switch to smart watch?

[dojpros]

I thought I lost mine a few days ago. I went as far as to price another 38 mm 3 at 170 ish and the new SE at 279ish before deciding that I would rather put that $$ toward a conventional timepiece (Casio Oceanus 200 or something from Tissot running the 80 hour movement or a a Hamilton hand wind field watch)

I then found it.

Take a way - I like having one but I would be slow to replace a lost or broken one in this time when I am working from home so much etc. My opinion might be different if I was back to "normal."

A bit of a ramble FWIW.

 

[The Knize]

Thanks for all the input, everyone. I have sort of lost energy on this one. I had a look at the Galaxy watches at Costco and did not find myself drawn to them. From on-line photos I thought they were looking more like conventional watches. And even though it seems a little dorky, wearing a conventional watch and a Fitbit, one on each wrist, seems to serve a lot of my purposes.

I do get the concept that folks once having gone to a full-fledged smart watch generally do not go back to a regular watch. That influences me quite a bit.

 

[Artimid]

Just one last thing, my Samsung S3 Classic has steel bands on it, I can put on a nice face, etc that makes it look a lot better with a suit/tie. My watch also replaced my wallet, essentially. I can pay almost anywhere (except Home Depot and some Walmarts that block it somehow) with my watch. Even old gas stations and restaurants where you pay at the big register/machine. I can just hold my watch and pay while they tell me "it won't work, we don't accept .. HOW did you do that?!", and it's great fun.

I'd say just don't look at Apple unless you have an Apple watch, and instead stick to Samsung (the winner in payment systems) or Google Wear devices. Google integrates more with your phone, but my Samsung I can get 2-3 days out of without a charge if I'm not playing games like Tetris on it. I like the conventional watch, but it seems like such a waste to have 'just' a watch when we have so many ways of getting time anymore. The ability to have, what is essentially, a PC on your wrist is great. You can get a Samsung S3 for $95. While a Google Wear watch has so much more depth, feature wise... it also has crappy battery life as a trade off.

For anyone who finds this in the future as well, it all comes down to how much technology you like having in a day. I turn off notifications when working by throwing it into DnD mode, and at night. I like have hundreds of alarms I can set on my watch, being able to put grocery lists on it, listen to music from it or headphones synced to it, calculators, voice recorders, etc. It's pretty much the dream of having a Dick Tracy watch that did it for me. But there is something very nice about having a watch that you know "just works", and if you were stuck somewhere and needed the time, you'd have it with no questions asked.

 

[The Knize]

Thanks, Artimid. You have built up my energy on this again. I take it you are saying the Google Wear products work well with Samsung watches? I think I have an s10. Is there any downside to the Google watch other than battery life? I had not considered going to Google rather than Samsung.

I have to charge my phone all the time, so I guess I could charge my watch, too. And if the watch runs out of battery, I, ironically, would still have my phone with which to tell time!

 

[JWCowboy]

....one can drink and smoke cigars while playing, and chat with whoever one is playing with.

Here in the American south we actually do this while playing slow pitch softball.....can also do while bowling

Count me in with the rest of the non smart watch crowd. Heck I still don't own a smart phone

 

[ChiefHA]

Well, just bought an Apple watch 6 so we will see how this experiment goes...........

 

[Artimid]

While I, personally, don't use an Apple - I'm sure you'll enjoy it. There will probably be a few bumps in getting used to looking at it and not needing to bust out your phone, but after beating that impulse it will be exactly the same to you as before you had the smart watch, you'll just have more at your fingertips. Especially if you setup Apple Pay so you can just tap your watch and leave without ever pulling out your wallet.

And on that note, Apple Pay/Samsung Pay/etc are actually really secure. It's a one time use token and very safe, so it's actually slightly better than your card.

 

[ChiefHA]

Well here it is, I'm 5 days in and I love it. I have to be available for phone calls 24-7 and I hate carrying my cell phone when I am home so this worked great this weekend when I was outside working and got phone calls and texts from work just like my childhood hero Dick Tracy.....

 

[chromedometone]

I tried an apple watch. I hated it. Constant buzzing, beeping, reminding, etc. It made me feel manic.
I switched back to my regular rotation. I have quite a few mechanicals, autos, etc. However, most work days I wear my Timex Easy Reader 40th Anniversary watch. Looks great with a suit, and I can glance at it and get the time in a beat. Nights and weekends, I mostly wear either a Timex Ironman, Citizen Eco Drive field watch, or a Solar Atomic G-Shock. I'm a simple man in certain aspects. I like to be able to look at my watch and immediately know what time it is. No knocking other's who wear smart watches. It just wasn't for me. That's my opinion.

 

[chromedometone]

Well here it is, I'm 5 days in and I love it. I have to be available for phone calls 24-7 and I hate carrying my cell phone when I am home so this worked great this weekend when I was outside working and got phone calls and texts from work just like my childhood hero Dick Tracy.....
View attachment 1180520

Glad your loving it.

 

[Artimid]

The whole "Dick Tracy" this is why I've always wanted a smart watch. If Apple had answered the requests of people long ago with the iPod Nano to turn it into a watch, I'd be an Apple person right now.
And you definitely can know the time with just a glance, in fact you can know the time for many places in the world at once.

It looks good though and glad you are liking it.
One thing I do like about Apple is how easy they make it to swap out the bands, the watch I had before my Samsung was horrible, but Samsung and Apple made that process easy. Are you keeping the band or going for a steel/leather band?

 

[The Knize]

One thing I do like about Apple is how easy they make it to swap out the bands, the watch I had before my Samsung was horrible, but Samsung and Apple made that process easy. Are you keeping the band or going for a steel/leather band?

That is something I like to hear! I am still not sure I love the look, even of the most conventional looking of the Samsung watches. But a good conventional steel bracelet or leather band, helps.

I figured out that the Fitbit I have has some notification of at least texts, that seems useful, if not so wonderful.

 

[global_dev]

I love the idea of a smart watch, i dont think i want to be that connected though and styling for me is not where i connect either right now. Pandemic has helped me get back into phys activity so i ended up with a polar vantage.

 

[MrLara]

The main reason why I see smart watches as a waste of money, is because you gotta upgrade every few yrs. I'm guessing you're spending around $300 when you do. And I don't see the point in doing that at all.

 

[natenaaron]

Had to get a new phone tuesday. Guy at the T-Mobil store asked if I wanted an Apple Watch as they were two for one. I said “no thanks I like my analog watch.” He put in his best salesman shocked face and asked why. I said “for the same reason you are wearing one”. He had a quartz analog on. That ended the sales pitch.

I have been tempted by the health tracking but I am turned off by all the rest.

that Ring might just be the way to go. Will need to do some research.

 

[Wolfgang von Kessler]

I'm definitely in the wrong thread here! I'm "old school", that being said,....my everyday watch is Rolex 1665 COMEX from 1975. I'll be buried with it.

 

[global_dev]

Its been over a month and i’ll say that wearing the polar has given me motivation to get some activity daily and understand my sleep patterns better. Added that to some health apps like snorelab and its been interesting to see whats going on.

 

[haggis]

I tried an apple watch. I hated it. Constant buzzing, beeping, reminding, etc. It made me feel manic.

Amen. The novelty of the constant notifications wears off pretty quick and turns into a peeve. Fortunately you can fine tune notifications to reduce or eliminate the annoyances.

 

[martym]

Just bought my wife the Apple Watch 6 (no cellular). It’s what she wanted for Christmas.

 

[haggis]

My wife was skeptical of the idea but now she loves her watch. I would have updated to 6 but just updated my phone. I try to limit to one major Apple upgrade per cycle. I'll hop on to watch 7. That's the plan anyway.