The Apple Watch Series 3 Cellular lets you leave the phone and its countless distractions behind, yet keeping you connected in case you need to be reached. This is Apple’s first smartwatch with a cellular radio built-in, and it flaunts the ability to connect to 4G networks independent of your phone.
The question we try to answer for most iPhone owners (yes, the watch is still compatible only with Apple’s smartphones, that too only those on the Airtel and Jio networks) - is the Series 3 Cellular worth the added premium?
Pros:
- Cellular connectivity enhances the Watch experience
- Innovative eSIM keeps design slick
- Hardware, build top notch
- Streaming Apple Music over 4G is a delight
Cons:
- Limited to Airtel and Jio for now
- LTE-only battery life reaffirms dependence on the iPhone
- No sleep tracking, still limited to iPhone
What’s Good?
Save for the red dot that visually distinguishes the Cellular variant from the regular Watch Series 3, there’s little to tell the two apart, and that might bother a few folks who may have wished for some added flair for the extra seven grand they dropped for the cellular version. Well, at least there’s a new exclusive ‘Explorer’ watch face that shows you a signal strength indicator when you’re solely on 4G.
The now familiar design – the square design with rounded edges – continues to not only feel the most premium (despite the three years of the Apple watch being around) but also the most comfortable one to wear. The clean lines and polish of the watch aren’t marred by the inclusion of the connectivity-enabling SIM, since Apple has used an electronic “virtual” SIM embedded inside the wearable.
During the setup, you simply log into the operator (Airtel and Jio for now) to pair the watch SIM with your phone number, and from there on, the watch shares the same number, same data connection and same bill plan as the phone number on your iPhone.
This despite the watch existing as an independent device, merely by the electronic “cloning” of the SIM. It’s a neat bit of tech wizardry on Apple’s part, with support from their telecom partners.
The best bit – neither Airtel nor Jio are billing you extra for using the Watch Series 3 Cellular with your existing number. Not that you’d want them to get ideas, but operators in the US charge an extra $10/month for the same service.
But let’s get to the 39,080-rupee question – what does 4G connectivity bring to the regular Series 3, which in and of itself is still the wearable to beat. With the addition of cellular to the existing WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity options, the watch is a more complete device, with and without your iPhone.
Almost instantly, you can imagine a couple of scenarios where the cellular connectivity – and mirroring your phone connection – could be handy. Within the first couple of hours, I was comfortable enough with leaving the phone behind when I went for a swim or a light run, or when I popped over to the neighborhood market to pick up some groceries.
Look, it’s not meant to completely replace your phone for the whole day – the four-hour battery life on LTE means that this is a device that uses 4G data only when absolutely needed.
The rest of the time, the Watch toggles between using Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for connectivity, depending on where you (and your iPhone) are – like for instance, if you’re connected to a known wireless network. It’s only when you’re out and the phone isn’t around that it searches for a cellular connection to latch onto.
Save for the odd signal issues and bad patches of the Airtel network, the watch works rather well on 4G. Make calls, receive calls and SMSs, book an Uber or catch up on the news alerts while you’re waiting for the cab to arrive, the watch manages without the iPhone with consummate ease.
Call quality is good, and the audio is loud, especially if you’re driving in a car, but out in public, you’d probably want to pair the watch with a pair of AirPods or some other Bluetooth headphones.
Another big benefit of 4G – the ability to stream music on Apple Music directly to the watch without actually having to store the music on the device when you’re out for your morning run! You can use voice commands with Siri on the go as well.
Of course, the core watch experience doesn’t change – the OLED screen is rich and bright for outdoor use, and the overall experience is still super fluid, thanks to the faster S3 processor that powers the Series 3. And then there’s the same fitness tracking and comprehensive app support that the watch ecosystem is already well known for.
What’s Bad?
While the eSIM is an elegant solution to add cellular connectivity to the watch, it is limited currently to the launch partners, so Vodafone users are out of luck.
Even for Airtel and Jio users, 4G connectivity on the watch is limited to national roaming, and the watch switches to the regular Series 3 mode (no cellular connectivity) when roaming abroad. You can’t switch/handover calls from the watch to the iPhone when you’re out and are back in proximity of the phone, a minor issue.
Another thing you cannot do is leave the phone behind for a whole day out, so keep that in mind when anyone paints a picture of this device letting you leave the phone behind when you head to work – you’ll likely be hunting for a phone charger by lunch!
Another long-standing quibble, possibly a feature request for the watch Series 4 – sleep tracking. It’s an incredibly helpful feature, and the watch will be a better fitness wearable with it than without it.
Why Buy It?
Even though the added connectivity is hugely liberating for fitness enthusiasts and busy professionals, it’s still an indulgence for most folks.
If you haven’t picked up a Series 3 yet and are one of those folks who place a premium on lesser screen time and the constant distractions that are our smartphones, the watch allows you to do all that without being truly disconnected.
For the rest of us, you could do just as well by buying a regular Series 3 and spending the cash you save on some additional watch bands.
(Tushar Kanwar is a technology columnist and commentator and has been contributing for the past 15 years to India’s leading newspapers and magazines. He tweets @2shar.)
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