I’m giving up on my Apple Watch (first generation) and trading it in for a Fitbit Alta HR, arriving next week. I bought the Apple Watch shortly after the 2nd generation was announced because my local Best Buy had it on sale for less than $200. While Apple has packed a significant amount of functionally into the design of the Apple Watch, for me it only served a couple of purposes:
- Telling time (obviously)
- Notifications (iMessage)
Occasionally I would use the call-answer feature when receiving a call and my iPhone was in my pocket. But since most of my communication today is done with text-messaging, the call-answering functionally is just a novelty.
The main problem I have with the Apple Watch is that I rarely remember to wear it. Because I have to take it off every night to charge it (on my nightstand,) I have to make a conscious effort to put it on in the morning. Six days out of seven I forget to put the watch on. Having to charge the Watch, take it off, and put it on, on a daily basis creates too much friction and hassle for the minimal benefits I receive from wearing it.
The Fitbit Alta HR has a 7 day battery life. That’s fantastic! Sure, it won’t have Apple Watch’s neat watch faces, and I won’t be able to reply to messages directly on the watch anymore, but that experience is sub-par and most of the time I just wind up pulling out my iPhone anyway. The Alta HR offers call, text and calendar event notifications – which is all I’m looking for.
Just like mobile phones have eliminated the need for most point & shoot cameras because “the best camera is the one that’s with you,” the Alta HR is the best watch for me because there’s 99% greater chance of me having it on my wrist on any given day compared to the Apple Watch. Hopefully Apple figures out how to create a watch that can last at least 5 days.