Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Are There Any Good Smartwatches Or Fitness Trackers?
"What's your opinion on the current state of smartwatches?" asks long-time Slashdot reader rodrigoandrade. He's been researching both smartwatches and fitness trackers, and shares his own opinions:
- Manufacturers have learnt from Moto 360 that people want round smartwatches that actually look like traditional watches, with a couple of glaring exceptions....
- Android Wear 2.0 is a thing, not vaporware. It's still pretty raw (think of early Android phones) but it works well. The LG Sport Watch is the highest-end device that supports it.
- LTE-enabled smartwatches finally allow you to ditch your smartphone, if you wish. Just pop you nano SIM in it and party on. The availability is still limited to a few SKUs in some countries, and they're ludicrously expensive, but it's getting there.
Keep reading for his assessment of four high-end choices -- and share your own opinions in the comments. The original submission includes this summary:
- Android Wear 2.0 is a thing, not vaporware. It's still pretty raw (think of early Android phones) but it works well. The LG Sport Watch is the highest-end device that supports it.
- LTE-enabled smartwatches finally allow you to ditch your smartphone, if you wish. Just pop you nano SIM in it and party on. The availability is still limited to a few SKUs in some countries, and they're ludicrously expensive, but it's getting there.
Keep reading for his assessment of four high-end choices -- and share your own opinions in the comments. The original submission includes this summary:
- The Samsung Galaxy Gear S3 is the one to beat right now. It's the coolest one, features all sensors you find in a smartphone, an LTE version, fitness apps, works with Android and iOS, etc. Only cons are the price and the Tizen OS.
- The Apple Watch works with iOS only and is almost useless without being paired with an iPhone. It's big, square, and nerdy-looking.
- LG Smart Watch Sport is the flagship Android Wear 2.0 device. It works as an extension of your smartphone, with notifications, the array of Google services, even including a rather neat touchscreen keyboard with handwriting recognition (yes, it works pretty well).
- The Fitbit Ionic was actually the result of Fitbit's acquisition of Pebble (yes, the Kickstarted company), and it's a fitness tracker first and smartwatch second, but it's a damn fine device. It looks even more nerdy than the Apple Watch, like some Star Trek device, and it's crazy expensive, but its fitness functionality is second to none. If you need the best fitness tracker money can buy and don't care about looking like an 80's nerd, then this is it."
And it ends with the following observation:
"In a day and age where tech companies offer too little in exchange for too much money (hello, Google Pixelbook, the $1000 notebook that only runs a web browser), we need to weigh our options carefully. With the exception of Apple Watch, all brands, not only the ones I listed, offer cheaper options with fewer features to accommodate every budget. The purchase decision, as with everything tech, depends on the features you want at the price you're willing to pay."
So what do Slashdot's readers think? Are there any good smartwatches or fitness trackers?
The Apple Watch comes in two sizes, both smaller than the Gear S3. Why don't you just admit that you've already written the Apple Watch off as not for you and ask "are there any Android compatible smartwatches"? Because that's really the question you are asking, isn't it? Otherwise the answer is the Apple Watch. It's clearly far beyond the competition.
The Apple Watch isn't "nearly useless" without an iPhone, It IS useless without an iPhone.
It simply will not run if not paired with an iPhone. Even then, even if you could magically make it run without a paired iPhone, there are a whole mess of settings you can ONLY set using the paired iPhone. Things that you cannot do at all through the watch. For example, you can't update the software without the paired phone, you can't change notification settings without the paired phone, you can't install apps without the paired phone, you can't set the watch's time without the paired phone, and those are just some of the things that can't be done on the watch itself.
Beyond that, as has already been pointed out multiple times, "fitness trackers" are worthless. They give people a false sense of how "active" they are, which causes them to be less active than without the tracker. Buy one for the "smart" features like notifications, forget the fitness tracking features. They're worthless.
Obligatory plug for AsteroidOS, the open source firmware for smartwatches.
I've yet to find anything to replace my Pebble... a) Week long battery life b) Always on display c) Button operation (because touch is just too difficult to reliably operate in winter with gloves)
Really? This was nothing else than a dumb, shallow and biased summary.
I have anecdotal evidence that says otherwise. I've lost 50 pounds in the last year, and I'd give some of the credit to fitness tracking. Once I was collecting data on my health, the part of me that used to obsessively play CRPGs took over, and I started trying to improve all my stats. I believe taking regular measurements and gamifying the whole thing really helped me achieve my goals.
Now you can point out that it's only anecdotal evidence, but you shouldn't always ignore anecdotal evidence. If fitness tracking worked for one person, that means it can work. It just might not work for everyone in all situations. I could see someone thinking, subconsciously, "Well I'm tracking my fitness now, so I'm going to get healthier, so I don't have to worry as much about my diet and exercise." Obviously that's not going to work. Still, even if it turns out to be generally true that fitness trackers don't lead to weight loss, I'm pretty sure it's not true that fitness trackers can't offer weight-loss benefits.
Otherwise the answer is the Apple Watch. It's clearly far beyond the competition.
Except in the case of Samsung Pay.
Samsung Pay is light years ahead of Apple Pay right now.
Samsung Pay not only works with NFC, but it can also work at older magnetic terminals that don't have NFC yet. I used my Gear S3 watch to pay at Safeway just the other night and the cashier was absolutely shocked.
Yeah, except that Apple Pay "nabs 90% of all mobile contactless transactions where active":
* https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/23/apple-pay-now-in-20-markets-nabs-90-of-all-contactless-transactions-where-active/
It's all very well to supposedly be "better" technically, but if people don't use the technology, then what's the point of having it? Apple Pay, even if it's allegedly "worse", is easier for people to set up and use... and so they actually use it.
A fitness tracker is like diet tracking. It gives you insight into what you are actually doing rather than just guessing and making assumptions.
People (especially Americans) simply don't realise what an atrocious level of sedentary they have as a baseline to start out with.
A tracker is just another fitness machine much like many of the other larger fitness machines that many people use to great advantage.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
If you are really serious about wanting a fitness tracker, the Apple Watch is so much better than any other choice that in fact it makes it worth getting an iPhone - so that requirement in a way does not matter.
Be aware though that telephone carriers all charge $10/month for the LTE version, which is even more after the taxes are added on. But still, if you want an always connected watch where you do not have to have the phone with you it may be worth it.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
What I really want is a Pebble replacement. The current smartwatches offer too little for too much money. I don't want a huge bulky thing strapped to my wrist. I want something slim and lightweight with decent battery life and an always-on screen that can do the smartwatch/fitness essentials (notifications, music control etc). I don't care if does anything else. It doesn't have to have LTE or satellite tracking etc.
Considering how modest the hardware in the Pebble Time was it sure did a lot and was very simple to use. The Pebble was compatible with both iOS and Android so it was somewhat freeing from vendor lock-in. Sure it started out as a general purpose smartwatch and was late in the adding fitness tracking features that people wanted (the never-released Time 2 would have solving that).....features which would also have made it more expensive (it was very reasonable price-wise). It didn't have a touchscreen or OLED screen and the colors on the e-paper display were fairly basic but I'm not viewing photos or video on my watch so I don't really care about that. A battery-sucking OLED screen means a bigger, heftier battery which makes the watch huge and I hate that. I want a watch not a mini-phone strapped to my waist. The raise-to-wake feature often doesn't work on smartwatches that turn their screen off leaving you looking like an idiot shaking your wrist trying to get the damned thing to wake up so you can just see the time! That's not convenient! The always-on screen on the Pebble never had that problem. The charge on my Pebble Time lasts a whole week.
Say what you will about the Pebble but it did what it did extremely well. It didn't have to be all things to all people. Oh and personally I want a square/rectangular watch. I understand that some people think that a circular display is more fashionable but it really sucks for usability. A square/rectangular screen is much more practical.