Nomad Sport Band Review :

Nomad Sport Band Review : Apple Watch Band

Apple’s Apple Watch straps and bands are difficult to beat in terms of fit and quality. They are well made, feel right, fit right and look right. Whether you are looking at the Nike Sport Loop, the Apple Watch Ultra Dive Strap, one of the official offerings from Hermes, or something in between you are guaranteed to have something that will have quality, form and function. One more things is guaranteed – they are costly.

So you have something that works well and looks right but is also expensive. The result then is the market will be flooded with bootlegs. A quick browse on an international marketplace will show hundreds of options for copy straps that instead of costing somewhere between £50-£100+ you will have similar ‘looking’ options that start at a few £s.

Often though, you get what you pay for and often these bootlegs will look the part in the photos but when you receive them the quality is far less that what you would hope for. You can get lucky but I have always found that the fitting systems on non genuine straps is poor. The band (especially the fabric options) can often be reasonable but the fitting is pretty useless.

All is not lost though. There are some good third party accessory manufacturers who make products that are not simply a knock off of one of Apple’s designs. They spend money in research and development and come up with alternative and functional products.

One such company is Nomad.

I have recently reviewed another Nomad product, the Nomad Rugged Case, which I have used now for around 6 weeks – it has not been off my phone and still looks exactly as it did when purchased. This was a huge contributing factor as to why I opted to try the Nomad Sport Band Apple Watch Strap.

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Disclosure : I purchased this case myself from Amazon. I purchased on Black Friday and paid £38.46. RRP is £59.99 and this review is in no way sponsored. The views and thoughts are my own having been using the case in my day to day life over the last couple of weeks.

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Nomad Sport Band :

The Nomad Sport Band is offered in a variety of colours :

• Black
• Lunar Grey
• Ultra Orange
• Coastal Rock
• White
• Ash Green
• Marine Blue
• Ultra Strike
• Volta Strike
• Electra Strike
• Atlantic Blue
• Glow
• Blaze

To match my case I opted for the Ultra Orange, but you can see all the available colour options here.

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Features :

The official Nomad website describes the features of the Sport Band as follows :

Designed to give your Apple Watch a modern and sleek, athletic look for intense workouts and everyday wear. Sport Band has a lightweight and breathable design which is constructed from a soft, flexible FKM rubber for all-day comfort. A low-profile pin-and-tuck mechanism ensures a secure closure.

• FKM fluoroelastomer rubber
• 100% waterproof
• Interior ventilation channels
• Custom aluminum closure pin
• Designed for Apple Watch Ultra & Ultra 2, Series 9, 8, 7, 6, SE, and all previous versions of Apple Watch

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Real World Review : 

Packaging & Unboxing : 

If you have read my review for the Nomad Rugged Case you will know that the packaging is premium and impressive. The sleeve, material and colours are all quality and the print is crystal clear. The same subtle embossing remains.

The opening of the case gives the same satisfying pop when you open and close the box and the strap is held in place by some elastic tags.

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Price : 

It should be noted that at full RRP this strap is actually around £10 more expensive than an official Apple Sports Loop Band. However if you are looking at a strap specifically for the Apple Watch Ultra it will be about 40% less.

USA : $60 from Nomad’s Official Site. Global Shipping appears to be offered.

UK : £59.95 from Amazon UK. Similarly priced from other retailers.

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The Strap : Installation and Fit

Simply put this strap is superb. The soft touch feel to the rubber is extremely comfortable. It is comfortable day to day, and it is comfortable if working out. I have used it in the gym and whilst running and in both scenarios it excels. It is easily washed and dries with a simple wipe of a cloth / towel.

There is not much more to say about this strap, it closes around your wrist in the same fashion as the Apple Sport Loop and the numerous slots for the pin of the ‘pin and tuck’ mechanism means that you will be easily able to find a perfect fitting for your wrist size.

Installation is simply slide in to the body of your Apple Watch as you would with any strap, and this is where I have my only complaint of this strap. It was not smooth, it was tight and sounded a little rough as it was seated into the watch. I had to squeeze the middle catch of the strap and almost force the strap into the watch’s groove. Once on, it clicked nicely into place and will not budge. I have no concerns about the strap popping or not being fixed in place however it was not a smooth slide into place as your would experience with an official strap.

Outside of that initial fitting issue I have nothing negative to say about the strap.

The only question that remains in my head is how will the colour stand up over time, will it get dirty and if so will it wash easily or will clothing stain the bright and vibrant colour. I suppose time will tell.

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Conclusion : 

A premium strap, that prices itself actually about 20% more than the similar Apple Sport Loop, but about 40% less than a similar Official Apple Watch Ultra Strap. It is well made, feels superb, it is extremely comfortable and looks awesome. Its only let down is the installation on the watch is a little rough. If you have an Apple Watch Ultra and like the bright sporty look then this is an easy recommendation to make.

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