'Do Not Buy a Smartwatch Right Now' (droid-life.com) 113
Since Qualcomm is set to launch a new wearable chipset on September 10, Kellen from DoidLife argues against buying a new Google Wear OS-powered smartwatch in the meantime. The new chipset will be able to execute commands quicker, and provide for substantially longer battery life. From the report: This new chipset is said to be built from the ground up, will allow watches to look pretty when you aren't using them (like a normal watch sitting idly by your side), and extend battery life. More importantly, Qualcomm is betting that this Snapdragon Wear chip will "significantly change the Wear OS ecosystem, what you expect from a smartwatch." If you buy a smartwatch today, before Qualcomm announces this chip, you will be stuck with a 2+ year old Snapdragon Wear 2100 chip. All of the new Wear OS watches that have been announced recently, use that chip. It's old. It's never been great. And it's about to be replaced by something potentially game-changing for smartwatches. A report from WinFuture says that this new Snapdragon chip will be called the Wear 3100 and will allow for "Ok Google" detection even when the display is off. It is rumored to come with Google's Pixel-branded smartwatch, although DroidLife thinks that LG will be one of the first to launch a watch with this new processor. "This LG watch is said to have physical watch hands, as well as the smarts of Wear OS and a touch display," reports DroidLife. It is expected to make its debut on September 10.
I'll do you one better than that. (Score:5, Insightful)
How about I never buy a smartwatch instead?
Re:I'll do you one better than that. (Score:5, Informative)
Yep. The title could have just been "Do not buy a smartwatch"
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So, unlike a stopped clock, which is only right twice per day, this invective against clocks is good for all time?
Might as well get the tattoo, then.
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to hard?
Look, I'll bother counting to 24 when you can count out the proper number of O's in "too". :P
Re:I'll do you one better than that. (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm very old, to me a watch is a fasion and timepiece. I rarely wear one, but if I do, it sure won't be as guady as a smart watch.
I also already pull my phone out of my pocket FAR too much as it is. I need not, even more contact with the internet.
AND they need charging.
Nope, never.
Re:I'll do you one better than that. (Score:4, Insightful)
Most of the new ones are wireless. I work in a job where I get TONS of email and I had the same problem as you. E-mails constantly buzzing, forcing me to take my phone out of my pocket. My smartwatch allows me to see my notifications without taking out my phone saving me time and battery life. I can use watch navigation to get directions while I'm riding on 2 wheels.
I had the same problem, but I found a better solution.
Settings -> Apps and Notifications -> Email -> App Info -> Notifications Off
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You had me nodding along in approval until you refered to smart watches as "gaudy". Smart watches are the exact opposite of gaudy which is why they fail miserably as a fashion accessory (one of your two usss for a watch). For your reference:
gaudy1
ôd/Submit
adjective
extravagantly bright or showy, typically so as to be tasteless.
Modern smart watches are anything but "bright and showy". "Cheap and crapy" are more the adjectives I'd use for what one looks like.
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I don't know how "very old" AbRASION is, but I'm nearly 60. I wear a Fitbit Ionic that allows me to pick from a huge variety of faces...extremely basic to information overload. The screen is normally dark unless I turn my wrist up to view it, then it automatically lights up...nothing "gaudy" about it, and yet it looks nice enough to have on with formal wear. My primary reason for having it is tracking exercise, and sleep...I typically only get 4 hrs, and am an apnea sufferer. As far as charging is concer
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I also already pull my phone out of my pocket FAR too much as it is.
Sounds like you need a smartwatch :-)
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One of the main benefits of a smartwatch is that you reduce the number of times you pull the phone out of your pocket to check notifications or the time.
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Battery life. A piece of jewellery that you have to charge once a day using a non-standard cradle with fragile pins because it can't fit a standard USB connector is a turn off.
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Don't forget that the "jewelry" looks like cheap plastic crap!
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People said the same thing about smart phones that needed charging daily instead of once a week like a Nokia 3310.
I'd get a smart watch if they provided useful functions that made it worth charging (wirelessly of course, Qi standard).
Something like an accurate, always on heart rate monitor and step counter. Bluetooth so it can vibrate on things like calendar event reminders or priority communications.
The problem with smartwatches at the moment is lack of a killer app.
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My Ionic charges once every 4-5 days in under 20 mins. I bought a cradle for it on Amazon for about $8 that works perfectly. It's much more than a piece of jewelry. I have jewelry watches...this is not one of them.
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Because they provide 0 value that you don't already get from the expensive phone in my pocket, require constant charging, and cost way too much.
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Your cell doesn't track your heart rate, and I haven't seen an app that does anything like my fitbit for tracking my sleep, but maybe there is. Many of us with sleep issues can make use of that. I don't have to carry my cell around the house to get my calls or messages either. And, by just turning my wrist, I can see my daily steps, stairs, calories, active minutes, heart rate, date, and time, w/o turning to an app.
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If you have sleep issues, see a medical professional and have a sleep study done. Its going to be FAR more useful than the pseudoscience you get out of an app on your smartwatch.
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Um, I have had a a sleep study done. There's nothing about the app on my watch that is pseudoscience in spite of your claim.
I get that you have some kind of hatred for smart watches, which you seem to feel the need to push on everyone else that finds them actually useful. Don't buy one, and we'll all just get along.
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Apple Watches have apparently saved a few lives because they warned of dangerous heart rates that caused the person to actually visit a doctor and discover they had a serious heart condition.
Short of a massive heart attack, a lot of heart conditions aren't found unless a doctor looks for them. The watch merely pointed out something was seriously wrong and to actually
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After my own surgery last year (after a serious fall that required ~$50k of plastic surgery), I was able to share data on my resting heart rate change in my resting heart rate with my primary care doc. I was surprised to notice it jump from ~60bpm to just over 80 for about a week before slowly recovering.
At nearly 60 yrs old, I always monitor my own heart rate during exercise to make sure I'm not overexerting.
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Re: I'll do you one better than that. (Score:2)
I see smart watches used for exactly two things: submission to digital exercise overlords and messaging addiction. I don't think most healthy people are interested in either of those "features".
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I'm trying to remember the last time someone I know talked about a smartwatch, let alone admitting out loud that they wanted one.
Re: I'll do you one better than that. (Score:3)
One of the supposed niches of smartwatches was in workplaces where looking at one's smarthone during business hours was banned.
e.g. waiters and shop assistants where managers didn't want them browsing facebook or calling their friends - with a watch they could get around the rule by still getting notifications.
Re: I'll do you one better than that. (Score:2)
So, it's for addicts? Maybe we should start regulating smart watches if they only serve to feed addiction.
Re:I'll do you one better than that. (Score:5, Funny)
How about I never buy a smartwatch instead?
I'm perfectly happy with my "dumb watch". It runs on an analogue CPU which requires winding, but main-spring battery life is about three days. It has an automatic winding pendulum that recharges the spring-battery when you wear it. The analogue OS on my watch comes with three built-in applications. One app, tells date and time. The second app is a timer applet. The third is a slide rule flight computer that allows you to compute time-speed-distance problems. The watch plays a cool "tick" sound when you listen closely. The only draw back to my analog watch is I couldn't find any App Store where I might download newer functions or change the "tick" sound. oh well....
You are doing it wrong. (Score:3)
Get with the times! Its not 1910 any more! ;)
These days through the wonders of mechanical science you can get self-winding mechanical watches
Yes, they are a bit bleeding edge - only been around since the mid 1920s, but hey, live life on the edge!
But yes, energy storage is only about 2-3 days, BUT they use amazing bio-engineering technology to self-charge!
Only problem is they tend to last a bit long, I have several from the 60s still going strong - make corp profitability
less good - and I am supposed to feel
Re:You are doing it wrong. (Score:4, Insightful)
.... I have several from the 60s still going strong - make corp profitability less good...
that's the whole point behind smart watches. Planned obsolescence.
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that's the whole point behind pretty much all “smart” devices. Planned obsolescence.
FTFY
Re: I'll do you one better than that. (Score:2)
Iâ(TM)ll get one as soon as they can also double as a key fob for my car.
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How about I never buy a smartwatch instead?
I'm not wearing the one I never bought. My smart watch is thin, waterproof, lightweight and sweatproof. It tells me the time exactly twice per day, runs independently of battery chargers and at othertimes is less than 10 seconds out in a month.
The stuff that separates the men from the boys is the cost of their toys. I will take a Rolex.
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Spoiler alert - your phone already does this.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: Good headline for once (Score:1)
You luddites were saying the same thing about smartphones. âoeJust make a phone that works properly insteadâ i remember that (and before smartphones the hate was on cell phones as being unnecessary when a pager would suffice). Why the hell do you guys swarm gadget blogs and technology sites if you hate technology?
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There's a difference between technology and gadgets.
Technology allows you to do things you couldn't otherwise do, or do things better than previously possible.
Gadgets are (usually) expensive doodads that provide no unique functionality and are pushed on marketing.
Smartwatches are gadgets, not technology.
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Gadgets are (usually) expensive doodads that provide no unique functionality and are pushed on marketing.
Smartwatches are gadgets, not technology.
That depends entirely on use case. There are things a smartwatch can do, that a traditional smartphone cannot do nearly as well. Biometrics for one (sure a smartphone can, but there are times when you don't want or can't have your smartphone with you.) If biometrics are important to the user, then everything other function provided is simply a bonus.
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Actually they do these extremely poorly, to the point of uselessness. They don't provide medical grade data.
its about the screen... (Score:2)
The Snapdragon Wear 3100 will still share many of the traits of its predecessor, like four Cortex-A7 cores and a large 28 nm process.
IF you buy a smartwatch THEN worry about the screen that sucks more power and is your primary interface...
Do not buy a smartwatch, forever (Score:3)
OK ... (Score:2)
How will I know when I've waited long enough?
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How will I know when I've waited long enough?
When your breathing finally stops.
FUCK a smartwatch, it's a waste of money. (Score:1)
When a smartwatch can REPLACE a cell phone and it can drive a display which is incorporated into eyeglasses and include augmented reality,
MAYBE I will consider spending my money on it.
But right now, a "smart" watch is just a silly overpriced gadget that is of such limited use I cannot believe people buy this stuff. Well yeah, actually
I can believe it, because there are over 4 BILLION idiots in the world and some of them have money.
Waiting... (Score:5, Insightful)
I know there is a lot of hate on Slashdot about smart watches, and I certainly understand a lot of it, but I actually like them. Sure, they have issues, but they can be extremely useful. I have had the Moto 360 and Moto 360.2. The 360.2 version is oh so much better, and the always-on screen is a must (and it can go all day with the always on). In the first year, it could go 2 days with the always-on screen (although as the battery grew old, it became 1 day, then less than a full day, and now I have to turn off the always-on feature I love).
Every WearOS watch I have seen since the 360.2 has been LED (not LCD) and has to be "activated" to use it every time... so it looks like an ugly black puck the rest of the time. Some support a limited "super dim/boring" always-on, which can't even be seen, and still barely gets through the day. I want a watch I can glance at any time, even stealthily, not one that has to be twisted or shaken or touched and then wait a second for it to finally show something. I am hoping the new breeds are all ALWAYS ON, like a real watch should be.
Fingers crossed...
Also, I don't care if I have to charge it every day, just like I do with my phone. But when it costs so much, I *DO* want the option to replace the battery myself in 2 years when it croaks!
Re:Waiting... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Waiting... (Score:4, Interesting)
There are two "extremely useful" things that I found in smartwatches, but they are present in $15 fitness trackers too as they just involve the vibrator.
Silent alarm and notifications. Vibrations are much easier to feel on your wrist, and can even wake you up, so no need for a loud alarm that wake up everybody around you. And same thing for notifications. In loud environments where you can't hear your phone ring and you are too active to feel the vibrations, this is one of the only thing you can feel. Nice in music festival when you need to get in touch with your group.
That's my use case. But I suppose there are others. For example, when you can pick up your phone because both your hands are taken or dirty, like when you are cooking. Which would call for an always-on screen, building on GP's idea.
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I've got a Garmin that I use for tracking running, swimming, and various workouts. The notifications are useful for when my phone is across the room or I can't grab my phone out at work. Also the fact that it can alarm by a vibration is useful for stuff like when I'm going camping or don't want to wake others with my alarm. Mine is just a "fitness watch" though, and I can't imagine wanting to pay more for less battery life just to do something like.... look at facebook or respond to text messages with "OK
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>"You seem to have no problem discussing the problems of the smart watch, how about explaining the 'extremely useful' part :)"
LOL! 'Tis true, I seem to be focused on the negative. Here are some:
1) Love controlling music remotely
2) Love notifications
3) Love being able to read and voice reply to text messages
4) Like seeing radar, temp, forecast quickly
5) Like being able to do quick web searches (although they made that WORSE in WearOS 2.0)
6) Like glancing for directions while driving/navigating, especial
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Not the guy you asked, but here's my 2 cents:
I wouldn't go as far as "extremely useful", but at the very least, I'd say there are some nice-to-have conveniences.
First, there's the whole fitness tracking thing. I'm sure the number of calories my watch said I expended isn't the actual number of calories I expended, but I'm also sure it does correlate with how active I've been, and has therefore been helpful in encouraging me to be more active.
Second, it offers a better way of handling notifications. I ge
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I use the timer app all the time; it helps remind me when stuff is done - e.g. cooking, laundry, etc...
I like having my activity level and heart rate measured. It encourages me to be less sedentary.
I like having my Weber Bluetooth grilling thermome
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Wow, you are SO anti-tech! awesome! ;)
And yet you are using a computer where I bet the time is displayed on the corner of your screen
Not to mention pissing away your life posting on a slashvertisement..
Meh. (Score:2)
Current smartwatches aren't impressive. I will stick with my Casio Data Bank 150 calculator watch. ;)
Heart rate monitors (Score:1)
Now couple that with an e-Ink display (Score:1)
Can we talk about this? (Score:2)
People were disgusted with Google Glass. But this is heading in that same direction again.
FUD (Score:1)
No don't listen to the haters.
I have a whole warehouse full of these watches, and trust me they are great!
You don't want to be the only kid in school not wearing one of these babies, do you?
Look!
Shiny!
New!
*dangely* *dangely* *dangely* *dangely*