Smart watches will supersede phones eventually. Why carry a 'thing' around with you when most people have watches on their wrists...just put all the functionality of a phone in your watch. I don't have to carry my phone out with me...I can pay for stuff with my watch, I can get updates from all my messaging apps via my watch, I can listen to music from my watch and I can even make a call from my watch, I can track all my activity from my watch and access most of my apps. If I had the latest and greatest version of my watch I could do all this without having to have my phone with me (can do most of it without having my phone with me). There comes a point where you say...why do I need to carry this brick around with me???
Another Instinct Solar here, haven’t worn what was my daily wear nice Seamaster in over a year…
Instinct does everything I need and more, just wish it looked a bit more like my Omega !
Bump
Anyone able to advise what the benefit of sapphire glass over the normal one is on a Fenix 6?
Supposedly more scratch resistant. No idea how much difference it makes in reality, probably depends how careful you are and how much a scratch would bother you. I've got an old sapphire fenix 3 and I'm really not that careful with it. Still looks as new on the glass.
I suppose the one thing I'd like about a (modern higher end) Apple watch is that it has (with subscription) 4G antenna built in - so you genuinely can go off grid without a phone, but have reliable sos phone call capability
(and decent 'shit I'm lost, get me back to my car' maps)
It truly is a 'leave your phone at home' - because it IS a phone - device. I don't think I'd ever take the MTB out, for example, without a 4g device, just in case that 0.0001% chance of something bad happens does happen. Reiterating myself I realise, but if you had a 4g apple watch that can make calls etc, you really can leave the phone at home...
and the Apple Watch also has a trip/fall feature too. If you trip or fall it detects it and offers to call the emergency services. If you don't cancel within a certain time, for example if you're unconscious, then the call is made, so potentially handy if you're out on your MTB, especially if you're alone. Think even my old Series 2 iWatch has that feature, though needs to be tethered to the phone to work.
On a skiing holiday I did inadvertently set off the SOS function. Stopped on the edge of the slope, heard a voice coming from my wrist, looked at the watch and noticed it had made the call. Confirmed to the caller I was OK and it was a false alarm and all was well I thought. Though about 10 mins earlier the wife was calling saying she'd received a text saying I'd been in an accident and even provided my GPS coordinates so she was worries as hell. Brilliant feature but be careful to not set it off accidentally.
Anyone able to advise what the benefit of sapphire glass over the normal one is on a Fenix 6?
Sapphire is tougher, but reportedly a bit darker.
Fenix 6 Sapphire also has the Fenix 6 Pro features over the standard Fenix 6.
Sapphire is tougher
I am sure that this is true, but in my experience it's the bezel that gets scratched, scuffed, worn and makes the watch look tatty (or worn in and rugged depending on your viewpoint)
Anyone able to advise what the benefit of sapphire glass over the normal one is on a Fenix 6?
I have the sapphire 6 Pro...when its time to replace I wouldn't bother again.
I've managed to scratch it a little anyhow and it's not nearly as easy to read as my Vivoactive 4 which has similar gorilla glass to the non-sapphire 6.
Pocket the difference!
I have the sapphire 6 Pro…when its time to replace I wouldn’t bother again.
Just to make it a harder choice, I've got a sapphire, and I'd totally buy another one again. I actually did (upgraded from a previous sapphire Fenix).
I am sure that this is true, but in my experience it’s the bezel that gets scratched, scuffed, worn and makes the watch look tatty (or worn in and rugged depending on your viewpoint)
DLC coating on the bezel actually seems to be wearing surprisingly well, but I find scratches on watch faces much more annoying than on the casing.
The question is really whether is a watch primarily for exercise tracking with HRM and GPS plus telling the time. In which case I'd get a forerunner - it's what both me and Mrs OD use. Pick your budget and away you go. Find the Garmin Connect app good as well
If it's for other smart stuff, music/messaging etc then you need a full smart watch but...
I'm not convinced by the additional functionality. Not least because I'm middle aged and there is no way my eyes (even with reading glasses) is up using a watch screen for anything other than really basic messaging.
@olddog Thats really all I need… but the cheaper Garmins are all touch screen and I’d rather not.
Sapphire is just scratch resistant glass. When I was looking I think the sapphire models also had different bezel materials (Ti?) which may also be longer lasting.
I just went for the mid size Pro in the end to save some money(!) It has been flawless. No scratches (worn daily for a year) and battery lasts 10 -14 days depending on GPS tracking.
No glitches or software issues. It just works. All the time.
Nav is a bit of a faff on such a small screen and not easy to use on a bike, especially off-road MTB, but accuracy is good.
Happy with it. Decent deals from time to time too (<£350). A lot of money, but loads of functionality.
One thing that surprised me is that you can't beam the HRM signal to another device, e.g. for Zwift.
Amazefit neo here, it's not smart really
Charge lasts a week or 2 and takes an hour or 2 to fully charge again
Hrm works v well, but is GPS via the phone, sleep tracking has been a surprising bonus, synchs with strava etc.
You can even get digital scales to use with it, tho calorie burning estimates are a bit optimistic!
after 6mths I'm more than happy
Best of all it only cost £20!
I'm, quite interested in a Withings Scanwatch, anyone got one to have an opinion on?
@ratherbeintobago Garmin forerunner are button operated. I've got a 45 cost about £120 I think. Newer version is out now.
https://buy.garmin.com/en-GB/GB/p/621922
cheaper Garmins are all touch screen and I’d rather not.
Only downside of my instinct solar, it's not touch screen. Got more false activations scrambling on halls fell ridge on Friday night than I had in the 4 years I had vivoactive 3 and 4 (both touchscreen).
One thing that surprised me is that you can’t beam the HRM signal to another device, e.g. for Zwift.
You can. The feature is called "HR broadcast".
I’ve got a Vivosmart 4 and it does that, but only on ANT+
One of the petty irritations is that before you can toggle HR broadcast, you have to toggle HR on, rather than it being one click.
Resurrecting this thread as I'll be in the market for a new watch soon. I'm going from Samsung/Android to the dark side (Apple) so would like something to go with the new phone. I've ruled out the Apple watch due to battery life and the fact it's fugly (I like a watch to look more like a watch or at least not have silly smoothed edges). So far the Garmin Instinct Solar and the Garmin Venu 2 are the early frontrunners, but I'm obviously missing out loads of other brands. The Venu 2 has the benefit of music storage but the Instinct destroys all in terms of battery life. What else should I be considering?
To my mind, the whole point of Apple is "ecosystem." If you're moving from Android to Apple for a phone and have ruled out their iWatch then, well... any other solution is going to be suboptimal. I'd suggest either reconsidering the Apple watch or rethinking switching platforms.
In response to the question as asked, I like my Huawai, but it's years old now.
The Apple offering gives around 18 hours battery life. I want sleep tracking which I can't use if I have to charge the watch while I sleep. I also want to be able to go on camping trips for a few nights without worrying about charging it. Plus I just don't like the looks and if I'm spending hundreds on a watch I want to like the looks.
I'm switching platforms for practical purposes re the phone. Storage size on the latest Samsung doesn't cut it and can't be expanded without relying on the cloud. I don't want to be relying on Internet access to play music I own or see photos I took.
/shrug
If you're wearing a watch when you're awake and wearing it when you're asleep, when exactly are you planning on charging it? Most smart watches' battery life isn't huge, maybe what you need here is a second 'fit' watch for night time.
If you're going on camping trips, I'd suggest an external battery pack. Anker is pretty much the de facto choice here.
Plenty of other people make phones. Samsung Android has always been shite IMHO, I don't understand why they're market leaders. What you need there is something that takes an SD card.
Smart watches are a bit like digital cameras… you don’t neeed one* as your mobile phone should be cabable of doing it all if you’ve a half decent one.
*unless your’e a serious athlete or a profesional photographer
To a certain extent that's true, a basic android wear watch can't really do much more than a good mobile phone, and they need a constant phone connection meaning you can't just leave your phone at home if you want any of the 'smart' features.
However, when you start getting into garmin watches (other proper sports watch brands are available) they're a much better tool than a phone for multiple things.
Phones are rubbish at recording rides on strava, with accurate gps, and connection to a HRM start, and not having their battery die after an hour. A garmin watch will do this brilliantly.
Sleep tracking is much better on a proper sports watch.
Running with a phone is just a pain and soooo much easier with a non touch screen watch that displays pace/split times etc easily and clearly.
Swimming. Is that a phone in your trunks or are you just (strangely shaped) happy to see me? 😀
I own both a basic android wear OS watch and a Garmin 245 music, I don't actually know where my android watch is. My garmin is on my wrist and stays there 6 or so days of the week, 24hrs a day.
Plenty of other people make phones.
I know, but I made my decision based on a number of factors, including storage available. If Samsung had continued with SD card support on top end phones I'd have stuck with them. If UK network operators offered the 512gb S21 Ultra i'd have gone with it. Personally all other options would have felt like a compromise in some way to get the SD card feature, so I decided on Apple and I'm sticking to that decision. Now I have to make a decision on a compatible watch. As far as the Garmin offerings go the only limitation when paired with iOS is being unable to respond to messages from the watch. As I have never done this from a Galaxy watch paired to a Galaxy phone in 3 years it's not a priority. I realise that the Apple watch is made to perfectly mate with the Apple phone range, but I simply don't want one. It won't work if I go back to Android in 2 years time.
So the question is apart from Apple, what mid range (around £200-£400) smart watches have people used with iPhone successfully? What do you like/dislike?
So the question is apart from Apple, what mid range (around £200-£400) smart watches have people used with iPhone successfully? What do you like/dislike?
I have 2.
Forerunner 645 music. Great little running watch, albeit it’s getting a little slow now. The battery is fine and I use it for running and activity tracking.
Vivosmart 4. Worn when not running. Small, discrete fitness band that doesn’t look crap when I wear a normal watch on the other wrist.
The Apple offering gives around 18 hours battery life
That seems quite short, I thought they lasted longer than that, my Fenix 5 is good for a week, and that with me recording an activity every day
