Linus and his Apple Watch

[RhysMusique]

So I've noticed that Linus and a lot of other Youtubers seem to use the Apple Watch as their main smartwatch.

 

I had the original Apple Watch back when I had my iPhone 6S, and absolutely loved it. I got a Samsung Galaxy S8 after that, and loved the phone and Android experience. I now have a Samsung Note 10+, in my opinion the best looking phone of its generation, and I love it and don't want to change.

 

I pair it with the Fossil Q (WearOS) smartwatch, and whilst I like it enough to use it, I don't love it as I did the Apple Watch, the Apple Watch is definitely the biggest thing that I miss about having an Apple phone. 

 

My question is: Just how limited is Apple Watch functionality if you're not paired with an iPhone, and why do Linus/other tech reviewers use Apple Watch when they daily drive Android phones?

 

I'm almost tempted to go iPhone 12 Pro Max at this point, but I know I'll regret getting rid of the Note 10+.

 

Cheers

Rhys

[Radioactive Snowman]

Linus uses two phones i believe, the latest iPhone and whatever android phone he likes most at that time.

 

I'd heavily recommend the 12 pro max though, I used a TON of flagships over the last few years and the only phone I didnt want to get rid of was my 11 pro max. It's so good I'm even skipping the upgrade this year which is unheard of for me

[Commodus]

14 hours ago, RhysMusique said:

So I've noticed that Linus and a lot of other Youtubers seem to use the Apple Watch as their main smartwatch.

 

I had the original Apple Watch back when I had my iPhone 6S, and absolutely loved it. I got a Samsung Galaxy S8 after that, and loved the phone and Android experience. I now have a Samsung Note 10+, in my opinion the best looking phone of its generation, and I love it and don't want to change.

 

I pair it with the Fossil Q (WearOS) smartwatch, and whilst I like it enough to use it, I don't love it as I did the Apple Watch, the Apple Watch is definitely the biggest thing that I miss about having an Apple phone. 

 

My question is: Just how limited is Apple Watch functionality if you're not paired with an iPhone, and why do Linus/other tech reviewers use Apple Watch when they daily drive Android phones?

 

I'm almost tempted to go iPhone 12 Pro Max at this point, but I know I'll regret getting rid of the Note 10+.

 

Cheers

Rhys

It doesn't really work if you haven't paired it with an iPhone. Apple has found ways to reduce the dependency -- there's a family setup mode where you can get a cellular model going for someone else. Even then, it's technically paired to that iPhone. It just won't share your Apple ID and notifications. I suspect Apple is working toward true independence, but it's not there yet.

 

Linus said he uses the Apple Watch in part as a commentary on the sad state of Android smartwatches. And while there are some good Android smartwatches, I'd say he's right. As I like to put it, Apple wins the smartwatch game in part because it's the only one that consistently shows up and improves its designs. Google is like '00s-era Microsoft, where it expects to dominate merely by being present and wonders why it doesn't; Qualcomm thinks releasing one meaningful chip update every few years is enough to counter Apple's yearly upgrades; Samsung has a bad habit of releasing either sporadic or rather minor revisions.

 

You're clearly happy with your phone, so there's no pressure, but I suspect you would be pretty happy with an iPhone 12 Pro Max as long as you're alright with iOS itself. The Apple Watch would be a good compliment.

[RhysMusique]

21 hours ago, Radioactive Snowman said:

Linus uses two phones i believe, the latest iPhone and whatever android phone he likes most at that time.

 

I'd heavily recommend the 12 pro max though, I used a TON of flagships over the last few years and the only phone I didnt want to get rid of was my 11 pro max. It's so good I'm even skipping the upgrade this year which is unheard of for me

Ahh yeah makes total sense that he'd have two phones simply just because of who he is.

 

8 hours ago, Commodus said:

It doesn't really work if you haven't paired it with an iPhone. Apple has found ways to reduce the dependency -- there's a family setup mode where you can get a cellular model going for someone else. Even then, it's technically paired to that iPhone. It just won't share your Apple ID and notifications. I suspect Apple is working toward true independence, but it's not there yet.

 

Linus said he uses the Apple Watch in part as a commentary on the sad state of Android smartwatches. And while there are some good Android smartwatches, I'd say he's right. As I like to put it, Apple wins the smartwatch game in part because it's the only one that consistently shows up and improves its designs. Google is like '00s-era Microsoft, where it expects to dominate merely by being present and wonders why it doesn't; Qualcomm thinks releasing one meaningful chip update every few years is enough to counter Apple's yearly upgrades; Samsung has a bad habit of releasing either sporadic or rather minor revisions.

 

You're clearly happy with your phone, so there's no pressure, but I suspect you would be pretty happy with an iPhone 12 Pro Max as long as you're alright with iOS itself. The Apple Watch would be a good compliment.

Thank you for your answer! 

 

I agree, android smartwatches is a pretty terrible landscape. I remember seeing the moto 360 and really liking it, but never got it, instead got the Gear S3, which being honest was a pile of crap. The Fossil Q is nice but is just so limited and everything seems to need to be refreshed before you use it. Heartrate: refresh before use, notifications: refresh and maybe some will come through, Weather: refresh for up to date. Apple just seem to have nailed it year on year, and sometimes I get really jealous when I see someone wearing an Apple Watch and look down to my Fossil, which gives me intermittent notifications, poor battery life and average to good looks. Apple just gives you such a seamless experience, and I basically just miss that experience a ton.

 

I am very happy with my Note 10+, but as you say, I probably wouldn't be too disappointed in the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Similar size phone, similar screen (now that Apple has finally got to OLED), and I'd say the cameras are better on iPhone. Plus the new 12 series just looks badass with the iPhone 4 > 5S looks. I loved my 4, and kept it until my 6S, which I also loved.

 

I love iOS for its simplicity, it looks hella pretty and seems to have improved in its feature set since the last time I used it (probably iOS 9 or 10). I love Android for all the small features they include, little searches, close all apps button, the way it's just a little more flexible. But I never have been happy with how Android looks - Samsung's One UI has managed to save it for me a bit, but it still looks a bit cheap and like an imitation. 

 

I think I may have come to the conclusion that it may be time for me to go back to iPhone for a while, as the new Apple Watch 6 looks like a great piece of kit. I also use Apple Airpods with my Samsung, so I'll obviously have the correct phone for them when I get the iPhone.

 

Cheers both for your input! I may go and see what the preorder is like for a 12 Pro Max and an Apple Watch 6

[Radioactive Snowman]

52 minutes ago, RhysMusique said:

I think I may have come to the conclusion that it may be time for me to go back to iPhone for a while, as the new Apple Watch 6 looks like a great piece of kit. I also use Apple Airpods with my Samsung, so I'll obviously have the correct phone for them when I get the iPhone.

I use all 3 on a daily basis, for portable tech theres no comparison to apple in my opinion. 

 

You'll never see me on a mac but everything else is pretty exceptional to me

 

(I'm going to get annihilated for this lol)

[Rylyguy]

If you’d like the Apple Watch but still daily drive an android. Get like an iPhone 6 use it to setup a cellular model of the watch. Leave the iPhone at home plugged in. Have you texts forwarded to the watch/iPhone. Just say that to your phone company and they’ll setup the forwarding.