Smartwatches / Fitness Trackers

Soriak_sl said:

I think the Moto 360 counts steps even if you're disconnected from the phone. I suppose I should test this...

But in general, there's really no reason why the watch should duplicate what your phone does. How often do you leave your house without your phone?

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Exactly. It doesn't do anything that your phone doesn't do, and it requires your phone to be nearby to do a sizeable chunk of its stuff. That's one of my primary issues with the apple offering and well... smart watches in general. They're a trendy extender with a very short range.

Hopefully they'll get a feature set that makes them more worthwhile to have, but unless I'm somewhere that literally bans me from looking at a phone to use the current feature set, there's no reason for me to have one. I have a friend who purchases every new silly gadget that comes out try and tell me how useful it will be while he's working out and running and what not. And then I asked when he was going to take his 700 dollar watch to the gym and start clinking and clanking weights, and he told me he wouldn't take it there because it could get scratched. So I mentioned treadmills and he was all stoked... right up until he remembered that they have 90% of that information already built into them.

I mean.. heart rate, I guess? Just not an item aimed at my demographic, I guess.

I don't think it's something people don't understand, it's more of why would I wear an ugly watch that's an extension of my phone when I can just use my phone. It's just not that onerous to take my phone out of my pocket.

That's fine, I'm sure it's great for some. From my personal anecdotal experience they lose their luster quickly. I can think of 3 people in my department who had smartwatches (2 Moto360s and a Gear) and no longer use them. Obviously a very limited data set, I'll be interested to see if people find the Apple device more useful.

I have no need to respond that quickly to anything, and, frankly, I don't think anyone does. Get an iPhone. They tell you when people read your text. Nothing so urgent in my life that I need a couple second turn around time.

I don't really think this technology will last unless you can get rid of the phone altogether and have the watch replace it completely.

lanx_sl said:

This is something that has to be experienced, i've said it many times.

Once you wear a smartwatch you will no longer fish through your jean pockets cuz you got a quick groin buzz, you'll just flick your wrist instead.

Hell even with my ancient pebble, i can respond to a text with a few emoticons with 2 button presses if i want(cuz ppl want to know you read their text with a response), w/o taking out my phone.

It's lifestyle change.

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Any text you can respond to with a couple of emoticons is not a text worth responding to, really. Or a text worth getting, in most cases. If they really need to know you received their text and they require instant response time, you probably need to date less insecure women hah.

I guess the watches are aimed directly at people with zero attention span and a need for constant attention? Because otherwise a phone is going to do exactly the same stuff at a lower pricepoint. And yeah, if you are texting and receiving stuff that fast, you generally have the phone in your hands anyway.

Like lurkingdirk said, until the watch -replaces- a smartphone, it is really just a holdover until it does. A relatively expensive extender for functionality that you already have to carry around with you anyway.

So the new android watch will work off of dual networks. Not sure about water proofing, anyone know?

Got mine today..always impressed by how Apple packages stuff.

Only complaint so far is I had to re-add my Apple Pay cards, but it's a terribly painful process, so not too butthurt about it. Watch came at 70% charge, so I went ahead and charged it up to full. I'll hook it up tonight and give it a real trial run tomorrow and see how the battery holds up.

Screen is real pretty, but that might not be saying much coming from the Pebble's e-ink.

edit: took the watch off the charger this morning at 10am, writing this now at 12:24am and it's sitting at 55% charge.

Used it fairly frequently today (sent about ~20 text messages from it, took it to the gym...showered with it). Got lots of of ooo's and aah's as I was going around town.

Ignatius_sl said:

Got mine today..always impressed by how Apple packages stuff.

Only complaint so far is I had to re-add my Apple Pay cards, but it's a terribly painful process, so not too butthurt about it. Watch came at 70% charge, so I went ahead and charged it up to full. I'll hook it up tonight and give it a real trial run tomorrow and see how the battery holds up.

Screen is real pretty, but that might not be saying much coming from the Pebble's e-ink.

edit: took the watch off the charger this morning at 10am, writing this now at 12:24am and it's sitting at 55% charge.

Used it fairly frequently today (sent about ~20 text messages from it, took it to the gym...showered with it). Got lots of of ooo's and aah's as I was going around town.

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And yep. I hate plugging shit in constantly.

I've got the stainless steel and yea it's got the sapphire.

Battery life seems fine to me. Took a shower with it no problem.

Sure it's cheap, but a screen protector sounds stupid for a smartwatch. Yes, it's a functional piece of technology that you wear and is likely to get banged on things, but any designer should've considered that when making the case and glass. Even if we're talking regular watches, I would expect a decently priced watch be capable of a little abuse.

Then again, I don't put a case on my phone.

I believe one of the benefits of a sapphire screen is it is highly scratch resistant performing better then Gorilla Glass.

The sapphire is supposed to be pretty damn hard to scratch, the trade off being that it shatters like a mofo.

I snagged Applecare for mine because yay discount. I dont put cases on my phones either for the same reason (and I've only ever had to replace one phone).

Ignatius_sl said:

I've got the stainless steel and yea it's got the sapphire.

Battery life seems fine to me. Took a shower with it no problem.

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2h24m of use using half the battery seems "fine to you" - for what looks like 20 text messages and some glancing at it otherwise? That's like 5% of the battery used on my phone. (Seriously barely touched my phone yesterday besides checking emails and ended the day with 91% charge and no plugging it in all day - probably email checking on par with the messaging you did)

And in comparison I've seen Moto 360 go 8+ hrs with being used at least that much on friends without it running out of charge (never asked how much charge it still had in those cases though).

To be fair people with Moto 360s did say the battery life got better a bit over time so maybe Apple watches will too.

Lenas_sl said:

To be fair people with Moto 360s did say the battery life got better a bit over time so maybe Apple watches will too.

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Even first week Moto 360 was better than that though, they were complaining about 6 hrs of life with heavier use than "20 texts" - that it lasted "half a day" if it was being used lightly. (A full day was edging doable if it was almost unused)

It might improve, but still for something coming out a half a year later I'd expect it to be at least close to current 360 power consumption (which people are quoting being able to go two days without a charge here and RL - Szilia did here, no?), I'd not label that it a "fine" start based on his small sample.

Unless it needs the battery broken in to hold a real charge or something - but even that's something that you'd think they'd do for you with a Premium product like that. (His is the $600+ version, no? And its comparing poorly to a $200ish one.... even the metal 360 is $250 right now on Amazon)

Don't get me wrong, I'm always going to be anti-Apple since I think they make overpriced crap for the performance they get with little personalization allowed - but I don't see 4 hrs of light use ever being "fine" for a product that's meant to be worn all day. Having to recharge a jewelry item midday is silly.