Smart watches, which one is most suited for you?

Smart watches, which one is most suited for you?

Contrary to popular belief smartwatches have been around for a while. Back in 2001 IBM teamed up with Citizen Watch and built what was to be the first smartwatch. It was a Linux based system which had Bluetooth, and an accelerometer but, had only a few hours of battery life. It was called the QVGA. Later, Fossil, Microsoft and finally Sony Ericisson built watches in chronological order. Paving the way for the Samsung S9110, the first smartwatch with touchscreen capabilities.

However, smartwatches branched out from being a standalone watch to a companion system to the smartphone. I believe the Samsung S9110 began this trend. And now in 2015 there are a variety of smartwatches to suit almost every need, from watches for fitness enthusiast to geeks. Just like the smartphone guide I’d made a couple of months ago, this one is aimed at helping you choose the perfect smartwatch.

Alright, in my opinion there are a couple of watches that you really need to look out for. The Pebble smartwatch, Apple watch, Motorola moto 360, Sony SmartWatch, FitBit Surge and finally the LG watch Urbane. Here’s a breakdown of all the watches listed above.

                                                  Pebble Smartwatch

            Easily the best smartwatch you can get without breaking the bank! This well-crafted machine has simple setup and usage functionality. Moreover, its key selling point is universal compatibility. Pebble has custom apps for both? Android and IOS devices, however, the IOS app is said to have slightly better compatibility. You can choose between an array of watch faces and simple apps to customize your Pebble smartwatch. Other major selling points of this device include a seven day long battery and a waterproof rating of 5 ATM, that 165 feet for fresh and saltwater. The extended battery is mostly due to the fact that Pebble watches use a greyscale display type or as Pebble calls it, E – paper. This seemingly is what gives it five days more than the completion. The watch offers all basic features of mirroring notifications, but also support fitness tracking apps.

You can buy them at - India: http://amzn.to/1LROSPg

                                     USA: http://amzn.to/1HGRCwd

            Apple Watch (Sports Edition in picture)

            The Apple watch comes in two sizes: 38mm and 42mm and three versions: The Watch, Watch Sport and Watch Edition. However, while each one has a different strap type they are all the same under the hood. Basically the difference is purely cosmetics, the Watch sports either a leather or a stainless steel strap, the Sports edition sports a rubber strap in an array of flashy colors and finally, the Watch Edition sports an 18 carat yellow gold or rose gold case and a leather strap. The Sports edition is the cheapest at $349, the Watch at $549 and the Watch Edition at $17,000 at its highest. The watch itself is compatible only with IOS phones and has a display size of 1.32 inches. It has a fantastic OLED display, it’s flashy to say the least.   Perhaps this the reason for its below average battery life, a mere 18 hours.  As seen in the Pebble, this too has a square like shape. In my opinion, a square watch is more likely to stand out in a ring shaped watch market. All three variants have an accelerometer and a heart rate monitor. Apple calls the round knob on the left of the ‘The Digital Crown’, which is used to access a number of functions like: zoom, scrolling and to input data. However the touchscreen can be used for the same features. In addition, you can access Siri by holding down on the crown.

You can buy them at – India: Not available yet

                                     USA: http://store.apple.com/us/watch

          Motorola Moto 360

            If you added a microchip to a regular Timex watch you would get the Moto 360. Simple yet, elegant. This watch will set you back $150 in the US and Rs 13,000 in India. Quite lacking in features though, as you can see in the picture the watch acts as mirror for your smartphone. Giving directions using Google Maps, above the Google icon can be either clicked on to search (just like on any smartphone) or by saying “okay Google”, however, the voice recognition software needs work. Unlike in the Apple watch the Moto 360 has limited apps that can be used on it – 3^rd party apps like Facebook messenger, RunKeeper, WhatsApp and Uber. However, while the range of apps are tiny it is highly likely that major app developers will incorporate Android Wear (the OS that the Moto 360 and other Android based smartwatches run on) into their apps. Thus, I believe the next update or next watch from Motorola would have far more apps, and hopefully a more feature rich product. Although the watch does have fitness tracking features, it is far from the capabilities of a FitBit. But all in all it’s a fantastic option to show off Android Wear.

You can buy them at – India: http://bit.ly/1LXjSfF

                                     USA: http://amzn.to/1D7lbBv

                        FitBit Surge

            First and foremost the Surge is a fitness focused smartwatch, not that it doesn’t offer the features that other smartwatches have but, we’ll get to that later. As a fitness watch the Surge is really good. It has a total of eight sensors that together track your steps, distance traveled and calories burned. Sleep tracking is also included however, currently there is no feature for the watch to detect when you sleep and wake, thus making it a bit of a hassle. Moreover, this is one of the first smartwatches to be compatible with all three Smartphone OSs. Windows users are in for a treat, with windows 10 around the corner early beta runs show that the Surge can work alongside Cortana (The windows version of Siri). A real world example would be something like “FitBit, I ate pancakes for breakfast” and it would log those calories into your fitness chart. The Surge itself is only water resistant, meaning it would be a good idea to take it off before getting into the pool. On the bottom side of the watch is the heartbeat sensor which continuously monitors your heartbeat, FitBit calls this “PurePulse”. This is done by reflecting a green LED light against your skin, and calculating the changes in blood volume. Lastly, the watch mirrors all your phone messages and caller ID. And as a plus lets you switch tracks from your music player. Pretty useful if you gym or run.

You can buy them at – India: http://amzn.to/1dV6BGG

                                     USA: http://amzn.to/1RtgpKp

            LG Watch Urbane

            Not much uniqueness in this one. It has a luxurious feel to it, the Rolex of smartwatches today. It has stainless steel case a plush leather band. It should be noted that this a pretty large watch face, so if you have slender hands this is going to stand out. In terms of sensors it offers a built-in heart rate monitor, accelerometer, barometer, compass, and gyroscope. Other watch reviewers are saying that the heart rate monitor isn’t very accurate as the displayed heart rate was rather erratic during their testing. The 410 mAh battery gives you two days when using basic features but, only a day when using all its features. Even though the Urbane is the only watch to ship with Android Wear 5.1 it doesn’t have too many advantages over the ones running lower versions of Android wear. Android wear 5.1 allows for built-in WiFi support, this allows you to connect your watch to an unprotected router without the need for your smartphone. However, as most WiFi networks are password protected your reticted to using the watch as a standalone in public areas that offer WiFi and coffee shops. But all in all, this is a tough sell.

You can buy them at – India: http://amzn.to/1JdsfyE

                                     USA: http://amzn.to/1Hpycs7

 So there you have it, my five smartwatches to look out for.