smart watches

partnership

Would like to try these out and see if I would use it. Any recommendations for a cheap one first and then will invest. Connect to phone, be able to read texts or facebook etc.

patmac

I have had an original pebble for the last year and a half. I like it and am rarely without it, it does a lot of things, notifications you can control (I got rid of Facebook because well they are not important). It has timer, stopwatch, weather, maps,steps etc. the best part is music boss, which means I can control my music when I am out walking or running.
The Pebble Time 2 came out and I went and bought one for nearly €200 on a crowd funded project, it was supposed to be bigger and had a heart rate monitor, anyway I kind of regretted the purchase and fortunately they were bought out by Fitbit and I got a full refund.
So my advice would be to buy one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pebble-301BL-Smartwatch-Black/dp/B00BKEQBI0/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&qid=1485385105&sr=8-22&keywords=pebble+time , and upgrade if you want.
Smart watches are ok but a bit gimmicky, I'm glad I didn't spend €300-400 on an Apple watch.
I will probably upgrade when the Pebble people start getting involved with Fitbit.

errlloyd

I was tempted by this before christmas. The price was a little lower, (I think 179 sterling was the lowest).

The reason I didn't pull the trigger was because it hasn't NFC and I wanted to put my android pay on it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Shops/Huawei-Classic-Watch-Leather-Bracelet/B012U0A8BS

Banjo

My wife got me the Sony Smartwatch 3 for Christmas.

Look, I know I'm not getting the best out of it. I use it for... telling the time! I know, crazy. And faces - changing the face to suit what I was doing that day kept me busy for about a week. Thanks, Facer! But also, you can manage notifications (eg mails, texts, FB etc - you can usually read and dismiss or keep swiping to the option to open it on the phone if needed) which is handy, and you can very quickly and subtly set your phone to silent / priority in meetings and whatnot. It does the weather, if you set up your favourite stops it can pull "next bus" information, it shows you maps so you can look like a spy instead of a tourist when you're lost, you can press a button to make your phone start beeping in case you lost it, you can "Ok Google" with it. Sometimes I wonder how much space on the google servers is dedicated to scouring recordings of me urinating, desperately searching for those 3 syllables.... I digress!

Maybe silly, but I don't miss calls as often. It buzzes when the phone is ringing and I can answer by swiping the screen. Not sure I can actually talk to the phone and hear a response, never tested it, I suspect not. But I usually miss calls if my phone is pocketed.

Camera control! When you activate the camera on the phone, you can tap the screen to start a 3 second countdown. Great for setting up a shot, then getting into it yourself. You can buy apps that will give you a watch based viewfinder too, but I'm an android user! I don't buy things!

It has a Flashlight mode (screen to full brightness) - pointless you say? I helped a woman in the cinema find her 4 year old's drink during Moana at the weekend. Well, she'd have found it anyway but I felt like I was helping and that's what matters, isn't it?

I can control my TV from it, in theory. It's limited, but I can control volume, channel, input... - Great for hiding the remote from your kids and saying "oh no! we can't switch to the Sky Box, we'll just have to watch daddy playing Wind Waker till lunch time!"

It has functionality to use it with fitness apps to independently track your steps and whatnot (no heartrate monitor though) so you don't need to carry your phone around with you, it can also be used to play music stored locally when paired with bluetooth headphones. I haven't really done either of those things, so can't comment on how well it works or what it does to battery life. It apparently has NFC and works with AIBs app so you can use it to pay for stuff even if your phone doesn't have NFC.

It's Android wear 1 (1.5?) - the functionality of the phone relies a great deal on what is installed on your phone. It is not currently on the Android Wear 2.0 list that I know of, but I'm optimistic and not reading up too much on 2.0 to avoid disappointment if it doesn't happen

The strap collects dust like nobody's business. Mine it black. It looks nice enough but it is big and square and if you're skinny it might be overpowering. You can buy a metal strap and a leather strap with a core-holding bit on it, but they cost more than the watch! Screw it.

And most importantly, my wife swears blind she didn't spend too much on it. So hopefully it's not crazy expensive.

Battery life is pretty good, but I judge it by the standard of my phone. I can get maybe a day to a "charge morning of day 1, runs out night of day 2" - around 36 hours, depending on what I do with it. If I plug it in when I'm in the shower in the morning it charges fast and stays up till the next shower. It's waterproof but under this system I'll never get to test that out Battery life on the first day or two is AWFUL, because you can't stop fiddling with it and you WILL install either the Space Invaders or Solitaire app. Don't pretend you won't.

Oh - it takes a Micro USB cable directly in the back. This is apparently a big deal as many smartwatches have proprietary docks. I don't know other watches. It's fiddly to plug in if you keep the Core in the Strap, but it can be done in the dark when half asleep with some practice.

Christ, that ended up longer than I expected. I guess I do love my watch. And the wife who brought us together....

EDIT :
OK, I know I said I wouldn't look, but the information came looking for me!
http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/android-wear-2-release-date-watches-features-download
The SmartWatch 3 is on the list for Android Wear 2.0. Kaloo Kalay!

Also, Very have it for £80.
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/sony-smart-watch-3-swr50-black-79-99-very-co-uk-2606822
First time buyer code KPAJM may reduce price.

Irish Gunner

Heading to the States soon and looking at possible getting an android watch.
Like the Huawei watches but also fossils but they ain't cheap looking at best buy shops

Any others online. Not interested in heart monitoring, fit bit more want to read messages different faces and any other basic Android stuff

Any recommendations?

youngblood

Just wondering how people have gotten on with their Android/Smart watches

Looking for something that displays texts, can answer calls, maybe track heart rate and has a decent enough battery life

Was very tempted with the Pebble but support is ending this year, but the battery life is hard to beat.
Looking for something under the 100e mark

So any suggestions let me know

Was looking at this

http://www.gearbest.com/smart-watch-phone/pp_471378.html

and this

http://www.gearbest.com/smart-watch-phone/pp_576154.html

ED E

The components for a functional smartwatch arent available that cheap. The lowest you can viably go is the Xiaomi Amazfit (English version, dont get the chinese) for 115 USD.

CiDeRmAn

I had the OG Pebble, loved it though it suffered from screen issues, issues that are endemic to the device, home grown repair kept it going though.
After a year and a half I switched to a Pebble Time, a cracking watch and it never let me down, solid performer and great battery.
I had invested in the Pebble Time 2 Kickstarter and was gutted when the company imploded, and started to look around at what else was available.
I have the original LG G Watch a spin, the charging every night was a change but otherwise it was nice, though the watch was bizarre in its size and design.
I picked up a cheap preowned Sony Smartwatch 3 the other day and it's great.
A better battery to get you through the day, the screen is fine and it's faster than the LG, as Banjo said the black rubber strap is a pain to keep clean but, for €35, I'll live with it!

CiDeRmAn

ED E wrote: »

The components for a functional smartwatch arent available that cheap. The lowest you can viably go is the Xiaomi Amazfit (English version, dont get the chinese) for 115 USD.

But, that is not an android wear watch though, is it?
I saw it listed and I wondered briefly.

ED E

Its...weird:

"The Amazfit PACE is running a basic form of Android, though it?s not running Android Wear, to be clear."

youngblood

Am thinking of going with the Amazfit ( bought another one but have sent it back to gearbest and waiting on refund) so anyone have any reviews of it here?