Ever since I got the Apple Watch I’ve wanted to have a variety of bands that will allow me to wear it in any situation. Formal, everyday, and workouts if I had to. One of the bands that I really like is the Apple Link Bracelet band which is a stainless steel band with easy to remove links using buttons on the underside of the band. What I didn’t like about it was the $619 CDN price for it which is an insane price for a watch band. But I found what I think to be a good alternative for it which is the Oittm Link Stainless Steel Band For The Apple Watch:
This is very similar to the Apple Link Bracelet with the only exception being that you need a tool to remove or add links (which is included in the box):
Instructions on how to remove or add links are provided and the process is easy enough to do. It took me half an hour to figure out how many links to remove so that I could get a comfortable fit.
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The net result is that it looks upscale and classy. There’s weight to this band which makes it feel like a mechanical watch. Also you get the choice of “bright silver”, “space black” and “bright black.” I chose “space black” as that went with my Series 4 Apple Watch and the result is great in my opinion. It was also very comfortable to wear all day.
The band opens and closes using a similar butterfly clasp as the Apple Link Bracelet that seems to be very secure as I could not accidentally open it:
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Even though the clasp is not flush to the rest of the watch band, it is still comfortable to wear.
Gripes? There are three. For starters this type of band can grab and pull on your arm hair. Some will find that to be an issue, but that’s the nature of a band like this. So if you want this look, you’ll have to live with that.
Second, to install the band onto your Apple Watch you must slide the lugs on each end into position at the same time because this metal strap is a single piece, not a two-piece design like most other watch straps. If you don’t, you risk bending the band or damaging your Apple Watch. This isn’t mentioned in any of the documentation that came with the watch and it would have been nice if it was mentioned as I am sure that someone who isn’t aware of this is going to cost themselves some money. Speaking of the lugs, there is a bit more play in the lugs versus an OEM Apple Watch band. But that’s common with a lot of third party bands.
Third, the band came out of the box with links that looked like this on the underside of the band:
On the left is what the underside of the links should look like. On the right were some that are clearly not up to standard. And the weird part was that the band arrived with shrink wrap to protect it. That implies that this slipped through the QA department which is a bit of a #fail. There were 4 links in that state so I simply targeted those for removal so that my band looks good on both sides. But clearly the manufacturer of this band needs to up their QA game. Speaking of links, there aren’t any extra ones in the box. Nor are there extra pins. Which means if you’re one of the few who might want to make this band larger, you’re out of luck.
The Oittm Link Stainless Steel Band For The Apple Watch is $39.99 CDN on Amazon and is only available for 42mm and 44mm Apple Watches. Despite the QA issues that I highlighted, this band gives your Apple Watch a very upscale look at a bargain basement price. That makes it worth having a look at.
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This entry was posted on April 11, 2019 at 8:59 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Oittm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Review: Oittm Stainless Steel Link Band For The Apple Watch
Ever since I got the Apple Watch I’ve wanted to have a variety of bands that will allow me to wear it in any situation. Formal, everyday, and workouts if I had to. One of the bands that I really like is the Apple Link Bracelet band which is a stainless steel band with easy to remove links using buttons on the underside of the band. What I didn’t like about it was the $619 CDN price for it which is an insane price for a watch band. But I found what I think to be a good alternative for it which is the Oittm Link Stainless Steel Band For The Apple Watch:
This is very similar to the Apple Link Bracelet with the only exception being that you need a tool to remove or add links (which is included in the box):
Instructions on how to remove or add links are provided and the process is easy enough to do. It took me half an hour to figure out how many links to remove so that I could get a comfortable fit.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
The net result is that it looks upscale and classy. There’s weight to this band which makes it feel like a mechanical watch. Also you get the choice of “bright silver”, “space black” and “bright black.” I chose “space black” as that went with my Series 4 Apple Watch and the result is great in my opinion. It was also very comfortable to wear all day.
The band opens and closes using a similar butterfly clasp as the Apple Link Bracelet that seems to be very secure as I could not accidentally open it:
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Even though the clasp is not flush to the rest of the watch band, it is still comfortable to wear.
Gripes? There are three. For starters this type of band can grab and pull on your arm hair. Some will find that to be an issue, but that’s the nature of a band like this. So if you want this look, you’ll have to live with that.
Second, to install the band onto your Apple Watch you must slide the lugs on each end into position at the same time because this metal strap is a single piece, not a two-piece design like most other watch straps. If you don’t, you risk bending the band or damaging your Apple Watch. This isn’t mentioned in any of the documentation that came with the watch and it would have been nice if it was mentioned as I am sure that someone who isn’t aware of this is going to cost themselves some money. Speaking of the lugs, there is a bit more play in the lugs versus an OEM Apple Watch band. But that’s common with a lot of third party bands.
Third, the band came out of the box with links that looked like this on the underside of the band:
On the left is what the underside of the links should look like. On the right were some that are clearly not up to standard. And the weird part was that the band arrived with shrink wrap to protect it. That implies that this slipped through the QA department which is a bit of a #fail. There were 4 links in that state so I simply targeted those for removal so that my band looks good on both sides. But clearly the manufacturer of this band needs to up their QA game. Speaking of links, there aren’t any extra ones in the box. Nor are there extra pins. Which means if you’re one of the few who might want to make this band larger, you’re out of luck.
The Oittm Link Stainless Steel Band For The Apple Watch is $39.99 CDN on Amazon and is only available for 42mm and 44mm Apple Watches. Despite the QA issues that I highlighted, this band gives your Apple Watch a very upscale look at a bargain basement price. That makes it worth having a look at.
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This entry was posted on April 11, 2019 at 8:59 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Oittm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.