My Experience With Apple Watch Bands (so far)

I’ve been an Apple Watch user since day one so I’ve had my share of bands. Nearly every band I’ve purchased are Apple band. I’ve had 1 band over the years that came from a 3rd party vendor, a custom leather one from Etsy. So with that said, my experience will be focused on a few from Apple.

So why am I writing this? Well, I wanted to touch on a few things that I’ve come to realize both pros and cons. Here we go…this one should be short and simple.

What Apple Watch bands are in my mix right now?

My current go-to is the Apple Midnight Sport Loop and I realize I don’t have a nice photo of it, however I’ve had a few of them. The sport loop is just solid all around. It’s very comforatable, looks pretty darn good, and is secure. The only downside I’ve had with them over the years is they start to fray a little and that’s just due to the Velcro.

Even with that light fraying on the above photo, I used this band for well over a year of daily use. Normal daily use, exercising, swimming, etc…they hold up.

What other Apple bands do I like?

Well of the ones I’ve used I really only have one other style that I keep going back to even with its issues. That style is the Braided Solo Loop and this could very well be my favorite watch band with one note. I currently have two of them, one in Midnight and the second in Product Red.

Let me touch on why I like this band so much…it’s insanely comfortable, period. It’s a single strap of braided stretchy fabric, so it’s lightweight and easy on the wrist. Now my issue… it STRETCHES. Yes, I know it’s supposed to stretch but my issue is that after a few months of use, it stretches out and doesn’t fit tight to your wrist as it did when it was new. The photos above show two in the same size but with about 6 months of wear difference, you can see just how much bigger the red one is. If this wasn’t an issue, this band would be my number one.

What band do I just despise?

The band I absolutely can’t stand that I had high hopes for is the Apple Umber Leather Link. It’s an absolutely handsome-looking watch band, especially with the Midnight Apple Watch, but that’s where my love for it ends.

I wanted a leather band to class up my watch at times and for $100 this thing is garbage. It holds on your wrist with magnets which are pretty strong, but it is to date the only band that I’ve ever had my watch come off my wrist by accident, so even though they are strong they can easily be disconnected, not great security. The leather is insanely delicate, after a few wears it looks like crap.

I had hoped it was dirty and could be cleaned with leather cleaner, but no. Those dark marks on the band are the brown finish rubbing off, again after just a few weeks of wear.

I like the idea of having a leather band in my collection, but this one isn’t it. So I’m going to order the Nomad Modern Band. I enjoy Nomad products and have high hopes.

Final Thoughts

As I said, this would be a quick one. Not my usual review or post but more of a quick love/hate rant. If you want an Apple Watch band and want to stick with Apple, go with their fabric bands. The standard rubber bands are fine but prone to falling off because of the clasping system, so go fabric. Depending on your watch you have between a $300-$800 piece of tech on your wrist so you want something that holds strong but can also look good and be comfortable…so for me, that’s the Sport Loop.

Happy Shopping 🙂