I have a problem

If you want to wear the Apple Watch, do it. You don't have to wear a mechanical or "nicer" watch if it doesn't offer functionality that you want. Or just wear it on your opposite wrist. Whatever actually works best for you.

You can get a lot of different straps for it to dress it up. Plastic looks so cheap.... wait the whole thing is plastic.

When I first got my Garmin forerunner for the gym I wore 2 watches one on each wrist,felt a bit weird,but after a while the Garmin got relegated to the shelf till gym time mainly because, I like most people are attached to their mobile (cell phone if your across the pond ) so just used that plus the fact I need glasses to read the texts and emails on the Garmin as the writing is so small,I guess you can't beat old technology

Wearing a smartwatch is not really a problem until it convince you that it's a necessity. I was on the smartwatch bandwagon even before the word was invented and for many years I enjoyed being able to interact directly with my wrist instead of digging the phone out of my pocket.

I don't wear a smartwatch anymore become it slowly became a shackle that convinced me I could no longer manage my life without it. Getting an important reminder or message instantly is one thing. Being buzzed constantly with notifications that intrudes upon my private life and free time is something else altogether.

I kept the smartwatch for some time for training until I realized that counting steps, monitoring activities or counting calories is perhaps the most stupid strategy there is for keeping fit and healthy.

I do miss the ability to change watch faces or just checking a map and location, but this is not worth the hassle of tech overload for me.

I'm there with you brother. I've been a Apple watch denier for years. But I'm training for a marathon and picked one up on black Friday this past November for $250.

I've turned off most of the alerts/notifications and use it mostly for tracking my resting heart rate, heart rate during activities, running pace, and VO2 Max.

I can't deny it anymore, it's very interesting. My resting heart rate has gone down quite a bit since starting my training, my VO2 max is improving, and checking my pace is doing wonders for my running improvement.

I'm doing a overseas trip in May, and I'm really considering taking the Apple Watch instead of my usual mechanicals. Knowing when my heart rate deviates and knowing when to calm/slow down on a trip would be really useful to being present and prepared.

I picked up some adapter/lugs on Amazon, and paired a Horween leather strap with it. And I've tried double fisting but I looked and felt like a moron. I kinda wish they made one that was a little more discreet.

Anyways, I'm not going to drop the mechanical. For date nights, special events, ceremonies, few meetings, I'd still elect for the old fashioned. But for day to day, I've been reaching for the Apple watch more and more.

I personally won't wear an Apple watch as I don't want to be that accessible to anyone and I certainly don't want to provide Apple all of my vitals, location details, habits, movements, etc. So I may miss out on a few unnecessary conveniences, but I feel I'm the better for it.

However, my watch buddies who wear an Apple watch basically Schwarzkopf all the time with the Apple watch on their dominant wrist and a mechanical watch on their non-dominant wrist.

Actually, just the strap, and it's silicon, and the most comfortable strap I own :). The watch is anodized aluminium, and sapphire.

Yea, I think that's what will happen... I will wear this more and more, and then the mechanical will be for special events, or if I am entering the ocean.

My opinion, is you have 5 primary companies that try and know everything about you. Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon, and Facebook.

The only one I don't mind giving my data to is Apple. Apple makes almost all it's money selling products, and in order to keep the customer happy (me), it needs to protect the customer's data.

For the other 4 above, I am the product, and the way they keep their customers happy (advertisers), is to expose as much information about the product as they can.

So, no chrome, google search, Facebook, Alexa, or any of that stuff. The only thing I can't live without is Youtube. Oh well.

Not sure I would trust Apple that implicitly...they are not the company you think they are...

I have owned 3 smartwatches, and 4-5 smart bands. All of them came and went pretty quickly, as I agree with everything you said.

However, the Apple watch is a whole different animal. I can walkie-talkie my wife anytime I want with a push of a button. Great if she is at the store looking for something, and has a quick question.

I used to have my phone out for GPS when I would drive, but now it just sits in my pocket, and the directions show up on the watch. It's 1000 times better to not have some stupid voice tell you 10 times that you need to turn (screwing up whatever song you are listening to) but to just have your watch buzz, with a quick glance.

While Siri sucks compared to other assistants, it's nice to be able to hold my watch up to my mouth, and just ask a question. "what time is it in Albuquerque", "When is the next F1 race", and the one that gets used every day "set a timer for...."

As for being annoyed by alerts, the Apple watch has focus modes. You can have a work one, a not-work one, and an "I am watching F1, so everyone can F off" one. I use them a lot, and they completely change how the watch notifies you.

Those are the highlights for me. It also does dozens of other things I appreciate, to the point that I don't want to remove it. For example, in the photo, you can see it was 84 degrees, with a high of 87, and a low of 74. It wakes me up in the morning by vibrating on my wrist and doesn't wake my wife up.

on the watch side, it's pretty awesome as well. I live in Thailand and work out of Wellington. So that's the second time zone on my watch. The other cool thing is the night/day bezel knows when the sun comes up, and when it sets. so as you can see, it's not 50% yellow, and 50% gray. It knows sunset is around 8 PM and sunrise is at 7 AM in Wellington, so set the bezel accordingly.

I talk it off to shower or get in the pool, and in the time I am showing, it fully charges, so I don't even need to worry about that.

I bought it just because I wanted a workout band that was super accurate, and it has turned into so much more than that. Kind of shocked at how much it has improved my life. Not as much as no smartphone to smartphone... but a hell of a lot more than I thought a smartwatch could do.

I don't trust banks or governments... but one has all my money, and the other one is allowed to kill me if they think I deserve it. It's all pros and cons.

I tried Schwarzkopfing for a while, but found myself less and less interested in wearing the Apple Watch. Now I only wear it when I’m exercising or when I know I’ll need the nav function.

If your needs are such that you need your Apple watch outside then wear it. It's a matter of personal preference and there is no wrong or right.

I have an Apple Watch that I don't wear any more, I found myself tied to notifications etc. As others have said, wear what you want, it's your wrist, put whatever you want on it and if anyone has an issue with it just know that they are the AH! 😛

Peh, I wear my Ultra all the time, I have forty watches saying he is wrong .

Thats what I do.

Love mine, it gets my right wrist a classic gets my left. (Yes its on my left in this pic)

Wow, that was INCREDIBLY ignorant. He does not know dick about smart watches.

he is wrong about a lot of things... just don't tell him that. I bought a watch from him... I think I bought the first watch from him. Good service, nice back and forth, and a good watch.

We chatted a bit online, and then when he made a comment about something I disagreed with, I just posted my opinion (usually a community is about opinions back and forth, just like the dozen or so in this thread)

However he went off on me, and I think he blocked me, because none of my posts on his videos ever got any likes, or replies from anyone after that. Oh well. Lot's of great watch content on YouTube to go watch :)

Double up buddy

He is certainly very opinionated, but that seems to be his "brand." I find it humorous.

I started wearing an Apple Watch as my full time watch, instead of a conventional watch, about 4 years ago. At first, I loved the idea of so much technology and capability on my wrist. So many apps and features to explore and configure and constantly change. However, in the past year, two things really started to bug me about the Apple watch. First, my eyes reached a point where I need reading glasses to do anything other than read the time. Second, I grew tired of getting all of my alerts on the watch, when I really wanted to read them on my phone - which is almost always with me. This isn't to say I don't like the Apple watch. I do. But, about this time last year, I stopped wearing my Apple Watch to any social occasions and also when driving. I find that I'm much more relaxed and engaged in social situations. And, when driving, I'm not trying to figure out what my watch is making noise about. I now wear my Apple Watch when working for it's integration with the mac computers I use, and when I'm exercising. Otherwise, I wear one of my conventional watches. For me, it's not an either/or situation. I have decided there is a time and a place for each type of watch, and I'm much happier now. Interestingly, getting back into wearing conventional watches again is what got me interested in watch collecting...

The Cheap ones are aluminum, the nice ones like mine are titanium an sapphire, But don't let ignorance stop you. There has NEVER been a plastic back. The very first one had a plastic sensor cover on the back.

This happened to me too. I loved watches my whole life so when the Apple watch came out I jumped at it. I been wearing one ever since. Recently I’ve notice how many kids wear them and how they started looking like toys to me. They also have me looking at my wrist way more than I want to. So the fog has been lifted. I’m done with that and back to my watch collecting.

Scouts honor that I will not call you a Phillistine for wearing it. The moment they perfect technology to monitor blood glucose levels and can catch ALL cardiac arrhythmias, I might have to consider it. I used to wear them. I loved the Pebble Watch for its week long battery and its vibration alarm to wake by.

One great thing about the Apple Watch is that it has gotten people used to wearing something on the wrist again.

It's pretty damn good right now, outside of glucose (however that is coming). And unless you wear 12 watches, in very specific locations, you will never be able to catch ALL.

From Apple:

How the ECG app works

The ECG app on Apple Watch Series 4, Series 5, Series 6, Series 7, Series 8, or Ultra generates an ECG that is similar to a single-lead (or Lead I) ECG. In a doctor’s office, a standard 12-lead ECG is usually taken. This 12-lead ECG records electrical signals from different angles in the heart to produce twelve different waveforms. The ECG app on Apple Watch measures a waveform similar to one of those twelve waveforms. A single-lead ECG is able to provide information about heart rate and heart rhythm and enables classification of AFib. However, a single-lead ECG cannot be used to identify some other conditions, like heart attacks. Single-lead ECGs are often prescribed by doctors for people to wear at home or within the hospital so that the doctor can get a better look at the underlying rate and rhythm of the heart. However, the ECG app on Apple Watch Series 4, Series 5, Series 6, or Series 7 allows you to generate an ECG similar to a single-lead ECG without a prescription from your doctor.

In studies comparing the ECG app on Apple Watch to a standard 12-lead ECG taken at the same time, there was agreement between the ECG app classification of the rhythm as sinus or AFib compared to the standard 12-lead ECG.

The ability of the ECG app to accurately classify an ECG recording into AFib and sinus rhythm was tested in a clinical trial of approximately 600 subjects, and demonstrated 99.6% specificity with respect to sinus rhythm classification and 98.3% sensitivity for AFib classification for the classifiable results.

The clinical validation results reflect use in a controlled environment. Real world use of the ECG app may result in a greater number of strips being deemed inconclusive and not classifiable.

Source: Take an ECG with the ECG app on Apple Watch - Apple Support

The EKG is pretty accurate. Similar to a long lead II or rhythm strip. My kid had Covid pretty bad during Christmas. His heart rate was staying at 140. I had him wear my wife's apple watch to bed. I could read his EKG and talk to his pediatrician about what I was seeing. Plots it on a standard graph like traditional EKG so you can calculate rate, but also measure the distance between beats and check for any signs of depression or elevation. Pretty impressive stuff

Wear the watch you like. It’ll probably change over time.

I wear a smaller fitbit on my right wrist.