Want some time telling with your data gizmo?
I’ve been testing the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 recently. I’m an Android developer, and thought it would be fun to expand my skillset into Wear OS apps and watch faces. You see, Wear OS, Android’s version of watchOS, allows developers to make watch faces and watch apps in a variety of ways. Developers have freedom to create and users have freedom of choice. I never was a fan of many of Apple’s watch face selections, and have found far more that I like on Samsung’s smartwatch in less than a week of testing it that I did in years of owning an Apple Watch. Plus there’s the ones I plan to make myself!
But what if it’s not just the Apple watch faces I don’t like? The Apple Watch design contributes to its face too. A watch design is only as good as its case and face, combined. There was one thing that was clear to me with the Apple Watch from the beginning, but didn’t quite click until I started wearing real watches again. The Apple Watch is a shrunken iPhone 6… and the iPhone 6 design was the worst iPhone design Apple made. The Apple Watch still hasn’t fundamentally changed in eight generations of the device, and still looks like an ugly iPhone 6, shrunken down on your wrist. It’s out of place and was based on my least favorite iPhone design to begin with.
At first I thought perhaps all smartwatches were ugly, but when I first saw the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and 5, I was surprised. It actually looks like a watch, and a decent enough one at that. Smartwatches don’t have to be ugly, Apple just chose to make theirs ugly.
Square, Round, Whatever
The Samsung design is far from perfect, but its longer lugs and smooth lines give it an elegant shape, especially in comparison to Apple’s stubby, unmatched lugs
I own square watches. In fact, Swatch just announced some gorgeous square watches and I ordered one as soon as they were available for preorder. Square can definitely be done right. So when I saw that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 is a much better looking watch than the Apple Watch, you can bet it isn’t just because of the shape of the watch. The key to any watch shape is making sure all the parts fit together just right. That lines curve, bands match up to features on the face, lugs are the right distance apart. Every piece of a watch goes into its appearance, it all has to work together. Yet few, if any, of the visible parts of the Apple Watch fit together like this.
An iPhone 6 for Your Wrist, a Shoe on Your Head
All of these are Apple first party bands, yet they don’t seem to match the finish of the Apple Watch for the lugs, and all feel out of place. Nothing looks good on this thing
Okay, stick with me on this one. An iPhone is pretty. The design is kind of bland and boring at this point, and the camera bumps are getting absolutely ridiculous, but the lines match up well, the aluminum has a nice sheen, the glass is shiny. It’s fine. It’s a pretty device. But just because something looks good as a phone doesn’t mean it would look good as a watch. Just as a a Louis Vuitton pump can look gorgeous, but would be silly on your head. Slapping a shrunken down iPhone 6, possibly Apple’s worst design, onto your wrist is just ridiculous, even if, outside of their intended uses, they could have nice design elements.
A watch is an accessory. It’s a piece of an ensemble, an accent on your wrist. You can’t just slap any old thing on your body somewhere, it has to fit in. Apple’s watch doesn’t even make considerations for different bands. It’s a rounded blob, with little character or design of its own. It’s generic, with its unique attributes standing out as odd and unbalanced. The digital crown isn’t centered, but closer to the top to make room for another button. But perhaps the worst part is the lug “mouths.” Slots that grab on to an Apple-specific lug shape that means your watch bands will never quite match.
Bands Binding Apple
When I first saw Apple’s watch, I figured they made their proprietary lug system simply to be different. Just as they used Lightning cables for years, despite USB-C being a better option, they’d stick with this to retain control. They wanted to say exactly what kind of items could go with their watches. However, by doing so, they relinquished control over the appearance of the Apple Watch entirely. They also assured their most faithful customers would trap them into a design with a collection of mismatched watch bands. Third parties have been making their own Apple Watch lugs and bands for years now. Apple never had control over the lugs on their own watches or the bands they used.
Apple gave up control over the lugs on their watch, and the design is worse for it
The Samsung Galaxy Watch is shaped like a normal watch. It has lugs built in. These lugs are part of the case, which wraps itself around the circular face of the watch. The design feels like traditional watchmaking upholding a smartwatch. It’s a blend of both styles, and it works quite well. Apple, however, took nothing from traditional watch design, and instead made a body that wraps around custom lugs that then hold a strap. This means that, when buying an Apple Watch strap, you also have to swap out the lugs themselves. This drastically changes the design of the watch. The lugs will never match the watch perfectly, and will always stand out. Even first party Apple lugs don’t match the Apple Watch, in part because they were made for older generations of the watch with different finishes, but also because they’re literally separate from the body. Lugs could also come in a variety of shapes and designs. By making the lugs a separate piece of the watch, Apple made it so they could never fully control what the Apple Watch looks like. It’s likely the opposite of Apple wanted, and degrades the appearance of Apple’s wearable. Designs should flow, feel seamless, and with the Apple Watch, that’s never possible.
Now people have large collections of Apple Watch bands. Some of them were cleverly designed to simply add a normal watch band to a lug adapter. These bands would carry over to a redesigned Apple Watch, as long as they’re the right width. If Apple picks a common 20mm size for their lug width, they could luck out. Many users will have to ditch their bands, some of which they might like, if Apple releases a new Apple Watch that doesn’t have replaceable lugs. In some ways, this traps Apple into this mismatched design too.
A Better Apple Watch is Possible
It feels wrong to place these two watches together, but, while not perfect, you can see how Samsung at least drew inspiration from classic watchmaking and created something more elegant than the Apple Watch.
It’s not like Apple can’t make a better watch, they just have to do the one thing they haven’t done since they introduced the Apple Watch: design a new watch. Better flowing design, flatter sides, lugs on the case, and, yes, perhaps a circular shape. Having used the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 for a few days now (review coming soon), I can’t tell you how much more I like the circular shape. Sure, you lose some space in the corners for complications. You know what I don’t need? 8 complications. I like a date complication. Maybe a moon phase. Weather is a fun smartphone-only complication. And, if it’s a chronograph, sure, that’s a fantastic complication. But I don’t need to count my steps daily every time I look at my watch. I don’t need to know the battery life until it becomes a problem. I don’t need constant alerts. Having the data ready and available is enough, it doesn’t need to crowd the face.
Apple needs to go back to the drawing table. Until then, I think my fitness tracker will be the Samsung watch I got just to make watch faces. Might as well look good while I’m doing anything, right?