Tag: apple watch 2

Tools & Toys AW2 review

Typically thorough review of Apple Watch 2, hardware and software, with Tools & Toys’ patented non-macro, shallow depth of field normal-lens photography.

The stainless steel Apple Watch is dense. Wonderfully dense. When you fasten the Watch to your wrist, you know it’s there. When you pull up your sleeve, others know it’s there.

I wondered if the Watch’s thickness would be a deal-breaker, but instead it has served to properly balance the Watch on my wrist. Sometimes I forgot the aluminum Watch was on my wrist. I never forget the stainless steel Watch is on my wrist.

The kicker is that after 5,000 words of gushing bout the watch, Josh Gitner comes out to say that he’s returned both the aluminum and the steel models and is going without because … if he kept his Apple Watch he’d feel obligated to upgrade it, or something. For the record I am extremely happy with a 2010 MacBook Pro, an iPhone 5s, and a 1st-gen space gray aluminum Apple Watch.

 

Reactions to Apple Watch Nike+

screen-shot-2016-11-01-at-5-58-46-pmReactions to the Apple Watch Nike+ version have been overwhelmingly positive as far as I can see. Here’s one review on Medium:

The accuracy is absolutely perfect, precise even. I’ve ran two 5K routes where I know exactly the half way point, and Nike+ was bang on. When I got back, it was instantly on my iPhone NRC App, with full route from first step to last. No gaps, nothing.

And one from TechCrunch:

What’s perhaps most interesting about Apple Watch Nike+ is that, at its heart, it’s just a regular, old Apple Watch. Those bright, perforated bands are removable by pressing a button on the back of the watch and sliding them out, sideways (not to mention the fact that there are more muted options than the yellow version I got). And if you buy the standard version of the Watch, you can always download and install the Nike app – though you’ll be missing the company’s custom faces with integrated Nike swoosh and some shortcuts.

Not real relevant for me since I always run with both my watch and my iPhone (until someone comes up with a plausible standalone podcast player for the watch). I’ve had big problems getting the watch and iPhone versions of various apps to talk to each other, which finally prompted me to switch from Runkeeper to RunTastic.

(I’d tried the Nike+ app, and at the time it only showed one piece of data on the screen at once, which was a deal breaker. The new version seems to fix that, tho it’d be hard to beat RunTastic’s customizable watch display.)

I personally think the black Nike+ band that is shown in all the product shots looks pretty good. Not sure how well the faces would work out, but it seems not an unreasonable idea to buy the Nike+ edition just to have the option–it can basically become a regular Sports watch anytime, and it’s the same price.