I love my gadgets but don’t plan on paying for an iwatch, my work phone is a Samsung, my personal phone is an iPhone 6.
Has anyone have any experience with the Bluetooth and smart watches from overseas?
Curious about the same thing, especially in smaller sizes. My wife had a (first-gen) Samsung Gear Fit for a while - she loved being able to see texts on her wrist, and the “Find-my-Phone” feature, but her particular device was always a little glitchy and finally crashed altogether.
In to listen to more opinions, especially about budget options! Good question, OP!
I know about 5 people who were charmed by the iWatch idea. I don't see them wearing them anymore.
I’m not an apple user so I have no opinion on the iwatch, but I’ve tried a couple of smart watches for android. My Pebble Steel is my favorite, mostly because its got an e-ink display that’s always on. I’d much rather have that than a color display that I have to fiddle with to actually see.
I had the 1st gen samsung gear. Imo it’d a hassle. You have to charge it at the end of every single day. I juz didn’t like that.now it’s sitting in one corner. LOL
Thanks for the feedback so far
+1 for pebble, I have the pebble time with an android phone. Very happy.
A buddy of mine has the iWatch. He loves it. Personally, I’m not a fan of having to charge a watch everyday. Plus, I think it’s way overpriced. This is coming from a long time Mac user.
I carry a smartphone, but I still wear an analog watch, quartz or mechanical.
Hmm
Wear a analogue watch sometimes.
+1
Most of my wrist-watches are solar powered. (They have a rechargeable cell inside, and light on the watch face will charge it.) I don’t even like changing batteries every few years, which is why I went for the solar-powered watches. Plus, I don’t feel like I have to be stingy about using the back-light, or compass, or whatever.
I really don’t get why someone would want an iWatch, and have to charge it every day. The only practical use for it would be as a replacement for a fitness watch. Though, I have a Garmin GPS watch, and I hardly ever use it because I can’t be bothered charging it after every use.
Has Apple come up with any good ideas since the smart phone and tablet? (Yes, I know they didn’t invent the idea, but they made them friendly.)
Why smart watch? So that I don’t need to pull a phone out from under coveralls to answer, change songs or check the time.
It’s a gadget I love gadgets, my dad is 70 and loves his iwatch.
I’m waiting for them to get good. I mean, they aren’t horrible now but it feel like they just got started. Not quite refined yet.
Smartwatches won’t be for everyone. I think it’s best for those who endlessly have their phone in and out of their pocket every 30 seconds. Or just those who like not having to pull out their phone as much. Sending calls to voicemail, controlling music, checking if a txt, call, alert really requires your attention. People who like voice commands.
I was the exact opposite. I thought the whole smart-watch generally—and Apple Watch specifically—was a useless gimmick. I’m generally pretty geeky when it comes to tech, so my wife gave me an Apple Watch sport last year for our anniversary. I can’t believe how accustomed to it I’ve become. The activity tracker, siri, quick text replies, weather, and other complications are amazingly useful. Using RunKeeper on my watch so that I can track heart rate, pace, distance, etc. without having to access my phone is very helpful. Yes, it would be nice if it didn’t require the use of a phone, but even still, it is VASTLY more beneficial than I ever thought it would be.
Beyond that, specifically, the Apple Watch sport is THE most comfortable watch I’ve ever owned. I have an aftermarket magnetic leather band that I picked up for around $15 that dresses the watch up when I’m in a suit or business attire, too.
I have a Samsung gear s2 classic - it’s more useful than I had anticipated, great for reading texts quickly.
I must admit, the real reason I got one was literally to change the faces, I do it daily, I wouldn’t be without it now.
Using a Microsoft Band 2.
It works pretty well. Has a lot of great features: built in GPS, UV sensor, heartrate monitor etc.
the sleep monitor is very accurate. It tells you how much sleep you got, and of that, how much was quality sleep.
I’ve had a 1st gen Moto 360 for over a year now.
Pros:
- Don’t have to pull my phone out to interact with it.
- Listening to a podcast while cutting the grass/making dinner/”exercising”, and a commercial comes on? Look at watch, pull up the player notification, fast forward 1 minute.
- Swarm/Foursquare login? (If you’re into that sort of thing) Do it from the watch, and leave the phone in my pocket (or on the center console of my car).
- Get a text message? A quick glance at the watch to see who it’s from to see if it’s important or not.
- In bed, and I can’t find my earbuds for my tablet? Turn on the flashlight app, which turns on a white screen at full brightness.
- It uses standard Qi wireless charging, so while travelling I can charge my watch and my phone with the same wireless charger.
- “OK, Google… set a timer for 20 minutes” while cooking/brewing beer/whatever is very handy.
- After several firmware/OS revisions, my watch can last for ~2 days on a charge if I don’t look at it very much. Originally, I’d be lucky to get 12 hours out of the battery.
- With apps like Watchmaker and Facer, anyone can create custom watchfaces (including unauthorized copies of other watches).
- “Aw, man, is that a ”Lego watch”:http://jasonpettyjohn.com/portfolio/brick-time/? “Yep!”
Meh:
- It is a little annoying to have to charge it every day, but I take my watch off before I go in the shower anyway so it’s not a big deal. In any case, smartphones usually have to be charged every day, so what’s the difference?
- The included strap is OK, but I got a set of SteelConnect adapters that allow me to use any standard watch band of the correct width.
- Some people think it’s pretty large, but compared to my previous Invicta it’s not that big. (Of course, I’m also 6’4”, so most watches aren’t that big for me.)
Cons:
- It uses a processor that’s equivalent of the processors in phones about 5 years ago, so it’s not as power efficient as it could be, and there’s
quite a bita lot of lag at times. - The back is made of glass, and the glass is structurally integral to band retention. I’ve already had to pay $100 to replace my first copy because the back cracked (known issue) in such a way that the band wouldn’t stay on anymore.
Overall, I’m OK with having/using it, but I’m not planning on replacing it anytime soon with a new smartwatch. Depending on when the battery dies on this one (it’s not replaceable), I might look at what’s available, but I can see myself going back to my old Invicta. In any event, since Motorola wouldn’t cover a known design flaw (the glass back) under warranty, I won’t be buying any of their products in the near future.
(Of course, while I’m typing this up my watch decided to totally crash, so I had to restart it; that a pretty rare occurrence, though.)
My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus and I have a 1st gen Moto 360 watch. They work pretty well together, I haven’t had any issues at all. My wife has a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and a Garmin Vivosmart. She hasn’t had any problems with her watch either. I would urge you to stay away from the Microsoft Band as a friend of mine has been through three of them. I see a lot of people wearing all different variations of the Garmin smart watches lately.
I have iPhone 6plus and use a Fitbit surge , it’s not a full smart watch but it has text message reading, basic Bluetooth control and always on display.
It also has heart rate monitor , gyro and GPS built in.
It won’t reply to texts but at least I can read them. I use it to control my BT speaker at work
Play/pause and skip tracks. It does vibrate to say there is a call but you can’t answer on the watch. The vibrate only alarm is a great addition as it doesn’t disturb the misses when it wakes me at 4am!
The best part is that it will last five days on a charge although if you use GPS that drops to 10 hours runtime.