Our phones have evolved beyond mere forms of communication; for better or worse, we use them for just about everything. Though it’s convenient to be able to do your banking, pay bills, check your security cameras, and drip-feed dopamine thanks to social media, it’s not necessarily a good thing.
While so-called “dumb” phones are making a bit of a comeback, there’s another option for anyone looking to cut down screen time without going incommunicado: a cellular Apple Watch.
What You’ll Need for This to Work
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A cellular Apple Watch is exactly what it sounds like: an Apple Watch with a cellular radio that allows you to stay connected even when you don’t have your iPhone with you. This includes making and receiving calls or messages using your regular phone number and connecting to data services in order to use the internet. It’s a phone that’s strapped to your wrist.
There’s a cellular version of every current Apple Watch model, including the cheaper Apple Watch SE 3. For the standard Series and SE models, you’ll need to pay a little more to get cellular connectivity. The Series 11 costs an extra $100 for the cellular upgrade (at $499), while the SE 3 costs an extra $50 (at $299). All models of Apple Watch Ultra have had cellular baked in, including the latest Ultra 3.
In addition to paying a bit more, you’ll also need to add your Apple Watch to your cellular plan. This will likely add a bit more to your phone bill each month, unless you can score a deal. Since the Watch makes use of the same plan, usage should come out of your existing data and minutes quotas. Not all phone plans are compatible with the Apple Watch, so make sure you check before you pick the pricier model.
The Apple Watch is a companion device to the iPhone, so you’ll need an Apple smartphone in order for this to work. If you currently use an Android device, you won’t even be able to set up your Watch. Fortunately, there are Android alternatives like the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra, Huawei Watch 5, and Google Pixel Watch that you can use with cellular instead.
Once you’ve set up your Apple Watch, added it to your plan, and enabled number sharing, your device will default to the cellular network when you’re away from your iPhone or Wi-Fi. You’ll be able to take and make calls, stream music, and do all sorts of things via dedicated Apple Watch apps.
Zen and the Art of Leaving Your Phone at Home
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When you choose to spend your time with just a cellular Apple Watch instead of an iPhone, you introduce a lot of limitations. For many, this is a feature. Leaving your iPhone at home while not being completely cut off certainly has its appeal. You’ll still receive phone calls and notifications, but you can choose to disable or tone these down.
In many cases, you won’t be able to act on these notifications since there’s no way to perform certain actions using just a Watch (but this might be exactly what you’re looking for). There’s a refreshing absence of social media apps for the Apple Watch, mostly because the screen is just too small. It’s impossible to get stuck in an endless doomscrolling loop when Reddit and TikTok simply aren’t an option.
This extends to the web, too. Apple doesn’t include a web browser with the Apple Watch, just a janky “hidden” browser. Parrity is a third-party browser for the Watch, and though it’s an interesting piece of software, it’s incredibly painful to use. You’re locking yourself out of mindless web browsing sessions when you choose the Apple Watch over the iPhone.
In fact, you’re going to want to do a lot of things with Siri for the same reason. Apple includes a software keyboard on some later Watch models, but it’s not particularly pleasant to use. You’ll have a better time just saying “Siri, text my wife I’ll be home at 5.30” and leaving it at that. There are canned responses for incoming messages which work, though they fail to capture any personality.
For more involved questions, you might want to use an app like Petey to add ChatGPT support to your Apple Watch. This will allow you to get some sort of answer to any pressing questions you have that can’t wait. The app will send your query over the internet, and you can even use dictation and text-to-speech to make the interactions feel more conversational.
The Big Downside
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You may have guessed by now, but battery life is the biggest downside you’re going to encounter when switching your iPhone out for an Apple Watch. I have a standard GPS Apple Watch Series 8, and the battery barely lasts a day even when using it alongside my iPhone. This includes about an hour and a half of workout tracking per day.
Cellular radios are thirsty beasts, and the Apple Watch has a small battery compared to the iPhone. You’ll be lucky to get around an hour’s cumulative cellular use on a standard Apple Watch Series or SE before you reach for the charger. The more you use it, the worse it is.
Let’s be clear: if your aim is to reduce your dependence on these sorts of devices, this is a good thing. You’ll have to be mindful of your use in a way that isn’t necessarily the case when you’re using an iPhone. You won’t need to limit how many times you check your Watch for the time, but you might want to keep calls brief, limit unnecessary internet usage through third-party apps, cut texts down to a minimum, and put off searching the web for that answer until you get home.
The problem is compounded if you already use an Apple Watch for wearable-related tasks. Maybe you track your morning walk to work, set timers at the gym or during study sessions, check the weather a few times a day, or even take the odd call on your wrist. There’s a good chance that the presence of your iPhone is “softening” the blow of just how taxing these things are on your battery life.
For example, when your iPhone is present, your Watch is able to piggyback its GPS capabilities to avoid draining its inferior battery with costly GPS calls. When you take a call on your Watch and your iPhone is in the next room, the iPhone is still handling the call and wirelessly handing it off to your wearable. When you rely on the built-in antennas for these tasks, you’re going to notice increased battery usage.
An Ultra-Specific Solution
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If you’re thinking of going this route, the Apple Watch Ultra is arguably the best way to go. This chunky wearable isn’t just for people with Red Bull sponsorships; it’s also perfect for anyone who has exceptional battery life demands.
Starting at $799, the Ultra 3’s 49mm case is 3mm larger than the biggest Series and $300 more than the base cellular version. It also has nearly double the standard-rated battery life, with the Series 11 quoted at 24 hours and the Ultra 3 quoted at 42. It’s much larger, so it’s probably worth trying the Ultra on before you buy to make sure you’re happy with the size.
If you must have the smaller model, then you can always resort to Low Power Mode, which extends the Series 11 to 38 hours (and the Ultra 3 to 72). This turns off background blood oxygen and heart rate readings, which affects features like hypertension and heart rate notifications. You also lose the Always On Display (AOD), gestures, and a few other features.
This isn’t ideal, but if you’re coming from an iPhone and don’t care about that stuff, this might not be a big deal to you.
Brand
Apple
Heart Rate Monitor
Yes
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 offers a new satellite feature, which makes updating friends and family easier.
Brand
Apple
Heart Rate Monitor
Yes
The Apple Watch Series 11 offers the ability to sense high blood pressure and a sleep score similar to many health app competitors.
Other Limitations to Be Aware Of
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We’ve already established that some of these limitations are good and even desirable for someone wishing to cut ties with their iPhone, but there’s going to be a period of adjustment. Perhaps the other biggest issue is the lack of a camera, something most of us take for granted when our smartphones are always in our pockets.
The Apple Watch speaker is poor compared to the iPhone, and there’s no way to have a traditional phone call. If you aren’t carrying wireless earbuds or headphones everywhere you go, there’s no way to have a “private” phone call that doesn’t involve the other party being broadcast by your Watch speaker. The same is true for any messages you choose to dictate.
I love my Apple Watch, I wear it all day every day (and I’ve even started sleeping in it), but bending my arm to use the wearable for more than about 30 seconds at a time is very uncomfortable. This is great for cutting down on usage, but bad for those times you can’t avoid using it.
Looking for a fun way to use a cellular Apple Watch? Channel the spirit of iPods past with the tinyPod.
