Nomad Titanium Band for Apple Watch review

This is a review of the Nomad Titanium Band for the Apple Watch. If you are looking for a new band for your Apple Watch you can find a full range of options made by Apple. The downside is that they may not have the style you like. And as always Apple products aren’t very cheap. The other option is to browse Ali Express or your other favourite Chinese online store. You’ll find thousands of bands in all kinds of designs, colours and materials. And some have truly hilariously low prices. But while some bands offer decent quality it is a big gamble. In the first place a gamble if you get a product that looks like what you ordered. And the other gamble is the quality, there are some really poor options out there.

Because I’m quite fond of my 900 euro Apple Watch I wasn’t going to risk my watch by trying some random Chinese band. I luckily found an other great option: Nomad Goods. In this review I’ll tell you all about my experience wearing the Nomad Titanium Band for Apple Watch. I’ve used this band with my Apple Watch Ultra 2 in day to day use, at the office, at home, at the gym and everything in between.

Nomad Goods

The Nomad Titanium Band is made by Nomad Goods. An American company, based in Santa Barbara, that makes all kinds of accessories for phones, smartwatches, laptops, your desk and more. One thing their broad range of products has in common is that they use materials as pure and durable as possible. There are always cheaper options, but they prefer the durable, better looking and longer lasting materials. Something I can appreciate, because that means your new cool gadget will last longer and give you more pleasure.

Nomad Titanium Band

The Nomad Titanium Band is one of the most beautiful bands you can get for the Apple Watch Ultra (in my opinion). It looks sleek, without any distracting details and the titanium matches the Apple Watch Ultra very good. The band is available in Titanium, but there is also a stainless steel option. The Nomad Titanium Band is available in both natural titanium (the version I’ve got) or black. The stainless steel version on the other hand is available in silver, graphite and black. Of course it is available in a 40/41mm version for the small Apple Watches. Or the 45/49mm version for the big regular Apple Watch or Apple Watch Ultra.

The design has some parallels with the Apple Link Bracelet, but that strap is only available in steel. As a result it doesn’t match the newer Apple Watch Ultra’s body very well. The individual links of the Nomad band are connected by smaller links that are only visible on the inside of the band. This makes it look like the band doesn’t have any connecting hardware between the links, which adds to the stylish look.

The connectors that attach the band to the watch have the same square and rugged design that other Nomad bands have too. I like how these small design features are used in more Nomad products to make them more recognisable. This also makes it stand out from the aforementioned Apple Link bracelet.

Titanium

The Nomad Titanium Band is made of grade 2 titanium with a DLC coating. Grade 2 means the metal is very resistant against corrosion, so you can swim with the band without any worry. It is advised to rinse the band and watch after swimming, but that is just common sense.

While lighter than steel, grade 2 titanium is about as strong as stainless steel. The added Diamond Like Carbon coating adds scratch resistance to the bare titanium. Of course over time you will get some patina on it, but the coating will prevent most scratches. All this combined means that this strap will easily outlive multiple generations of Apple Watches.

Weight

One thing that surprised me about the Nomad Titanium Band was the weight. I’m used to stainless steel watchbands, and while I love the durability of steel it is also very heavy. And I know titanium is lighter than steel, but I wasn’t expecting the band to be this light! For example, the band of the Withings Scanwatch Horizon is made of stainless steel, and weighs 85 grams (adjusted in length for my wrist). The Nomad Titanium Band in my length weighs only 59 grams. So it is about a third lighter than the steel band.

Making the Nomad Titanium Band fit

Unlike a leather or silicone strap you have to adjust the length of a metal band to fit your wrist. This is also true for the Nomad Titanium Band. It has a magnetic clasp that doesn’t allow for adjustment of the length of the band. The good news is that you can adjust the band yourself with the supplied tools.

You can use the little vice to push out the pins that keep the links together. After that you can take out as many links as you need. My experience is that putting the links back together is the hardest part. Using an extra pin to align the links on both sides before pushing the new pin in makes it a lot easier. If you are hesitant to do it yourself you can also find help. Any jewellery store will be able to adjust the length of the band for you.

Something that is new for me is that I needed to take links out of the band to make it fit. Normally I’m the guy adding links, because my wrists are a generous 205mm. The good news is that the Nomad Titanium Band fits wrists ranging 130 to 225mm. So even if you have bigger wrists this band will probably fit you perfectly. I also like that besides the normal links there is also a half size link on both sides of the band, for finetuning the size even better.

The clasp of the Nomad Titanium Band

One thing that needs some extra attention is the magnetic clasp. This is a truly genius design. It is both very easy to use and also very secure. If you bring the two halves of the band close to each other the magnets will align them for you and snap the band in place. This means it is easy to put your watch on with just one free hand. Once the clasp is closed there is no wobble, no rattling and certainly no worries that your watch may fall off your arm.

Taking the band off is also easy. If you depress the two buttons on the side the band opens up with just a little force. I think the people at Nomad have put a lot of effort in to making this work just right, which is fantastic and makes you feel you’ve bought a really premium product. It gives me the same feeling the perfectly balanced resistance of my MacBook lid has, the attention to detail is very obvious.

Conclusion

The Nomad Titanium Band has become my favourite Apple Watch band. It works very well, wears very comfortable, is light and looks great. It works great as a band in the gym, but also looks stylish enough to wear it to the office. And after using it for some time it still looks like new. And it is so durable I’m sure this band will outlive many generations of Apple Watches, so it is a real keeper. Isn’t there anything negative to tell about the band? Well, at 250 euros it isn’t a cheap option. But after using it for some time I can confidently say it is worth every cent.