Watch Se (1st Generation)

Is this good enough to replace a phone?

This is honestly a very shocking fact to some people: I’m a teenager and don’t have a phone! Well…kind of! Allow me to explain. I don’t have a smartphone in the form that most people think. I do have a stand-alone (doesn’t rely on an iPhone) Apple Watch SE (1st Generation) with cellular. This device basically serves as my phone. I would like to go through and tell you SOME benefits of owning an Apple Watch.

I love my Apple Watch; that is literally no secret to anyone. I think one of the things that I like most about it is how freeing it is. I say this for two reasons. 1) For someone who loses stuff all the time, it is really nice to have something that is almost impossible to lose because it literally is attached to my wrist. With a phone, you can leave it somewhere, but that is much harder with a watch (unless you take it off). 2) It frees me from carrying another device around. I can get a notification, set a timer, respond to a text message, pay for something, check my activity, do a quick calculation, set myself a reminder, check a calendar event, ping another one of my devices (which is very helpful), check my email, get directions to a certain place, play some music, take a phone call, look up sports scores, start a stopwatch, record a voice memo, check the weather, track a workout, and so much more! All on this one device! And with cellular, I can do all of this even when I don’t have Wi-Fi. I don’t need to go grab my iPad or bring my iPad when I go places because I can just use my watch!

All that to say, the Apple Watch isn’t the all-in-one device of the century. There are definitely times when I need to use my iPad or wish I had an iPhone. There are three such instances that come to my mind right away. The most obvious is probably the screen size. The screen isn’t tiny, but it also isn’t great for most things. I obviously can’t type an essay or write an email on my watch because that isn’t what it is made for! That is when I would use my iPad or a phone. The next issue is the battery life. I usually don’t have an issue with the battery life, and it is completely sufficient to get me through the day. The problem comes when I’m using cellular. Cellular DRAINS the battery of the Apple Watch, so sometimes I find myself trying to save every last ounce of battery life left. With a phone or iPad, you don’t worry about this as much (depending on who you are) because a bigger device can obviously hold a bigger battery. The final ‘issue’ is only applicable when you have a stand-alone Apple Watch. This means that it isn’t tethered to an iPhone. Having a stand-alone Apple Watch is great because it means that I don’t also have to have an iPhone in order for it to work. This does have its set-backs, though, but they aren’t usually too noticeable. The biggest one is that I can’t download some apps without an iPhone. Even with these three cons, I still love using my Apple Watch, and I don’t think I need an iPhone yet because the Apple Watch is sufficient for what I need!

Now, should you buy an Apple Watch? If you are going to put it to good use, then by all means! Should you use it as your primary device (rather than an iPhone)? In most cases, I would say no! This setup is great for tweens, younger teens, and the elderly. For the average person, though, I doubt that you can have this as your sole device. Eventually, you are going to get frustrated by the small screen, no camera, or lesser capabilities in general. I’m probably going to get an iPhone in about a year, around the time when I get my driver’s license. If you want to get an Apple Watch, the question arises, “what model?” As always, it really depends on what you require. For most people, I think the Apple Watch SE is probably the best option because it offers great features with a lesser price (starts at $249). Very few people really need theApple Watch Ultra (which starts at $799). If you want more features than the SE, but don’t want/need the Apple Watch Ultra, then you can settle for the Apple Watch Series 8.

So, I love my Apple Watch, and for me at this stage of my life, I can use it in place of an iPhone, and I love it for that!