Ah! The Apple Watch! Oh! How much I have been mocking it time and again. And a year later, I can still say that it is not the replacement for a traditional wrist watch and for the better part, it may never be.

In fact, the Apple Watch does not even my come close to what I perceived the Cupertino giant would present post the launch of the iPhone 6 (I imagined something mechanical with a display over it). But as of today, as an iPhone user (that comes after a long and steady relationship with Android) I can say, that it is the best smartwatch out there.

And this is for many reasons. Clearly, I would not want to caught wearing an Apple Watch at an event. With an iPhone in my other hand, I would look like an Apple evangelist, and everything that I say or do would be understood as myself being an Apple fanatic. I’d rather invest in a traditional watch, one that would not look old or outdated in two years, and would not need a charge or a battery change ever (thanks to its automatic movement).

But as an owner of an iPhone 6 Plus, there really isn’t a better choice out there when it comes to a companion wearable device and a fitness tracker. And as per my research, it all comes down to the fact that the Apple Watch’s pros do outweigh its cons. Want to know why? Read On.

First let’s begin with the Pros:

1. App Ecosystem: Apple has an edge here more than anyone else and in any product category as well. Having a massive and dedicated third-party developer base is a great thing (getting one together is another) but how those developers willingly want to keep updating their apps to support the latest features deserves an applause.

No really, look around. Nowhere else will you see so many developers updating their apps to support the latest features (3D Touch, iPhone 6 Plus support, Apple Watch support) on any mobile OS like on iOS. Its been more than a year now, and not too many Android apps have even upgraded to Google’s Material Design philosophy; adding fingerprint reader support is a long shot.

And even with smartwatch operating systems, Apple took the lead from both Pebble, Android Wear and even Samsung’s Tizen in record time. 1300 native apps are now available for your watchOS 2 ready Apple Watch right now, why would you look anywhere else?

2 Battery Life: Yes, while it is almost laughable compared to what you can get out of an Android smartwatch, you must keep in mind, that Apple is running native apps on its smartwatch. Add to this a Force Touch display, the ability to reply, tweak and delve deeper into your Apple Watch and you have plenty that can be accomplished without the need to pull out your iPhone.

Pebble and Android Wear on the other hand will give you brilliant standby times, but with very limited functionality (or and lets not forget the lag). 18 hours is what you can get, and considering that an iPhone 6 would last equally long, this is a gadget, not a wrist watch, (it does more things) so stop complaining about battery life.

3. Force Touch: You clearly cannot get it anywhere else, the closest that 3D Touch has ever made it to an Android device, is on the Huawei Mate S. And out here its on your Apple smartwatch and it works with plenty of apps. Need I say more?

4. watchOS 2: While I strongly felt that Apple needed to improve on watchOS initially, they did and now its a better experience. A few months ago it was not. This means that there is plenty of room for improvement and Apple is still working on it. For those of you who thought that the Apple Watch was a lag-ridden experience, there is now support for native apps and Wi-Fi, so its gotten fast (apps reside on the Watch) and it does not need your iPhone around all the time.

Cons

1. Design: I have said this once before and I will say it again. The Apple Watch does look pretty feminine. Its not bold, and while it does not look like a traditional watch, it has looks more like a calculator watch from the nineties than any thing else I can think about.

While Apple Watch does look unique, Android wear smartwatches look more like traditional wrist watches (LG Watch Urbane, 2), which is why many would pick other smartwatches likes a Martian Notifier over the Apple watch. The recently launched Samsung Gear S2 is one of them.

2. Its Old: Well, its not exactly old. Its just the battery that seems to be a part of the problem. But the Apple Watch is almost a year old (since its announcement) and fresh rumours about Apple’s next Watch 2 are just around the corner. All is not lost, but because you can expect Apple to optimise performance via supported updates for the next two years.

So yes, the Pros do outweigh the Cons and that makes for a worthy product. So if you are looking for a great wearable companion device this Diwali, splurging on an Apple Watch will do you no harm.

Tags : Apple Watch, Apple Watch India, wearable, smartwatch