Along with a new iPhone 7, I also ordered a new Apple Watch Series 2.
One of my biggest issues with the original Apple Watch was the lack of GPS. So, when I watched the reveal and hear that not only would the Series 2 include GPS, but also be faster and more waterproof, I was sold.
I received the watch last week, and finally went for a run without my phone last night. After ensuring that I had a music playlist synced – which still took a while despite the improved processor speed in the Series 2 – and pairing a set of bluetooth headphones, I was ready to go.
I headed out the door and felt a bit naked without a phone in my pocket, but it felt nice to be free. The best thing was just starting my workout like normal – no ‘waiting for satellites’ message as I was used to on my Garmin watch in the past. I just started running and hoping that my route was being tracked. There’s no visual indication that GPS is active (at least not that I could see), which seemed a bit weird, but I put my trust that Apple’s marketing was right.
Sure enough, the miles seemed to be ticking away and seemed pretty accurate. When I returned home, my route was mapped out perfectly and all seemed well. I had a few bluetooth issues with music cutting out once I got close to home, so I wonder if there was some issue with bluetooth trying to switch back to my phone, or weird GPS interference somehow. Either way, it was a frustrating way to end the run.
There are definitely times when I am going to want to run with my phone – especially if I plan to listen to any podcasts – as Overcast currently does not support syncing files to the watch (please add this in Marco!), but all-in-all it was nice to run without the extra weight / bulk of the phone, especially now with the 7 Plus.