Smartwatches?

[Tsutarja]

I've always been a person to deny new tech fads as they come out. I did this with tablets when they were first a thing, but now I want every single tablet there is in the world. Right now, I feel the same for smartwatches, where they aren't really a necessity to own.

So, does anybody here own a smartwatch? What would you say to convince me to change my mind about them? Maybe you agree with me in that they're stupid and useless?

 

[Sylphiel]

I do not own one, I do not see myself ever owning one.

I could probably be convinced as well to buy one, but then there's the problem of I don't like wearing watches in general, whether they're smart or dumb. So even if I got one, I would forget to wear it and would end up not using it. X) So there's no point there.

 

[inspirASIAN]

I'm not even sure if people still need watches these days. I've always worn watches and thought it's not just me who still finds a need for them—until one event that led me to believe otherwise. I asked this stranger for the time and he reached for his pocket only to find his phone with a dead battery, and I told him to use his wristwatch instead.

I'll be honest—the only reason I have a watch is because I'm used to wearing one and sometimes, even the design of the watch gets me excited. The Apple Watch appealed to me because it looked better in person compared to the pictures found online. However, after playing with it for weeks... I still have no idea what problem the smartwatch is trying to solve. Maybe it's because I never allowed my phone to control my life to begin with? I disabled notifications on my phone except for messages, calls, and all that important stuff.

They advertised the watch to help you reconnect with everyday life—by showing you at first glance what's important—and leave it to your judgement whether or not the notification you just received requires your phone's interference. Apps, meanwhile, aren't that great. Some are plain unintuitive, and they're probably having difficulties designing around notifications and glances first. I'm still waiting for the day when I actually see an app that is useful on the watch.

Regardless, it'll certainly be interesting to see how the watch improves in the next few years to come. I mean, the tiny Apple Watch has more RAM than the original iPhone! Siri might just be the killer app on the watch that is equivalent to Safari on the original iPhone that changed everything.

Do you need a smartwatch? Probably not, or not right now anyway. It's a fancy extension of your phone for showing off. If you haven't used any kind of wristwatch until now and you can justify spending $349 for the cheapest version, it'll probably be a new experience for you which can only end up pleasant or unpleasant. I'd use an ordinary timepiece like one of those stylish Daniel Wellington watches if the Apple Watch looked tacky, because currently the technology that the smartwatch provides doesn't really give me that much of a benefit. The activity app is one of the nice things about it, but I can most likely live without it. I have been told many times by my watch to stand up. I think I exercise (and move around) enough everyday to stay in shape. Going around as a nurse probably adds to that. {XD}

 

[Juno]

I don't know too much about it (and by 'it' I really just mean the Apple Watch, because it's been kind of hard to ignore - I know nothing about other smartwatches), but from the few videos I've seen about them they seem kind of dumb - it looks like they kind of just do everything a phone can? Why wouldn't you just use your phone lol, it's not that much of a hassle to take it out of your pocket. And the watch screen is uncomfortably small to be doing all that on it. Not too mention they just look silly, it's like having a small phone strapped to your wrist.

 

[Hiatus]

I've never had one, but have been planning to buy one for a while.

Right now, I'm leaning more on Android Wear (I suppose this is what they call them?). Some of these devices aren't very pricey at all, and in terms of interface and functionality, they seem to be pretty good. Pebble is my second option, but I'm not hugely fond of their interface design.

I would have considered Apple Watch, but unfortunately, I don't feel its prices are going to fit my budget.

 

[Dter ic]

Right now I'd say it's still early stages for smartwatches. Battery life is still a main issue that is hindering my chances of considering a smartwatch because they last about one day. Also I think design wise it may take a bit of time for a smartwatch to come out that's light to carry and looks good with a traditional watchface design. Not keen on square faces.

Functionality is rather limited which is another thing that's limiting. Hoping that with time more uses can be found for them that justifies spending money on them when you already have a smartphone.

 

[Cocoa]

I'm an early adopter for Smartwatches. I got a Pebble back at the start of 2014, before the metal version released, and found it pretty useful. All my notifications from my phone, including calls and emails, were pushed to my watch, which was great, since the vibration on the Nexus 5 is pretty noticeable in class. I could strap it to the steering wheel of my car, and have an easy way to control my music without looking away from the road too much.

I was a super early adopter of Android Wear, and got my LG G Watch ordered the night of Google I/O when Google started taking orders. It's a nice watch, does a lot of what the Pebble does, and more, and handles my notifications on Android a lot better than the Pebble. I've gotten great use out of the audio features- so I can send a quick message or start a call from my watch, without grabbing my phone. It works great if you're a bluetooth headset user. The remote for the camera app is pretty awesome too, and I've found it pretty useful for taking photos of my younger cousins when their attention is focused on me (they like to hide from cameras). The only bummer is the battery life, which gets me more or less two days of use without charging, compared to my Pebble, which could go a week without charging. The G Watch charges pretty quickly, though, and I can pop it on the charger when I go to shower/brush, and it'll be ready for use when I come back, so it's still tolerable enough that I can go to bed with my watch on (the vibration from the watch is a lot more useful for waking up than just an audio alarm).

 

[Palkia]

I own a LG G watch and it's immensely useful. I can get notifications discretely and easily, when I used to not have the watch I would miss out on calls and texts all the time. The pedometer is slightly generous, but it gets the job done very well. Controlling music playback and looking at notes via Google Keep is very handy, especially as Keep is synced with my google account.

The 5.1.1 update coming soon for it better make it more stable though, it has a tendency to crash every so often.

 

[Melody]

As much as I do "Ooooh and Aaaaahhh" at smartwatches, I cant justify owning one. There's nothing about them that I really need. Call me unimaginative, but I cannot think of many use cases where I could honestly say that a Smartwatch would be handy in. The few that exist are rare edge cases where it's slightly handier than a phone.

 

[Kotone]

i think smartwatches look really cool. i think they make me think of spy gear because it's like a baby tablet on your arm. i don't think i'll ever buy a smartwatch because i rather spend the money on other items such as a new phone or laptop.

 

[Altius]

I think the Apple Watch would be so much better with native apps instead of "iPhone extension" apps.

The loading time of these apps are just laughable.

 

[Crunch Punch]

If Motorola removed that annoying black bit at the bottom of the 360 in it's next iteration I would definitely be interested on buying that. A watch has to look good, it's a fashion piece more than anything in my books (and the Moto 360 fits that well), and personally I can see the usefulness in the extra functionality smart watches give.

Give it a few more generations though, I don't like the idea of early adopting at all, especially with things this pricey.

 

[Keiran]

I don't own one, but I'm looking forward to the Pebble Time Steel being released soon. I've been meaning to buy a watch because I'm tired of pulling out my phone every time I want to check the time, so I figured I might as well buy a smartwatch. I would get an AppleWatch, but that battery life is garbage.

Honestly I don't usually like tech fads either, but using a phone has become increasingly annoying, especially considering they get more cumbersome with each generation, so I'm actually looking forward to this.