Smart Watch

[Dawelio]

Hey guys,

So since seeing SPS bhought an Smart Watch and I've personally had the thoughts of an Apple Watch, due to using an iPhone 6, I thought I'd make an thread regarding Smart Watches. For us all to discuss them, their advantes, disadvantages, why we like them, why we hate them and so on...

So what do you guys think about Smart Watches? Do you any of you have one? What is it about them that attracts you to them? How do they interact with your life and possible help you in your life?...

What are the advantages with an smart watch over a regular watch, like a digital watch?... Are they really that customizable?... Are they worth the money?... Which ones are the best/most recommended to look out for?...

 

[AlienALX]

Honestly don't waste your money.

They're crap. Constantly need charging and don't do much else.

Get a nice phone and a real watch. The whole concept just doesn't work yet IMO (ex Gear owner)

 

[SPS]

First impressions of the Gear S2.

If you have a current expensive watch don't bother yet; however if you don't, like I didn't, then I'd potentially recommend one.

The battery life looks like it will last a couple of days without charge which suits me fine as I'm used to charging all my electrical devices nightly. For the price £260, you can easily spend that on a non-smart watch so I don't think they are priced too bad considering they tell the time perfectly. On top of that, having access to texts, (especially) email, incoming calls, calculator, calendar, etc, takes much less time on the watch. I also get a lot of emails and so it helps me filter out the ones I need to reply to or take note of ASAP.

The OS on the S2 is Tizen so it does have limited apps, most are samsung but then I use an S6 edge so it works well. I've also been playing with Tizen development myself and it wasn't too hard getting a native C app deployed so I'll definitely be playing around with my own apps/watch faces.

Honestly, if you're not tight on money, can comfortably afford one and really fancy having an Apple watch then I'd say go for it, life's too short to wait around all the time.
(Personally I have no knowledge of the Apple watch but I believe it has reasonable reviews, and if you can have a play with one in a local store then do it.)

 

[Kilbane]

Had the chance to borrow a Apple Watch for a week. As with most apple products, it works well but is kind of a novelty. I have a few watches I wear, so the whole telling the time thing is pointless. Past that it is nothing but a glorified notification alert. 90% of the time it will do something will then end in you reaching for your mobile device to read/reply/answer etc. My phone does exactly the same thing by vibrating. So spending a couple of hundred on something like this in my opinion is a complete waste.

Just a side note, the Apple Watch is really good, works well and looks fantastic. So please take my opinion in the way it is meant, the hardware is good, the practicality and usefulness, not so much!

 

[SPS]

Had the chance to borrow a Apple Watch for a week. As with most apple products, it works well but is kind of a novelty. I have a few watches I wear, so the whole telling the time thing is pointless. Past that it is nothing but a glorified notification alert. 90% of the time it will do something will then end in you reaching for your mobile device to read/reply/answer etc. My phone does exactly the same thing by vibrating. So spending a couple of hundred on something like this in my opinion is a complete waste.

Just a side note, the Apple Watch is really good, works well and looks fantastic. So please take my opinion in the way it is meant, the hardware is good, the practicality and usefulness, not so much!

Can you not read and reply on the apple watch?

 

[Kilbane]

Can you not read and reply on the apple watch?

You can to an extent. Trying to do anything on the watch screen in that regard, no matter how well they have implemented such features, takes 10 times longer than picking up my phone to do the same.

 

[SPS]

You can to an extent. Trying to do anything on the watch screen in that regard, no matter how well they have implemented such features, takes 10 times longer than picking up my phone to do the same.

Using the T9 predictive keyboard on the S2 was better than I expected, I've also got templates set up for quick reply. For me it's much faster as taking my phone in and out of my pocket at work when sat down a desk every time it vibrates is a PITA, at least now I can easily ignore some notifications or reply within 10 touches.

 

[Kilbane]

Using the T9 predictive keyboard on the S2 was better than I expected, I've also got templates set up for quick reply. For me it's much faster as taking my phone in and out of my pocket at work when sat down a desk every time it vibrates is a PITA, at least now I can easily ignore some notifications or reply within 10 touches.

Each to their own as with most tech I guess. As I previously said, the watch itself is good. Just to be aware that it is not anywhere near as great for all as suggested.
90% of the time, my phone is on my desk next to me or integrated into my car, so ultimately ease of use is there. I honestly hope that smart watches catch on a bit more, may force devs to push the boundaries a little more.
They remind me a lot of other tech such as Google Glass, great concept, shame about the implementation.

 

[AlienALX]

Yeah the fact that you have to keep your phone nearby and it has the time on it was kind of a deal breaker for me.

That and the woeful battery life. When I wear a watch I like to keep it on all night so if I wake up I can see what the time is. Bit useless when it forever needs charging all the time.

Some things just don't need reinventing IMO. If Apple can't even get it right then we're in trouble.

 

[crowarth]

i'm very tempted by the pebble watches, mostly because of the long battery life. the deal breaker for me will always be that the watch needs to be near(ish) to the phone, but at the same time, my phone is never very far from me anyway so it's kinda moot.

 

[Dark NighT]

Personally i do not see the appeal in smartwatches, almost everyone has a smartphone, a normal watch would just be sensible enough i would think.

 

[SPS]

I do think that people misinterpret the whole idea of having a smart watch. It seems like they expect it to replace their smartphone when in actual fact it is just a high quality timepiece that has smart features. Think about smart TVs, they aren't designed to replace your desktop PC/Laptop, they simply have convenient smart features such as video apps and web browsers.

It's also not like they are priced any higher than many decent quality watches. Yeah ok, I may need to put it on charge for an hour every couple of days but I can't change or customise the watch face of my £300 Armani when I fancy a change or to suit my current activity.

Customising the watch face has been my favourite feature so far. During the week I have one that includes some stock prices for monitoring purposes, this weekend I was using an all digital one and last night when I went out I switched it to a more classy looking chronograph analog face. And the ability to change the watch face has no reliance on being paired to the phone.

That's just my experience so far

i'm very tempted by the pebble watches, mostly because of the long battery life. the deal breaker for me will always be that the watch needs to be near(ish) to the phone, but at the same time, my phone is never very far from me anyway so it's kinda moot.

I can only speak for the S2 but they only need to be near your phone for certain features as they work perfectly fine unpaired with standalone apps and have WiFi.

 

[Asperatis]

Imo it's absolutely not worth it. If I'm correct you always have to have it connected to your smartphone anyway and you always end up grabbing your phone in 90% of the cases to reply to texts etc.
I much rather use a nice analogue watch and use my smartphone for messaging, emails, etc etc