Smart watches. What are you using?

[Flyn]

I was talking to a buddy about thinking about getting a smartwatch and he went into his bedroom for a minute. Came back with a Fossil Gen 4 that he replaced with a Samsung Galaxy 3. Price was right (zero). I'll give it back to him if I decide to get something else in the future. So far, it does some things well, some things poorly and some things not at all (sleep tracking, no speaker).

Always on mode:

 

[SpeedSpeak2me]

Good revive on this thread.

My Fitbit Charge 2 is on its way out. Battery life fairly diminished and the glass is scratched to the point you can barely read it in direct sunlight.

I'm aiming at one of the Garmin watches, but man, $$$$. I don't need something that can do music, just my normal activity tracking (with cycling options), and long battery life. I just happened to stumble across a solar version they make I might have to look into.

Biggest disappointment is the battery life when GPS is active. They're good for maybe 5-8 hours, tops. GPS off might get 5-7 days. Fortunately I don't need to use GPS all the time since I have a little Garmin Edge 130 for the bicycle to do all my tracking.

Garmin Instinct® Solar | Outdoor Solar Powered Smartwatch

Instinct Solar is a smartwatch built to conquer the elements featuring a solar charging lens, GPS/GLONASS/GALILEO, and built-in training apps.

buy.garmin.com

Smartwatch: Up to 24 days/54 days with solar*
Battery Saver Watch Mode: Up to 56 days/Unlimited with solar*
GPS: Up to 30 hours/38 hours with solar**
Max Battery GPS Mode: Up to 70 hours/145 hours with solar**
Expedition GPS Activity: Up to 28 days/68 days with solar*

*Solar charging, assuming all-day wear with 3 hours per day outside in 50,000 lux conditions
**Solar charging, assuming use in 50,000 lux conditions

 

[Flyn]

Are any of you guys using a Wear OS watch? I gotta say I'm not really impressed with the software after having the watch for a few days. The apps are hit or miss. Supposedly Samsung and Google are going to be combining Wear OS and the Tizen operating system in their new watches. Tizen is generally thought to be better and is what Samsung uses. Maybe it's better to wait to buy a new smartwatch until after that becomes a thing?

 

[Mook]

Wear OS has always been garbage.

 

[Flyn]

Great. I was hoping for a quick fix for some of the poor apps.

Mobvoi just said their Ticwatch will be updated to the new, combined operating system once it appears. Are they believable? If so, the Ticwatch is #1 in a lot of comparisons. It's on the same level as the Galaxy 3 but uses Wear OS now.

 

[frank]

Good revive on this thread.

My Fitbit Charge 2 is on its way out. Battery life fairly diminished and the glass is scratched to the point you can barely read it in direct sunlight.

I'm aiming at one of the Garmin watches, but man, $$$$. I don't need something that can do music, just my normal activity tracking (with cycling options), and long battery life. I just happened to stumble across a solar version they make I might have to look into.

Biggest disappointment is the battery life when GPS is active. They're good for maybe 5-8 hours, tops. GPS off might get 5-7 days. Fortunately I don't need to use GPS all the time since I have a little Garmin Edge 130 for the bicycle to do all my tracking.

Garmin Instinct® Solar | Outdoor Solar Powered Smartwatch

Instinct Solar is a smartwatch built to conquer the elements featuring a solar charging lens, GPS/GLONASS/GALILEO, and built-in training apps.

buy.garmin.com

Smartwatch: Up to 24 days/54 days with solar*
Battery Saver Watch Mode: Up to 56 days/Unlimited with solar*
GPS: Up to 30 hours/38 hours with solar**
Max Battery GPS Mode: Up to 70 hours/145 hours with solar**
Expedition GPS Activity: Up to 28 days/68 days with solar*

*Solar charging, assuming all-day wear with 3 hours per day outside in 50,000 lux conditions
**Solar charging, assuming use in 50,000 lux conditions

Also been looking at that same watch.

 

[Bob Kazamakis]

Good revive on this thread.

My Fitbit Charge 2 is on its way out. Battery life fairly diminished and the glass is scratched to the point you can barely read it in direct sunlight.

I'm aiming at one of the Garmin watches, but man, $$$$. I don't need something that can do music, just my normal activity tracking (with cycling options), and long battery life. I just happened to stumble across a solar version they make I might have to look into.

Biggest disappointment is the battery life when GPS is active. They're good for maybe 5-8 hours, tops. GPS off might get 5-7 days. Fortunately I don't need to use GPS all the time since I have a little Garmin Edge 130 for the bicycle to do all my tracking.

Garmin Instinct® Solar | Outdoor Solar Powered Smartwatch

Instinct Solar is a smartwatch built to conquer the elements featuring a solar charging lens, GPS/GLONASS/GALILEO, and built-in training apps.

buy.garmin.com

Smartwatch: Up to 24 days/54 days with solar*
Battery Saver Watch Mode: Up to 56 days/Unlimited with solar*
GPS: Up to 30 hours/38 hours with solar**
Max Battery GPS Mode: Up to 70 hours/145 hours with solar**
Expedition GPS Activity: Up to 28 days/68 days with solar*

*Solar charging, assuming all-day wear with 3 hours per day outside in 50,000 lux conditions
**Solar charging, assuming use in 50,000 lux conditions

No touch screen kind of sucks and other than price is why I went with a vivoactive 4.

 

[SpeedSpeak2me]

No touch screen kind of sucks and other than price is why I went with a vivoactive 4.

Surprisingly, having a touch screen is something I've never considered. I've been fine, guess you could say accustomed to the Charge 2, where there is a side button, and you can tap the device to change options, so rather limited.

 

[Flyn]

Some smart watches will activate your phone camera and light so, for instance, you could stick the phone under the car at night and have whatever it's pointed at appearing on your watch face. Move the camera around while looking at your wrist to check out car problems. That's pretty cool.

 

[Bob Kazamakis]

Surprisingly, having a touch screen is something I've never considered. I've been fine, guess you could say accustomed to the Charge 2, where there is a side button, and you can tap the device to change options, so rather limited.

There’s some decent deals on garmin on Amazon right now

 

[Flyn]

Yeah, Amazon has the Tic Watch for $198. That's $102 off regular price. They have Samsung Pro 3s on sale, too.

 

[GTvert90]

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned yet. But right now is not a good time to buy a Wear OS watch. Wear 3.0 is right around the corner and it's doubtful current watches will be updated

 

[SpeedSpeak2me]

There’s some decent deals on garmin on Amazon right now

So, to tide me over for a bit I bought a Fitbit Charge 4 and gave it to my dad for Father's Day, since I got him a Charge 3 about two years ago. I then took his Charge 3 to replace my Charge 2 for a while. It'll do a solid week per charge. Having the Garmin Edge 130 on the bicycle pretty much solves my need to have a good tracking device. I'm going to keep looking though.

 

[SpeedSpeak2me]

There’s some decent deals on garmin on Amazon right now

Holy shitballs, you're not kidding.

The solar is $250 down from $400.

The Edge 130 I picked up is down from $200 to $140.