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AW5 - GPS or GPS + Cellular?

1K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  rs2 
#1 ·
I'm giving serious consideration to getting an AW5. I always have my iPhone 8 with me. My new iPhone 11 arrives this week in fact.

Is there anything that the GPS + Cellular model will do that cannot be done with a GPS version with an iPhone present?

If not, I can't really see the value (to me) of spending the extra $100 and $10 of month to Verizon.

Thanks!

Ron
 
#4 ·
Just to add on --

I went with GPS-only for my first three years of owning an Watch and didn't really think I was missing anything. I got a cellular AW4 and, yeah, I wasn't missing that much. I gained the ability to leave my phone at home full-time, which was nice when I was just going out on a grocery run, or a long walk or bike ride, or shopping on the weekend. But the phone is still useful in a couple ways that the watch can't do (mainly in just two, though: taking pictures, and using CarPlay).

I could get along fine with a GPS-only AW next time around, but I now prefer it with cellular.

I suggest getting yours GPS-only this time since you seem to be leaning that way, because it'll take a while to live with all the different situations that'll help you decide when cellular would be more useful or if it'll just be frivolous. (for me, it took at least six to nine months for it to really integrate into my day)
 
#6 ·
Is there anything that the GPS + Cellular model will do that cannot be done with a GPS version with an iPhone present?
I asked this very question before buying my used Series 4. The good folk here in this forum gave me the same correct answers. Since the primary driver for my buying a smart watch was to display results of a medical monitoring device which talks to the Iphone which talks in turn to the Apple Watch, but which won't walk directly to the watch - ergo I always have the phone with me - there was no reason to buy the cellular version.

When it came down to it though, I found a mint series 4 cellular for only a slightly higher price than wifi-only models were selling, and I thought it might be easier to sell later if I upgraded or moved off the platform so I did in the end get cellular. I've not had any cause to activate it on cellular though.
 
#7 ·
Thanks watchcrank.

I stopped into a Verizon store after court yesterday just to see how the 40 v 44 sizes looked on my wrist (44 is good).

I asked the young lady the same question I've posed here, and she said the GPS version would NOT receive calls even with the phone present.
I thanked her for her time and left.
 
#8 ·
Yikes. With salesfolk so misinformed, it's amazing our consumer society manages to function.

I answer calls from mine all the time and I have Siri place them for me sometimes too, and with the cell plan not activated, it's just a plain GPS model in effect. Works a good distance away from the phone too if the bluetooth signal is good. My house is admittedly small, but I can answer calls in my kitchen when I've left the phone two rooms away. I tend not to use bluetooth for much else though, so there's not a lot of chance for interference in the immediate area.

I feel like Dick Tracy talking to my wrist phone. In more than one way, we live in an age of wonders, even despite bad salesmanship. b-)
 
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