Sure, I may not have explained well but I don’t think you can say use a non-contract SIM on your iPhone and have a standalone cellular contract for an Apple Watch - I might be incorrect which is partly why I’m querying this.
I see where you’re coming from. I’m not sure.
I have eSIMs on my iPhone from a British and a Polish provider, which are both active concurrently.
I’ll investigate further when I’m in Poland.
DG…
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The Apple Watch does have to be paired with an iPhone and I presume it is designed like that by Apple to integrate everything effectively.
I recently considered getting a Garmin to replace my Apple Watch, mainly because the battery in my watch was failing and it needed constant charging. I looked at the pros and cons fairly carefully (and I also endorse D C Rainmaker as a good source of information). I had a basic Garmin watch for running years ago and currently have a Garmin computer on my bike. However, although I do want to record time and distance when walking and cycling, I am now too old to think I could actively improve anything with power meters etc. So the Garmin smart watch I looked at was complete overkill in relation to fitness and was lacking as a smart watch given my adherence to the Apple ecosystem. Although a Garmin will communicate with an iPhone, it’s limited. It’s also worth noting that the current Apple software has advanced considerably in relation to fitness activities and health monitoring. In the end I bought the Apple Ultra 2 (‘refurbished’ from Apple at a hefty discount and looking like new). The additional battery life makes a significant difference and the watch feels much more robust than a standard Apple watch. I have recently paid for the cell net connection via my O2 account which is £7 a month. I also buy Apple devices outright and and have a sim only contract. It is worth noting that the add on cell net contracts do not work outside the UK - for reasons which infuriatingly are unexplained by the phone companies who try to blame Apple. Generally, from what I have read online the consensus seems to be that you need an Android watch with an Android phone and the same is true with Apple, but that Apple watches have tended to stay ahead of their competitors in term of software and functionality. Their weak spot is undoubtedly battery life.
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Great answer @CliveB.
I may be misunderstanding things but if you also buy Apple devices outright rather than over a contract period via one of the UK’s cellular companies, does that mean you use SIM only contracts for the phone with an Apple Watch add-on from the same provider?
I’ve long used non-contract SIMs in our family phones which is a bit of a chore but quite cheap - in doing so I don’t think I could link an Apple Watch to that kind of SIM.
I’m a bit dubious about eSIMs and have for some reason always been clueless about SIMs in general, but sense that eSIMs are probably not the most economical compared to the physical ones I can get for a tenner or less in a supermarket and top up monthly as and when I need to.
Current iPhones have physical SIM slots, I believe the equivalents in the US don’t and I’m wary the UK devices will soon follow suit - admittedly a bit more environmentally friendly though if it did go this way I guess the physical cheapie SIMs would then get an eSIM replacement.
Smartphones are providing many opportunities for healthcare monitoring but the issue with that app (even if it works) is that it’s a snapshot you initiate. You’re not going to sit there 24/7 with your finger under the phone so would probably miss many transient issues.
Looked at the comments to the video, mostly with no response, simply showing anxiety related to rather trivial things such as likely extrasystoles.
Yes, if you felt unwell/faint it might help at that point in identifying an arrhythmia but there’d be a multitude of other possibilities too so you’d probably be better calling professional services for advice rather than assuming a cardiac cause.
All clever use of standard phone features but far from a medically approved device I’d imagine.
I had a moov now a few years ago which wasn’t even a watch, just a small disk in a watch like strap, but was great at timing laps and number of strokes per lap (linked to phone). Then I lost it and they’re discontinued.
There doesn’t seem to be anything similar available now, just the all bells and whistles smart watches. I haven’t worn any kind of watch for over 30 years so the simplicity of the moov was perfect.
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Thanks for that - if it’s been certified as a ‘medically certified device’ that’s great and provides more confidence, I was dubious from watching the video as it looked a bit clunky.
Personally though for £5/month basic or £10/month premium subscription I’d probably prefer a proper ‘wearable’ device.
No idea who the Loomer Medical Group are but would imagine they’re stakeholders of some kind in this technology if they’ve been given free licences.
Personally I’d still rather be assessed by a doctor if I was unwell but can see how this might be helpful remotely.
When I changed to my iPhone 16 ProMax, when I put my Sim Only physical Sim card. in, it asked if I wanted to convert it to an eSIM, which I did. You then take out the physical SIM card.
Same as in Poland, Physical Sim Only Sim Card in, change to eSIM, remove the physical Sim Card.
This is Apple’s guidance;
DG…
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I don’t have much experience of a non-contract Sims - I presume that is essentially Pay-as-You-Go. What I have is a contract that is not connected with buying the phone - it just provides the phone services. Currently I have one with O2 for around £18 a month that provides 40 GBs of downloads and unlimited texts and calls. With O2 this also still allows the same provision when roaming in the EU, which is important to me. My watch is now linked to this contract, but I am doing it as an experiment because the times when I am using my watch and don’t have my phone with me are really quite limited - I can cancel it if I don’t think it’s worth it. As for your question about linking a watch to a PaYGo Sim, I don’t know. My current iPhone (a 15 I bought earlier this year at a discount as it became ‘old’ tech once the 16 appeared) has a physical Sim slot and can also accommodate an eSim. This has been a considerable advantage as I changed my original O2 physical Sim for an eSim (at no cost) and put a Cyprus Sim in the physical slot. I spend some time each year in Cyprus and needed a Cyprus phone number to have a bank account.
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I use the Whoop device which monitors most things including heart rate, sleep, steps, ECG, BP, physical age, etc.
It also offers guidance on sleep, recovery and optimal strain.
Has a 14 day battery life up from 4 day in the last version.
Works well for me
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I believe Polar are brining out a similar device with no screen in early September.
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I use my garmin forerunner 255 for running and swimming. It does open water and pool swimming and is pretty accurate with speed, stroke, HR etc. Not too pricey either. Not a looker tho.
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Been using my Apple Watch Series 5 for last four years for swimming. Never had a problem with it.
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