IN July I wrote about my flirtation with the Apple Watch and several readers wanted to know what I’d think months later. So now is the time to offer a longer view of the oft-maligned gadget.

Readers will no doubt be pleased to know that the watch has become a much loved and constant companion in my life.

After eight months of continuous use it’s showing no signs of wear and tear.

The basic function of a smartwatch is that you don’t need to take your phone out of your pocket as often.

On face value this can seem like a small thing but it has some relatively profound effects.

For a start, flashing my phone up less often means my battery life is considerably improved. I could realistically consider missing a nightly charge (albeit getting through the second day would be downright hairy).

It also means a lot less fiddling around with the phone, reducing the risk of dropping it, and less time totally consumed in the screen.

Being able to send texts from the wrist is a joy. Flick the wrist and say “hey Siri, text Dan I’ll be there in five” is a more useful feature than I had imagined.

One of the things I use the most, which I’d not expected to at all, is being able to control the music I’m listening to and even find out what song is playing without the whole palaver of pulling the phone out and unlocking it.

The constant health monitoring is another unexpected bonus, albeit terrifyingly pavlovian. Having managed to walk out the door one morning without the watch on I wondered aloud “maybe I can just leave it at home?” before breaking into a run to get back indoors. I didn’t want to miss out on the logged exercise minutes.

It’s true a Fitbit can do that for half the price, but a Fitbit doesn’t do a tenth of the things.

It must be noted that in the Android side of the ecosystem there are now a range of really great smartwatches. LG, Samsung, Pebble, and Motorola are all making some drool-worthy units.

In the tech-pundit world, the watch has been described as a flop for failing to live up to the hype and not being seen on every wrist in the land.

But 11.6 million of the watches were sold in 2015, which for a new product category is something many would consider robust.

Smartwatches will be, for the foreseeable future, accessories. They require you to have another item first. Obviously, the Apple Watch isn’t going to replace the iPhone.

But there’s a reason we went from carriage clocks to fob watches and thence to wrist watches when the clock-making technology finally allowed it.

Strapped to your wrist is a very useful place for technical data to be displayed. In an increasingly technical world it’s a godsend.

Whether I need to buy a new one next year is a whole other question.