Review: Monowear third-party Apple Watch band

Monowear 1

The folks over at Monowear sent me a couple of their third-party Apple Watch bands to try out. I’ve always been a little skeptical about third-party bands, because I worry about their quality, and whether or not they can truly match up to what Apple provided us with.

I’ve never tried a third-party band until now, but I can tell you that along with being inexpensive relative to what Apple’s charging, these bands are high quality and have a great fit. If I was in the market for a third-party, and I just might be after trying these out for the last few days, I’d definitely give Monowear a look.

Monowear provided me with one of its leather bands and a nylon band. The leather band retails for $79 and the nylon band goes for $59. The leather band is made of genuine leather, and is soft to the touch. Although there’s no way to tell for sure at this point, it seems as if it will wear well over time.

The nylon band I was much more skeptical about. I mean, the word “nylon” doesn’t exactly instill confidence in me, but I was pleasantly surprised. The material isn’t overly stiff, and is hardly noticeable on the wrist, outside of the fact that there’s, well, a watch on your wrist.

Monowear 2

The nylon band provides you with a sporty look, which is on the opposite spectrum of the classier looking leather. The leather did a surprisingly good job of dressing up my Apple Watch Sport and making it look more expensive than it is. I was surprised with how well it went with the matte aluminum chassis of the Apple Watch Sport.

The connectors for both watches seem to be of high quality, and fit flush with the housing of my Apple Watch. Unfortunately, Monowear was only able to send me a 38mm version, so I wasn’t able to test this on my 42mm Space Gray aluminum model.

Monowear 3

Monowear was also sold out of its metal bands, it’s highest priced offering ranging from $89.99 to $119.99, but if the quality of its leather and nylon bands are of any indication, I’d say you’d be pretty safe on going with the metal bands without an opinion.

Overall, there’s really not much to a watch band. I can’t comment on the bands longterm durability, since I haven’t had it that long, but regarding everything else, I can lend a solid buy recommendation. If you’re looking for a third-party band that looks good, is build well, and won’t break the bank, then look no further.

What do you think? Have you used any third-party bands thus far?

Giveaway

We are giving away both of these bands. Want one?

  • Leave your Twitter handle in the comments (make sure you are following @iDownloadBlog)

So your post in the comments would be like this:

  • Twitter: @JeffBenjam

Two winners will be selected at random on Monday, July 6th. Remember, these are 38mm bands that fit the 38mm Apple Watch. They do, technically work with the 42mm (I’ve tried it :P) but it looks weird and it’s not recommended.

Update: Winners have been selected:

Thanks to all who entered.