Are Smart Watches really "Smart"??

[JGmazda]

...Lately, a few of my friends have been sporting various "smart watches". One buddy showed me his (Amazfit?) and was totally jazzed by all the bio-metrics it showed him...

Blood O2, steps, sleep states, breaths taken... Calories burned, you name it, dozens upon dozens of trackers. I asked him if he could respond to a text message. "Nope"....

I just laughed. The last thing I need is a Doctor or Nurse on my watch! I could give a flying crap about my heart rate. (What did people do without these features twenty years ago? Sheesh!)

Anyhow... I did some research and found almost all these new "smart" watches do everything but what I would want from a watch like this - Communication.

Are there any watches that can actually use SMS effectively? I have no use for the other stuff. Yeah, it's entertaining... But just don't want it.

Just wondering if there's watch out there that can effectively communicate. Thoughts?

 

[DemoFly]

Yeah there's a lot. Apple watch can do music, text, calls, siri commands and can even have its own eSIM so you can leave the house with just your watch. Other android smartwatches do music, text and calls and biometrics.

My most used smartwatch feature is actually navigation.

 

[alarmguy]

...Lately, a few of my friends have been sporting various "smart watches". One buddy showed me his (Amazfit?) and was totally jazzed by all the bio-metrics it showed him...

Blood O2, steps, sleep states, breaths taken... Calories burned, you name it, dozens upon dozens of trackers. I asked him if he could respond to a text message. "Nope"....

I just laughed. The last thing I need is a Doctor or Nurse on my watch! I could give a flying crap about my heart rate. (What did people do without these features twenty years ago? Sheesh!)

Anyhow... I did some research and found almost all these new "smart" watches do everything but what I would want from a watch like this - Communication.

Are there any watches that can actually use SMS effectively? I have no use for the other stuff. Yeah, it's entertaining... But just don't want it.

Just wondering if there's watch out there that can effectively communicate. Thoughts?

Absolutely,
Apple Watch, you can have it paired with your phone, answer phone calls, text messages OR you can get one with a built in cell unit and add it onto your cell phone plan with its own number. For its own number most phone plans would have to be one of the majors, ATT, Verizon, T-Mobile. I only use the watch pair to my phone model.

Just keep in mind, as much as you might say "Sheesh!!" to its other functions, I might say "Sheesh!" to its phone calls and text messages, even though they work well. I have used my watch to show the ECGs to my cardiologist which greatly increased the speed of intervention. Doctors loved it.

Heart Rate, same deal, exercise, sleep tracking, endless health tracking and fitness tracking for those into physical fitness. Fall detection, crash detection, emergency contact into.

But to answer your question, talking through your watch is clear and text messaging works well with voice. People won't be able to know your talking through a watch, its that clear. But lets be real its a convenance to answer your phone quickly or send a quick acknowledgment text but will be more easy with a larger device like a phone.
Many times even shopping, running into a store quickly I can pay using Apple Pay with my watch. Apple Pay is set up with all my credit cards.

PS! Yes was posted by @DemoFly GPS! Even more so when riding my motorcycle, it will ping my wrist when time to make a turn and show on the display

 

[dubber09]

There are a few that have some comms built in but would you really like to use a watch to read or to compose messages on?

 

[JGmazda]

Wow! That is impressive! I didn't know that about the Apple Watch. Unfortunately, I'm an Android user and this appears to be more of a challenge on this platform.

Yes, I'm sure there are many aspects and features found on the Apple Watch that are very useful. I didn't mean to discount the valuable apps that can actually save someone or be helpful in an emergency.

I appreciate the responses guys, Thank you!

 

[JGmazda]

There are a few that have some comms built in but would you really like to use a watch to read or to compose messages on?

Actually.... good question! The reasoning that I'm even entertaining the idea of a Smart Watch is because I'm in the field most of the time and working with my hands.

Constantly having to reach for my phone is a real pain at times. I get calls and texts which require a fairly quick response and I was thinking I might be able to be more efficient by quickly turning to a watch and responding (Or, looking at a message/call to determine the urgency etc.)

I'm guessing typing-out a message would suck (on a watch) because of the limited display size. Voice messaging would be cool though.

 

[Escape08]

It's actually a smartphone in a watch

 

[wlk]

It is a wrist computer not a watch. Buy a watch

 

[SC Maintenance]

I have a basic Fitbit. It was a gift. I can pair it with my phone to track a lot more but mostly I just track how far I have walked / hiked and check my pulse once in a while.

For people with certain medical conditions they can be a huge benefit.

Why the hate? If you don’t want one don’t get one?

 

[Hall]

Are there any watches that can actually use SMS effectively? I have no use for the other stuff.

Honest question: Why do you want just this in a watch form ?

 

[SC Maintenance]

Actually.... good question! The reasoning that I'm even entertaining the idea of a Smart Watch is because I'm in the field most of the time and working with my hands.

Constantly having to reach for my phone is a real pain at times. I get calls and texts which require a fairly quick response and I was thinking I might be able to be more efficient by quickly turning to a watch and responding (Or, looking at a message/call to determine the urgency etc.)

I'm guessing typing-out a message would suck (on a watch) because of the limited display size. Voice messaging would be cool though.

Even my cheap Fitbit displays the message. If I know who it’s from then I can decide if I need to fish the phone out of my pocket or if it can wait.

 

[cptbarkey]

They are smart about collecting your biometric data and selling it. They dont sell your "personal" information of course, but thats BI's best kept secret, anonymize it and its no longer "your" data.

 

[Nessism1]

I have a Garmin Visoactive that I love. It counts steps, and connects to an app that my company uses to dish out "wellness points" (gifts/cash).
When playing golf, it connects to a map of the course and GPS, then I can know how far I'm away from the green at any time.

Bike riding or walking, it tracks your path on the GPS and saves the "event". For biking, it measures heart rate, speed, elevation, and stacks the graphs for review when done. Going up hill...heart rate spikes, speed slows down, all captured for review (if interested). Amazing technology for a device I paid less than $300 for.

 

[alarmguy]

Actually.... good question! The reasoning that I'm even entertaining the idea of a Smart Watch is because I'm in the field most of the time and working with my hands.

Constantly having to reach for my phone is a real pain at times. I get calls and texts which require a fairly quick response and I was thinking I might be able to be more efficient by quickly turning to a watch and responding (Or, looking at a message/call to determine the urgency etc.)

I'm guessing typing-out a message would suck (on a watch) because of the limited display size. Voice messaging would be cool though.

I have no experience with it but check out Samsung android watches

I would say they do almost all the functions of the Apple Watch.
My daughter-in-law the only android user has a Samsung watch as well. I would say it is the showcase of the android world as far as watches go.

There have been some other comments in here about the effectiveness of how you would use a watch as a communication device.
All I can say is millions of people do it and an incredible convenience for people who have hands on jobs where it’s not practical to hold the phone in your hand.
As far as Apple Watch, yes you can effectively communicate with it and I suspect Samsung watch would be the same.

Personally, I do not use the Apple Watch much to communicate. But wow, is it handy when you can’t miss a call and your phone is someplace else in the house or you were in the middle of something. Now that I think about it, I will pick up a call frequently or fairly frequently and then if it’s going to be a long conversation, I’ll seamlessly switch to my phone.
You can use voice text or the watch even actually has a tiny keyboard. When I use text from the watch. It’s only sometimes to acknowledge a message. I send a quick reply.

To answer your question, yes, my watch is very smart. As another pointed out, it also has built in GPS. It also does a lot more and I can’t emphasize the word a lot more than enough. It would take me a full page of a post in here to outline everything that it does.

 

[Jetronic]

It is a wrist computer not a watch. Buy a watch

true, none of them that µi'm aware of can tell time if they haven't been paired with a phone before.

 

[b_b]

i use my apple watch ultra as a phone. the phone sits in a drawer plugged in and I use my watch as my primary device. texting is easy. the keyboard has swipe so you can swipe you message out. its easier than you think . phone calls work great. I use airpods for gym and my apple pay works the same as the phone. it really is the future as far as smart devices go. It has all the perks of a smartphone with none of the time wasters. the only downside is I have to clear notifications on my phone every few days. ex my Arlo app will stop sending notifications to my watch once it has so many in the que. beyond that it works perfect.

 

[Marcozi]

It is a wrist computer not a watch. Buy a watch

Timex or Rolex?

 

[TazzySpazzy]

I personally find it incredibly irritating being around someone with one of these unnecessary pseudo-watch gadgets because it seems that people find a way to constantly interrupt the conversation or moment by engaging with their watch. A call, a reminder, the sudden urge to check something pointless, etc.

 

[alarmguy]

I personally find it incredibly irritating being around someone with one of these unnecessary pseudo-watch gadgets because it seems that people find a way to constantly interrupt the conversation or moment by engaging with their watch. A call, a reminder, the sudden urge to check something pointless, etc.

This goes for cell phones too. Have to step up to the times as it isnt going to change. We dine out every week and it amazes my wife and I how many people are engaged on their cell phones instead of their partners. It doesnt bother us other than a reminder what a great relationship my wife and I have.

 

[macarose]

My wife has a Yamay watch which we bought for fifty dollars about six or seven years ago. They no longer make, it but I see them for sale on Ebay for around $20.

It does everything that a smart watch does. She uses it to track her sleep, do her exercises, and it also has an alarm clock.

She replaced the band on it, and now it's invincible. There is no better watch on this planet according our dog Neo.