I Probably Won't Buy Another Apple Band...

[exxxviii]

The Non-OE threads in this forum are doing an excellent job of winnowing out the good from the bad aftermarket bands. Those people are somewhat of the risk-taking pioneers. We now have a pretty decent view of some very good alternatives. That is what guided my selections. Here are a couple real-world decision trees.

Suppose you had $150 to spend on a watch band. Would you rather have one leather band or a complete set of every color of leather and sport bands? (Assume that they are indistinguishable or nearly indistinguishable from the originals.) This was me-- I bought an Apple sport and I was planning to go back and buy an Apple leather loop. I just had not decided on the color. Then I took a risk and bought a couple aftermarket LL bands to check them out. The decision was a no-brainer after that. I have two complete sets of colored bands for the same cost of a single Apple LL band. And I regret the waste of money on the one Apple sport band I purchased. It would cost $800 from Apple to get the same bands I got for $150. That makes no sense in any universe.

The other anecdote is the black SS band. My favorite watch combo is the black SS with the black band. But the price is plain silly to me at $1,100. It was not a question of whether I could afford it, but that it was radically expensive compared to the sports with the same function. So I bought a space gray sport. I love the band, but if they offered it, it would probably be $500. I would never buy an Apple band at that price, knowing it would be worth nothing in a year or two. So, I got an extremely nice aftermarket alternative for $100. I got the cosmetics I like at a cost that is in line with the value.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

For me the choice of the Apple branded bands verses the knockoffs came down to saving money. I bought a Moko silicon sport band from Amazon and wore it for a week. Had no compaints, so I bought the rest of the colors. Also bought one of the Warelizer leather loop bands from Amazon, with free return if I wasn't happy. Again a happy purchase. So I bought the rest of the colors.

Spent under $240 for nine bands. A $560 savings over what Apple offers. Happy to have options out there.

 

[maflynn]

Apple's bands are so grossly overpriced that it actually makes me a little angry at Apple. I

You can make that case for nearly any apple product. They're selling a USB C dongle for the retina MB for 80 bucks.

I have one extra watch band that is an apple band, not a knock off. I'm happy with that. If I get any other bands, they'll probably be third party bands. I think the price that apple is charging is too much for me to justify any purchase.

 

[JPIndustrie]

I'm debating spending the $$ on a genuine Apple Link Bracelet - and this thread helped me decide.

Sometimes there's just no substitute for the real deal.

 

[exxxviii]

I'm debating spending the $$ on a genuine Apple Link Bracelet - and this thread helped me decide.

 

[bbplayer5]

Clones are never going to drop the price of the legit bands. Don't believe me? Look at the watch industry, hasn't made 1% different


I'll keep buying apple bands, I don't mind paying the extra amount for the authenticity and quality

This right here is the main reason. The Apple bands are going to be far better quality.

 

[aldaaime78]

I agree with you, I 'll alway keep apple bands also, Original product is always of high quality etui sony xperia z5 coque sony xperia z5

 

[exxxviii]

Apple products are always very high quality.

But, now that we have identified some very good 3rd party bands, I do not see sufficient quality benefit in Apple's incremental cost. To me, there is not $45-worth of additional quality in a sport band, $120-worth of additional quality in a leather loop band, or $400-worth of additional quality for a link bracelet. Maybe if I was just going to buy a single band that I would wear all the time, I might consider an Apple band. (I did consider this briefly, for a leather loop, until I discovered the alternatives.)

I have 10 3rd party bands and 2 Apple bands that I swap all the time. Few people could tell the difference, especially with the leather bands. The quality of the knock-off bands is very high, yet they only cost me $285 total. The same Apple bands (if they were even available) would cost $1,450. There is no economic universe where the $1,165 Apple Premium makes sense for such a minor incremental quality difference for a disposable accessory item. I could buy two or three more watches for that or a single Space Black watch. That is crazy talk.