[Sebring]

SE lacks blood oxygen sensor, temperature sensing and ECG Reading, which is really important (For me). Series 3 (which I have) is 5 gen old and is best to just see time, and other very basic features

Originally Posted by dragonfire

Also what do I really miss compared to the 8 series if I settle for the SE? And how is the series 3, the cheapest of the lot, different from the SE?

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by dragonfire

I have some money saved from not buying the iPhone 14 plus and instead going for the iPhone 13, and want to use that on what would be my first apple watch. I am mostly interested in the health aspects of it, especially the ECG feature. But the hypochondriac that I am would mean that I would be checking my ECG every 5 minutes. And since this is my first try, I am thinking of getting an SE. If I feel the need to upgrade I can give the SE to my wife and get a regular one. If not I can still give it to her and go back to my dress watches. Does that sound like a good plan?

Also what do I really miss compared to the 7/8 series if I settle for the SE? And how is the series 3, the cheapest of the lot, different from the SE?

If you are a first time buyer. Please do not skimp and buy the cheapest that is available (SE) as it lacks a lot of amazing features.

If budget is constraint then get the older versions (not sure if 6 is still available to buy) or get the 7 non-cellular version (my personal opinion is cellular versions are a waste of money) and you should be good for next 4-5 years.

P.S : I have been using Apple watches for some years now. I never checked ECG for more than maybe 10 times till date. It's just a feel good factor to have that feature and for the folks who like to track is a good way to keep looking at it from time to time. However, I personally don't really trust a watch to tell me if my heart is failing and I need to go and get medical attention.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by mobike008

P.S : I have been using Apple watches for some years now. I never checked ECG for more than maybe 10 times till date. It's just a feel good factor to have that feature and for the folks who like to track is a good way to keep looking at it from time to time. However, I personally don't really trust a watch to tell me if my heart is failing and I need to go and get medical attention.

My Apple watch series 4 triggered warnings that saved my life a few years ago. Read about it further down on this thread. Because of this reason I think I will remain loyal to Apple watch for the foreseeable future.

I even wrote to Mr Tim Cook to give him this feedback and to thank him. And I received a very pleasant reply too from him.

Apple Watch it is for me!

[shankar.balan]

I seem to be quite addicted to visiting the Apple store.

Today I went to the one in UB City just for fun.
And had a chat with the executive there. The shop was absolutely empty today incidentally and this is probably because all the eateries in UB City were closed on account of Gandhi Jayanthi.

The shop person said that I can reserve an Apple Watch Ultra upon payment of Rs 1000/- deposit. Waiting time is 6 to 8 weeks. Apparently they are presently holding around 100-120 such reservations. If one tries to buy the Ultra online on the Apple India Store, they say delivery in the range of October 25-28, which isn’t too bad. But you ll have to pay in full upfront. There is no option to ‘reserve’.

Anyway since I was there I tried on the Apple Watch Series 8 in 41mm and compared it with my Apple Watch 44mm Series 6. And I also compared the Apple Watch Ultra alongside my Series 6.

The more I see the Ultra and fiddle with it, the more I want one.

In the interim Ive also been watching a lot of Youtube videos on the applicability and suitability of the Apple Watch Ultra for a person who is not into Extreme Sports loke Diving or Mountain Climbing or IronMan Triathlons and all. And most of the reviews are positive and giving me a strong push towards buying myself the Ultra. I am at the moment a little confused as to which strap to go for.

But there is time and so I shall think and only then, act. In any case there is absolutely no point spending Rs 90K in India when the watch can be got at Rs 65000 odd in the US (or as has been mentioned on this thread, in Thailand or in HongKong.)

Im keen. Let me rein myself in a bit and think carefully.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I am at the moment a little confused as to which strap to go for.

I am extremely keen on making the Ultra my first smartwatch, Apple or otherwise. I have seen plenty of videos too and am convinced it offers a lot more even if you are not into extreme sports. The price difference appears a lot more from the series 8 only if you are getting the aluminium 8. If you go for stainless steel the difference is not great.

I haven’t seen or played with it yet, but if I do buy it, I will get the Silver Milanese Loop strap. I think it will look very classy and complement the Ultra.



Cheers

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

I am extremely keen on making the Ultra my first smartwatch, Apple or otherwise. I have seen plenty of videos too and am convinced it offers a lot more even if you are not into extreme sports. The price difference appears a lot more from the series 8 only if you are getting the aluminium 8. If you go for stainless steel the difference is not great.

I haven’t seen or played with it yet, but if I do buy it, I will get the Silver Milanese Loop strap. I think it will look very classy and complement the Ultra.

Attachment 2364051

Cheers

I have a Series 7 Apple watch but I am also seriously looking at the Ultra. I checked it out at the Apple store recently and the Alpine band looks by far the best to me. Orange if you want something sporty or Green if you want sports plus smart causal. The good thing is all the other bands also fit and my fav Apple band is the leather loop with magnets that I currently use with my Apple Watch.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

My Apple watch series 4 triggered warnings that saved my life a few years ago. Read about it further down on this thread. Because of this reason I think I will remain loyal to Apple watch for the foreseeable future.

I even wrote to Mr Tim Cook to give him this feedback and to thank him. And I received a very pleasant reply too from him.

Apple Watch it is for me!

That is amazing. Would love to know the reply back from him if it isnt too personal. Apple Watch has, by far, the best sensor accuracy in the smart watch industry. Huawei is pretty good too. Stay away from samsung. As always they are spec sheet monsters.

This guy does extremely good scientific reviews of smart watches. Apple Watch is at the top.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8XbiWIUW4s

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

That is amazing. Would love to know the reply back from him if it isnt too personal.

He said in his email that he was very happy that the monitors gave adequate warning and that I was able to seek timely medical intervention. And he sent his best wishes.

Considering his stature and my relative insignificance in the grander world scheme of things, I am please that he even saw my mail and responded within a few hours!

So as per me it is proven beyond a doubt that the Apple Watch sensors actually work well. And I am on their eco system since 2010. And I definitely prefer Apple’s form, function and aesthetics, software UI/ UX and operating system and overall smoothness, to those of the other smart watch manufacturers/ brands.

As a golfer, I note that all my friends wear different models of Garmin Golf Watches which show them distance, the lie of the land and all sorts of other details on the course. Many people tell me that Garmin is the best sports watch for all Sports activities and I do appreciate from Personal experience that their GPS systems are very reliable. Then there is a new Tag Heuer smart watch and all.
Both Garmin and Tag Heuer Smart watches are pretty expensive too.

Many people have begun to also say that now that the Apple watch Ultra will take on and offer a worthy challenge to Garmin on its own home turf.

All that aside, I think that, considering all the aspects of what I am looking for in a smart watch, and after having watched lots of Youtube videos, feature for feature, this Apple Watch Ultra delivers more.

So I shall, as mentioned earlier, tarry a while, bide my time and pull the trigger on the Apple Watch Ultra.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by dragonfire

I have some money saved from not buying the iPhone 14 plus and instead going for the iPhone 13, and want to use that on what would be my first apple watch. I am mostly interested in the health aspects of it, especially the ECG feature. But the hypochondriac that I am would mean that I would be checking my ECG every 5 minutes. And since this is my first try, I am thinking of getting an SE.

For your requirements, get the Series 8. My first apple watch was a SE I thought it will be ok without ECG and Blood O2 features, as the purpose was to track movements and also avoid taking the phone with me during walks/cycling. But returned it in a week because of the lack of Always on Display (AOD), and changed it to a Series 6 GPS + Cellular model. The AOD may look trivial but the lack of it was a major inconvenience during cycling. My wife got the SE last year (moved from a Samsung Watch 3), and she is happy with it as she doesn’t need to carry the hefty Pro Max with her during the walks/runs. I strongly suggest going with the cellular model, as occasional urgent calls or a glance through notifications are really easy with this option.

Originally Posted by Cyborg

I am extremely keen on making the Ultra my first smartwatch, Apple or otherwise. I have seen plenty of videos too and am convinced it offers a lot more even if you are not into extreme sports.

It is expensive, but if my primary phone is an iPhone, I would have traded my Series 6 for the Ultra – absolutely loved the look of it. I was looking to change to a Garmin watch because of the mediocre battery life, but the Ultra address that weakness as well. Now waiting to see what Google has to offer with the Pixel watch later this week

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

My Apple watch series 4 triggered warnings that saved my life a few years ago. Read about it further down on this thread. Because of this reason I think I will remain loyal to Apple watch for the foreseeable future.

Shankar, Apple has always shown clippings of people who have been saved by their technology during their annual presentations, it’s good to hear confirmation of it from a trustworthy source.

Please could you elaborate what exactly happened in your case, bearing in mind people like me who have never used a smartwatch before. A detailed explanation would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Cheers

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Shankar, Apple has always shown clippings of people who have been saved by their technology during their annual presentations, it’s good to hear confirmation of it from a trustworthy source.

Please could you elaborate what exactly happened in your case, bearing in mind people like me who have never used a smartwatch before. A detailed explanation would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Cheers

The sequence of events was very simple. I ve never written about it before and this is the first time I’m sharing this in a forum of this kind.

I was at an office party at a top hotel in town 3 years and some, ago. I was a heavy smoker, cigarettes and cigars and pipe and all. We had finished the event and had had some drinks and our nice heavy typical party time dinner and then I was sitting in their club bar & having a good time.

I started feeling uneasy and weird. Went along to the washroom and along the way started finding it difficult to focus and walk back. Seemed like climbing uphill while out of breath and felt very tired. And there was a tightness in the throat. Like choking.

Quickly and instinctively checked the Apple Watch heart rate monitor (Series 4 which was bought earlier that year in Australia so no Blood Oxygen and no ECG and all at that time - ECG was given at the time only in select countries which had a known history of heart issues. The India spec Series 4 had it but the Australian one didn’t.), but then, the heart monitor was a strong enough indicator. It was falling rapidly. 80,72,64,60,54,48 bpm etc. And while it may not directly be able to detect a heart attack or something, that’s the Apple Alarm warning. One has to watch the vital signs now and then just to be safe. So I initially thought there was some problem with the watch, but when the heart rate showed it was slowing so rapidly, I immediately pressed the panic buttons at the hotel.

I was taken to their Innova cab in the private lift and then rushed to one of the best hospitals right nearby and there one of the best cardiologists in Bangalore city met me at the entry and rushed me straight upstairs for a high speed angio which resulted in a ‘stent’. He is a nice man. He was going off duty when my case appeared in front of him and he acted very decisively and immediately.

All of the above literally happened between 930pm and 1030 Pm that night.

The doctor clearly said, that this was something called BradyCardia and I was lucky to have reached him within the ‘Golden Hour’. And that I was paying the price of a bad lifestyle, heavy travel, some level of stress, bad food habits and general bad living and way too much smoking and stuff. So that very day I quit smoking and have taken some serious steps towards better living and with less stress and chaos in life.

I came out of hospital in two days time and went quietly home. And resumed all the usual good stuff like walking and cycling and golfing and everything, but jettisoned the bad habits immediately.

With the above, there is little wonder, if I remain grateful to my Apple Watch. It saved my life and hence, remains my mainstay and my daily wear watch and health and activity tracker and walking and cycling and golfing workout tracker and my overall go to device.

Occasionally, when I give my mechanical and automatic watches a run, I wear those watches on my other wrist, while still wearing the Apple Watch as my main wearable device on my right wrist because I am a left handed person. I use a series 6 now because of blood oxygen etc.

I’m only separated from it when taking a bath or when it is charging. And sometimes during the day when I’m at home, for short periods just to allow my wrist also a little respite.

This is why I am very keen to upgrade now to the Apple Watch Ultra. And I am also keenly awaiting the Blood Pressure and Blood Sugar Monitoring features on Apple Watch whenever those become available.

I don’t see myself, very honestly, ever going back full time to a non-Apple Watch.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

The sequence of events was very simple. I’ve never written about it before and this is the first time I’m sharing this in a forum of this kind.

Dear Shankar, deeply appreciate your sharing such a personal aspect of your life on our forum for everyone’s benefit

Thank you very much once again.

Take care and stay well.

Cheers

[ajayc123]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

The India spec Series 4 had it but the Australian one didn’t.), but then, the heart monitor was a strong enough indicator. It was falling rapidly. 80,72,64,60,54,48 bpm etc. And while it may not directly be able to detect a heart attack or something, that’s the Apple Alarm warning. One has to watch the vital signs now and then just to be safe. So I initially thought there was some problem with the watch, but when the heart rate showed it was slowing so rapidly, I immediately pressed the panic buttons at the hotel.

Thanks for sharing your personal story in detail. Very valuable informal.

I also wear a watch with a heart rate (HR) monitor all the time, and keep an eye on my HR now and then.

This was a few weeks back, when I was on my morning brisk walk that I usually do on my terrace. Goal is 3 or more kilometres. I started the tracking activity as usual on my garmin, and I glance at my watch now for the HR now and then and the so that I can manage my pace.

Something funny started happening, the brisker I walked, the heart rate started going lower, and started dropping below 50, I started getting nervous, do I have a problem with my heart or the watch HR sensor has gone kaput. What a dilemma to be in.

But I was in control, not feeling any symptoms except nervousness, retained my calm and quickly got and wore my second smart watch Polar (which incidentally was charged)that showed a HR of around 100. I said let me walk a bit more, as I was feeling OK.

Again, both my watches showing HR in opposite direction..Garmin below 50 and Polar above 100.

So, I started writing the obituary of my garmin, instead of somebody writing mine (in near future). Anyway, I thought let me investigate a bit more since my HR is good. So I tightened my garmin by 1 notch. Within half a minute, the HR of both watches came close.

Lesson: Now I realize why the watch manual says that during exercise the watch should be worn snugly. If the watch is loose during exercise, you may get erratic HR reading otherwise.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

The sequence of events was very simple. I ve never written about it before and this is the first time I’m sharing this in a forum of this kind.

I don’t see myself, very honestly, ever going back full time to a non-Apple Watch.

Thanks for sharing. This incident has upped my confidence in the Apple Watch which otherwise was not as much in past.

I also don't see myself moving away from AW anytime in future. It's here to "stay permanently"

In other news, I love how much details it provides on fitness side. For a normal person (non-professional athlete) this much of information more than suffices, IMO.

Here is a sample post that you might want to check out

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/bicyc...ml#post5414507 (My Priority Current e-BIKE a.k.a White Lightening Review | A journey to a Fit Life!)

[shankar.balan]

Here’s some more informative stuff.

I watched these reviews of the Apple Watch Ultra and as far as review No 1 pasted below goes, I believe the Apple chaps have really taken this into a whole new direction and level of performance and functionality.

It most certainly seems durable enough for more or less anything.

And I think that with this, it will easily stand up to the rough and tumble and cut and thrust of modern Corporate life as well.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=WXAUljNobA0&feature=share

The second review is the common yet active man’s review which is a good indicator.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=j0FlXQblNGQ&feature=share

The third one below is the average man’s review, which is ok for the larger majority of people.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=WmO5tZoS5PA&feature=share

Continuing the info;
The fourth and fifth Youtube videos here is a very good point of view for most of us regular joe users - Non Adventurers.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=DTf8122fSns&feature=share

https://youtube.com/watch?v=jw3FKvPWqoM&feature=share

The fifth one below is about the size. Is it really too big as a daily?

https://youtube.com/watch?v=PTM3XA4IOHU&feature=share

[shankar.balan]

Hi.

I now have a query and would really appreciate some help.

1. The Amazon USA price for the Ultra is 799/- add State Taxes and the price will probably hit 850/-. In India the price after all discounts and all will hit 83000/- as earlier mentioned.

2. The Ultra is only available with GPS+Cellular. I need to be sure that an Ultra bought in the USA will work with an Indian e Sim. Also considering this whole new movement to 5G and all.

3. Considering the price difference and the fact that the deliveries, whether in India or in the USA, are only going to be towards end October 2022, I thought I would save some money by buying it in the US since my wife is anyway travelling there. This saving will leave enough for me to buy an extra strap - original Apple Watch straps cost about 99USD. Or maybe I can buy 4 Spigen Straps of different colours and types.

4. If indeed the Ultra bought in the US will work properly with an Indian e Sim then I have no hesitation is buying it there. If however, there is even an iota of doubt, I will definitely want to buy it in India itself.

Would love to get some solid information on this please.

Thanks!