Worth buying a smart watch this christmas?

blueisthecolourblueisthecolour Posts: 20,122
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I've got to say that i'm really interested in the idea of a smart watch. I love my Galaxy Note 2 but it's size means that I don't carry it around with me at work or at home, and it's usually on silent meaning I miss calls and texts all the time. And it would be good to look at the time without taking it out my pocket :)

But i'm unconvinced with the smart watches i've seen so far. The technology doesn't seem to be quite there yet and the prices of some are ridiculous (galaxy gear, i'm looking at you).

Does anyone currently have a smart watch that they think is decent? Are there any coming out in the near future?
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Comments

  • alanwarwicalanwarwic Posts: 28,396
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    Stupidly expensive so more an executive toy.

    That new Qualcomm Toq sounds like it would be a hit but for more silly money tricks.
    Maybe the Pebble is the best bet at the moment.
  • LostFoolLostFool Posts: 90,623
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    The current batch of smart watches are very much "version 1.0" devices. I'm sure that in a few years everyone will be wearing them but for the moment I'd stay clear and let the products, market and technologies mature.
  • blueisthecolourblueisthecolour Posts: 20,122
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    alanwarwic wrote: »
    Stupidly expensive so more an executive toy.

    That new Qualcomm Toq sounds like it would be a hit but for more silly money tricks.
    Maybe the Pebble is the best bet at the moment.

    Yeah, I got the notification about the Toq which made me start this thread. At $349 though i'm expecting it to be at least £249 here.

    I agree that so far it looks like the technology isn't mature enough.
  • alanwarwicalanwarwic Posts: 28,396
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    Funnily enough, Amazon flog loads of watches so a surprise they did not try their hand at cheap mass production.
    It could Fire up sales.
  • enapaceenapace Posts: 4,303
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    I think we are still 2-3 years off before we get out of this infantile stage the watches are in. I think they do give some benefit but at moment I don't think technology is truly here.

    If we going be using for video calling which is one of the big advantages of the watches you going want at least a solid 720p front facing camera inside.

    Something else is I'm not sure how many people actually want to talk into there watch.

    Another is design they don't look like a professional watch to me which I know sounds a small problem but in my line of work it is actually quite important. Think different sizes for males and females is a good idea not sure if any are doing that yet.

    Even after that I not sure I will get one I like a watch to actually have proper hands on it. It just looks right to me not a massive fan of digital clocks. I know you can get it to display in analog mode but it still doesn't honestly look that good.
  • Matt DMatt D Posts: 13,153
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    I have a Pebble.

    It is very much a "version 1.0" device as LostFool said above, but it's great and I'm glad I got it.
  • niceguy1966niceguy1966 Posts: 29,560
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    My Timex has a 5 year battery. Why would I want a watch that doesn't even last a day?
  • Matt DMatt D Posts: 13,153
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    My Timex has a 5 year battery. Why would I want a watch that doesn't even last a day?

    Not all smart watches have as poor battery life as the Galaxy Gear...

    The Pebble lasts for a week. Which, given what it does, is actually very good.
  • Stuart_hStuart_h Posts: 5,311
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    Matt D wrote: »
    I have a Pebble.

    It is very much a "version 1.0" device as LostFool said above, but it's great and I'm glad I got it.

    ^^ This. I have a pebble. early adopter toy really but best of the bunch at the moment i'd say :)
  • alanwarwicalanwarwic Posts: 28,396
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    enapace wrote: »
    I think we are still 2-3 years off before we get out of this infantile stage the watches are in
    There are a few cheap smartphone watches around, but maybe due to power requirements they tend to be 2G.
    And I suspect KitKat lowered RAM requirements back to 512MB, and made it modular, as a forerunner for the Android Smartwatch/WatchPC.
    RAM uses continuous power too, so low RAM can also mean lower power.

    Interestingly, I only just realised that the Sony Smartwatch 2(for Sony, a 3rd generation watch device), like the Qualcomm also uses a transflective display. It may mean it works better with outside light than inside !
  • blueisthecolourblueisthecolour Posts: 20,122
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    alanwarwic wrote: »
    There are a few cheap smartphone watches around, but maybe due to power requirements they tend to be 2G.
    And I suspect KitKat lowered RAM requirements back to 512MB, and made it modular, as a forerunner for the Android Smartwatch/WatchPC.
    RAM uses continuous power too, so low RAM can also mean lower power.

    Interestingly, I only just realised that the Sony Smartwatch 2(for Sony, a 3rd generation watch device), like the Qualcomm also uses a transflective display. It may mean it works better with outside light than inside !

    Thanks for the tips so far.

    To be honest I'd just like something that I could read texts/emails from and notifies me of calls.
  • psionicpsionic Posts: 20,188
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    Smart Watches are still very much a niche product though. Samsung apparently only sold 50,000 so far. Which by Samsung's usual standards is disappointing.http://www.ubergizmo.com/2013/11/samsung-has-only-managed-to-muster-50000-galaxy-gear-sales-to-date/
  • jonner101jonner101 Posts: 3,410
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    My Timex has a 5 year battery. Why would I want a watch that doesn't even last a day?

    All the most desirable and expensive watches are the old fashioned mechanical type of watches. Essentially I think people consider a watch as a piece of jewellery/fashion item

    I think the mobile phone has killed or at least changed the market for cheap but very functional digital multi function watches.

    I'll stick with my automatic mechanical watch which never needs winding or ever needs a battery change.
  • Matt DMatt D Posts: 13,153
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    Stuart_h wrote: »
    ^^ This. I have a pebble. early adopter toy really but best of the bunch at the moment i'd say :)

    Yup, definitely the best available at the moment :)
    Thanks for the tips so far.

    To be honest I'd just like something that I could read texts/emails from and notifies me of calls.

    Pebble will do that for you, and more :)
  • Si_CreweSi_Crewe Posts: 40,202
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    Biggest problem, IMO, is that the screen on a sensible-sized watch is never (until they invent star-wars style holographic displays, at least) going to be big enough to allow you to do an awful lot that that wouldn't be accomplished more easily by taking the phone out of your pocket.

    Invent a regular-looking watch with a face that doubles as a "touchpad", hook it up to a phone that's outputting to something like Google Glass and you'd really be onto something IMO.
  • clonmultclonmult Posts: 3,366
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    Thanks for the tips so far.

    To be honest I'd just like something that I could read texts/emails from and notifies me of calls.

    In which case the REAL v1.0 of smartwatches - devices like the SE MBW-100/150 (which also look like a real watch) are just as good.

    Battery typically lasts a week (considerably more when bluetooth is off), they can inform you of incoming calls (great for those who are too lazy to pull the phone from the pocket), read incoming texts, have AVRCP so can control the music player.

    And if you can find one, they'll be considerably cheaper.

    These other devices are effectively v2 of smartwatches, and to be honest don't offer much more in the way of truly useful functionality.
  • alanwarwicalanwarwic Posts: 28,396
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    clonmult wrote: »
    .. and to be honest don't offer much more in the way of truly useful functionality.

    Says who?

    What would actually make it useful for you?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 13,367
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    psionic wrote: »
    Smart Watches are still very much a niche product though. Samsung apparently only sold 50,000 so far. Which by Samsung's usual standards is disappointing.http://www.ubergizmo.com/2013/11/samsung-has-only-managed-to-muster-50000-galaxy-gear-sales-to-date/

    I find this a bit hard to believe, but they've apparently sold - or at least shipped - 800,000.

    http://mobile.theverge.com/2013/11/19/5121212/samsung-galaxy-gear-smartwatch-sales-figures
  • qasdfdsaqqasdfdsaq Posts: 3,350
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    Si_Crewe wrote: »
    Biggest problem, IMO, is that the screen on a sensible-sized watch is never (until they invent star-wars style holographic displays, at least) going to be big enough to allow you to do an awful lot that that wouldn't be accomplished more easily by taking the phone out of your pocket.
    It's not meant to do an awful lot, it's meant to do simple tasks. Checking the time. Seeing caller ID, reading text messages and deciding whether or not to ignore or read an email when the buzzer goes, controlling your media player, etc. are all things that are easier on a smartwatch.

    It's not meant to replace your whole damn phone. Equally, I could name an awful lot of things that would be accomplished more easily taking your laptop out of your bag than trying to use a phone or tablet.
  • swordmanswordman Posts: 6,679
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    Samsung have sold 800,000 of these watches, I'm amazed just don't get it at all.
  • IanPIanP Posts: 3,661
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    Some people are prepared to pay a lot of money for wrist watches that do little more than tell the time if anything. So it's no surprise that people would be happy to buy a watch with smart functions.

    Wearable technology makes a lot of sense but I'm not sure the masses are ready for something like Google Glass. When they start to get the smart watch right it should be a huge market but I'm not sure the technology is quite there just yet. If the battery life can be extended and voice recognition/AI improve it could take off. If it doesn't happen in the next couple of years it will come back after a few more years when the technology catches with what people want.
  • Si_CreweSi_Crewe Posts: 40,202
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    IanP wrote: »
    Some people are prepared to pay a lot of money for wrist watches that do little more than tell the time if anything. So it's no surprise that people would be happy to buy a watch with smart functions.

    I think that any company who thinks like this might be disappointed, unfortunately.

    People don't buy Rolexes and Breitlings because of what they do. They buy them because of what they are.

    The sort of person who spends £1,000 on a hand-built Swiss watch isn't going to be inclined to buy a lump of mass-produced plastic Korean tat to put on their wrist just because it does some tricks and costs £1,000 as well.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there IS a market for these things but the manufacturers need to realise they have to get people to buy them on merit rather than simply assuming the market will adopt them because people already buy expensive watches.
  • jonner101jonner101 Posts: 3,410
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    I find this a bit hard to believe, but they've apparently sold - or at least shipped - 800,000.

    http://mobile.theverge.com/2013/11/19/5121212/samsung-galaxy-gear-smartwatch-sales-figures

    Bit of a discrepancy with the Guardian article.
  • jonner101jonner101 Posts: 3,410
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    Si_Crewe wrote: »
    I think that any company who thinks like this might be disappointed, unfortunately.

    People don't buy Rolexes and Breitlings because of what they do. They buy them because of what they are.

    The sort of person who spends £1,000 on a hand-built Swiss watch isn't going to be inclined to buy a lump of mass-produced plastic Korean tat to put on their wrist just because it does some tricks and costs £1,000 as well.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there IS a market for these things but the manufacturers need to realise they have to get people to buy them on merit rather than simply assuming the market will adopt them because people already buy expensive watches.

    A good watch is more an expensive piece of jewellery these days.

    You're probably looking at 5-7k at least for a low end brietling or rolex, you're paying for the meticulous attention to detail, craftsmanship and man hours it takes to build one of these.

    I think the smart watch will be aimed more at the sort of person who likes gadgety digital watches with stopwatches, heart monitors, altimeters, compasses and things like that.

    Maybe the market is niche though as I can't see how the smart-watch could be an effective way of being used as a communication device. We will have to see.
  • psionicpsionic Posts: 20,188
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    I find this a bit hard to believe, but they've apparently sold - or at least shipped - 800,000.

    http://mobile.theverge.com/2013/11/19/5121212/samsung-galaxy-gear-smartwatch-sales-figures

    It appears the 50,000 figure widely reported yesterday were not overall global sales.
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