S3 sports owner, downgraded to S2 Staineless steel and loving it!

[honglong1976]

Well, I was always under the impression the latest updates are better, but Apple are proving me wrong. IOS14 has been a stinker so far (battery drain) and WatchOS7 wasn't that much of an upgrade from WatchOS6. I took the plunge and downgraded from an S3 LTE sports model to an S2 stainless steel and I am loving it.

I can now force touch to remove notifications, battery life is much much better and apart from sleep tracking (which I always wanted, when it finally arrived I was underwhelmed), everything else is the same, visually and in functionality. Personally, I never used LTE, or the extra storage (ever!).

I know how a sapphire screen and don't have to use a screen protector! Finally! I always have used black sport bands but I am actually liking the white band.

Has anyone else done the same? Or am I a rogue! haha

 

[sdz]

Looks very nice.

I recommend a nylon watch band if you do sport

 

[honglong1976]

Looks very nice.

I recommend a nylon watch band if you do sport

I had a nylon band with the S3. I loved it. But, the sports bands are easier to wash

 

[myrtlebee]

If it fits your needs, there's nothing wrong with it, but online people tend to look at anything less than Series 4 as garbage, basically. I just bought a Series 3 new for $100+ tax during a Black Friday sale and I love it. I do miss Force Touch, though. Foolish of Apple to do away with it - just about on par with them doing away with MagSafe for Macs.

 

[honglong1976]

If it fits your needs, there's nothing wrong with it, but online people tend to look at anything less than Series 4 as garbage, basically. I just bought a Series 3 new for $100+ tax during a Black Friday sale and I love it. I do miss Force Touch, though. Foolish of Apple to do away with it - just about on par with them doing away with MagSafe for Macs.

I agree. I would love a series 6, but what does it actually do that the series 2 doesn’t do?

Fall detection - I don’t need this
Always on altimeter - again, don’t need this
Always on screen - don’t care about this
Sleep tracking - I had an S3 and although I always wanted sleep tracking, when I finally got it, it was very basic and underwhelming.

I will keep this till it dies and buy another stainless steel model.

 

[myrtlebee]

I agree. I would love a series 6, but what does it actually do that the series 2 doesn’t do?

Fall detection - I don’t need this
Always on altimeter - again, don’t need this
Always on screen - don’t care about this
Sleep tracking - I had an S3 and although I always wanted sleep tracking, when I finally got it, it was very basic and underwhelming.

I will keep this till it dies and buy another stainless steel model.

Good plan. I do like the new display design and watch faces of the Series 4+, as well as the ECG and blood oxygen meter, but for the price difference I couldn't see passing up the 3. I wonder what version of WatchOS will be the last for the Series 2 and the Series 3.

 

[honglong1976]

Good plan. I do like the new display design and watch faces of the Series 4+, as well as the ECG and blood oxygen meter, but for the price difference I couldn't see passing up the 3. I wonder what version of WatchOS will be the last for the Series 2 and the Series 3.

You got a great deal with the S3. It’s a great watch.

Series 2 - watch os6
Series 3 - most likely watchOS 7 is the last OS it will receive

I forgot to add, my S3 had LTE (which I never used) and 16GB (also which I never used).

 

[myrtlebee]

You got a great deal with the S3. It’s a great watch.

Series 2 - watch os6
Series 3 - most likely watchOS 7 is the last OS it will receive

I forgot to add, my S3 had LTE (which I never used) and 16GB (also which I never used).

I can’t imagine 7 will be the last the 3 receives since Apple is still selling it and it runs 7 well. I would hope it gets 8, but I honestly wouldn’t be too disappointed if it didn’t. It would still work just fine.

 

[sdz]

Good plan. I do like the new display design and watch faces of the Series 4+, as well as the ECG and blood oxygen meter, but for the price difference I couldn't see passing up the 3. I wonder what version of WatchOS will be the last for the Series 2 and the Series 3.

My watch 0 still is in use. I gave it to my sister. 5 years going strong. Battery in perfect condition.
I bought the AW6 mainly because of the blood oxygen thing only to find out, that is the most ******** implementation. It rarley meassures it (I thought it is important to have a continuous reading when sleeping to assess sleep apnea etc.) A total gimmick.

 

[honglong1976]

I hope they do update the S3 to OS8. The S2 runs OS6 well but didn’t get OS7. I suspect they will stop selling it once they do a refresh. Maybe they have a lot of stock still.

 

[KennyJr]

Yeah, I do. Actually I have two Apple Watches, a Watch 2 SS black (like yours) and a Watch 5 SS silver. And you're absolutely right about the Watch 2 holding charge so much longer. But for me, the Watch 2 is there for when my Watch 5 is charging (I bought the watch 5 for the larger always on display and for the health related apps).

Both say the OS is up to date, but my Watch 5 is OS 7.2, where my Watch 2 is OS 6.3 (obviously not updatable).

 

[rbart]

I agree. I would love a series 6, but what does it actually do that the series 2 doesn’t do?

Fall detection - I don’t need this
Always on altimeter - again, don’t need this
Always on screen - don’t care about this
Sleep tracking - I had an S3 and although I always wanted sleep tracking, when I finally got it, it was very basic and underwhelming.

I will keep this till it dies and buy another stainless steel model.

The S2 is terribly slow and laggy.
For me it’s almost unusable except if you just want to look at the hour
But why wearing an Apple Watch without using features ?
It’s like using an iPhone 4 today

 

[honglong1976]

Yeah, I do. Actually I have two Apple Watches, a Watch 2 SS black (like yours) and a Watch 5 SS silver. And you're absolutely right about the Watch 2 holding charge so much longer. But for me, the Watch 2 is there for when my Watch 5 is charging (I bought the watch 5 the larger always on display and for the health related apps). Both say the OS is up to date, but my Watch 5 is OS 7.2, where my Watch 2 is OS 6.3 (obviously not updatable).

I thought about keeping the S3 to use along side the S2, but the S2 is perfectly fine to use on its own ans it’s not laggy at all. Seems great for the money.

 

[honglong1976]

The S2 is terribly slow and laggy.
For me it’s almost unusable except if you just want to look at the hour
But why wearing an Apple Watch without using features ?
It’s like using an iPhone 4 today

Are you sure? I have one on my wrist, I open activity or weather, workout, Apple Pay, they all pop up instantly. I agree with the Series 0 being slow and laggy, that was painful to use, but not the S2 for what I need to use.

With a phone I would agree, extra RAM, CPU, storage, etc, but it’s a watch. I use it for checking the weather, activity, workouts, Apple Pay and notifications. All of which it does perfectly.

 

[rbart]

I am sure ...
My previous watch (before S5) was an S2
Only apple built in apps were usable.
But all the actions are slow : swipe to change watch face, open music, open maps
When you use an S3 or upper, you can’t use anymore an S2
Some apps take forever to run (yelp, Shazam, nrc, ...)
It’s very hard to use powerful apps like workoutdoors
Memory is very low and slow.
I am a developer and I can tell the difference between an S2 and S3 Is abysmal

It’s like between an iPhone 4 and 4S

 

[honglong1976]

I am sure ...
My previous watch (before S5) was an S2
Only apple built in apps were usable.
But all the actions are slow : swipe to change watch face, open music, open maps
When you use an S3 or upper, you can’t use anymore an S2
Some apps take forever to run (yelp, Shazam, nrc, ...)
It’s very hard to use powerful apps like workoutdoors
Memory is very low and slow.
I am a developer and I can tell the difference between an S2 and S3 Is abysmal

It’s like between an iPhone 4 and 4S

I only use the native apps which work great. Swipe to change watch face is instant too.

I suspect installing all the third party apps filled the memory and slowed the watch down. I don’t have any third party apps and the watch runs fine.

 

[QCassidy352]

I agree. I would love a series 6, but what does it actually do that the series 2 doesn’t do?

Fall detection - I don’t need this
Always on altimeter - again, don’t need this
Always on screen - don’t care about this
Sleep tracking - I had an S3 and although I always wanted sleep tracking, when I finally got it, it was very basic and underwhelming.

I will keep this till it dies and buy another stainless steel model.

In addition to what you said, the S6 has the following advantages over the S2: ECG, Blood Oxygen, LTE, bigger screen, faster processor, U1 ultrawideband chip, bluetooth 5, louder speaker, 4x the storage, emergency SOS, 3rd gen heart rate sensor.

Now maybe you don't care about any of those things (in which case more power to you - you're saving quite a bit of money!) but it's not a short list of improvements.

 

[rbart]

I absolutely don't have the same user experience ... But if you are happy ...
For me a smartwatch is useful if you can use powerful features. If it's just for looking weather and notifications, it's not enough to balance the smartwatch weaknesses (battery, cost, look ...)
When I had may S2, I wasn't using 3rd party apps because it was almost unusable. Now I have rediscovered a lot of possibilities

 

[honglong1976]

In addition to what you said, the S6 has the following advantages over the S2: ECG, Blood Oxygen, LTE, bigger screen, faster processor, U1 ultrawideband chip, bluetooth 5, louder speaker, 4x the storage, emergency SOS, 3rd gen heart rate sensor.

Now maybe you don't care about any of those things (in which case more power to you - you're saving quite a bit of money!) but it's not a short list of improvements.

You're right, I don't care about any of those. The actual main core features are the same on any Apple Watch. Bluetooth 4.2 >5 not much difference apart from a number in real-life usage.

I love tech and always try to update, but the Apple Watch is seriously good on its own. I am not competing with anyone (keeping up with the Jones).

As mentioned before I will keep this until it dies, then upgrade to a newer SS model. I had the S3 and all it just had features I never used.

 

[honglong1976]

I absolutely don't have the same user experience ... But if you are happy ...
For me a smartwatch is useful if you can use powerful features. If it's just for looking weather and notifications, it's not enough to balance the smartwatch weaknesses (battery, cost, look ...)
When I had may S2, I wasn't using 3rd party apps because it was almost unusable. Now I have rediscovered a lot of possibilities

At the end of the day, it's a watch. I have the phone to do power things.

I use it as a watch/fitness tracker and generally check the weather. The native apps are perfect. I used the have FB messenger installed on the S3 and notifications were so unreliable, I gave up and uninstalled it.

Of course, the S2 will slow down if lots of apps are installed, because they will take some RAM running in the background. If you need to run 3rd party apps, S3 and above. If you don't need any 3rd party apps, pick up a cheap S2.

I used to have an S0 and that was absolutely terrible to use, slow, laggy, not a great experience. The S2 with os6 isn't like that at all. It's more like the S3 that people think.

 

[Htsi]

Not really, to me the Apple Watch became worth buying post series 5 for the always on.

the series 4&5 share the same cpu, it’s the 6 that got a new CPU (20% ++)
These things do make a difference,
I feel the Watch deserves a yearly update instead of the phone.
and with software updates making devices slow, that really is how it is, if you want smoothness you do need to upgrade.
I notice major differences between my friends XS & my 11P. Hell the 12P feels faster than my 11P as well, noticeably that is.
I’ve tried using old devices, not my cup of tea.

 

[rbart]

I disagree for iPhone performance.
I use every day an iPhone 7, an X, an XR and a 12mini.
All are very usable, and for me the only difference is for screen size and photo capabilities.
There is nothing slow on the iPhone 7 when I use it, all the apps work smoothly.
It's better on younger models, but it's powerful enough for an all day usage without limitations.
Apple Watch are "newer" devices, and there are huge differences between generations as it's just becoming to be a mature device.
S0 was like a POC.
S1/S2 were almost twice faster and were usable, but WatchOS4 make them laggy and less smooth.
It hasn't improved with WOS 5 and 6
Series 3 was really faster and feels really smoother for most of the tasks, but storage is very low and it's a nightmare to update withe WOS7.
Series 4 came with a better screen, a 64bit SOC. It's a very good watch, with all we need to be comfortable.
Series 5 and AOD is for me the maturity watch. S6 is not a big upgrade.
I think the next step is about battery life, but from the performance point of view, there are 3 families:
- S0/1/2 : very slow (terribly slow for S0)
- S3 : minimum step
- S4 and + : big performance and always smooth

 

[honglong1976]

Not really, to me the Apple Watch became worth buying post series 5 for the always on.

the series 4&5 share the same cpu, it’s the 6 that got a new CPU (20% ++)
These things do make a difference,
I feel the Watch deserves a yearly update instead of the phone.
and with software updates making devices slow, that really is how it is, if you want smoothness you do need to upgrade.
I notice major differences between my friends XS & my 11P. Hell the 12P feels faster than my 11P as well, noticeably that is.
I’ve tried using old devices, not my cup of tea.

Maybe on paper, but in reality there isn't much between them.

I am not someone who uses an iPhone 4 or Series. They were great at the time, but incredibly painful to use now.

I have an iPhone 6S and to be honest, it's still very usable and apps launch nearly instantly, games still work fine. When it dies I will upgrade to a newer model. I am not playing the chase game, so and so has an iPhone 11, I need an iPhone 12. I don't care what someone else has. If the phone is perfectly usable and works great, I will keep it a little longer, same for the watch.

Before the Apple Watch, I used a normal watch. Battery lasted for a year, it was instant-on, light, although it didn't have an HR sensor or notifications. It did show the date though.

It's ok Apple adding lots of features, the main one should be better battery life. I still don't understand how it lasts so little.

 

[honglong1976]

I disagree for iPhone performance.
I use every day an iPhone 7, an X, an XR and a 12mini.
All are very usable, and for me the only difference is for screen size and photo capabilities.
There is nothing slow on the iPhone 7 when I use it, all the apps work smoothly.
It's better on younger models, but it's powerful enough for an all day usage without limitations.
Apple Watch are "newer" devices, and there are huge differences between generations as it's just becoming to be a mature device.
S0 was like a POC.
S1/S2 were almost twice faster and were usable, but WatchOS4 make them laggy and less smooth.
It hasn't improved with WOS 5 and 6
Series 3 was really faster and feels really smoother for most of the tasks, but storage is very low and it's a nightmare to update withe WOS7.
Series 4 came with a better screen, a 64bit SOC. It's a very good watch, with all we need to be comfortable.
Series 5 and AOD is for me the maturity watch. S6 is not a big upgrade.
I think the next step is about battery life, but from the performance point of view, there are 3 families:
- S0/1/2 : very slow (terribly slow for S0)
- S3 : minimum step
- S4 and + : big performance and always smooth

I agree. Same for the iPhone 6S. Works perfectly fine.

I disagree with the watches (S2 vs S3). I had an S2 and S3 in my hand and tested many apps and the launch speed was virtually the same. Restart was much slower with the S2 though. Now if you were to load lots of third-party apps, that would be different. The S2 would slow down (out of memory) while the S3 would run the same as the S2 with just native apps (I know, I tested both a few days ago).

Of course, the newer ones will be quicker, always-on, etc. But for my usage, I only need the native apps, it's perfectly fast for me. I work in IT and speed is important to me. When it slows down, I will get rid (usually because the battery is on its way out, or the RAM is full of third party apps).

 

[Htsi]

Try to justify all you want, differences are worth it. Old tech is old.
even if you’re a casual user, don’t dismiss technological advances.
best of all, try it out for yourself. Return windows are beautiful in the states.

Your current comparison is a bit flawed, I’ll tell you why.
Series 3 would work best -1 OS version, same as iPhone 4. They don’t have the horsepower to run the latest OS, but it’s still compatible. Therefore you like the older series 2 that is working fine on the max. OS supported by them.

Make no mistake, a series 5/6 will blow you away, no matter what your use case. A new flagship will do the same.
there’s minor leaps year on year, but using 5 year old tech nah.