Apple has definitely made the smartwatch appeal to the mainstream in a way that Pebble and Android Wear didn't. A year on and the Apple Watch is still the best smartwatch available.

Hard to learn interface; Limited useful apps

Hard to learn interface; Limited useful apps

Apple Watch is Apple's first smartwatch and represents the company's much-anticipated foray into the wearables market. Credible reports on the existence of an Apple-designed smartwatch started to surface in early 2013, with most people generally referring to the proposed device as "iWatch.

Very nice overall design that's easy and enjoyable to wear; Customizable look and software; Ambitious; Bright, vibrant screen; Often makes notifications (and subsequent responses) quicker and easier; Message dictation is very accurate.

Limited nature compared to iOS devices will make device feel like unnecessary toy to some; Users might find price too high when compared to other wearables; Requires Bluetooth connection to iPhone for most features.

I love it, I'm so happy I found it at an affordable price. I've wanted one awhile but with the price I decided to wait. I just happened to come across it here. I got it to track my exercise. A lot of people recommended this, saying they've tried other fitness trackers this is their favorite.

The Apple Watch is a highly capable smartwatch, even though it is far from the most affordable

How often should smartwatches iterate It's a difficult question. Motorola isn't seeing the benefit in doing it yearly, and it's not the only one. Apple chose to wait 18 months between the first and second models of its smartwatch, but that may still have been short enough to irk those who spent a...

Faster than original; More affordable than Series 2

Lacks GPS and waterproofing; No stainless steel option

Editors' note: On September 7, 2016, Apple debuted the Apple Watch Series 2 and revamped the original Apple Watch. Rechristened the Apple Watch Series 1 , the new entry-level model features a faster, dual?core processor; the latest operating system, watchOS 3; and a lower price of $269.

Beautifully constructed; Handles messages well; A solid fitness tracker; Hundreds of apps; Can send and receive voice calls via an iPhone; Lots of design choices; Apple Pay-enabled; Stores music for local playback over Bluetooth

Battery only lasts a little more than a day; Most models and configurations cost more than they should; Requires an iPhone to work; Interface can be confusing; Many apps load slowly; Lacks built-in GPS

I really, really like the Apple Watch. I didn't think I was going to.

Beautiful design; Decent battery life; Excellent for messaging

Expensive; Software can be clunky; Apps can be slow

After months of anticipation, the Apple Watch is here. But as pre-release hype wanes and units trickle out to early adopters, it's now a question of whether the Apple Watch delivers on its promise of being the company's "most personal device ever."

New; intuitive technologies for interaction; Hardware design with great band options; Notifications and good built-in apps; Apple Pay integration

Sluggish third party apps; Clunky Apple Watch iPhone app; Passbook not as useful as on iPhone; Siri needs improvement; audio feedback; No third party clock faces

Wired's product editor spends 10 days getting to grips with the Apple Watch in an attempt to see if it really is a life-changing piece of tech or in fact the emperor's new timepiece.

Design; 'haptic' interface; Siri performs well

Lacklustre launch apps; time checking is problematic; expensive

Update: Our Apple Watch review now addresses three iPhone smartwatches: the original Apple Watch, Apple Watch Series 1 and Apple Watch 2 , the latter having a built-in GPS chip, waterproof specs or extra battery life.