The Apple Watch has been described as extraordinary, innovative, exciting, and a dream come true. These are just some of the many reactions to the newly released Apple Watch. Many critics love the apple watch. Nilay Patel, the editor of The Verge said, “There’s no getting around it, no way to talk about all of its interface ideas and obvious potential and hints of genius.” The Apple Watch is going to be something of extraordinary capabilities; however, it still has many flaws. Some question the need for such a product, such as Blaise Glowiak ’16 said, “I think it’s unnecessary. Why would someone need it when they have a phone.”

So far the major flaws people have identified are: buffering time, wifi connection, the use of bluetooth, and battery life. Many of these flaws can be attributed to the rushed development phase for the watch. During development, Apple was under enormous pressure to release the watch, due to the competition from Samsung and other electronic companies. Despite all of their efforts the Apple Watch came out months after its Samsung and LG counterparts. This was a disaster for a company that recently saw its IPhone drop down to the second most purchased phone in the world. Over the internet tech companies also expressed their concern. Scott Stein, a senior editor and tech expert wrote, “In some ways, the Apple Watch feels like a much more thought-out iPhone-exclusive version of the Gear watches, with far better software but a higher price and worse battery life.” This concern was echoed by many apple users who already have trouble with the battery life on their phones.

The Apple Watch has many upsides as well. Many customers are happy about new features it offers. Pen Trainer ’18 said, “You can change the watch face and you can sync it to your phone.” This feature is exclusive to the Apple Watch as it is the only smart watch that is fully compatible with other Apple products. The software on the Apple Watch is also extremely advanced compared to all other smart watches. Many, like Joshua Topolsky a technology journalist from The Verge, say the watch is “An epic product release” because it is “the company’s first new product category” since the iPad. It also marks the tech giant’s first new product since the death of Steve Jobs. Topolsky found the elegant, Jony Ive-designed, product to be beautiful, but “not life-changing.” He wrote that he believes Apple will sell millions of watches, and that “many people will love and obsess over them.” Nilay Patel also offered some food for thought “So far I’ve mostly used the watch either alone or in an office environment, but it’s really different to have a smartwatch in a bar.” In our Friend’s community, students like Jack Prendergast ‘16 strongly support the Apple Watch. He said “I think the apple watch is a great device with a lot of cool features. While apple didn’t invent this new type of watch, the company has crafted a great device”.

Many companies have jumped on the smartwatch bandwagon. Samsung has two smart watches and a third may be revealed this year. LG also is on their second edition of the LG G Watch. Both of these devices run on Google’s cutting edge Android operating system and yet none of those watches have gained the same hype, media attention, and scrutiny as the Apple Watch. This means that the Apple Watch has very big shoes to fill and any consumer thinking about purchasing a wearable device should inform themselves, and test out the products before making a decision.