Apple Watch reviews are in: Best smart watch, but smart watches are unnecessary.

[Eug]

I suppose we'll see what happens in the fall with OS 2

 

[mmntech]

Apple Watch sales plunge 90%

Sales of the new Apple Watch have plunged by 90% since the opening week, according to a new market-research report.

That's not surprising. I think smartwatches in general are still largely a niche product. Everyone who wanted the Apple Watch bought it at launch, and sales trailed off after that. It's also quite expensive for what it does. $350 is a lot to ask for what's essentially a peripheral for your phone.

I am curious to know how people who bought it are finding it. Would you buy one again?

 

[vi edit]

Said it before, will say it again but that *ENORMOUS* delay in announcement and actual availability gave a lot of people time to sit back and reflect on if a $350+ device was going to really be worth the purchase.

If you calculate out an average daily sale of 15,000 (which I find dubious) that's around 5.5 million sales for the year. At 200+ million iPhones that it could work with, that's around 2.5% adoption rate. I don't really know how to interpret that. My own out-of-my-ass analysis is that I would have considered 20 million sales a success. 5 million would have been a bust. It's bordering on bust territory.

 

[saratoga172]

Regardless of pure numbers it'll come down to profit and revisions. OS 2 is going to do a lot of things I wanted the product to have before I myself considered purchasing one. I know some people personally that are in the same boat and won't even consider it until the second edition comes out.

When you look at the numbers it's hard for me to realistically say it has been a bust/failure. Especially considering they'll probably eclipse that 5mil mark this year. There is still a huge market for potential with 200mil+ iphones in the wild. Of those I would only consider around half as legitimate considerators of the product. People with a 5c, 4 or 4s are not likely to truly consider it. In mass at least. If they were polled I think a large number of Apple Watch adopters would have iPhone 5s, 6 or 6+'s.

It's a first gen product and I know it's supposed to be the next big cash cow for Apple but 5mil adopters is a large amount of people for first gen anything. As long as it's extremely profitable they'll keep working on it and it'll start taking off.

 

[Eug]

That company's claim is 3 million units sold online in the first 3 months in the U.S.

So I'm guessing worldwide total sales is well north of 5 million already. That's actually a bit better than I was expecting.

http://www.macrumors.com/2015/07/13/apple-watch-sales-estimated-3m-3-months/

 

[Artdeco]

I think 10 million this year is what they'll sell, that handily curb stomps everything else, combined.

Christmas season sales will push it over the top.

 

[desura]

If Steve Jobs were still alive, I don't think he would have launched the apple watch like it is. Having thousand dollar versions of it is just greedy, as well. Apple always made stuff that while expensive was a good situated value.

So a Steve Jobs I watch I image would sit like the iPhone 4 sat. It would have a round screen like the Moto 360, but would be slimmer/smaller, waterproof, with a 3 day battery life, and a full 360 screen.

 

[allisolm]

The first third-party national retailer for the watch will be Best Buy, beginning Aug 7, 2015.

http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/apple/best-buy-sell-apple-watch-starting-august-7-n398991

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/07/26/draft-apple-watch-to-start-selling-at-best-buy/

 

[Oyeve]

The first third-party national retailer for the watch will be Best Buy, beginning Aug 7, 2015.

http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/apple/best-buy-sell-apple-watch-starting-august-7-n398991

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/07/26/draft-apple-watch-to-start-selling-at-best-buy/

What do they hope to gain by this? Best-buy is the walmart of electronics, IE, ghetto.

 

[Eug]

I actually don't mind Best Buy. Not my preferred source for Apple products but as an electronics store, nowhere as ghetto as Wal-Mart. The Wal-Mart of electronics is Wal-Mart.

 

[CZroe]

What do they hope to gain by this? Best-buy is the walmart of electronics, IE, ghetto.

Exposure.


I have to pass something close to 20 Best Buy stores to get to an Apple Store.

 

[mmntech]

If Steve Jobs were still alive, I don't think he would have launched the apple watch like it is. Having thousand dollar versions of it is just greedy, as well. Apple always made stuff that while expensive was a good situated value.

So a Steve Jobs I watch I image would sit like the iPhone 4 sat. It would have a round screen like the Moto 360, but would be slimmer/smaller, waterproof, with a 3 day battery life, and a full 360 screen.

It's impossible to guess how Steve Jobs would have reacted to it. Jon Ives is still their lead designer. I don't know how much leeway Jobs gave him when designing past products. I get the sense that Tim Cook is very much a hands off CEO on the hardware end. That he doesn't know the products inside out like Jobs did. That's reflected in their current line up. They seem to be playing catch up rather than leading the market.

I did finally get to play around with the Watch at the Apple Store a couple weeks back. My impressions now are the same as when it first came out. Too chunky and too expensive. I'm clearly not the target market for these things.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I actually don't mind Best Buy. Not my preferred source for Apple products but as an electronics store, nowhere as ghetto as Wal-Mart. The Wal-Mart of electronics is Wal-Mart.

Exactly. Last time I checked, you couldn't buy Bowers & Wilkins at Wal-Mart.

 

[smackababy]

It's impossible to guess how Steve Jobs would have reacted to it. Jon Ives is still their lead designer. I don't know how much leeway Jobs gave him when designing past products. I get the sense that Tim Cook is very much a hands off CEO on the hardware end. That he doesn't know the products inside out like Jobs did. That's reflected in their current line up. They seem to be playing catch up rather than leading the market.

I did finally get to play around with the Watch at the Apple Store a couple weeks back. My impressions now are the same as when it first came out. Too chunky and too expensive. I'm clearly not the target market for these things.

After the first iPhone, I wouldn't say Apple was leading anything except sales. Hardware, features, and UI they were always "behind", but their product experience was incredible.

I think the issue with the Apple Watch is that their experience doesn't outweigh the flaws of hardware. I don't mind the square face, as a round face would give up effective real estate for interactive elements.

I think Jobs was incredibly anal (which was a good thing) when it came to the experience and working with the hardware and design. It also doesn't help there is a lot more good competition for their products (rMBP excluded, unfortunately).

 

[Oyeve]

Exactly. Last time I checked, you couldn't buy Bowers & Wilkins at Wal-Mart.

Why would they sell way overpriced/overhyped 400+ headphones? Its bad enough they sell beats. WM is not for people with disposable cash.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Why would they sell way overpriced/overhyped 400+ headphones? Its bad enough they sell beats. WM is not for people with disposable cash.

I was talking about speakers. I guess I could have used McIntosh as an example instead - Best Buy also sells their amps, whereas I don't recall seeing them (or any high-end tube amps, for that matter) at Wal-Mart . . .

 

[stlc8tr]

Why would they sell way overpriced/overhyped 400+ headphones? Its bad enough they sell beats. WM is not for people with disposable cash.

B&W >>>>>>> Beats

B&W is one of the most respected audio companies around. Just check out any of the reviews from various audio rags.

 

[Eug]

Honestly, I think B&W are overpriced for what you get. They look good but generally are priced as high end luxury items, although I guess the quality is never poor. It's usually decent, but I'd rather buy different brands that are better values. I personally think B&W usually has superior aesthetics though, so if you're fine paying for that, then great. Mind you, for a few of their products, the looks trump the usability so buyer beware.

I wouldn't buy Beats either but the last batch actually get reasonable reviews. The initial stuff was rated to be utter garbage though, so I guess they've smartened up.

 

[stlc8tr]

Yeah, they are definitely overpriced but they are also well-reviewed, unlike the garbage from Bose, Beats, or B&O.

The build quality is also amazing. The Nautilus is a piece of art!

http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/Speakers/Home_Audio/Nautilus

 

[smackababy]

I wouldn't buy Beats either but the last batch actually get reasonable reviews. The initial stuff was rated to be utter garbage though, so I guess they've smartened up.

It is funny people say that. I have a pair of the original noise canceling Beats that I won in a raffle. I've had them for years and the only issue was the cord getting pulled a bit, but I have a habit of dropping my phone with it in, so I'm sure that contributed. The sound quality is good. It is so good, I can't even listen to music on my gaming headset anymore. It sounds terrible.


With that said, the latest offering is supposed to be pretty good. Their wireless noise canceling ones are one of the best reviewed (of the few that are available).

 

[CZroe]

It is funny people say that. I have a pair of the original noise canceling Beats that I won in a raffle. I've had them for years and the only issue was the cord getting pulled a bit, but I have a habit of dropping my phone with it in, so I'm sure that contributed. The sound quality is good. It is so good, I can't even listen to music on my gaming headset anymore. It sounds terrible.


With that said, the latest offering is supposed to be pretty good. Their wireless noise canceling ones are one of the best reviewed (of the few that are available).

Enjoying that "Beats audio technology" (AKA, Dr. Dre's personal equalizer preference applied to all of your music whether you want it or not)? They basically just turn up the bass a bit, which you could do yourself, not to mention, the music producer. Now you'll never be able to hear the music as intended. If that's really the way Dre prefers it then he's going to set it that way when mastering and your Beats headphones are going to exaggerate the effect further, so I hope you like bass EVEN more than Dre.

The whole point it to reproduce the sounds accurately. They deliberately manipulate the sound to make it less accurate, so they completely fail at their job. If you want more bass then it's your job to turn it up in the equalizer and then the headphone's job to reproduce your preference. It not even possible to pretend that something that deliberately fails at its job of preserving quality is OK at its job or "good," as you say (funny you say that). Beats don't even try.

 

[Eug]

It is funny people say that. I have a pair of the original noise canceling Beats that I won in a raffle. I've had them for years and the only issue was the cord getting pulled a bit, but I have a habit of dropping my phone with it in, so I'm sure that contributed. The sound quality is good. It is so good, I can't even listen to music on my gaming headset anymore. It sounds terrible.


With that said, the latest offering is supposed to be pretty good. Their wireless noise canceling ones are one of the best reviewed (of the few that are available).

Dunno about the wireless ones. I was mainly talking about the free wired one that Apple is now offering as part of their back-to-school promotion package.

Enjoying that "Beats audio technology" (AKA, Dr. Dre's personal equalizer preference applied to all of your music whether you want it or not)? They basically just turn up the bass a bit, which you could do yourself, not to mention, the music producer. Now you'll never be able to hear the music as intended. If that's really the way Dre prefers it then he's going to set it that way when mastering and your Beats headphones are going to exaggerate the effect further, so I hope you like bass EVEN more than Dre.

The whole point it to reproduce the sounds accurately. They deliberately manipulate the sound to make it less accurate, so they completely fail at their job. If you want more bass then it's your job to turn it up in the equalizer and then the headphone's job to reproduce your preference. It not even possible to pretend that something that deliberately fails at its job of preserving quality is OK at its job or "good," as you say (funny you say that). Beats don't even try.

Well, apparently the Solo 2 is much better than the Solo 1. The Solo 2 is getting reasonable reviews, even if it isn't the best value in its class. In contrast, reviews of the Solo 1 consistently called it horrible.

BTW, I have a set of low end Sonys that went the same route, by augmenting the bass artificially. I dislike them. They augment the bass in a low end set making bad bass quality just louder. However, they're lower end that I got on closeout for $20. I think the original price was something like $80, but for $20 I can forgive them. The Beats here are $220 CAD, so at that price that kind of stuff I can't forgive, and neither can the reviewers. However, like I said, the reviewers are saying the Solo 2 is light-years better than the Solo 1 in terms of quality.

BTW, I just leave those crappy Sonys at a secondary workplace in the desk there. They get used about twice a month. At home I use Sennheiser HD598 (wired) or else RS180 (wireless). The HD598 I got for CAD$150, and the RS180 for about CAD$230.

Those are open designs though, so they don't compete directly against the Beats.

 

[smackababy]

Enjoying that "Beats audio technology" (AKA, Dr. Dre's personal equalizer preference applied to all of your music whether you want it or not)? They basically just turn up the bass a bit, which you could do yourself, not to mention, the music producer. Now you'll never be able to hear the music as intended. If that's really the way Dre prefers it then he's going to set it that way when mastering and your Beats headphones are going to exaggerate the effect further, so I hope you like bass EVEN more than Dre.

The whole point it to reproduce the sounds accurately. They deliberately manipulate the sound to make it less accurate, so they completely fail at their job. If you want more bass then it's your job to turn it up in the equalizer and then the headphone's job to reproduce your preference. It not even possible to pretend that something that deliberately fails at its job of preserving quality is OK at its job or "good," as you say (funny you say that). Beats don't even try.

I enjoy it just fine. It sounds much better. But, then again, I'm not the kind of idiot that spends $10k on cables to pretend it is enhancing my audio experience from Spotify... I hear the music exactly how I intend to listen to it.

 

[TheStu]

I enjoy it just fine. It sounds much better. But, then again, I'm not the kind of idiot that spends $10k on cables to pretend it is enhancing my audio experience from Spotify... I hear the music exactly how I intend to listen to it.

Shows what you know, the $10k cables properly align and massage the electrons to put them in a lower stress state. It expands your sound stage, and re-focuses the aural auras and alleviates audio allergens.

 

[rugby]

What do they hope to gain by this? Best-buy is the walmart of electronics, IE, ghetto.

Best Buys have Apple stores inside them and will extend the reach of the products immensely, Lots of people still go to Best Buy stores. I could see them only selling the Sport model line there to keep things simple.