Skip to main content

What do millennials really think about the Apple Watch?

When visualizing the target demographic of most consumer tech companies, it’s likely that millennials would come in at the top of the list. Their shopping patterns haven’t hardened, and you don’t have to explain to them the difference between a text message and an email, as you do with older consumers who didn’t spend their adolescence with an iPhone glued to the center of their palms.

But even in our tech-savvy, digitally literate generation, some inventions still don’t get our blood pumping the way their makers may want them to. Take, for example, the Apple Watch, which in its first generation release, hasn’t achieved widespread adoption (likely because of its hefty price tag). So in order to figure out what millennials really think of the Apple wearable, Buzzfeed surveyed its editorial department to get the lowdown on the good and the bad of the gadget.

Recommended Videos

It is notable that none of the Buzzfeeders surveyed (130 out of 500 responded) had to pay for their Apple Watches — rather, they were given out as bonuses back in June (how do I get into that office, right?).

“Overall,” Buzzfeed discovered, employees “said the Apple Watch added convenience to their lives and helped improve their health. But while most were glad to have the device, the majority felt it wasn’t worth its price ($350+) and said they wouldn’t recommend it to others.” Womp womp.

Just under two out of three respondents said they wore the watch every day, and a similar percentage noted that before the Apple device, they went watch-less on a daily basis. But when it came to some of the Apple Watch’s supposedly key features, few wearers actually said they made use of them. For example, 86 percent of respondents said they never used Apple Pay and 75 percent never used Passbook — rather, most people seemed most taken by notifications (for emails, texts, and alerts) and fitness tracking.

“I like it because it helps me check my phone less often, and ironically, I feel like I live less digitally these days,” one employee wrote. “I can put my phone away in my bag and not feel separation anxiety that I need to look at it every 30 seconds. (I can’t believe I just wrote that, but it’s true.) I also love the activity monitor and the workout app. It’s also become sort of an odd party trick, too, because everyone always wants to talk about it and see how it works.”

Still, in spite of its perks, a surprising 80 percent “wouldn’t recommend that someone else buy an Apple Watch” due to “limited app and overall functionality, less than desirable battery life, and a confusing interface.” As one respondent said, “Watches exist for two reasons: tell the time, and tell other people that you’re rich. This product shoved so many bells and whistles in there that it manages to do both but with such an added level of pretentiousness that I felt mostly embarrassed to be wearing it.”

So there you have it, friends. If you get one for free, embrace it. But otherwise, your millennial peers aren’t sold quite yet on the wonders of the Apple Watch.

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
Is watchOS 11 giving you bad Apple Watch battery life? A fix is here
Someone wearing an original Apple Watch Ultra showing the battery.

The launch of Apple's watchOS 11 a few weeks ago brought many exciting new features to the , including a translation app, sleep apnea detection, and even new watch faces.

Unfortunately, it also introduced a bug that chews through the watch's battery like a bear in an apple orchard. Good news: Apple is releasing a fix for this annoying glitch in watchOS 11.0.1.

Read more
Sleep apnea detection is now available for these two Apple Watches
Activating Siri on the Apple Watch Series 9.

Last week, during the "It's Glowtime" event, Apple announced that sleep apnea tracking would arrive on the Apple Watch as soon as it received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. That approval has now arrived, and as such, the sleep apnea feature is rolling out to the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 today as part of the watchOS 11 update. Meanwhile, the Apple Watch Series 10 will have the feature when it launches this Friday.

Apple's sleep apnea feature works by using the new Breathing Disturbances metric. It takes advantage of the accelerometer in your Apple Watch to track how often you're moving around during the night. These movements can indicate an interruption in sleep, and the count is analyzed every 30 days. The Watch will notify users if consistent signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea are shown.

Read more
You now have another reason to use your Apple Watch’s ECG feature
ECG on the Apple Watch Series 7.

Most of us wear an Apple Watch to track our steps and respond to texts on the go, ignoring the more advanced features — but sometimes, those features could save your life. Rachel Manolo says the Apple Watch helped keep both her and her unborn child safe.

Manolo was around 18 weeks pregnant when her symptoms first started: a racing heartbeat, shortness of breath, fatigue. After several weeks of this, she decided to use the ECG function on her Apple Watch. It gave her an inconclusive result, but she reported a heartbeat of more than 150 beats per minute (bpm) for more than 40 minutes.

Read more