The Beats Powerbeats 3 Wireless Review

Last January 1, you made a resolution to exercise more, to be more active… But as most resolutions go, you found yourself being less and less active and doing more and more … eating… Now that the regret of eating all of those lechon kawali, kalamay and puto bungbong has started to sink in, it’s time to follow up on the New Year’s resolution that you said you were gonna do.

And yes, you need to motivate yourself if you wanna lose those unwanted flab. And to help keep you motivated, let me introduce you to the Dre Beats Powerbeats 3 wireless.

As the name implies, this is a pair of Bluetooth wireless earphones that you can bring to the gym or to your next 5 kilometer run. It is a pair of wireless earphones that are designed to take a beating, so even if you got caught in strong rain, or if you sweat buckets, the thing will survive! Just don’t take it swimming!

This latest Apple earphones (just in case you’ve been living under a rock, Beats is now owned by Apple) has the company-made W1 chip inside. This chip is great at making the earphone efficient, thus, the battery inside the Powerbeats 3 will last 12 hours on a single charge. So yeah, the earphone’s battery will outlast the Taylor Swift album you have on your iPhone. You know you have that... And don’t worry if the battery goes flat. Charge the Powerbeats 3 for 5 minutes and you get 1 hour of battery life. That maybe is enough to outlast your combined cardio and weights sessions.

As to be expected from Beats, the Powerbeats 3 sounds very nice. And since this is a Beats product, bass is on the high end though not as overpowering as Beats from previous lines. The Powerbeats 3 is great for listening to all kinds of music, from Classical music to Heavy Metal. As I’ve said, the lows and bass, as well as the mids are clear, though the highs are on the quiet side. This pair of earphones is even great for watching movies on your other i-devices and computers, even your Apple Watch.

Sound isolation is not as great as other in-ear earphones, so, I’m sad to say that the grunts of the muscled person next to you, the one you are trying to emulate, won’t be as muted.

With the W1 chip, once you paired the Powerbeats 3 to, say, an iPhone, then it will be recognized by all of your Apple devices that are logged in to the same iCloud account. That’s very convenient if you have an iPhone, an Apple Watch, a MacBook Pro,... And fret not if you are an Android phone user, you still can use the Powerbeats 3 but the paring process for each device wouldn’t be as seamless.

The Dre Beats Powerbeats 3 is a must have if you want to make your next gym session a lot more palatable.

It is highly recommended!

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The BeatsX Earphones by Apple - A Review

I was in the market for a new pair of Bluetooth earphones. I am currently using the Jaybirds X2 when I jog and in my day-to-day activities. I also use wired earphones when my X2's battery dies. But with the iPhone 7 and newer models, I think using a wired pair of earphones is looking more and more like a dying proposition.

I am still happy with my Jaybirds X2 but, as with all electronic devices, after two to three years, its battery started to conk out.

I've been reading a lot about how surprisingly great the new Apple AirPods are. However, for some reason, I think Apple has not anticipated the demand for those and, as of this writing, the AirPods are back ordered for up to six weeks! (So much for Apple's legendary streamlined inventory... I can still feel the pain caused by the fact that the Apple Watch Series 2 was back ordered here in the Philippines for several weeks after its official release date in the country...)

Anyway, I would have been willing to wait for the AirPods but one video dissuaded me to: the noise-cancelling aspect of the earphones. You see, I am a big fan of the Apple EarPods, the ones that come in every iPhone and iPod. (I still don't know why Apple doesn't include EarPods in iPads. I am an iPad owner and I listen to it with my EarPods... Also, why isn't the Calculator and Weather app not built into the iPad? Don't iPad users need to use a calculator nor check the weather? I digress...) 

But, there are instances where I don't like using the EarPods, like when I'm in an airplane or when I am in a really noisy environment. There's not enough seal provided by the EarPods to mute outside noise. During those times, I prefer using my Jabra headphones. With that pair, noise is muted and I can listen to my music, or movies, without the need to crank out the volume all the way up.

The same is true with the BeatsX.

With this pair of earphones, the noise of Metro Manila - inside a restaurant or a cafe, or the noise of its traffic congested streets - is greatly muted. With this earphone, I can listen to my music in peace and not be bombarded by someone else's story the next table over. When the BeatsX ran out of battery, I actually sometimes don't remove it from my ears. Even if there is no music piping through the earphones, I still could not completely hear the conversion happening next to me. The noise isolation of this pair is really good!

The BeatsX is the latest ear/headphones that came with Apple's own W1 chip. With this, pairing a new pair of earphones is such a seamless process. Just turn on the Bluetooth antenna in your iOS device, turn on the BeatsX and the earphones will immediately appear on your device! That is amazing!

After this first step of pairing, the BeatsX will appear in all of your devices where you are signed in to your iCloud account.

But, I thought that, with the W1 chip - and, say, you are using an iPhone initially - I thought that, when you stop your music or movie in your iPhone and then switch to your iPad, I thought that, with the W1 chip, the source for the BeatsX would automatically transfer to the iPad. But, no! In the iPad, you need to go to Bluetooth under the Settings app and click on the Connect button. I thought that the BeatsX with the W1 chip would be able to do more...



Oh, well...

I should note that the W1 chip makes the battery of the BeatsX last longer and, also, because of it, the earphones and the iPhone can stay connected over a longer distance than without the chip. But, yes, it still doesn't make jumping from one source to another a seamless process.

And speaking of sound quality... This is my first pair of Beats earphones (the reason for which would be made clear...) and I am blown away by the sound this pair of earphones produce! Please note that I am not an audiophile and I am just basing that statement on whether I like the music produced by the earphone or not. And I like, very much, the sound produced by the BeatsX. The bass is not overpowering as other people have described other Beats products that came before the BeatsX. I don't like overpowering bass, hence my hesitance to own other Beats products! It is great when I listen to rock or hip hop but it is essentially useless when it comes to classical music - something which I listen to every once in a while. The sound produced by the BeatsX is more rounded and the earphones is more flexible in terms of the kind of music you want to listen to.



The BeatsX earphones are connected by a semi-stiff band, which the company calls Flex-Form, that you position across the back of your neck. At the left end of the band, you can find the lightning port: yes, the same cable you use for charging your iPhone, iPad or iPod can also be used to charge the BeatsX! It takes about two hours to completely charge the BeatsX from empty. There is also a quick-charge feature, called Fast Fuel, where charging the earphones for five minutes will give you two hours of battery time. It's a neat feature to have if you are in a hurry to listen to your music.

On the same left end of the semi-stiff band is the remote control: the Play/Pause/Answer button and the volume up and volume down buttons. If you double press the Play/Pause button, you can skip to your next song. Triple pressing the same button will restart your song. A long press of the Play/Pause button will call up Siri.

On the other end of the Flex Form band, you can find the switch to turn the BeatsX on and off.

Inside the box, you get three additional pairs of ear tips and two pairs of ear fins. My ear canals are weird in the sense that, I can use the medium-sized tips, the one that comes pre-installed, but, it turned out my left ear canal is slightly bigger than my right ear canal. So, I need to use the ear fins to make sure that the earphone stay in my left ear!!! (The same is true with the Jaybirds X2.) The large size ear tips, however, is too big for my left ear canal...

(What's more weird is that the EarPods fit my ears perfectly! They don't fall off no matter how much I "bang my head”.)



Finally, build-quality of the BeatsX is great! Everything feels premium in the hand. The only downside to the overall feel of the BeatsX is the case. Yes, it feels nice to the touch but getting the earphones inside is such an ugly task! There is no easy way to put the earphones inside the damn case! The case falls under the heading of (in my categorization) "Come on Apple!!!" I wish they could have just included a zippered case inside the box...



The battery lasts for eight hours and I proved it in several occasions already. And yes, the quick-charge is a boon for consumer tech: five minutes of charging from empty will give you two hours of listening time. I love that!



So, am I regretting not waiting for the AirPods? Heck no! I would still like to listen to it and try it but I am loving the BeatsX right now despite that ugly case.

The BeatsX is Highly Recommended!

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The Apple Watch Series 2 as a Sleep Tracker

So, I've been using the Apple Watch Series 2 for more than three months now. In this short span of time, I used it, with a couple of apps, to monitor my sleep quality. After all, this is one of the best selling points of most fitness trackers... For me, Fitbit is still one of the best when it comes to automatically tracking your sleep health, particularly the two that I have already tried and used, the Fitbit Surge and the Fitbit Charge 2. 

So, how did the Apple Watch Series 2 fare?

My Apple Watch Series 2 with the beautiful orange sports band!

First off, the Series 2 made sleep tracking possible because of its bigger battery. From my own experience, my Series 2 can last up to at least 36 hours on a single charge and I think that it will last for 48 hours if it is stretched to its battery limit. I don't know, though, how the Series 0, the original one, nor the Series 1 will be able to fare when it comes to sleep tracking. 

To use the Watch overnight and the whole day the next day, what I do is, at night, when I have completed my circles, I put the Watch on its charger and charge it for at least an hour. Then, in the morning, after my morning run and while I shower, I put the Watch on the charger again to top the battery off. So far, this system has worked for me and the watch battery hadn't died on me yet.

And what surprised me the most is, during the overnight, the Apple Watch's battery only loses about 3% of its charge.

However, sleep tracking is something that the Apple Watch on its own can't do. First, it cannot do automatic sleep tracking on its own. Then, the Health App nor the Activity App on the iPhone do not give you a summary of your heart rate readings. The only thing the Health App will tell you is the latest reading made by the Watch. And speaking of readings, the Apple Watch will only measure your heart rate when you are stationary... This is quite different to what the Fitbit Charge 2 does which measures your heart rate 24/7.

So, the Apple Watch nor the Health App will not be able to tell you your resting heart rate. I know that you can just use two fingers and use the timer functionality of the Watch but it would be much better if the Watch itself can do it automatically.

So, the Apple Watch, on its own cannot measure sleep quality nor will it give you your resting heart rate automatically. But, the watch can be made better, in this regard, with the help of two apps.

The first app that I use to measure heart health is the app HeartWatch. This app pulls the heart rate measurements from the Health App as provided by the Watch. From this, the app shows you several graphics related to your heart health, like your regular heart beat, your resting heart rate (the one the app calls "Waking Heartbeat") and your workout heart beat. It will then tell you your different zones like, the more blue for your regular heartbeat, the better. It can also tell you your fitness zones like if you are just burning fat or you are already building fitness. If you click on any of the circles, then you will be able to see all of the heart rate measurements. 

When you click on the Dashboard within the app you can get a summary of your activity, etc.

But what I find most amusing with this app is the mascot Timogotchi! Essentially, Tim, as he is fondly called, is a plump guy in the morning. He will then change based on your day and the app will actually forecast what Tim will look like at 10pm based, again, on your movements. If you move a lot, then Tim's love handles will go away and he will actually turn into a superhero!!!

It's a fun way to see how your day looks! Oh, I wonder why Tim doesn’t have a female counterpart…

I just wish that this app will tell you your V02 Max level, like what is determined by the Fitbit Charge 2...

(And speaking of heart rate measurements, the Apple Watch, while I was jogging, sometimes give me measurements above 200 beats per minute! And one time, it measured my heart rate to be below 30 beats per minute while I was asleep! Weird! In the former, I know my heart rate was not that high since the Charge 2 measured my heart rate at around 150 bpm. Also, when I saw that reading in the Apple Watch, I re-adjusted the watch, waited for a couple of seconds, then waited until it gives a measurement that is equivalent to the one given by the Charge 2. It is so weird that sometimes the Apple Watch can give really wild measurements!)

The other app that I use is the app Pillow. With this app, you can determine the quality of your sleep with the use of the Apple Watch; yes, you have to wear your Apple Watch to bed... The data is then presented with a beautiful and colorful graphic. However, I still think the Apple Watch is overly sensitive, hence, a little movement can be misconstrued for a big one (see Stand below). Because of this, there is a large discrepancy between the measurements made by the Apple Watch and made by the Fitbit wearable. My sleep pattern is always worse based on the Apple Watch!

Pillow is a very nice app but sleep detection is not automatic... And the process of using tracking is a convoluted process:

1. set the time you want to wake up on the iPhone app
2. press start on the iPhone app (the iPhone app will then tell you to press the "Start" button on the Watch)
3. after you press start on the Watch, you will select a mode on the Watch app (you can actually tell the app on the watch to remember your preference in this step)
4. you can choose to enter sleep notes
5. put the phone face down or turn off the screen
6. when you wake up, remember to turn off the sleep tracking of the app

With the Fitbit Charge 2, you will have to do the following steps to activate sleep tracking:

1. go to sleep. The Charge 2 will automatically determine that you are already asleep...
2. there is no step 2, nor step 3...
3. oh, when you wake up… you just wake up: you don’t need to turn off sleep tracking or anything. you just need to open the Fitbit app to see the quality of your sleep

But at least, with these two apps, the shortcomings of the Apple Watch as a sleep tracker is somewhat rectified...

Lastly, one of the circles that you have to close is the Stand circle. The Apple Watch requires you to stand, or, in reality, walk for at least a minute, or about a hundred or so steps every hour for 12 hours. It need not be consecutive hours.

The problem with the Stand circle in the overnight, in my experience, is that the Apple Watch thinks I stood and walked for a minute - while I was sleeping!!! The worst I got was, the Watch thought I stood for 5 hours during the night. Either I move very much, or I actually sleep walk, or that the Watch itself is overly sensitive...

Compare this to the measurement of my Fitbit Charge 2. Looking at the Fitbit app for the same night that I got the 5 "Stand" hours, the Charge 2 said I was "awake", as in I wasn't in "deep sleep" for three times during the night, but the Charge 2 didn't actually measure steps during those times!!! That was so weird!!!

Anyway…

I can understand why Apple didn't focus on the sleep tracking capabilities of the original Apple Watch. But with the increased battery life, I wish Apple would make the Series 2 watches capable of analyzing your sleep quality. I think a simple WatchOS update would be able to help with this.

And when the Apple Watch can measure sleep quality, is not overly sensitive, and can measure V02 Max, then it'll be a more complete fitness tracker.

Will hold my breath for those to happen!

You can download the HeartWatch and Pillow apps on the links below.

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My Review of the Apple Watch Series 2!

When Apple sold the first generation Apple Watch, they sold it as a jewelry, as a fashion accessory. As I am not into jewelry, the first Apple Watch didn't appeal to me. I've never worn a necklace nor gold bracelets. In my younger days, I wore earrings. But those days are now way behind me. Aside from my wedding band, there is nothing that can be considered a piece of jewelry on my person. The only accessories I use are a watch, which was replaced by a Fitbit band and, occasionally, a Buddhist bead (something to calm the mind when ever there is heavy traffic in Metro Manila. Which is everyday, every hour of the day...) I don't even have a watch that can be worn on formal occasions! 

But for the new Apple Watch, the company has launched the new version as a fitness accessory. Gone is the solid gold Apple Edition Watch and the most expensive version now, the white ceramic version, is a far cry from the price of the gold one from last year. And with this new branding, the Apple Watch, for me, has become really attractive.

One of my favorite accessory is the Fitbit Charge 2 (and the Surge before that). See, I was able to lead a healthier lifestyle because of those. There are some studies that say fitness bands don’t help much, but for me, they are a great tool. (Because, yes, there is no one-size-fits-all for anything, much less when it comes to fitness.) And since I am a technology/gadget nut, any piece of tech that can help me achieve my goal would be most welcome.

And that is why when Apple announced the Apple Watch Series 2, I immediately got interested…

Now, you may ask why I am doing an Apple Watch Series 2 review now, when it has already been released several months ago, a long time for tech. But, you must understand that the Philippines only got a release date in mid-November and, even then, availability of the Apple Watch here in the Philippines was really scarce. As a matter of fact, the different watches had been "available" online only this week. Prior to this week, all models, except for the ceramic one, had a 7 - 10 day shipping. And it's actually worse when you go to the different authorized Apple resellers. They actually don't have all the models in stock.

Such is the sad state of affairs for potential Apple Watch buyers here in the Philippines...

Anyway, I got the Series 2 watch because of its fitness benefits. With the addition of a GPS antenna, I can easily track my route even without an iPhone. However, the GPS antenna is fooled by the tall buildings in my neck of the woods (so to speak) and the watch sometimes track me crossing over roads and jumping over buildings… I am no Superman so it isn't possible for me to "leap tall buildings in a single bound"!

However, as far as step counting is concerned, the Apple Watch is pretty much consistent with the Fitbit Charge 2. I did several 500-step experiments using a counter and the two devices measure steps fairly precisely. However, the Apple Watch, in my experience, almost always counts more steps than the Fitbit.

The heart rate sensor on the Apple Watch is consistent with the sensor on the Fitbit Charge 2. The two, also, are both consistent with the built-in monitor in treadmills and ellipticals that I use in the gym. However, the Apple Watch is slow to catch up when my heart rate changes. For example, at warm up, my heart rate hovers at around 80 beats per minute. But when I start a run, my heart rate shoots up to around 120 beats per minute. Both the treadmill and the Fitbit Charge 2 measure the changes right away. It will take about half a minute for the Apple Watch to catch up. However, once the run is underway, the Apple Watch would measure the slow changes in my heart rate that is consistent with the machine in the gym and the Fitbit. (My target heart rate is 155 beats per minute, according to the V02 Max measurement of the Charge 2.) But, once cool down happens, the Apple Watch would have a hard time catching up again. So, two minutes into cool down, my heart rate would be measured at around 100 beats per minute by both the Fitbit Charge 2 and the treadmill, but the Apple Watch would still be measuring at around 130 beats per minute.

The Apple Watch is not good in measuring sudden changes in heart rate...

Speaking of heart rate, I notice that the watch doesn't treat all Exercises as equal. Say you do a 40-minute outdoor walk, my theory is, if your heart rate does not reach a certain level, then the watch will not credit you for the workout. It happened to me several times and I even have some friends confirm this phenomenon to me. I understand the reasoning behind not being given credit for the workout, but Apple should be more upfront about their requirements for an exercise to be considered an "Exercise".

But I love the way Apple has gamified fitness. Closing the rings is highly addicting!!! The rings consist of Move, Exercise and Stand. Move refers to the calories burned for a given exercise, that is, the calories that you burn when you actually move, not just for being alive! Exercise, as I have discussed above, refers to the jogging or the elliptical activity that you did, among others. My theory is, again, you should meet a minimum heart rate for you to be credited for it.

Also, even if you don't start a workout, the Apple Watch credits you when you do something that elevates your heart rate, like, when I walk from our house to meet with the wife for dinner, say, I usually do a brisk walk towards her and the watch gives me credit for it.

Move and Exercise can be won in one go, like a 40-minute intense elliptical exercise, but Stand must be won throughout the day. Since sitting is the new smoking, the Apple Watch prevents you from being sedentary during the day. Stand, one of the circles you would need to fill, is actually a misnomer. I thought that, just "standing" would add to a won hour. However, standing isn't enough - you actually need to walk for a minute or so, about 80 steps, for you to win the hour. And Apple's implementation of this is actually different with that of Fitbit. For the Apple Watch, you just need to walk for a minute for twelve hours during the day - the hours need not be sequential, though if you start at 11 am, then you would need to stand for the next twelve hours straight. But, if you start at, say, 6 am, and your day ends at midnight the next day, then you have 18 chances to win the hour. For Fitbit, however, you need to assign consecutive hours in which the Charge 2 will remind you to stand. You can choose from a minimum of 5 hours to a maximum of 14 hours.

At 10 minutes before the hour ends and you haven't taken 250 steps for the Fitbit or about 80 steps for the Apple Watch, then both will buzz to remind you to take some steps.

For wheelchair users, the Apple Watch will remind you instead to "roll".

There is a Nike+ branded Apple Watch Series 2 and that is only slightly different than a non-Nike+ branded one. With the Nike+ Apple Watch, you get a special, perforated Nike+ branded band, a Nike+ themed watch face and a special color associated with Nike Running. I believe the color is called "volt". Aside from those, there really is nothing different with any other Series 2 watch. Actually, if you don't have the Nike+ Run Club app on your iPhone, the watch will ask you to download it on the App Store. And what you will download is the same as what everyone else downloads.

Now, you would think that since there is a special collaboration between Apple and Nike, that the Nike+ app will be given a special access to the Health App in iOS... But, no, you would be wrong in thinking that. You see, when you do an outdoor run with the Workout App in the Apple Watch, all the metrics will be there in the Activity app on your iPhone: Active Calories, Total Calories, Distance, Total Time, Average Heart Rate, Average Pace, your split times, the map of your run, and the weather conditions when you ran.

When you run with the Nike+ Run Club app and look at the Activity app in the iPhone, you will not be shown the map of your run nor the weather conditions when you ran! I know I am nitpicking regarding this slight difference, but I thought that since there is a Nike+ branded app, all metrics will be made available to Nike! But no! If you want to see the map of your run, you will have to go to the Nike+ Run Club app on your iPhone. Or on a browser...

Anyway, I just wish the NIke+ bands will be sold separately by Apple...

The Apple Watch Series 2 is water resistant up to 50 meters. But as I am not a good swimmer, I haven't used it to measure laps. (Yep, I am not good at all!!!) However, I have taken it for a dip in the pool in our place and the watch has survived. Kudos to Apple for making the watch officially water proof.

For all the advances in technology in 2016, I actually cannot believe that the Apple Watch Series 2 still can’t measure floors climbed on its own! The Fitbit One, my first fitness tracker, launched in 2013 (or 2012?) and that was able to measure floors climbed! The same is true for my current Fitbit, the Charge 2! I don't understand why Apple wasn't able to put in a sensor for that!sometime in 2013 (or 2012?) already had it!

As a notifications device, the Apple Watch really shines. However, as I don't want to be inundated with so many notifications, I limit the notifications that will pop on the watch. I actually only have installed around 10 apps on the Watch and I don't even have photos and music in it. I don't have Twitter on it, nor Facebook, nor Instagram. I don't see the point of looking at photos on such a small screen. And yes, I can sync my music from the watch to a Bluetooth pair of earphones when I run but I actually only rarely do that - that is, listen to music while I jog... Only emails from assigned VIPs will pop on the watch, the rest can wait on my phone. I wish I can do the same for messages...

You can talk on the watch during a phone call and I did it once though I wouldn't do it again. I still value the privacy of my phone calls and I don't want other people hearing my conversations. Well, not hear half of the conversation anyway...

The screen is really bright and I actually set it to the lowest setting possible. At this lowest setting, one-third brightness, the screen is still visible under a glaring sun. Actually, at one-third setting, the old Apple Watch is only slightly brighter when that is set to maximum brightness.

Yes, that is a Fitbit Charge 2...

Since I only have a few notifications on my watch, I don't read Facebook nor Twitter posts on it, and I really only use it for fitness purposes, the battery of the Apple Watch, for me, lasts for about 48 hours. And, oh, if you use the built-in GPS, the watch battery will not last long also. However, I now wear the Apple Watch when I go to sleep so it can track my vitals, so what I do is, I charge it for an hour before I go to sleep - that is, I top it for an hour every 24 hours.

When you charge the watch, you can use it as a night stand clock, though the display is not switched on all the time. To view the time you can tap the watch or you can just tap the table the watch is charging on. This is highly convenient, though other people prefers that the display is always on. I, on the other hand, prefer how Apple has implemented the night stand mode.

So now, this is the ultimate question: will I give up my Fitbit Charge 2?

Oh, no, no, no, no, no! I won't give up the Charge 2 for two very specific reasons: it is still better at measuring my resting heart rate and it can automatically measure the quality of my sleep. Yes, there are apps out there that say they can do those things, but I still prefer my Charge 2 as my companion while I sleep. Also, the Apple Watch is heavier than the Charge 2 which makes wearing more uncomfortable during the overnight hours, though, as I've said, I have begun wearing the Apple Watch to sleep just recently.

But all-in-all, I love the new Apple Watch. If you have the original Apple Watch, now unofficially called version 0, there isn't a compelling reason to upgrade to the new one. But if you are still on the fence with the Apple Watch, now is a good time to get one. And if you are in the Apple ecosystem anyway, then the Apple Watch is the best way to go.

If you can find one anyway...

Highly Recommended!

Some photos were made with the Canon G7x Mark II. You can find my review of that camera here!

Photos were edited using the iOS app VSCO

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Apple's Own Fragmentation...

Dear Apple.

You used to make fun of Android for its fragmentation... Now, I think you have lost the moral high ground on the topic... It would have been an easier transition if you included an adapter inside the box of the new MacBook Pros like what you did with the iPhone 7/7+.

From Gizmodo...

"It’s not easy to figure out exactly what cord you need, (either). There’s a lot of vague technobabble around most cords: male to female, micro vs mini. It can get confusing! That’s is why this guide to the dongles you’ll need to prepare for the mono-port future."

The fact that a guide is needed speaks volume...

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Apple Watch Buyers... Take Note...

So, I went to some Apple Authorized Resellers and Apple Premium Resellers in my neck of the woods looking for an Apple Watch Series 2.

Long story short, some sellers don’t know the difference between the Series 1 Apple Watches to the original Apple Watch.

The conversation goes like this:

• Me: Do you have an Apple Watch Series 2? 
• Seller: We only have the Series 1.
• Me (looking at the box): This is the original Apple Watch.
• Seller: Yes, that is the Series 1.
• Me: No, the Series 1 is the original Apple Watch but has the newer processor.
• Seller: No, the one with the newer processor is the Series 2.
• Me (seeing the futility…): Ah… Do you have the Stainless Steel Series 2?
• Seller: Yes. (Went to the back to get the box…) It only comes with the red sport band.
• Me (confused): I didn’t know Apple offers this in the new Series 2 watches…
• Seller: That’s the Series 1 Stainless Steel.
• Me (again, seeing the futility…): Ah, I see. Do you have Nike+ Apple Watches?
• Seller: Right now, we don’t have Series 2, we only have Series 1.
• Me (out of my wits…): Ah, ok, I’ll wait for the Series 2…

And I don’t think this is exclusive to the Philippines…

My sister-in-law who lives and works in a different country asked about the stainless steel Apple Watch. She was shown the aluminum watch. The sis-in-law insisted that they are not the same, as is obvious in the photos. The seller said photos can be altered!!! What?!?

So, if you are gonna buy, first, only buy from authorized Apple re-sellers! Then, even if you do buy from an authorized re-seller, make sure you read the label on the box!!! Or else you might get something that you didn’t want to in the first place…

(Screen grab from 9to5mac.com)