Dozens of companies, from giants like Apple and Fitbit, to traditional watch makers like Fossil and Tag Heuer, are creating smart devices that display text messages on their wrist, let you run applications, and do many other useful things. Although the functions and design of different models can be very different, they save time and record your health indicators.
Many smartwatch features relate to fitness (such as a heart rate sensor and GPS). Fitbit Versa, for example, is positioned as a device for monitoring health status, and not a smartphone replacement. Some models (for example, Apple Watch) work independently of the phone, but most are paired with it. Therefore, to make the right choice, you should first decide why you need smart watches and bracelets for you?
Reasons for acquiring smart watches
You will not spend money in vain and will be happy to make a new purchase in the following cases:
- You need to receive notifications about incoming CMC and emails, but you do not want to constantly hold the phone in your hand. A wrist watch will tell what happened. You will not look stupid during meetings or dates, you will not interfere with the bright light of the smartphone screen in the cinema, constantly staying in touch and not spoiling the life of yourself and others.
- You need really useful watches. You can also find out the time on the phone. If you wear expensive chronometers, because it is beautiful or prestigious, for the same money you will receive a sea of ââadditional opportunities.
- You need a watch that you can customize for yourself, from design to software and functionality. And if you still canât do whatever you want with them, later you can do more, and you wonât have to buy others for this.
- Smart watches need children. What for? Not only to play, watch videos or receive messages. In emergency cases, the child can send an alarm and parents can quickly locate it.
Quick Tips: How to choose a smart watch?
The following are the most important points to consider before buying:
- Why use a smart watch if it is not compatible with your phone? Before buying, you need to make sure of this. For example, Apple Watch only works with iPhone. Wear OS and Samsung Tizen are compatible with both platforms, but fewer features are supported with Apple devices.
- If you are engaged in fitness, then choose a watch with a heart rate sensor and GPS to track your runs.
- When buying, pay attention to battery life. Hybrid smart watches, more like analog ones, work the longest, but they donât have touch screens.
- Make sure the strap buckle is easy to use and easy to replace. Like the strap itself.
- Application support matters, but design and other features are more important.
Compatibility
Most smart watches are designed to be used as assistants for your smartphone, so their compatibility is very important. Samsung Tizen Gear S3 and Gear Sport, for example, work with both Android phones and iPhone, but they are easier to use with Android devices.
Fibit Versa watches are well compatible with both OSs, but owners of Android smartphones have one additional feature: quick replies to incoming text messages.
The Wear OS operating system runs on watches from LG, Huawei and other manufacturers and is compatible with Android 4.3 and higher. Google makes checking smartphone compatibility easy: just follow the g.co/WearCheck link from your smartphoneâs browser. Some Wear OS devices work with iPhone, however, many functions (Wi-Fi connection, adding applications) are not available for iOS devices.
The Android Wear 2.0 system, released in early 2017, brought many features, including fitness tracking, Google Assistant support, and the ability to install apps on the watch. In March 2018, Google renamed it Wear OS to reflect its cross-platform compatibility.
Apple Watch is only compatible with iPhone. The pre-installed Apple Watch app is where you find the watchOS software store. From there, you can install your favorite iOS apps or find new ones. It has everything from games to fitness trackers to extensions of popular apps that let you receive Slack notifications or see Trello cards.
Buyers often wonder why a smart watch needs a code? It is necessary for registering the device on the manufacturerâs website or in a related application to activate many of their functions.
Display
Almost all smart watches are now equipped with a color AMOLED screen, which allows you to view photos, applications, other content in brighter and more saturated colors. You have to pay for it with the battery life. Color displays use so much energy that many hours turn off their screens: you canât even see the time without activating the device. LCDs are thicker than OLEDs, so for the first-generation Apple Watch, Apple has developed an OLED display to make the device as thin as possible. Samsung created the first Galaxy Gear OLED smartphone in 2013.
Interface: buttons against the touch screen
The touch screen at first seems to be the best choice. However, it is sometimes difficult to get into images on a small display, and some of the gesture commands are not intuitive. Wear OS does a great job of providing notifications that can be easily swept away from the screen, but to get to other applications and menu options, this operation has to be done too often. The latest update allows you to sort through the options just waving your wrist.
At Apple Watch, the manufacturer chose a combined approach, offering a touch screen display and a side button on the right side. You can use the rotor to quickly enlarge the image or scroll, and the screen uses Force Touch, which knows the difference between pressing and long pressing. The side button displays a panel of frequently used applications.
Samsung Gear Sport has a bezel that you can rotate to scroll through the menus. It is used in combination with a touch screen.
Design
Manufacturers of the best smart watches offer different straps and the ability to replace them with options from third-party companies. This is important for personalizing the appearance of the device.
Most smartwatches today offer many personalization options. For example, you can choose the color and material of the strap, and in models such as the Moto 360 and Apple Watch, the finish and size of the case.
Keep in mind that comfort matters a lot, as well as the ease with which you can put your watch on your wrist. Bulky clamps that require too much force to be unfastened and unfastened should be avoided. Fortunately, most new watches use regular fasteners.
More and more models are available with a round screen, which makes them more like traditional chronometers. They become thinner and smaller.
Manufacturers of traditional watches also joined the battle with Android Wear devices, combining the style of analogue timepieces with the capabilities of the Google operating system. Tag Heuer Movado, Louis Vuitton and Emporio Armani have released expensive and stylish models.
Notifications and Alerts
Warnings about incoming calls, emails and text messages by vibration on your wrist - thatâs why you need a smart watch in the first place. Thanks to this, you can check whether it is worth responding immediately. But integration with social networks like Facebook and Twitter is also needed. Make sure that this most popular, according to reviews, smart watch function works quickly and allows you to quickly view all the latest notifications, even if it was not done when they arrived.
Some models offer more customization options. For Samsung Gear S3, for example, there is a dispatcher application on your smartphone that helps you decide which notifications will appear on your wrist. There is also a Smart Relay feature. Selecting a phone with a notification displayed on the Gear screen opens the corresponding application on the big screen.
Apple Watch also allows you to configure notification settings through the program on your smartphone. You can either display notifications from the iPhone unchanged, or configure it.
Software
Another answer to the question of why smart watches are needed is their support for hundreds and thousands of applications.
Today Apple Watch has the largest list of programs in which more than 20 thousand items are available, including ESPN, MapMyRun, Uber and even Rosetta Stone. You can do everything from lighting control to ordering lunch. There is a special store for installing software in the Apple Watch.
Although Google does not publish official data, Wear OS offers thousands of applications optimized for this platform. They are installed directly on the watch itself and do not require the launch of a smartphone. There are many of the same applications here as in watchOS, including Lyft, which allows you to plan trips, and WhatsApp, which makes it possible to reply to messages in voice.
Other systems, especially the Samsung Tizen OS for Gear S3 and Gear Sport, tend to lack software. This platform currently offers around 1,400 applications.
Heart Rate & GPS
As fitness trackers continue to be in demand, smartwatch manufacturers have begun to integrate physical activity monitoring tools into them. Some models are phone dependent, but most have at least a built-in pedometer.
If you plan to control the conduct of training in the first place, you should pay attention to fitness trackers. Why use a smart watch if Fitbit Versa or Garmin Vivoactive 3 also allows you to read notifications? Versa goes even further by offering features for women, such as registering menstrual cycles and recording symptoms, as well as comparing the cycle with indicators such as sleep and activity.
Most Wear OS devices have built-in heart rate monitors, but they are not as reliable as specialized fitness trackers like Fitbit Charge 2. The Apple Watch heart rate sensor is more accurate.
Samsung Gear Sport and Apple Watch are equipped with GPS, which makes them attractive for those who run or ride a bicycle and want to track the distance and pace. It is also a useful feature for smart watches for children. However, keep in mind that using GPS significantly reduces battery life.
Calls and mobile payments
Do you want to call from your wrist? Gear S3 Frontier and Apple Watch are smart watches with a phone function, so you can leave your smartphone at home - at least theoretically. Some telecommunications companies allow you to use the same number on both devices. In this case, the smartphone should not be near or be turned on. But you will have to pay for calls through your smart watch separately. This must be taken into account if you want to use cellular communication.
According to reviews, smart watches with the S3 Frontier phone function do a good job of this. The interlocutorâs voice is clearly audible, and at the other end of the line, even if you straighten your hand. But in the absence of a phone, the watch loses its ability to receive messages, news and weather data, as well as download applications.
Many models are equipped with NFC chips, so they can be used to pay, even if there is no smartphone. All Apple Watch models support Apple Pay without an iPhone or LTE connection. Wear OS watches that support Android Pay include the LG Watch Sport, Huawei Watch 2, and Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45. Samsung's own mobile payment system, Samsung Pay, works with five Gear smart watches.
Garmin and Fitbit fitness bracelets have also added mobile payments to their latest devices.
Battery Life and Charging
Most smart watches with color screens work without recharging for 1-2 days (and sometimes less than one). Therefore, you need to think about how often you want to charge your watch.
Devices with voice support will not work for long if you use them as phones, but this is to be expected. Apple Watch withstands about 18 hours of mixed use.
Most smart watches use wireless charging, which is very convenient: there is no need to connect the device directly. Instead, you put it on the charging panel.
Price
With the exception of budget models of unknown brands, most smart watches cost from 7 to 100 thousand rubles. Smart watches, depending on the functionality and accessories, are sold for 13â33 thousand rubles. For example, the price of Apple Watch Series 3 starts at 22 thousand rubles. for the basic aluminum case and silicone strap without built-in GPS, but their cost rises to 90 thousand rubles. behind the ceramic case with GPS.
You need to decide which combination of form and function of the smart watch is best for your budget.