Headphones, helmets, watches, hydration belts, books, bib tights and more used and abused to see if they meet the typical triathlete’s needs
SERIES 2
£599.00 www.apple.com/uk
With an advertising campaign focused on its sport credentials, we’d high hopes that Apple Watch 2 could bridge the gap between casual and sport-specific wearable. We tested the stainless steel 42mm version with sport band, the priciest in the regular line-up thanks to built-in GPS and GLONASS, water resistance and a detailed activity app.
Pairing is simple and performed through an iOS device, and the unique pin-and-tuck closure on the sports strap is especially smart. Operation is mostly touchscreen, with a side button for SOS calls and the ‘Digital Crown’ for scrolling and returning to the previous screen. Heading out for a run the GPS picked up instantly. You can’t review data on the watch; this is viewable on the detailed and user-friendly Activity app. The screen is bright, which is great for evening runs, but you need to hold the watch up for the display to unlock. The absence of an interval programme is disappointing, but hopefully a third-party developer will get on board to solve this.
The swim setting is as good as anything from their competitors. The watch locks while you swim, paving the way for Apple’s party piece – turning the digital crown to expel water from the microphone slot when you’re on land again. While this only takes several seconds, it still means you can’t move seamlessly between sports, which doesn’t make it particularly tri-friendly. Battery life is around 5hrs of continual usage in GPS mode, making it a long way off being Ironman-ready. The built-in sports settings are minimal, yet a full Strava app is imminent. The non-sporting features are streaks ahead of other fitness watches, though. If your ride has detoured then you can tell your watch you’re going to be late and have this texted home.
We’d recommend it as a featurepacked daily watch, but for triathletes it’s still not a do-it-all solution.