Apple Watch SE – rather useless without an iPhone!
So… I’ve finally bought myself a fitness tracker. Target was having one of those select items on sale for a day, and the Apple Watch SE was $50 or $75 off, so I decided to go for it after a couple glasses of Cabernet Sauvignon during a Saturday night dinner with the family.
Quick Overview –
- Practically useless without an iPhone (it immediately asks to pair the watch with an iPhone during the set-up)
- Doesn’t bother me as much as I thought it would (I’ve never been a watch wearer)
- Fairly motivating to get in more steps and to stand more (though it tells me to stand when I am standing… which the husband turned into a short-joke)
- Logging workouts (usually indoor walking for me currently) is rather easy to do (just got to remember to start and end the timer, but the phone will ask if you’re finished working out when it detects a drop in heart rate while tracking a workout)
The Story Version –
I’ve had an iPhone for several years (currently the 8, but may upgrade to the 12 if the deal is right with our cell phone provider), and have been tracking my steps with the iPhone since they added the Health app. Back when I had an older version (6 years ago?), it was no problem keeping my smaller iPhone in a pocket or my purse to count my steps, but it’s been difficult doing so on a consistent basis with a larger iPhone. Several friends and coworkers have been mentioning great things about the Apple Watch and how motivating it has been for them to exercise more and to stand up and move on a more frequent basis.
There is an event that my work participates in called STEPtember, where we log our steps and raise money for cerebral palsy research during the first 28 days of September. I’ve been participating for the past couple Septembers, and noticed the increased number of step counts from those with actual fitness trackers, whether it’s a Fitbit or Apple Watch, etc. Also, it seemed nice not having to carry around a phone just to count the steps. I thought about getting a fitness tracker a couple years back, but I couldn’t decide whether I wanted a Fitbit or which version to buy (too many possibilities!).
There were a couple chances to win a fitness tracker during the most recent STEPtember event if you hit certain donation goals. I hit them both (once to enter a chance to win a Fitbit Versa, and once to win an Apple Watch), but didn’t get selected to win either, though I did win a $48 donation toward the cause, which was pretty neat. Fast forward almost a couple months after, and I receive an alert on my phone that Target was having 3 colors of the Apple Watch SE on sale. With the influence and courage from some red wine, I went ahead and placed an order for one (wasted zero time researching and deciding which fitness tracker watch to get that night). Target had the silver (band looks white), gold (light pink band), and space gray (dark gray) to choose from, and I ordered the 40 mm (smaller size) gold version. I figured I could change the band eventually, and I liked the gold/rose gold shell of the watch compared to the other 2 options.
Target processed and shipped the order so fast, that by the time I woke up the next morning, it was already packaged and shipped (so no time for me to cancel the order in regret) and it arrived just a few days afterwards.
The packaging of the watch was no surprise since it’s an Apple product – a sturdy box that feels amazing to touch, each piece wrapped together nicely inside. Inside the main packaging were 2 smaller packages – one for the watch and charging cable and the other with the bands. The bands included a strap with the button and 2 straps with the holes, one bigger than the other so that you can choose whether to use the smaller band or the larger band, depending on the size of your wrists. My wrists are fairly small, which has been super annoying, mainly because standard sized bracelets fall off easily (I remember there was a period in middle school where bangle bracelets were so popular and people were wearing so many with ease, but they would never stay on my wrists), so I’d get bracelets in smaller sizes (fewer options) or have to pass on bracelets I liked because they didn’t fit my wrists. I was so happy that the smaller band with the watch actually fit on my wrist, and I didn’t even have to go to the last hole in the band!
Anyways, the watch doesn’t come fully pre-charged, so I was charging it while setting up the watch. The charging cable was quite interesting; it was a USB cable with a magnetic-like circle portion where the watch can just sit on to charge (nothing to plug in directly on the watch). The watch asked which size text I wanted to see as default, and asked me to pair it with an iPhone. The pairing process was fairly quick, and it asked if there were any apps I wanted to include or exclude on the watch, and I was able to modify some settings of the watch directly on the phone (the watch screen is small, so it mostly serves as a notification basis, and the iPhone handles the bulk of the functions). The watch also asked for my move goals, which I mostly just hit OK or Next because I didn’t know what would be appropriate goals for me. I later learned what the activity circles/rings mean:
- Red – Move goal (records how many Calories you’re burning)
- Green – Exercise goal (records minutes spent moving and time spent tracking logged workouts)
- Blue – Standing goal (records hours you’ve been standing [if you move for at least a minute during the hour, it will count as a standing hour]).
I’ve had the watch for just a week, and I’m pretty happy with it! I’m still learning about it, but those standing notifications and breathing notifications have been pretty helpful. It took me a while to learn the blue standing ring wasn’t just time spent standing, but rather moving for at least a minute during that hour. I kept getting the notifications to stand while I was standing, and the husband went, “You’re so short that your watch can’t tell whether you’re sitting or standing.” HAHA, funny because I thought the exact same thing before he even said it.
More than anything, I absolutely love how I don’t need to have my phone with me when I want my steps counted. I have several pairs of leggings, but only 3 pairs of them have pockets, so I was mainly rotating those 3 pairs around so that I could put my iPhone in the pocket to keep track of my steps. Now, I can wear any pair with ease because I have my watch on. It feels so much better! I also love how it gives me some notifications, especially if I’m receiving a call because sometimes I would miss them because I didn’t have the volume on loud enough or something when the phone was in my pocket. No more missing work calls! Hooray…?
