I am a big proponent of metal and leather Apple Watch bands, but I do like me some more comfortable fabric models in casual situation, and the new Spigen Athlex Air immediately caught my eye when it surfaced for the first time earlier this month. The brand tends to make super affordable gear that’s much better than the price tags suggest, and now it’s time to strap one on and see if that’s true for the new Athlex Air as well.
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Spigen Athlex Air Apple Watch Band review
The new Spigen Athlex Air Apple Watch Band just launched earlier this month in four different colors – Active Green, Blue, Black, and Gray – for just $19.99 Prime shipped.
Features at a glance:
- Super comfortable fabric material
- One-handed hook and loop fit adjustment
- Yellow stitching details
- Four colorway options
9to5Toys’ Take
I have, for more than a couple years, talked fondly about the Spigen Apple Watch band offerings. While I do, admittedly, have quite penchant for full grain leather straps, be it on a traditional timepiece or a smart one from Cupertino, the fabric bands from Spigen are a very close second to the dramatically more expensive Alpine and Trail Loops from Apple – like 80% less expensive.
Much like its iPhone cases, Spigen’s fabric models tend to hit well above their pay grade in my opinion, and I (correctly) assumed its brand new Athlex Air Apple Watch band would be much of the same.
Firstly let’s talk about aesthetics. I tend to favor more basic bands, usually in a single color, or something like the Tan Alpine Loop, but I think this new Athlex model has won me over anyway. I might perhaps prefer the slightly lighter color on the border of the band was uniform with the rest of the body, but once it’s on wrist, integrated into the rest of an outfit, it looks quite nice.
This same sentiment goes for the stitched in Spigen logo that rests just below the connectors on the outside of the band – it is printed on a small tag that is stitched on to the band…I like this.
Typically I despise just about any sort of logo work on my tech accessories, but this is a solid implementation that just feels elevated from the usual lettering you might find on a case or something of that nature.
Speaking of stitching, there’s a bunch of vibrant yellow thread work on the Athlex – this was another element I was unsure of at first glance.
Shouldn’t it be orange to complement/match the hit of orange on the Apple Watch Ultra? Well, perhaps, yes, but I also quite liked the vibe here once I got in on wrist. The hits of yellow just south of the connectors on either side of your wrist, alongside the hit on the closure tab is working for me – it also falls in line nicely with the sort of industrial look the inner extension strap presents (you don’t see this when it’s strapped to your wrist, but it does add to the entire package.
Wearability and comfort
But how does it actually feel on the wrist. It’s always hard to tell from images before buying one of these bands how soft and comfortable the inner side of the band will be once it has been strapped to your wrist (especially for extended periods of time). Where I might give the Spigen Lite Fit fabric strap a 7.5 or 8 out of 10 in the comfort department, the Athlex Air is much closer to 9 or 9.5 – it is very comfortable and soft on the wrist. I would even say that, for me, it might be more comfortable than my Apple Alpine Loop after extended period of use.
When you’re talking wearability, the adjustable nature and fit of the band has to be taken into consideration. I have slimmer, skinnier wrists than average – it fits just nice, but anyone with a particularly skinny wrist might find it is a touch too big (this will likely be a rare circumstance though). Once I have tightened the band to my wrist, there isn’t much room left to attach the Velcro tab closure on the opposite end. On the other hand, that also means there’s plenty of room for folks with medium to larger wrist to strap this sucker on.
All-in-all, the one-handed fit adjustment claim made by Spigen is indeed true – it is very easy to get it to fit nicely with a quick tug, and it is extremely comfortable once you have done so.
This, however, leads me to what is perhaps the only real negative I can come up with on this band (providing you like the way it looks that is)…Velcro.
I don’t love velcro, like at all, and I wish Spigen had implemented just about anything else here. It does work perfectly and maintains what is likely a more streamlined look than some sort of buckle, but I always feel like Velcro is bound to have some sort of a shelf life. And by that I mean at some point something, somehow, is going to get in there and mess up the sticky action. What if it gets too wet for too long? What if it gets too much dust or sand in there?
Well, it will probably be fine for quite some time depending on how rough and rugged you get with your bands and Apple Watch – I do have other straps that have lasted years with the Velcro still nicely intact, but it’s just hard to know for sure until you have owned and put it to use for several months or more before you’ll know for sure.
Having said all that, this band has way too much going for it for me to care all that much considering it’s just $19.99 Prime shipped. You are perhaps in the same boat.
This is a great Apple Watch band that’s super comfortable and all for a super-affordable price tag – an easy recommendation for anyone who likes what they see here.
Buy the Spigen Athlex Air Apple Watch Band
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