Apple Watch review round-up ~ lotfi

Apple Watch reviews: is it the best smarwatch?

Our updated Apple Watch review isn't the only opinion about the new iPhone-compatible smartwatch out there today.

Ten other outlets have weighed in on the "iWatch" after spending a week wearing, poking at and testing out its wearable Force Touch display.

The consensus is that it's one of the best smartwatches out there, but it's also not for everyone, sort of difficult to use at first and in no way essential.

With the Apple Watch pre-order date fast-approaching this Friday and the release date just two weeks after that, it's time to see if the Apple Watch price is worth paying.

It's the best smartwatch yet

Although these tech experts have only had the Apple Watch for a week, they have been able to judge Apple's first wearable against the competition.

More: our in-depth Apple Watch vs Android Wear comparison

Apple Watch reviews round-up

A little more dissent about the Apple Watch is felt from other reviews' statements, proving that the first iteration isn't perfect.

"As with most first-time products, it isn't flawless or essential," explains USA Today. "But among smartwatches, Apple Watch is second to none."

Explaining what Apple Watch can do

Apple Watch reviews round-up

Although Apple Watch can't replace your iPhone, Recode made sure to test the phone call quality, saying, "My mother told me that call quality was very good, and that [she] couldn't even tell I was calling from a smartwatch."

Apple Watch fitness tracking, notifications

Apple Watch's insistence on you standing up and moving may be its stand out feature.

Apple Watch reviews round-up

"I like Apple Watch's regular reminders to get up and move. It does this even when your watch is offline," wrote Recode.

"The Apple-made integrated fitness apps, Activity and Workout, are far and away the best fitness apps on any existing smartwatch that isn't a dedicated "fitness watch," notes CNET.

It may not replace our Fitbit Surge, though. "Unlike the Fitbit and other popular activity trackers, there's no social component here to let you compete with your friends," points out The Verge.

Of course, as the next quotes demonstrate, Apple Watch isn't for everyone.

Apple Watch isn't worth it for everyone

Apple Watch reviews round-up

Not for everyone

"It is best after you fiddle with various software settings to personalize use, notes the New York Times. "To a degree unusual for a new Apple device, the Watch is not suited for tech novices."

"Not everyone has an iPhone 5 or later," writes Recode. "Not everyone wants her wrist pulsing with notifications, finds animated emojis thrilling or needs to control an Apple TV with her wrist."

"Apple Watch turns some of these into opportunities for smart ideas," says the Wall Street Journal. "Others still need refinement—and a reason for many to wait for an Apple Watch 2."

"You don't need an Apple Watch. In many ways, it's a toy: an amazing little do-it-all, a clever invention, a possibly time-saving companion, a wrist-worn assistant."

Apple Watch reviews round-up

"Making me feel that I need this thing on my wrist every day—well, I'm not quite sure it's there yet," admits Bloomberg. "It's still another screen, another distraction, another way to disconnect, as much as it is the opposite."

"It's beautifully designed and frequently rather useful - but history suggests version two or three will be even better," writes the Telegraph.

More Apple Watch updates to come

Some things you just have to experience in person. "If anything, Apple has been underselling the Taptic Engine," surmises The Verge. And I sort of understand why — you have to feel it to get just how different and powerful of an idea it is."

"The Apple Watch could usher in a transformation of social norms just as profound as those we saw with its brother, the smartphone — except, amazingly, in reverse."

We'll have more opinions of our own as we draw close to the April 24 Apple Watch release date.