Setting the bar high: Is the Apple Watch a smart buy?

It has been a year since the Apple Watch was first announced. It hit the stores in April, and reached India earlier this month. This writer got his hands on the watch early on, and here is what we found.

It works only with an iPhone

Before we jump into details, this is the first thing you should know. The Watch works only in tandem with an iPhone 5 or above. Not an iPad, not an iPod, not a Mac. And it won't accept other operating systems either, so Android, Windows and BlackBerry users are not invited to the Apple Watch party.

Is it really the best?

It lets you answer phone calls, send text messages, read text messages, measure your heartbeat and track your fitness, it helps you find directions… everything that every other smart watch does. It is just that the Apple Watch appears to do all this just a bit better.

It does score on looks - exactly like a watch, it is light on your wrist, fits seamlessly, is available in two sizes (38 mm and 42 mm) and comes in three finishes priced according to the oomph factor - the topline Luxury edition starts at ₹8.2 lakh. The regular model, called Sports, starts at ₹30,990.

The 'target' buyer

If you are someone on the go, have a busy schedule and travel quite a bit, the Apple watch is a great device to own. Then, if you are a fitness freak, be it jogging, walking or cycling, or a hiker, the light weight, water resistant Apple Watch is a gold device. And then of course there are the people who find the latest gadget a cool accessory to flaunt.

The downside

Yes, there are a few glitches. Depending on how you set up the Watch, the battery lasts anywhere between 12 and 20 hours - a hugely disparate range. The more the usage, especially frequent notifications, you may well need to carry the charger with you. There are limited options on faces. Mickey Mouse, a butterfly, then what? Analog doesn't really appeal: a circular clock on a rectangular frame! Maybe Apple will let third-party developers make faces as well.

The major shortcoming is its capability as a call instrument. On most occasions, this writer found that though he could hear the other party, the reverse was not true. The digital crown and the button combination also need a bit of getting used to.