Apple Watch Series 5 vs Rolex Datejust | Real World Review

Video Transcription

Hey guys it’s Nathan with a Crown & Caliber and what I have here is an Apple Watch Series 5 and what I have here is a 15-year-old Datejust. And for the next couple of weeks I’ve decided to wear this instead of this so I can give a comparison of the two. Now before people start freaking out in the comments, I know that this watch cost about ten times with this watch cost, but nevertheless I think there’s a lot that I can learn from wearing the two and comparing them. And I’m really interested to see how technology has changed the watch industry. So in this video we’re going to start with an unboxing because it’s an Apple product and that’s just what you do and then I’m going to highlight some of the day-to-day realizations that I have while wearing the Apple Watch, and then ultimately give my opinion and comparison of my Rolex Datejust, which is the daily wear, to an Apple Watch Series 5. Let’s get to it!

Apple Watch Series 5 Unboxing

So here we have the Apple Watch Series 5 packaging. Kind of classic satin white Apple box. Flip it over and you can see I went with the 40-millimeter Space Gray aluminum version with the sport band. So, let’s go ahead and hop into this packaging. That box just drops out. It’s a perfect fit. We’ve got… Appears to be a QuickStart guide. Put that to the side. We got the charger, the magnetic charger and then here’s the watch. It’s in a little felt sleeve and there it is right there. You can see the sensor on the back. Things pretty awesome.

So, let’s go ahead and then check out the strap here. Open that up, and again great packaging. Pretty simple. Instructions on how to install it. So, I will go ahead and get this strap installed and we’ll be right back. So, here’s the watch. I’ve put it on the strap and surprisingly it is not that much bigger than the Datejust, and to be completely honest it is nowhere near 40 millimeters across. Definitely closer in size to the Datejust, but we’ll get more dimensions on screen toward the end of the review. But very svelte design. The strap feels great. So definitely an awesome piece and excited to try it out and get this process underway.

Apple Watch Series 5 Daily Check-Ins

 

Okay guys, this will be a quick recap of the Apple Watch that I’ve started wearing. Interesting, you know, hasn’t really grown on me yet. The fact that it vibrates every time I get a text message for me is a little… a little annoying. And I know I can change that, but I do want to try and take advantage of everything it offers. Right now, I’m kind of just getting used to it and there’s definitely a lot more capabilities than my Datejust had. So more to come. We will see. All right I’ll check in later. All right guys I’m out on a ride and I’ve got the watch on. Let’s see here. No hands! And we’re trying the workout feature. So, I’m out!

 

Hey guys checking in for the Apple Watch Series 5 review and I found a few features that I liked on this. So, most notably, is a feature called breathe that actually allows you to slow down and you can kind of preprogram it for a minute or two minutes or longer if you want and kind of just get you to reset which I actually really enjoyed. And then I also really do enjoy the Heart Rate function. Being someone that does like the exercise a lot it’s kind of cool that I do have a heartrate on me at all times. And I can check it. It can give me an average. It can give my resting heart rate, and any number of different heart rates. So really enjoyed that and kind of starting to see how all the functionalities that are in this watch can become something that is kind of hard to give up if it has become your norm. So, I think it’s an interesting change just a few days in, but we’ll see where things go.

Check in the Apple watch Series 5 review and had some interesting insights over the past day. The watch died on me, and it brought up an interesting point that I feel like this is more akin to a phone than a watch and I know if you were to have a manual wound mechanical watch you would have to wind it every day or every other day or what have you to keep it running but what’s interesting is if a manual watch dies you can wind it immediately and it’s up and going whereas this died I had to take it off and set it down and charge it for an amount of time so that I could wear it again. And so, I think that’s an interesting point that I’m sure will we’ll come back to. Is this definitely feels more like a phone than a watch. But on a good note I was wearing it and it was dark and I looked down and I could easily tell what time it is. So, being that it’s a screen its ability to tell time in night is far superior to any luminescence I’ve ever seen on a watch. So that’s a pretty cool feature that I discovered over the past day. Another feature that I really enjoyed is having a stopwatch built in. That’s pretty cool I know your phone has it as well and in theory if you have a chronograph and it does as well but a Datejust doesn’t so and that is kind of nice that with the tap of a button I am able to pretty quickly have the stopwatch pulled up. And that just comes in handy, whether it’s cooking something or just wanting the time something so um I do enjoy that feature and I think as I wear it more and more I find more and more features that the watch does have and I’m learning that it has a lot. So, there you go I’ll see you guys later.

 

Hey guys it’s Nathan checking in for his daily update on the Apple Watch Series 5. Out on a walk with my dog Biscuit. Say hey Biscuit. There you go. And I had a pretty cool realization. I realized that this watch allows you to have a lot of information at your fingertips. So, it seems like a pretty obvious thing to realize but if I don’t always have my phone on me which I don’t always. Obviously, I do right now, I’m filming, but it allows me to check things so I know if I got text messages or work messages or I can check the weather. So, in that instance it’s super helpful and I think it kind of is the kind of the crux of the watch because if you don’t want all this information well it’s there but when you do you do have it. So that’s it for today. I realized an interesting point as I was making myself a drink. There are times that I would take off my Datejust that I’m not taking off the Apple Watch. And even though after work I’m having a stirred cocktail if, I were making a shaken cocktail I would definitely take off my Datejust, where I wouldn’t feel the need to take off the Apple Watch. And I think that has two main factors. I think it’s the complexity in the movement of the Rolex versus there’s not as many moving parts in this but also the cost. And I was thinking about it if I were to go hop in a pool, I wouldn’t feel the need to take this off and they both have similar water resistance so I really do think it comes down to probably the cost difference. So that’s really my thought for the day. So, Cheers.

Apple Watch Series 5 Conclusion

All right guys so I’ve been wearing this Apple Watch Series 5 now for weeks and I think it’s safe to say that my verdict is in on the Apple Watch versus my Datejust. And so what I want to do is I’m going to go ahead and give you some of the pros and cons that I discovered while wearing this watch in comparison to the Datejust and then ultimately end with my summary of the Apple Watch and give you what I like to call my “Hot Takes”. So, my watch “Hot Takes” on the Apple Watch Series 5. So let’s hop in and what I’m going to do is I’m going to go ahead and put some information up here on the screen for you so you can kind of follow along. We’ll start with the pros.

Apple Watch Series 5 Pros

First and foremost, the Apple Watch Series 5 is extremely customizable. In the entry-level aluminum case, you can get a variety of different finishes, you can get a variety of different straps, and to not stop there even the face is customizable. So, you can choose different face layouts to suit your needs, and then even what information is displayed on that face along with the time you can choose. So, it’s extremely customizable for your style and it can really be an extension of who you are in a way that sometimes this is, you know, really can’t. It’s pretty straight forward. And I think that’s great. The next Pro. There are so many apps and so many features and information built into that watch and in the two weeks I wore it I didn’t even scratch the surface in all of the apps and features probably in the watch, and that doesn’t even include, kind of, third-party apps that you can pair with the device. And I think that even kind of furthers that first point of customizability, is you can really tailor it to your needs which is pretty good. It’s pretty awesome for a $400 kind of wearable tech. And that’s where the pros stop.

Apple Watch Series 5 Cons

So, I have three cons. Con number one. The cost, and before you freak out and say I’m wearing $4,000 watch stick with me. That’s the entry-level Apple Watch and it cost $400. If you want the next level up, that’s stainless steel, you’re at seven or eight hundred dollars. If you want the next level up, that’s a limited edition or one of the ceramic cases, you’re now at twelve to thirteen hundred dollars. And so, all of the sudden it’s not as affordable and it’s getting even closer to this. And then, this kind of teeters into my second point.

Is let’s say you go with the middle of the road one. The $800 one. That watch is meant to be replaced every year. Apple releases a new Apple Watch almost every year. So now your $800 watch two years in is a $1600 investment that again is going to need to be replaced in the next year, and to that point I mentioned kind of the fast fashion. It’s a device that I don’t think is going to stand the test of time. I kind of think of it like the like the car phone which became obsolete because of the cell phone and I don’t know where wearable tech is going but my guess is it’s not going to be a wristwatch. I think this is where the Datejust really kind of excels in the fact that this technology is pretty antiquated. It’s centuries-old, but that almost works in its favor and it has stood the test of time. So you have a piece that ends up being a lot more expensive than you realize as the years go on and ultimately I don’t think it’s going to stand the test of time.

And on to my final Con about the Apple watch. Is the immense amount of information and apps that are at your fingertips, and I know I said that was also a pro and this is really where I want to land the plane on the Apple Watch. And it’s what I like to call the caveat of it. Is you have all this information at your fingertips when you want it and all this information at your fingertips when you don’t want it. So, I’ve been wearing the watch for about two days and I was getting the notifications when it would buzz and I would do this, and I was in a conversation with someone and my wrist vibrated, and I did this and it hit me. Oh! I have another screen that’s vying for my attention. It’s already a struggle to not look at your phone 24 hours a day, and now I’ve strapped another screen that’s readily accessible to my wrist. And I do this all day. Snapping me out of the here and now. And I think that is a real problem, and I’m going to submit to you I think Apple recognized their folly in creating what I’m going to call the monster of the Apple Watch. Because they’ve almost pivoted the product. It almost has become more of a wellness device. Features like the Breathe app, the activity rings that you want to fill up, the reminders to stand up, the SOS fall feature. All of these are kind of a pivot to make it more of that wellness device, and frankly those were some of my favorite things. That breathe app and the ability to always have the heart rate on hand.

And so, I think Apple has recognized they’ve created another device that is kind of sucking your attention and I just don’t want that. That’s not what I want strapped to my wrist. I want to be able to enjoy the moment, whether I’m on a walk or I’m sitting across the table from my wife eating dinner. I want to be in the moment and this watch doesn’t allow you to do that.

Apple watch Series 5 “Hot Takes”

And so here are my watch “Hot Takes”, and I bet you can guess where these are going on the Apple Watch Series 5: It is a jack-of-all-trades and it’s a master of none. What I mean by that, is it does a lot of things decent but not well. When I went on my bike ride and I used the activity feature on that, it was nearly ten percent off at the end of the ride for my average heart rate compared to my forty-dollar chest-mounted heart rate monitor. That’s not great. Next up. I think it’s gimmicky. I think it’s a toy. You don’t interact with it like a watch. You interact with it like another, smaller, less powerful phone. And after a couple of weeks, months it’s just going to be another toy. It’s a gimmick. And lastly, it’s not worth the cost.

For $400 you can get a far more superior watch. Whether that’s something like a Garmin watch meant for running or that is a time only analog watch. And I know I’m wearing a $4,000 Rolex and so the comparison can kind of fall flat in that regard. But my first mechanical watch was a $70 Seiko 5, and I would take that every day over the Apple Watch Series 5. So, my recommendation is don’t get the Apple Watch Series 5 because it’s a jack-of-all-trades it’s a master of none, it’s gimmicky and it’s a toy, and it’s just not worth the cost. Take that money, go look at something like a Seiko, go look at something like a micro brand like Monta, or save up and get into the mainstream brands like the TAGs, the OMEGAs, the Rolexs and I guarantee you’re going to be more satisfied with your timepiece.

So, let me know in the comments below what you think. I’m pretty sure I just pissed off every Apple fanboy, but I’m excited to really hear what you guys think. Let me know about your experience with the Apple Watch and with the mechanical watch if you’ve had both and what side you fall on and let’s continue the conversation guys.