See that title? Kind of plain, right? I didn’t want to have any spoilers in the title. But I just can’t hold it in anymore.
This is, by far, the worse watch band I’ve ever owned.
It induces pain. Pain! It actually hurts to wear this! Not uncomfortable, not sweaty, not kind of gross, pain. I have indentations in my wrist at any tightness level, even making it ridiculously loose! Going two sizes under what should be a comfortable fit still leaves it digging into the sides of my wrist. It’s almost funny.
It would be funnier if it wasn’t a $40 watch band.
I’m going to keep this review short because, frankly, I could only withstand it for a few hours at a time, and definitely couldn’t give it the “full” test I normally do. Plus, I challenged myself to wear it for the duration of writing this review, so I’ve got to do it before it cuts my wrist off.
Stick with me, this one’s almost funny.
In This Article:
Appearance 7/10
You know, it actually doesn’t look too bad, if you can get the buckle to lay flat. It’s got a somehow elegant appearance, despite being transparent TPU. It reminds me of the 90’s, a simpler time when I didn’t have to worry about potentially killing someone if I don’t wear two masks when I go to the store.
It’s cute, chic, even. That transparent TPU has a wonderfully retro-futuristic 90’s vibe and I love it. It’s a shame it has a cheaper appearance on the buckle side due to the buckle sticking out and watch band not laying flat due to the stiffness of this material. That’s actually why I had to take points off of the appearance. It only looks good from the top.
You can also get it customized with whatever you want it to say. I went with “ouchy,” because they don’t allow swear words that more accurately convey how this band makes me feel.
Comfort 1/10
Pain. This watch band causes pain. It digs into the sides of your wrist because of its shape constantly trying to straighten itself out. It sort of makes an egg shape as it sits on your wrist, even when you wear it as loose as possible. Tightening it means more pain everywhere.
Also, the band has a sort of curved shape on the inside. This, presumably, is to let sweat evaporate from the inside. It doesn’t work well. Instead, those edges just dig into your wrist like sad little TPU knives.
Seriously, just don’t wear this.
I will admit that it gets more comfortable after a few hours. If you force yourself to wear this for about three hours, it won’t hurt as bad. But taking the band off shows deep red marks that suggest I just got used to the pain and my brain has been filtering it out. I’ve had 8 hour tattoo sessions before, and by the end, I couldn’t feel it at all, so I assume it’s like that. Of course, tattooing leaves marks I want on my skin.
Quality 3/10
Pain aside, how’s the quality? Well, not great. The TPU is fine, it’s a… fine TPU. It’s good enough. A bit stiff, obviously, but it’s not as though it’s falling apart or poorly shaped. It was designed to be painful! Right?
The Apple Watch lugs are the real problem. The part that actually attaches this to the Apple Watch? It should do so securely, right? Well, not here at Casetify. Instead, these lugs shake in the Apple Watch body, adjusting by more than I’ve ever seen an Apple Watch lug move around. It’s like they made an educated guess on the diameter of the inside of the Apple Watch lug area, rather than using the specs that Apple provides. The clasp doesn’t lay flat either, a flaw in its design. In fact, I’d say the lack of testing that went into this alone resulted in a lower quality. I know no one could have actually worn this for any length of time, so how could it be of any quality?
Durability ??/??
Listen, I could barely wear this for a few hours, let alone the weeks I normally do to test the wear and tear over a period of time. So it’s incredibly durable, as long as you wear it for an appropriate amount of time, which is never.
Fitness and Sleep
This was a hard angle to photograph, so I used a wrist surrogate, my glasses case. Note the upturned buckle and pin.
You can wear this to sleep, actually. You consider being drugged in a dark alleyway and thrown into a dumpster sleep, right? No? Okay, then you cannot wear this to sleep.
Also, wear it if you hate your sheets. Like, you really want to get rid of some sheets but don’t have a good enough excuse to throw them out yet. I don’t know why you hate those sheets so much, but if you do, you can use this watch band to give you an excuse to throw them out, it might help.
Because if you loosen this band up, which is the only way to keep it from causing you enough pain that you worry it my have broken the skin, then the metal clasp will stick out. It will actually stick out from the band. It’ll catch on things you rub it up against.
As for fitness, you know what? I normally work out in the afternoons, and I couldn’t wear this watch long enough to get a workout. I’d swap it out before lunch time. Give me 10 minutes, I’ll go sweat in it real quick.
<Author’s note: I really did go get a workout just to finish this article.>
Okay, I’m back. Pushed really hard on my exercise bike for 10 minutes to get some sweat going for this review of my uncomfortable watch band.
You’re welcome.
It’s surprisingly not less comfortable when you sweat. Just, basically still the same levels of pain and discomfort. It’s as though the pain prevents you from noticing any discomfort. Still, it traps sweat, gets kind of gross underneath it, and I just know if I sweat more and longer I’d get salt buildup which would only make it more grating. Like having a little bit of sand under your already painful watch band.
Value 1/10
I’m sure if you wanted to pay for pain it wouldn’t be like this. Extra spicy Pad Thai? Let’s try it. Getting a crazy good workout rock climbing and finding your arms are painful jelly blobs the next day? Fun and a good fitness regimen! Hiring a dominatrix? Hey, whatever hurts your boat. But wearing a watch band? Not my idea of getting your money’s worth. The fact that the band doesn’t even fit the Apple Watch right or the clasp sticks out just further hurts its value.
It’s $40!
$40!
I paid $40 to be hurt like this!
Why?
The lugs don’t fit right, the bands hurt, the buckle sticks out. There’s nothing on this watch band that I can actually salvage! $40 for nothing!
No, it’s not a good value. It’s an awful value. It’s the opposite of a value.
Overall 1/10
This is the worst watch band I have ever worn. It causes me physical pain. It’s uncomfortable. It’s not measured properly for the Apple Watch. It has parts that stick out because you can’t wear it properly because it causes pain.
Hey, if you still want to buy it, Casetify has it available on their website. Although I recommend going for a much nicer Casetify watch band.
As soon as I was done writing this, I put on my Archer Canvas Strap. It was like putting on a nice warm hoodie during chilly fall weather. A perfect fit. It had only been on for about 6 hours, but I had forgotten that wrists could feel comfortable.
Seriously, what were they thinking with this thing?