UKC

I managed to smash the screen on my apple iwatch series 3 at the weekend.

It looks like Apple will repair it but at a cost of £160.

So i'm after advice/suggestions about what to do. I don't really want to fix it myself, i've done a few iphones and they haven't been too bad but it looks like the screen is fully glued on the watch.

Do I pay the £160 and get it repaired professionally, pay out £399 for a new one, buy a second hand watch, still about £200, or look at an alternative watch?

The things I like about the iwatch are the ability to pay contactless with it, the ability to answer calls and messages with it, activity tracking (e.g running, cycling, sailing etc), the ability to control my iphone camera through my watch, control music which is playing on my phone etc

Any really good cheaper alternatives out there?

Cheers.

Is this a trick question?  

It seems the things you like about the watch are not reliant on screen clarity. Smear a layer of super glue over it to seal the glass - then spend £160 on a holiday.  (Apparently Thomas Cook are a reputable firm with some great destinations.)

Have you tried other Apple Certified repair centres?

https://shop.swatch.com/en_gb/watches/originals/gent/once-again-gb743.html?...

Cheaper alternatives

Mine still works!

I've worn one of these for years, I even climb wearing it, would never wear anything else....

Yes, use your iPhone that you already have.  Will save you money and make a minor contribution to reducing the wasteful consumption on unnecessary consumer products that is destroying the planet.

Ok, ignore the question above, i was hoping for some genuine (similar functionality) alternatives to an iwatch and it doesn't appear there are any!

As luck would have it Apple are taking the watch back due to a recall of that particular model. They may decide to replace under warranty FOC if not then it'll cost no more than £156. 

Would one of these http://tinyurl.com/yxbhf8g2 saved you £152 of grief?

I couldn't help noticing telling the time doesn't figure in your list of things you like about the watch. Makes me wonder why they call it a watch...

Totally agree, much like calling an iphone a phone!

Unlikely!

Get a new one. The newest one. The most shiny one there is.  I always thought that silver lining to smashing your iPhone was that you could get the new one. The biggest one. The most shiny phone EVER! 

Admittedly not sure if this applies to the watch as I don't have one and only met one person with one. And he got it from his missus so she can give him shit all the time. Even when climbing. Speaks to it like captain Scott except he's always in trouble.

do they work in the antarctic then?

I cannot offer any advice to the OT, but I would like to defend the Apple Watch in the face of the dismissiveness of the replies.

6 months ago I was equally dismissive of the  Apple Watch, a consumerist bling statement of the highest order.

Then I was diagnosed with heart disease. So the end of my climbing, cycling, walking, running, life worth living. If you have had this diagnosis, I don’t need to tell you how terrifying this was.

My consultant recommended I get myself a heart monitor, and carefully monitor my heart rate, keeping it below a maximum while carefully starting out with gentle exercise.

Research showed that there was only one accurate wrist monitor available, the Apple Watch. Tests by many reviewers showed it was  far more accurate than any other.

So I took the plunge, held my nose and bought one. Over the following months I gradually upped my exercise and activities, constantly staring at my wrist, and to cut a long story short, I summited the Breithorn in July. If one thing helped me more than any other, it was my Apple Watch and the fact that I could trust it implicitly. 

Life's back on track.