Smartwatches

[well fan for life]

Bought an Apple Watch Series 2 a few weeks ago. After a few weeks I'd say I do really, really like it. It's seamlessly integrated with my phone at all times. From an exercising point of view I've taken it running, cycling and swimming. It's very good for keeping a track of all that. Also the remote control App for my GoPro & iPhone camera is useful too.

What I would say about the Apple Watch, and probably smart watches in general, is that don't expect it to change your life. They're really cool to have and you grow to like them more. But they're not essential. I bought mine because I sold a shitload of old stuff on ebay so had some cash floating about.

Basically if you have the money buy one for sure. But they are a total luxury item.

[Gaz]

I bought my Sony Smartwatch 3 solely for the GPS function and ability to stream music to my bluetooth earphones, so that I don't have to take my phone out running with me.

[Savage Henry]

Santa got me an Apple Watch for Christmas. I paid for my dinner with it tonight. It's pretty cool. Far from essential, but it is a hell of a lot of fun. If you have an iPhone, it links seamlessly. I love it.

[Adam]

Bit of a bump, but I got the new Apple Watch for my birthday last week.  Have to say whilst it is a nice bit of kit, I agree with the poster at the top of the page, it isn't going to change your life in any way, so doubt I would have ever considered paying £400 for one.  

[Homer Thompson]

I like the look of the new Samsung Gear watch but dont like Tizen at all.

I think my next watch is going to be this 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07D55YHBY/?coliid=I38020C8PFPEAK&colid=BNAP2GOFAWVM&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Wear OS, NFC and a cool dual screen 

[energyzone]

I've been debating getting one for a few weeks now. I think it would be useful for notifications when your phone is in another room and for fitness tracking/maps etc. I was l looking at the Zeblaze Thor 4 but every watch I look at has at least one drawback to it that could be a deal-breaker.

[Homer Thompson]

8 hours ago, energyzone said:

I've been debating getting one for a few weeks now. I think it would be useful for notifications when your phone is in another room and for fitness tracking/maps etc. I was l looking at the Zeblaze Thor 4 but every watch I look at has at least one drawback to it that could be a deal-breaker.

Thats a nice watch, maybe a bit big for me and no NFC

Im a little skeptical about watches running stock android rather than Wear OS or Tizen, not sure why though! If I could get a second SIM and use the watch independently of the phone I would be more tempted

[Homer Thompson]

12 hours ago, Mr X said:

Thats a nice watch, maybe a bit big for me and no NFC

Im a little skeptical about watches running stock android rather than Wear OS or Tizen, not sure why though! If I could get a second SIM and use the watch independently of the phone I would be more tempted

I remembered why! You need an app from the manufacturer to get notifications from the phone onto the watch, rather than using the Wear OS or Tizen apps

[Homer Thompson]

The Ticwatch pro is on offer bundled with the Tichome mini (a google assistant thing) for just £239. Thats a £100 google assistant, smart speakery thing for about £20

[Fuctifano]

43 minutes ago, Mr X said:

The Ticwatch pro is on offer bundled with the Tichome mini (a google assistant thing) for just £239. Thats a £100 google assistant, smart speakery thing for about £20

Is this on amazon or one of the Chinese websites? Cos I'm tempted 

[Homer Thompson]

5 minutes ago, Fuctifano said:

Is this on amazon or one of the Chinese websites? Cos I'm tempted 

Direct from the manufacturer - Mobvoi

https://www.mobvoi.com/uk/products/ticwatchpro

ETA - the watch on its own is £220 on Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07D564Y6S?pf_rd_p=855cdcfd-05d9-474f-b84d-8286a3530ba1&pf_rd_r=JPSW2CQNY595M3R481WW

EETA - the only downside I've found with the tichome is that the firmware isnt always updated when google updates its home/assistant firmware, so some of the features on google hubs dont work - you cant make phone calls, for example

Edited October 12, 2018 by Mr X

[Fuctifano]

Cheers, I'll probably just get the watch alone though as my old one is starting to creak a bit and I've had it for over 2 years. 

[Homer Thompson]

6 minutes ago, Fuctifano said:

Cheers, I'll probably just get the watch alone though as my old one is starting to creak a bit and I've had it for over 2 years. 

Same. But I cant resist an assistant for £20, even if I dont need one 

[bunglebonce]

On 05/10/2018 at 14:08, Adam said:

Bit of a bump, but I got the new Apple Watch for my birthday last week.  Have to say whilst it is a nice bit of kit, I agree with the poster at the top of the page, it isn't going to change your life in any way, so doubt I would have ever considered paying £400 for one.  

I originally got a Fitbit Charge HR a couple of years ago to as a fitness tracker and that did change my life.  I'm so much more active due to the motivation to keep the numbers ticking over and hitting my goals.

I took out a Vitality life policy at the end of last year.  Part of their offer was a 'free' Apple Watch - it's a monthly payment plan, but Vitality cover the payments for you if you earn enough points in their own system by step-counting.  I knew I was already hitting those targets with the Fitbit so I was happy to go with it.  I get a free gadget and become more fit and less likely to need to use the life policy, so it's win-win for everyone.

I wouldn't have paid for an Apple Watch but it is a handy gadget to have.  I like being able to go out for a jog with just the watch with downloaded songs and a pair of bluetooth headphones, leaving the phone at home.  It's handy to make a call on sometimes, the sound quality is surprisingly good.  The fitness tracking apps are what I enjoy using it for mostly.

I have it set to 'do not disturb' most of the time because I hate the constant notifications that come through - I look at the watch and the mobile phone when I want to, not when they want me to, it is quite distracting otherwise when I already have a short attention span!

Edited October 15, 2018 by bunglebonce

[Savage Henry]

23 hours ago, bunglebonce said:

I originally got a Fitbit Charge HR a couple of years ago to as a fitness tracker and that did change my life.  I'm so much more active due to the motivation to keep the numbers ticking over and hitting my goals.

I took out a Vitality life policy at the end of last year.  Part of their offer was a 'free' Apple Watch - it's a monthly payment plan, but Vitality cover the payments for you if you earn enough points in their own system by step-counting.  I knew I was already hitting those targets with the Fitbit so I was happy to go with it.  I get a free gadget and become more fit and less likely to need to use the life policy, so it's win-win for everyone.

I wouldn't have paid for an Apple Watch but it is a handy gadget to have.  I like being able to go out for a jog with just the watch with downloaded songs and a pair of bluetooth headphones, leaving the phone at home.  It's handy to make a call on sometimes, the sound quality is surprisingly good.  The fitness tracking apps are what I enjoy using it for mostly.

I have it set to 'do not disturb' most of the time because I hate the constant notifications that come through - I look at the watch and the mobile phone when I want to, not when they want me to, it is quite distracting otherwise when I already have a short attention span!

That's actually a bloody good deal, which probably would motivate me as I'm a tightwad.  What are the thresholds for them making payments for you?

[bunglebonce]

@Savage Henry They've bumped the prices up since the start of the year, there's an initial payment of £29/£59 depending on the watch size (and it looks like they've halted the offer for now due to the new watches being released, but you'd have to contact them).

https://www.vitality.co.uk/rewards/partners/active-rewards/apple-watch/

• You need to earn 160 points in a month, any fewer and you have to pay a little the following month
• You can only earn 40 points max per week and 8 points per day
• 8 points per day is done by reaching 12,500 steps in the day, or doing a workout that gets your heart rate in the peak zone for so many minutes (30?). 5 points in a day would be 10,000 steps, 3 points = 7,000 steps. 
• I tend to get to 40 points during Mon-Fri, if not I'll make sure to reach it over the weekend.   I got the watch in Jan' 18 and haven't needed to pay anything so far, but I was on holiday for a week and didn't get near 40 points, so I won't get the full 160 for the month and will probably have to pay a fiver as a result.

Bear in mind you need to have a life or health policy taken out with them.  It took about a month for the watch to arrive from them after the order was put in.

Edited October 16, 2018 by bunglebonce

[die hard doonhamer]

4 hours ago, bunglebonce said:

@Savage Henry They've bumped the prices up since the start of the year, there's an initial payment of £29/£59 depending on the watch size (and it looks like they've halted the offer for now due to the new watches being released, but you'd have to contact them).

https://www.vitality.co.uk/rewards/partners/active-rewards/apple-watch/

• You need to earn 160 points in a month, any fewer and you have to pay a little the following month
• You can only earn 40 points max per week and 8 points per day
• 8 points per day is done by reaching 12,500 steps in the day, or doing a workout that gets your heart rate in the peak zone for so many minutes (30?). 5 points in a day would be 10,000 steps, 3 points = 7,000 steps. 
• I tend to get to 40 points during Mon-Fri, if not I'll make sure to reach it over the weekend.   I got the watch in Jan' 18 and haven't needed to pay anything so far, but I was on holiday for a week and didn't get near 40 points, so I won't get the full 160 for the month and will probably have to pay a fiver as a result.

Bear in mind you need to have a life or health policy taken out with them.  It took about a month for the watch to arrive from them after the order was put in.

The heart rate one is 30 minutes with an average heart rate of over 70% of your theoretical maximum (220BPM-age), or 60 minutes at over 60%, I think.

My wife has an Apple watch through the same policy. I have a policy as well, but don't have the watch. Planning to use the discount you get on Garmin to replace my vivoactive soon though.

[Homer Thompson]

Got the Ticwatch Pro for Christmas. Really, really like it. Comfortable and looks good. NFC works really well with Google Pay and its responsive when opening apps etc. The second LCD screen is great and it flips between the two seamlessly. The battery life is excellent too, hasnt dropped much below 70% with a full days use!

For anyone with a smart watch Id really recommend the Watchmaker app. It has some really nice watch faces but you can also create your own. I knocked up a reasonable looking Queens one in 15 mins or so.

[Fuctifano]

On 1/9/2019 at 12:46, Mr X said:

Got the Ticwatch Pro for Christmas. Really, really like it. Comfortable and looks good. NFC works really well with Google Pay and its responsive when opening apps etc. The second LCD screen is great and it flips between the two seamlessly. The battery life is excellent too, hasnt dropped much below 70% with a full days use!

For anyone with a smart watch Id really recommend the Watchmaker app. It has some really nice watch faces but you can also create your own. I knocked up a reasonable looking Queens one in 15 mins or so.

Meant to to say I got it back in October partly due to your recommendation.

Agree with everything you say, there's one major flaw which doesn't really bother me though- on googling it seems to be a Wear OS issue rather than a watch specific one. If you go onto Wear OS app when you're on 4g rather than Wifi it'll say the watch is connected via bluetooth, but the watch itself will say it isn't. You'll get message notifications on the watch, but you won't be able to use any of the google functions / voice commands as it'll say "can't connect to google". Seemingly putting the watch into flight mode then off again is a short term fix.

It doesn't bother me as I just use the watch for 1) telling the time (a key feature IMO) , 2) fitness and running tracking / step counting (the google fit workout app where it detects the exercise type by your movement e.g. press-up is really good, and 3) message notifications / quick replies without having to use my phone. I'd be a bit pissed off if I wanted the full functionality tho.

Edited January 13, 2019 by Fuctifano

[Homer Thompson]

20 minutes ago, Fuctifano said:

Meant to to say I got it back in October partly due to your recommendation.

Agree with everything you say, there's one major flaw which doesn't really bother me though- on googling it seems to be a Wear OS issue rather than a watch specific one. If you go onto Wear OS app when you're on 4g rather than Wifi it'll say the watch is connected via bluetooth, but the watch itself will say it isn't. You'll get message notifications on the watch, but you won't be able to use any of the google functions / voice commands as it'll say "can't connect to google". Seemingly putting the watch into flight mode then off again is a short term fix.

It doesn't bother me as I just use the watch for 1) telling the time (a key feature IMO) , 2) fitness and running tracking / step counting (the google fit workout app where it detects the exercise type by your movement e.g. press-up is really good, and 3) message notifications / quick replies without having to use my phone. I'd be a bit pissed off if I wanted the full functionality tho.

Cant say Ive come across that issue. Although I dont use the google stuff particularly often and the voice commands even less