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A dozen reasons why people are unhappy with Apple Watch

A dozen reasons why people are unhappy with Apple Watch

That iThingy You're Wearing
December 1, 2015

If you bought an Apple Watch at or shortly after launch, are you still wearing it today? While Web-based research firm Wristly has praised the wearable device as having a 97 percent user satisfaction rate, what of the remainder of those who purchased the Apple Watch? Why did that three percent show dissatisfaction with the device, and why did they stop wearing it? According to Fortune, Wristly was able to draw together 340 people who bought an Apple Watch and stopped wearing it, getting their feedback on why they were unhappy with the smartwatch.

Image credit: Fortune

Image credit: Fortune

The most common reason people stopped wearing Apple Watch, according to the study, was a lack of value. Apparently, the rationale that Apple Watch reduces the amount of time you have to spend using your iPhone either didn’t pan out for those people, or they realized that pulling out their handsets wasn’t so hard after all. Others cited that the wearable device was too limited, too slow, and that it was annoying having to use the sporadically-functional raise wrist to wake feature. Almost 60 percent of the respondents were unhappy with the device’s battery life.

The respondents were encouraged to add their own comments, in addition to choosing from the provided choices, and 300 of them did exactly that. Creative Strategies’ Ben Bajarin, who helps design Wristly’s surveys, read through all of them. In a Techpinions post on Monday, Nov. 30, Bajarin commented on the overall theme of the written responses:

The biggest theme in the critiques was about performance. Many thought the Apple Watch was too slow, particularly around data retrieval and third party apps. The other was about battery. Many commented on their desire to have the watch face be visible at all times and not have to charge daily.

I would have to agree that Apple Watch is a bit slow, especially when launching third-party apps. I’ve found myself using these apps less and less, relying instead on the more reliable and speedier complications and Glances. Even those, unfortunately, are sometimes very slow to refresh. Still, I’d say that I’m solidly within the 97 percent group of satisfied customers, even though I wish the smartwatch was a bit speedier.

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