Smart Watches (1 Viewer)

I feel like this is one of those topics that should already be covered, but Search came up empty.  

My wife wants a Smart Watch for her birthday.  I want to spend around or under $250. It has to be Google (Wear OS).  She'd like to have fitness tracking, heart rate monitoring, apps, NFC for Google Pay.  Honestly, I'm not sure what I'm looking for.  TicWatch and Misfit watches seem to be what keeps popping up.

Anyone have any recommendations or experiences with any or either of these?

ClownCausedChaos2 said:

I feel like this is one of those topics that should already be covered, but Search came up empty.  

My wife wants a Smart Watch for her birthday.  I want to spend around or under $250. It has to be Google (Wear OS).  She'd like to have fitness tracking, heart rate monitoring, apps, NFC for Google Pay.  Honestly, I'm not sure what I'm looking for.  TicWatch and Misfit watches seem to be what keeps popping up.

Anyone have any recommendations or experiences with any or either of these?

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Look at the Samsung Gear.

gianmarco said:

Look at the Samsung Gear.

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Thanks.  I thought I read somewhere that they we're meant to work with Samsung phones (we have Google Pixels).  Any idea on that?  It seemed odd to me at the time.  It would work with the OS, not with the specific manufacturer of phone.

ClownCausedChaos2 said:

Thanks.  I thought I read somewhere that they we're meant to work with Samsung phones (we have Google Pixels).  Any idea on that?  It seemed odd to me at the time.  It would work with the OS, not with the specific manufacturer of phone.

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I have a Samsung phone and it works well with it, but I'm pretty sure it will work with any Android phone. But, you may want to look into that more.

ClownCausedChaos2 said:

Thanks.  I thought I read somewhere that they we're meant to work with Samsung phones (we have Google Pixels).  Any idea on that?  It seemed odd to me at the time.  It would work with the OS, not with the specific manufacturer of phone.

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I hava a samsung galaxy watch -   with a pixel phone.  I'm not a huge watch guy but I really like it - mainly the look and style

I have a Samsung Gear S2 which is two releases old.  They have done a good job of releasing software updates for their older models--better than support of their phones.  The always on display is very useful although it's not legible in bright light conditions.

Misfit is owned by Fossil.  I don't have any experience with their smart watches but I'm pretty satisfied with the Misfit Ray fitness tracker.

wear OS is a flat out dog: avoid it for now.   Gear is the way to go, but they are prob not in that price range.  

Thank you all for the information so far.  I'll have to look more at the Samsung now, too.

ETA: My daughter has the Fossil Sport which is often mentioned as the best current wear os watch.  I don't have the heart to tell her, but it pretty much sucks. 

Jaysus said:

ETA: My daughter has the Fossil Sport which is often mentioned as the best current wear os watch.  I don't have the heart to tell her, but it pretty much sucks. 

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Good to know.  Thanks.  The Fossil was another one I was sort of checking out.

Jaysus said:

wear OS is a flat out dog: avoid it for now.   Gear is the way to go, but they are prob not in that price range.  

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The Gear S3 (the one I have) is in that price range now.  I got it last year for $250.  Has to be less now.

$245 at Amazon right now

$220 at Newegg

I would start out with these two charts to narrow down which models have the features that your wife is looking for....

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1172f1b4ZdGBI6L34fkfgE06pOHyZAZrxmb3APFlhewQ/edit#gid=0

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kbUaudkh2mRa5pSLM58t30i84ZnjHcsoamydrVwIjGI/edit#gid=0

.... but before you make your final purchasing decision I would definitely do a youtube search of that model and "SmartWatch Ticks". The guy sounds a little like Huell Howser at first but after awhile his enthusiasm for smartwatches is kind of entertaining(again, like Huell Howser). Probably want to start the search with the TicWatch C2 and TicWatch Pro imo based on what it sounds like your wife is looking for. Both are available on Amazon.

We bought my wife a Fitbit Versa there is a version of it that has the ability to pay. She loves it, uses it mostly for fitness tracking and text message tracking at work.

Love my Apple Watch (but that isn't what you are looking for!)

BoltBacker said:

I would start out with these two charts to narrow down which models have the features that your wife is looking for....

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1172f1b4ZdGBI6L34fkfgE06pOHyZAZrxmb3APFlhewQ/edit#gid=0

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kbUaudkh2mRa5pSLM58t30i84ZnjHcsoamydrVwIjGI/edit#gid=0

.... but before you make your final purchasing decision I would definitely do a youtube search of that model and "SmartWatch Ticks". The guy sounds a little like Huell Howser at first but after awhile his enthusiasm for smartwatches is kind of entertaining(again, like Huell Howser). Probably want to start the search with the TicWatch C2 and TicWatch Pro imo based on what it sounds like your wife is looking for. Both are available on Amazon.

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Great information here.  Thank you 

TicWatch was my second choice

Eephus said:

I have a Samsung Gear S2 which is two releases old.  They have done a good job of releasing software updates for their older models--better than support of their phones.  The always on display is very useful although it's not legible in bright light conditions.

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I have found this to be true with so many smart watches over the years and it's a real problem as I wear them outdoors most of the time.

My needs may be different than the wife of the OP but FWIW I have moved to this one at the moment....

https://www.amazon.com/Amazfit-Multisport-Smartwatch-Resistance-Phone-Free/dp/B07CYH6H4Z/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=amazfit+watch&qid=1556200718&s=wireless&sr=1-5

... and it's not nearly as "smart" as some of the other smartwatches that I've tried but it's easier for me to live with. The battery lasts a long weekend between needing to get charged(assuming you don't use the GPS all the time). Most importantly the color screen is transflexive so it works in bright sunlight even better than it works indoors(although it has a backlight so it is also functional indoors when the ambient lighting is low). I like the look of the watch but I also have large manly wrists(this is the FBG message board after all). It can also use off-the-shelf straps so I can change them as frequently as I like to dress it up or down. If you are willing to order straps from Alibaba you can get them in all shapes and sizes very cheap.

But all of these smartwatches have trade offs at this stage in the game. This one is more of a "clever watch" than a smart one. It synchs with my phone well, displays messages from my phone within a proximity, and keeps track of health data even when the phone isn't around but you can't get an LTE chip for it so it's just a fancy health tracker when the phone isn't tethered to it. I also have to install TWO different apps to keep the health data syched up with my Google Fit account. One Xiaomi app that manages the health data via bluetooth to my phone, and another xiaomi app that connects to my Google Fit account. It's not a big deal but kind of annoying. The interface is only average.... really love the spin-dial-interface of my Samsung watches but it was just too tough to see in bright sunlight and the battery life limited it's use for me. I REALLY wish that my Amazfit supported Google Pay but it doesn't. Again, this segment has so many tradeoffs no matter how much you pay. 

BoltBacker said:

I have found this to be true with so many smart watches over the years and it's a real problem as I wear them outdoors most of the time.

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If outdoors is your primary use case then the Garmin watches are definitely the way to go, although they lean more to the fitness side than the smart watch side (though still pretty good smartwatch features).

Their screens are the opposite.  Disappointing indoors and you need to hit the light button to see them in the dark, but at their very best and brightest in daylight.

FreeBaGeL said:

If outdoors is your primary use case then the Garmin watches are definitely the way to go, although they lean more to the fitness side than the smart watch side (though still pretty good smartwatch features).

Their screens are the opposite.  Disappointing indoors and you need to hit the light button to see them in the dark, but at their very best and brightest in daylight.

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Yeah, I actually do have one of those and it is very good. Can't remember which model but it's very big and has very good battery life as well. Getting the software synched up with Google Fit was one of the reasons I've ended up wearing the Xiaomi despite the display on the Garmin being slightly better. I also really like the way the Garmin snaps into the charger so that you know it's charging. I've owned a lot of smartwatches and one of the big problem with many of them is you THINK they are charging and they lose connection easily and you go to put them on and they are dead.

Wife had the Samsung.  Switched over to the Garmin Vivoactive 3 and it is night and day better, particularly on the activity side.  Not sure it has all your bells and whistles, but I'd put it right at the top of the smart watch list along with the Apple one.

This is getting close to the perfect smartwatch for me.....

TicWatch Pro 4G LTE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIk4YSk6AU8

.... biggest drawback is it doesn't accept 4G sim cards(uses e-sim instead which is a much bigger hassle). It also seems limited in what networks you can use which can be a non-starter for many, especially if you are getting a specialized small data plan just for a watch. I also wish it either had more storage or better yet, given it's big size, a micro-SD slot to add my own memory to store audio files(podcasts and audio books). Even if you had to unscrew the back to install these you do it so rarely it would absolutely be worth it. Really wish it had Bluetooth 5.0 as well as I would likely use this watch without my phone at least half the time. All devices in 2019 should be using BT5.0 by now. Period. Minor quibble is I hate black watches, but at least you can easily/cheaply change the band and it has a round face on it.

I LOVE the fact that it has both an AMOLED and passive screen so you can use if for an entire weekend in AMOLED mode or you can use the passive screen for an entire month if you are traveling and don't have the charger with you. The fact that it's waterproof(IP68) and you can easily replace the straps are other must have features on any watch I would consider. It also uses both Glonass and Beidou GPS which is a big feature for me as well after having many phones with ok-crappy GPS quality. The materials used seem better than many of the cheap, feature rich android watches from China. If the battery life lives up to the specs that is enough for me. Watch interfaces require good voice-to-text interfaces and the demonstration in the video was very impressive imo. There are times where you have to reply to an email/text immediately and if you are going to use a watch without your phone at times this is a huge consideration.

Not sure if I will actually pull the trigger on this one but it's much closer to the watch that I want than I have ever seen before. Currently use a Fenix 3 on a daily basis and a Bip to travel with(assuming I'm traveling 10-21 days at a time). This watch is tempting because I feel like I could use it as both my daily watch and my travel watch AND I would get the added functionality of the Wear OS so it's a true smartwatch instead of the glorified fitness trackers I wear now.

Looking for recommendation - my wife is trying to find an IOS smart watch that has a timer that can be set to go off every ten minutes. Apparently many/most can only have a recurring timer every hour. Only other requirement is that it monitor sleep. Any ideas from the collective smart guys? TIA.

Never thought smart watches would catch on like they did. Crazy.

soothsayer said:

Looking for recommendation - my wife is trying to find an IOS smart watch that has a timer that can be set to go off every ten minutes. Apparently many/most can only have a recurring timer every hour. Only other requirement is that it monitor sleep. Any ideas from the collective smart guys? TIA.

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Apple watch will monitor sleep. As for the timer, do you need to have it automatically remind you every 10 minutes forever, or do you just need ability to do a timer?

There are apps that will do a repeat timer automatically, the alarm that comes on the watch will allow you to repeat a countdown, you just have to press a button. Quickly found one that will do a repeat for infinity, but you have to pay ($1.99) for that and I didn't pay to check it out. You can test it for shorter amounts of time and for less than forever repeats. It has an iPhone and Apple Watch app.

Mr. Ected said:

Apple watch will monitor sleep. As for the timer, do you need to have it automatically remind you every 10 minutes forever, or do you just need ability to do a timer?

There are apps that will do a repeat timer automatically, the alarm that comes on the watch will allow you to repeat a countdown, you just have to press a button. Quickly found one that will do a repeat for infinity, but you have to pay ($1.99) for that and I didn't pay to check it out. You can test it for shorter amounts of time and for less than forever repeats. It has an iPhone and Apple Watch app.

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That app looks smart. She needs the timer to remind her every 10 minutes during the day - and that app would allow here to choose how many reminders exist each day so that seems like it would work. We may just bite the bullet and get an apple watch and then just use that app with it. Thanks for the recommendation.