Main image of article Apple Watch Survives Consumer Reports Dunking
Consumer Reports recently subjected the Apple Watch and 10 other smartwatches to a gauntlet of warranty-violating tests, all in the name of figuring out which one is best with regard to durability, readability, ease of use, health functionality, and user interface. The winner? The stainless-steel Apple Watch, which topped the consumer group’s ratings for ease of interaction and durability. In addition to scratching the smartwatches’ surfaces with a variety of mineral picks, Consumer Reports also dunked the devices in a depth-test chamber that can simulate depths of up to 230 feet; two out of three Apple Watches survived immersion with no ill effects. (The only smartwatch to fail the immersion test, the Sony SmartWatch 3, ended up at the bottom of the rankings.) Consumer Reports found that the Apple Watch’s sapphire-crystal face survived scratching by all but the hardest picks, while the Apple Watch Sport, which uses Ion-X glass for its face, scored just a bit lower. The other smartwatches performed similarly well, thanks to their Gorilla Glass faces. While Apple hasn’t yet released official sales numbers for the Apple Watch, analysts assume that the device has sold in far greater numbers than any other smartwatch on the market, despite some mixed reviews from critics and users. In addition to giving third-party developers the ability to design apps for the device, Apple recently released specs that will allow hardware manufacturers (and, presumably, fashion companies) to build their own swappable watchbands.