Third Party Bands

[Neo1975]

Lots of people on here commenting that with bands, you get what you pay for.

I have to disagree. I have purchased a few bands from AliExpress and the quality has been fantastic.

£2.79 for a woven band, delivered. £1.69 including P&P for a Sports Loop.

Delivery takes a while but I’m suprised how good the quality is.

 

[ISKOTB]

cables/chargers not always but for basic accessories like that I get deals on ebay and amazon too. I hardly buy anything from Apple since their accessories are way too expensive.

 

[sean000]

There are certainly a lot of cheap third party bands that are rubbish, but also plenty that are very nice. Apple designs nice bands, sources quality materials, and their bands are nicely finished with very reliable quality control. They also mark up their entry level bands like crazy. Even a very nice nylon Velcro band is still a nylon Velcro band they are selling for $49. They can’t possibly cost much to manufacture, and $25 to $30 would be far more reasonable. They could sell way more bands at that price, but instead they opened a market for the third party stuff.

The really cheap bands are a bit of a gamble, but many are just fine. I have third party bands in the generally safe range of $25 to $45 and they are great. The two bands I wear the most are a knockoff woven nylon and a third party leather band. Both are excellent and have lasted a long time. The only disappointment so far was a $20 leather loop knockoff that lasted about a year. That’s one band I would gladly pay the Apple premium for, but they don’t make it for the 40mm case.

 

[Neo1975]

I think as time has gone on the factory’s have got better in their manufacturing. Once you find a good seller, you can stick with that one. The good thing about AliExpress is the seller doesn’t get your money until you have received the item and you say you’re happy. So the onus is on them to give you quality and deliver it quickly.

 

[rgyiv]

My wife and I both have bands from WFEAGL that we bought on Amazon and they are holding up nicely. My wife also bought an iGK band on Amazon that she's had no issues with either.