I'm an Android user who tried the Apple Watch for a month — it's now the only smartwatch I'll recommend

And whether you've obstinately rooted yourself in the anti-Apple Watch camp or not, it's impossible to deny, too, that the Apple Watch has become a real fashion statement. For better or worse, it has become a wardrobe staple of many of some of the most visible haves in our society, and that has largely mooted arguments about what a watch is "supposed to look like."

This is undoubtedly true, and like all major fashion statements, it takes what is unusual and makes it desirable. The Apple Watch may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s absolutely an accepted, and even desired element in everyday fashion today.

What makes Apple the clear king of the smartwatch hill has been something I think long-time Android users are going to have a hard time understanding, at least in a holistic sense. There are some big things: Apple's fitness tracking is truly excellent, for one. But there are so many other ones — haptics, performance, battery life, data visualization, touch interaction, responsive voice controls, actual 3rd party apps — that add up to a true feeling that the Apple Watch is a complete, refined product. It's a feeling I've never had using a Wear watch, and it just make you realize how far Google, Samsung, and other smartwatch makers are behind Apple right now.

This is also what I found when trying to use Android and Samsung smart watches this year: Apple is so far ahead in this space it’s not even funny.