Wearable Tech Fashion | A Woman's Review of the Apple Watch

By Rachael Yeung @RachaelYeung21

Wearable Tech Assistant at Made With Glove and Women of Wearables, Rachael Yeung, was given a Christmas gift with a fashion and tech twist, the Apple Watch.

Here’s her review a few months on…

I was quite hesitant on purchasing the Apple Watch because the lowest price point is £259 going all the way up to £13,500! But as a wearable tech enthusiast coupled with the new pretty colours for women and after using it for 4 months, I now think I would have saved up to buy one!

Most people know of the Apple Watch as a glorified time piece or a fitness tracker. It took a while for me to get used to it but once I did, I realised there are many other uses to the watch.

The set up is an easy step by step process that syncs the watch to your Iphone. From there, it syncs the data and applications between the devices. I have been using mine for almost 4 months now and these are my favourite applications.

It pings your phone

I love the feature where you can ‘ping’ your iPhone from your watch when you lose your iPhone, which is very often for me!  And, the best bit is it still works when your iPhone is on silent.  So no more asking your friends or family to call your iPhone when you lose it!

Calendar

Another feature that I love is the ability to see all of my calendar events, time and date at a glance. I only need to tilt the watch for the screen to illuminate. The only downside is it sometimes has calibration issues where the screen will flicker on and off and eats away at the battery.

Wireless battery charge

The battery life is great to use on short days, but I have to switch to the power saving mode when it hits 10%. In low battery mode all functions are ceased and it can only be used to check the time.

The charging station itself is a great piece of tech because it has wireless charging pads by inductive charging. So the charging station only needs to be plugged into the wall and you simply place the watch on top of the magnet to charge. So no more struggling to plug your device in!

Fitness tracker

The final feature I love is the fitness tracker. I don’t think it is as accurate as having a full biometric reading, but it does encourage me to get up and get moving with the occasional reminder to ‘stand up!’. I have the option to turn the notifications off and use the work out application to track how many calories I have burnt.

I would like to use the watch more for directions and getting about on foot because the watch vibrates to tell me when to take a turn! Only some apps are optimised and they do run a lot slower than if you were to use it on your phone, but it’s great when I just need to see a quick notification!

Overall, I think the Apple Watch is a great luxury item to have for notifications of all kinds. It helps remind me of my plans and when I need to stand up and get active! Working in the office, it’s easy to sit for long periods of time.

It’s great if you can splurge and have a fitness tracker that also notifies you of any text messages. From this device I can see wearables making a great impact on the medical industry, making it easier for long term patients to be more comfortable whilst being monitored.

All in all, I love my Apple watch! And even though it’s techie, it’s so pretty that it goes with all my fashionable outfits!

Check out more fitness trackers and wearable tech on my blog about the London Wearable Tech Show 2016 here.

New update from the Apple #WWDC 14 June 2016

At the 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference on 14th June in San Francisco, California,  Apple announced improvements to the Apple watch at the Keynote. It includes an updated operating system to speed up processing and a feature to unlock your MacBook when you come within proximity to it! Apple have also announced a better user experience with a new fitness app Breathe, rejigged the control centre launch buttons and even adding Scribble to make typing on your watch a lot easier. They have also included new watch faces, including a Minnie Mouse version and an emergency touch feature that calls your local emergency number as well as pinging your selected contacts. I can’t wait to check them out!

This blog was originally posted on Made With Glove written by Rachael Yeung, Wearable Tech Assistant at Made With Glove and Women of Wearables. Follow Rachael on Twitter @RachaelYeung21.