The Apple Watch is just a few days away from making its debut on the market, ushering in a new age of wearable tech for the company. But does that mean it’s likely to be embraced by the public

While it will no doubt be a sales hit upon launch, some early reviews for the device have provided a mixed bag in response, with positive feedback mixed in with some “dark spots”.

VentureBeat has compiled a number of reviews for the device from tech-based journalists, and while we won’t repost them all here, we will recap some of the highlights – and lowlights – from said reviews.

First off, Joshua Topolski of Bloomberg Business was quick to talk about how the public will easily want the device, even though it has its setbacks. “I’m in a meeting with 14 people, in mid-sentence, when I feel a tap-tap-tap on my wrist…A version of this happens dozens of times throughout the day – for messages, emails, activity achievements, tweets and so much more. Wait a second. Isn’t the promise of the Apple Watch to help me stay in the moment, focused on the people around me and undisturbed by the mesmerizing void of my iPhone So why do I suddenly feel so distracted,” he wrote.

The Verge‘s Nilay Patel was quick to note the Apple Watch’s appeal as a mainstream product, but also complained about its speed. “The Apple Watch, as I reviewed it for the past week and a half, is kind of slow,” he said. “There’s no getting around it, no way to talk about all of its interface ideas and obvious potential and hints of genius without noting that sometimes it stutters loading notifications.”

The New York Times tech writer Farhad Manjoo admits he “fell hard” for the device in terms of its features, but isn’t really for “tech novices.” “There’s a good chance it will not work perfectly for most consumers right out of the box, because it is best after you fiddle with various software settings to personalize use,” he said.

In addition, says Manjoo, some apps just didn’t work. “The Uber app didn’t load for me, the Twitter app is confusing and the app for Starwood Hotels mysteriously deleted itself and then hung up on loading when I reinstalled it.”

Other criticisms went a little deeper, like Patel noting that both hands are needed to operate the watch – which takes away from its practical use altogether. “You simply can’t one-hand the Apple Watch…because it’s a tiny screen with a tiny control wheel strapped to your wrist, you have to use both hands to use it, and you have to actually look at it to make sure you’re hitting the right parts of the screen.”

Then Topolsky noted that its use as a watch is in question. “I’ve found the experience somewhat inferior to that with a conventional wristwatch, due to one small issue,” he said. “The Apple Watch activates its screen only when it thinks you’re looking at it…Think about the way people normally look at their watches, then make it twice as aggressive.”

Other complaints with reviews include it not being a very good communications device, isn’t necessarily fashionable (including the limited edition gold model for $10,000) and can be incredibly hard to navigate with a small interface. One critic, the Wall Street Journal‘s Joanna Stern, even noted that waiting for an improved model is the best way to go. “The body is bound to get thinner; the edges could stand to be less rounded. It isn’t just the aesthetics either. Soon, we won’t have to charge the battery every night, the software won’t ever get stutter and those health sensors will get even more accurate. When was the last time Apple didn’t improve first-gen hardware’s performance while making it sleeker ”

More criticisms can be found here, but it’ll be interesting to see how the public reacts when the device goes on sale on April 24th.