app after the process is complete? There are four sections: My Watch, View, Featured, and Search.

In the first section, we see the settings of the clock itself and all applications installed on it. This is similar to the Settings section of the iPhone.

The View section is just a collection of videos about different aspects of using Apple Watch and watch design. Collection is an app store for Apple Watch. The design of the store is almost completely identical to the smartphone-tablet App Store.

Well, and, accordingly, the last icon ("Search") allows you to start searching the store. To be honest, the rubrication turned out to be rather strange: all these things are of different orders and completely different in importance. But, on the other hand, there is no feeling that something is missing either.

Clock interface

Well, now let's move on to describing the Apple Watch interface. By default, the start screen is the watch face. Apple offers a number of pretty options, among which the butterfly screen is out of competition.

The butterfly flaps its wings surprisingly realistically, and if you touch the screen, it changes to another. We have not seen a more beautiful and effective watch face among other watch faces on the Apple Watch, or among the dials on other smartwatches. Everyone to whom I showed the watch looked at these butterflies for half a minute and was touched by them. And this is the whole Apple: the functional load is zero, but it pleases and delights.

You can also choose watch faces that display various useful information (date, weather, etc.).

If we swipe up from the bottom while on the splash screen, a number of widgets with information on various parameters will open: communication and vibration settings, remaining battery charge, heart rate (by going to the corresponding widget, we see the display of information about the past measurement, but immediately automatically a new dimension begins).

The following widgets are calendar events, music (iPhone player control), world clock, activity (it consists of three parameters: movement, exercise and standing; each of them corresponds to a line of one of the colors, gradually turning into a ring).

Two more widgets are stocks and the current location on the map. Accordingly, information about promotions is taken from the app of the same name in the iPhone (and we told you how to set it up to display, for example, currency rates), and Apple Maps are used to determine the location.

The odd thing is that scaling with the Digital Crown doesn't work here. That is, you need to go from the widget directly to the application in order to zoom in or out the map.

Finally, if we click on the Digital Crown, we will return from the widgets to the splash screen (watch face), and if again, we will get to the applications menu. We have already shown how it looks. But here are a couple more screenshots:

An ambiguous solution in terms of style, but, of course, very original and convenient in its own way (albeit in a tiny version, but you can take a look at all the installed applications; this is not found in either Tizen or Android Wear). As already mentioned, you can select an application either by clicking on its icon, or by zooming in with the Digital Crown so that the desired icon is right in the center.

One of the most interesting features of the Apple Watch interface is the Force Touch. We are already familiar with the idea from laptops, but in the case of watches it is implemented even more impressively. So, this technology allows the device to recognize two gradations of pressure. That is, an ordinary touch on the watch screen causes one reaction, and a strong press - another. When pressed deeply, a tactile response is felt, creating the illusion that the finger is really pushing the screen slightly. With the help of such a press, you can, for example, change the dial or move / delete applications in the application menu (the principle is the same as in iOS, and even the icons are shaking just as funny).

True, for us it remained not entirely clear how this fundamentally differs in result from a long press in iOS, but perhaps we simply did not find those applications where a long press and Force Touch would be handled differently. If Force Touch is really tied to the new functionality, rather than replacing the long press, then the convenience of controlling the watch will really reach a new level.

Functionality

So we've covered the basics of the clock interface. But what can a watch do, in addition to the above? Here, in fact, the answer will be very commonplace: apart from the Friends function, which we did not have the opportunity to test (we will definitely return to this in the future!), Then everything that we are used to seeing on smartwatches from other manufacturers remains.

There is a display of letters and messages with the ability to reply to letters and iMessage with text templates or voice (recognition even of the Russian language works great), control of the smartphone camera, music player, playback of presentations, an alarm clock (alas, it does not take into account sleep phases), physical activity tracking with using the Activity app and integrating the results with Health ... Well, nothing new. But many things are implemented much more conveniently than on other platforms.

Here's a simple example: Try displaying a specific picture (say, a photo) on your Android Wear or Tizen watch. In the first case, it will not work at all with regular means, in the second it will not be easy. In the case of Apple Watch, the operation is simple: you just need to open the desired photo in the "Photos" application on the iPhone, click on the heart (adding it to your favorites) - and it will automatically go to the watch. Or, let's say, emoticons that can be sent in response to a message. Why didn't they think of this in the same Android Wear (only a week ago, in the update, it became possible to draw emoticons)?

There are quite a few such examples. In general, it seems that the interface of the applications is really more thoughtful, and the integration with the smartphone and iCloud is deeper. But this does not negate the general conclusion regarding the capabilities of the Apple Watch: there has not been a revolution, Apple has not come up with some radical new format for using smart watches.

Autonomous work

Since we had a watch for a very short time, we were not able to fully test the duration of the automatic operation. However, we did make some observations. So, over the night (about 8 hours), the Apple Watch, which was just lying (but, however, connected to the iPhone), was discharged by about 20 percent. That's quite a lot. It turns out that in a day, a watch simply connected to a smartphone will lose about 60% of its charge. It is logical to assume that their active use will drain the battery even faster.

Absolutely, the clock can be discharged even faster than in a day - we also checked this. However, the average use is still calculated for about one daylight hours. And this time will shift up or down, depending on which applications and in what mode the user will use. We will still conduct more detailed testing of the battery life, but so far we can state that a miracle has not happened, and the Apple Watch does not surpass Android Wear devices in this parameter.

conclusions

The first acquaintance with the Apple Watch gave us mixed feelings: it is pleasure, and disappointment, and hope. Pleasure - from communicating with the product, its design, as well as various spectacular "chips" that Apple has come up with plenty of here. Scaling with a wheel, changing butterflies, a swarm of round application icons, deep pressing Force Touch - all this causes a child's delight, like a toy never seen before. But since we have grown up from childhood, you immediately begin to analyze the functional load of these things, and the Apple Watch in general, and you understand that, in fact, Apple has not offered anything new here.

The revolution of the iPhone and iPad was that these devices created completely new formats for consuming content and interacting with information. And it's not even about the hardware advantages of these products and various finds like multitouch, gesture paging, etc. Apple Watch demonstrates that Apple has not forgotten how to come up with such details without Jobs (although time will tell how the same Force Touch will take root in watches and laptops). But we did not see a new format of interaction with the device, fundamentally new opportunities for use in everyday life in the Apple Watch. Hence the disappointment.

But when you look at the already available watch apps in the App Store and see a wave of news about the development of new hours that Apple itself doesn't even know about? Let's remember how Angry Birds appeared on the iPhone and created a completely new type of games aimed specifically at the capacitive touch screen. In the case of the Apple Watch, developers have a lot of room to experiment, and in addition, guarantees that, if successful, their efforts will be appreciated not by a handful of geek-enthusiasts, but by millions of users. So far, no other smartwatch manufacturer can boast of this. Apple can. According to some reports, there are already more than two million Apple Watch owners, and their number will only grow. In general, it is not difficult to predict that the Apple Watch will be the next truly successful product of the Cupertino-based company. But whether they will go down in the history of technology as a beautiful, spectacular toy or as a device that will make a real revolution, like the iPhone and iPad before, only time will tell. Maybe Apple Watch.

Undoubtedly, Apple Watch fully deserves the Original Design awards - both for hardware and software, as well as new ways of controlling the watch (Digital Crown, Force Touch).

The next point is battery life. Apple did not deceive, the clock works on daylight hours. If you start at 8 a.m. and finish at 11 p.m., you can count on not having to charge them during the day. In this case, the watch cannot be used for sleep tracking and “smart alarm”, which postpones the response time depending on the sleep phase. Apple Watch needs to charge at night. Well, the very fact that you need to take one more wire on a trip and one more charger makes you perceive the watch as a rather bulky accessory.

Yes, the watch has Siri, which is not available in Russian. Available on iPhone and works. In hours - no. Don't you think this is strange?

Apple Pay still doesn't work in Russia. And users in other countries "suddenly" had to face the fact that to put the clock on the sensor, you need to twist your hand uncomfortably. That is, a smartphone as a universal means of paying for purchases still looks preferable.

Without an iPhone, the watch has too few options. But this is understandable. In the current state of affairs, adding a GPS module would hit the Apple Watch's biggest bottleneck - battery life. Whatever one may say, for a smartwatch you need at least two days of work.

conclusions

In general, buying an Apple Watch is a very controversial event. The current functionality of the watches is too modest, they do not make life more convenient and do not change it for the better. At least for now.

On the other hand, the device has a huge potential, which the developers are already trying to reveal. During the time that I was testing Apple Watch, several applications were updated at once and were able to work with the watch. Even game publishers are starting to leverage the power of the watch. But even in this case, we are talking about banal notifications. Beautiful and stylish notification center on your wrist. For $ 700. For 77 thousand rubles.

I carefully studied the reviews of the first buyers. People really do not know what they need a watch for, but they gladly come up with arguments in defense. To the extent that the watch extends the battery life of the iPhone. It sounds a bit ridiculous, but if you think about it, it all depends on the format of use and the number of notifications. Received the notification, looked at the wrist and decided that the pizza delivery mailing was not worth pulling your phone out of your pocket. It is logical. But if you are rational about working with notifications, then the effect will be the opposite - always-on Bluetooth-module will only reduce the battery life of the iPhone.