Learn me smartwatches

While at one point in my life I would have derided the idea, and I can fully appreciate the irony in the fact that the reason I don't regularly wear a watch is that I carry a phone, I think that a smartwatch would be making a lot of sense for me right now. 

I figured out that there are more than the iWatch out there. Who knew? So anyways, I'm looking at them now and getting a little overwhelmed when you consider updates and how fast something like this becomes obsolete. So I'm asking the  hive, what should I look for, and what should I be aware of? 

Things that I need: 

• Compatible with iPhone 6--but I'm not married to Apple and don't care if my smartwatch says apple or not
• Looks like a real watch (Apple watch is fine; most of the pebble lineup is not)
• Good battery life. I want to be able to plug it in at midnight and have it be good to go at 5AM, without any charging in between.
• Works flawlessly. I hate buggy tech. 
• Waterproof
• Very tough. I don't plan on working on the car with it on, but I will be doing other day-to-day activities--possibly including playing hockey with it on, sailing, fishing, etc. 
• Texting. I need to be able to text with the wife with this even if my phone is in the other room

Things that I want ,but don't need:

• Ability to  make a phone call while my phone is in the other room
• Interchangeable wrist bands

So what should I look for? 

Then, general questions: 

• Do these things increase your data? I assume you can turn certain apps to wifi only the same as a phone?
• Anything else I should know?

The guys @ work that wear them basically just get notifications that they should check their phones. Nobody sends messages or does any browsing or anything on them because it's too small for that sort of thing. But their watch dings shortly after their phone does, so they look at their watch and it tells them to look at their phone.

STM317 said:

The guys @ work that wear them basically just get notifications that they should check their phones. Nobody sends messages or does any browsing or anything on them because it's too small for that sort of thing. But their watch dings shortly after their phone does, so they look at their watch and it tells them to look at their phone.

Frankly, this is what I need it for--as silly as that sounds. And I typically use diction for my texts anyways, so I think that I'd be fine with using that on a watch--even though it looks quite silly.

mtn said:

STM317 said:

The guys @ work that wear them basically just get notifications that they should check their phones. Nobody sends messages or does any browsing or anything on them because it's too small for that sort of thing. But their watch dings shortly after their phone does, so they look at their watch and it tells them to look at their phone.

Frankly, this is what I need it for--as silly as that sounds. And I typically use diction for my texts anyways, so I think that I'd be fine with using that on a watch--even though it looks quite silly.

Dick Tracy much?

Seriously, I'm old school and will wear an automatic watch until the day I die. However I can appreciate a smart watch for what it is.

D2W said:

mtn said:

STM317 said:

The guys @ work that wear them basically just get notifications that they should check their phones. Nobody sends messages or does any browsing or anything on them because it's too small for that sort of thing. But their watch dings shortly after their phone does, so they look at their watch and it tells them to look at their phone.

Frankly, this is what I need it for--as silly as that sounds. And I typically use diction for my texts anyways, so I think that I'd be fine with using that on a watch--even though it looks quite silly.

Dick Tracy much?

Seriously, I'm old school and will wear an automatic watch until the day I die. However I can appreciate a smart watch for what it is.

About a year ago I was right there with you (sort of). Maybe even three months ago. I have a nice automatic Bulova that I wear about 2-3x a week. It is jewelry, a fashion piece more than it is a functional piece just because I have my cell  phone on me all the time. I just couldn't find what a smartwatch, which will eventually be obsolete, was providing me that a real watch which will retain its functionality for more or less eternity, or else my cell  phone which is always on me.

But my wife is pregnant, and it has been a difficult pregnancy. That has created some issues where I'll be out doing yardwork or walking the dog or [insert literally anything here]--she'll call me from bed, or text me, and I won't hear it/feel it and I won't check my phone, only to find out 20 minutes later that she's been puking and needs me to take the trash out and replace the bag and everything else. I figure that with a smartwatch, I'd be able to check my wrist regularly and see if there are any urgent calls/texts. 

Plus, I also hate having my phone in my pocket. Distracts from the natural bulge. That and I just don't like a bunch of stuff in my pocket. If I could leave my phone on my desk/bedside table/in the car, I feel like it would bring some real improvement to my life, especially since I wouldn't be able to get distracted and look up whatever random thought comes to mind.

I have a Fitbit Blaze that I bought about a year ago that I'm reasonably happy with. That said, I wanted something that was a lack-of-fitness tracker/sleep tracker first and smart watch second. Battery life is really good for a colour smart watch (I usually get 4-5 days) and a big improvement over something like an Apple Watch that needs recharging every day or every second day.

It will probably fail your "looks like a real watch" criterion, but the newer Fitbit Versa that appears to have replaced it might not.

The Blaze will not allow you to make phone calls on it, but it will alert you to incoming calls and text messages. Both work fine with an iPhone.

I wear a Asus ZenWatch 2. It saves me from digging my phone out to check what went ding a dozen times a day. Since I pretty much run my business off of my phone, it sounds off what seems like constantly. 

It's even kind of nice to get turn by turn directions without having to look at the phone. 

I ended up with a black and a silver one. 

My only dislike is the magnetic charging port. If I wear the watch in the shop while grinding or cutting steel, you can imagine the mess it makes. 

It looks like they are cross compatible with iOS and Android so if you ever change phones, you won't have to change watches. 

Sounds like an iWatch might be what you are looking for.

For calls and IM’s there are two ways that can work.  One is to be within Bluetooth range of your phone (30 ish feet). The other is to buy a cellular capable version (about $40 more?).  You will have to pay an additional charge ($10?) on you cell plan, but can freely make calls / get texts anywhere your phone could, without need of the phone of course.

It will also show driving directions without having to look at you phone.

Another side benefit of the cellular capable version is that even without a plan it can still make emergency calls.  You just hold down the red button for 5 seconds (?). Kind of a cool emergency feature if you don’t want to pay the monthly charge.

Yeah, I think I'll be going with another Apple product. I'm now at three!--although one of them is an ancient iPod. 

My others that I'm considering are the Huaiwei, Moto, and the Asus. However, it is looking like future support and OS's is going to be an issue for anything other than the Apple. If Apple would just make a round watch I'd be all set. 

Now to figure out if I want the 38, 42, and new or used. 

I've got a first-gen Apple Watch- I've had it for about a year and a half now having bought it at the beginning of 2017 because of my work's health incentive plan (the tracking it does made it much easier to take advantage of it).

The only thing I don't like about it is that it's not (technically) waterproof, being the first-gen watch. I have had several friends say they've showered with them and ended up with them immersed in water with no ill effects, but there's no guarantee it won't mess it up. This is obviously not a problem with the newer ones that are rated to be waterproof.

I've had a smart watch since the original Pebble came out, and imagine that I always will have something similar- it's just a lot more convenient than having to pull out my phone all the time, and a lot less intrusive than having the phone making noise with notifications vs. the watch just 'tapping' you (if you put it into silent mode) or quietly 'pinging' at you. I primarily use it for reading notifications (texts from my wife primarily) and rarely use it for replying, though it is worth noting that the speech-to-text is (or was, I've been having issues with it lately) VERY good and it's completely possible to have a text conversation safely while driving using it. The older ones like mine can't make calls on their own, but as my phone is rarely out of bluetooth range of me and the watch it can be used to answer and carry on conversations over the watch. It's not ideal- its speaker isn't the greatest and the mic isn't as good as the phone, but when it's just not practical to pull out the phone it gets the job done.

I've not had any real issues with it battery-wise. I tend to drop it on the charger when I go to bed around midnight to 1AM and pull it off and put it on around 7am and it's fully charged. The newer ones should be even better I believe. I have had mine run out of power if I make heavy use of it (typically when I use it for music playback over bluetooth at the gym or when doing yardwork), but for the most part it lasts the day under normal use.

I sold my 25th anniversary (work not marriage) Apple watch to a geek co-worker.   The only complaint he has had is it has to be charged often.    

Huh. I just realized, I might be able to write this off on my taxes. Cool.