What can a smart watch do? Why do we need a smart watch? How often should you charge your smartwatch?

Updated: 2018-1-21

Oleg Lazhechnikov

Toy or necessary device? Not long ago I bought myself a smart watch Samsung Gear S3. To be honest, I was hesitant to take a watch from Apple or this one, but since I’m still on Samsung and at the same time using the S Health fitness application, which is now built into Samsung (and I’m used to it), I decided to start with Gear S3. After walking with them for 4 months, I made my conclusions about whether a goat needs a button accordion or not. So this is not a watch review, don’t even expect it, but an experience of use, in fact, even without reference to the watch model.

At first you feel excited about any new gadget, especially if you haven’t had one before. But here the excitement passed quickly enough and was replaced by the question - did I really need it? No, I looked at reviews, read information, but still, personal experience is personal experience.

Let's leave the question of whether a person actually needs a watch. I need it, period. It’s convenient for me to see the time on my hand, rather than taking out my phone every time. Before that, I had Casio Protrek series, which were completely stupid, that is, not smart. Also a good model, but more for hikers than for city dwellers. They are charged from a built-in solar battery, show the air temperature (you need to remove it from your hand), there is an altimeter, an alarm clock, hour poles, a stopwatch, dial illumination, and an electronic compass. But most importantly, they are indestructible and have WR100 water protection, so you can safely swim in them.

With smart watches the situation is different. Specifically, my Samsung Gear S3 has IP68 water resistance, this is the maximum degree. IP67 is splash protection, and with IP68 you can already immerse the gadget in water. As far as I know, the IP classification was invented for gadgets, and the WR classification should be used for watches: WR20, WR50, WR100, etc. Apparently a smartwatch is more of a gadget than a watch. In short, you can swim in a Samsung, yes, but on the forums not only do they not advise doing this in salt water, but even taking a shower can result in a non-warranty case. I’ve been preferring the WR100 for about 10 years now, this is a watch that you can even dive in, not to mention the fact that you can swim in salt water painlessly.

Next. Since the Gear S3 is a gadget, you shake every time you touch the door frame. When I went to Protrek, I completely forgot about them. After 2 years, the Protracks began to look shabby, but they still work without problems. On the other hand, the Gear S3 is not positioned as a watch for extreme conditions, but rather a watch for the city and comfortable travel.

What Samsung Gear S3 can do

Now, 4 months later, I can say that overall I like smartwatches. It's convenient. But it’s far from a must have. However, about the conclusions at the end of the post. In the meantime, let’s talk about what I use and what the watch can do.

You can view the full text of an email in Gmail and reply to it. But for some reason it doesn’t always, sometimes it transfers to the phone. Yandex-Mail only allows you to view the letter, no response.
You can also view the full text of the SMS, but you can only reply with prepared messages (Yes, No, I'm driving, etc.), which can be previously changed in the settings or something new can be added. Or you can go through the SMS menu and send an SMS with any text. True, typing on the keyboard on the watch is still a quest, it’s small. I would like to note separately, since in fact it turned out to be very convenient to receive and view an SMS from an online bank with a confirmation code when the phone is charging in another room.
They show a notification from whom the message came in Telegram or Whatsapp, allow you to view the entire text and even respond, not only with prepared messages, but also by typing on the keyboard, as well as recording a voice message. But they don’t allow you to view several messages if they were sent to you in a row, only the last one.
Displays the number of hours of sleep with phases if they are on the arm during sleep. But you need to understand that they are not small and can get in the way on your hand. I'm already used to it, my previous Protracks were no less.
They display your completed steps for the day and periodic notifications that you have been sitting too long, or, conversely, you have started to move quickly. In the latter case, the mode of walking, running, or dynamic exercise is activated. True, when you actively wash yourself with a washcloth in the shower, this is also defined as a dynamic exercise. All this is turned off if not needed.
They can vibrate and make sound when making calls and messages. It helps when the phone is put in your pocket and you can’t hear it. Even if you are in another room, or with the phone on mute (when the child is sleeping), you will not miss the call. Mi Band 2 from Xiaomi also coped well with this function (vibration), the only worthwhile function it has, in my opinion.
Displays all the data while running: heart rate, distance, speed, time, etc. The dial can display 3 selected values at the same time.
They can store and play music through wireless headphones. Memory capacity 4 GB.

In fact, there are other functions, but somehow nothing else was useful to me. There are, for example, built-in maps... But it’s tough with such a screen. Or you can talk by the hour, I didn’t even try. And, hehe, a cool function - searching for a phone from the watch. Within Bluetooth range, you can turn on search and the phone will ring. Useful for the forgetful.

Receive and respond to messages in Telegram and Whatsapp

Second impressions

As I said, the watch is IP68 waterproof. I haven’t swum in salt water yet, but I wash dishes and take a shower all the time. So far the flight is normal. Most likely, the horror stories about showers on the forums were exaggerated. By the way, nothing fogs up anywhere.

I also stopped shaking that I would break it. I've already hit something many times, but so far no scratches. Although I won’t hide the fact that I try not to do this again and watch my playful hands.

You have to charge it about once every 2 days and it’s a pain. First I had to come to terms with the fact that I charge my smartphone once every 1-2 days, and now this watch. It would be at least 5 days... Hey Samsung, it's the 21st century! How long can you make batteries like this? The Casio Protrek never needs to be charged, or even the battery needs to be changed, since it is charged by the sun. Xiomi Mi Band worked for 20 days. But in fairness, the Apple Watch also works for a short time.

At first I thought it was a whim, but it turned out to be a cool feature - changing dials. And the point is not that I want to change them all the time, matching them to a hat or scarf (here you have to smile, and, understand and forgive many women), but that you can initially choose the dial that suits you, both free and paid. Usually, if you buy an analog watch, you won’t change anything about it; you will have to be content for many years with the information on the screen that is provided by the manufacturer. In the Gear S3 you can display a lot of things on the screen: date, time, number of steps, outside temperature, heart rate, etc. I use one of the built-in free watch faces.

In winter they are useless because you can’t get the twists out from under the sleeves. However, this applies to any wristwatch, but this one at least vibrates when a message arrives. But then all the functionality is not used; a regular bracelet for 20 bucks can handle the vibration.

The watch has built-in GPS, so it quite normally calculates running speed, records the track and all other parameters, and in running mode there is a constant heart rate measurement, which, according to my observations, is quite normal if you are not a professional runner. I couldn’t compare it with the chest sensor, I don’t have one.

On the left is the running mode, at the top right is the quick start workout widget

Conclusions

Smart watches are an interesting toy, but nothing more. This gadget does not have such significant functionality that a watch becomes a mandatory attribute for everyone, as a cell phone once became. What I found most useful was the vibration (I turned off the sound) during a call, which prevents me from missing a call. I also surprisingly often use viewing the name of the caller (to pick up the phone or not), as well as the name of the person who wrote the message in the messenger with a quick look at the content, how urgently it is necessary to respond. Yes, I know, it’s not that difficult to get a phone, but I feel much more comfortable with a watch. Especially if you are driving a car, on a bicycle/motorcycle, and it is difficult to take out your phone.

Something that I don’t use yet, but that might be useful, is storing music on the watch and listening to it through wireless headphones. This is convenient, for example, while running, when you don’t want to take a bulky phone with you, but now 5-6 inch ones are in fashion. I also thought about running, but for now I still take the phone with me so that they can call me.

Do travelers need smartwatches?

Well, or they are needed just like a city dweller. If you are constantly online, have several instant messengers with a lot of correspondence, your phone is often in another room, or your hands are constantly busy driving, then it makes sense. Of course, if you also have an extra 20k rubles.

But when watches with SIM cards appear, or operators start working with eSIM completely, then I will vote for such watches for travel without hesitation. I don’t know about you, but I always have a problem where to put the second or third SIM card. I now have 4 of them: Moscow Megafon, Israeli SIM card, travel and also Thai. That's why I would be very happy to stuff one of them into a watch.

By the way, for this reason I can’t try iPhone, buying a dual-SIM flagship from Samsung again and again. It may be convenient for someone to carry a second phone with them, but I tried it, I didn’t like it, a watch would be more convenient. Dual SIM phone + watch = 3 SIM cards in constant use.

Gear S3 or Apple Watch also come with eSIM, but this version is not sold in Russia, and if it were sold, operators still do not support it.

P.S. Questions? And what do you think about smart watches?

Life hack 1 - how to buy good insurance

It’s incredibly difficult to choose insurance now, so I’m compiling a rating to help all travelers. To do this, I constantly monitor forums, study insurance contracts and use insurance myself.

Lifehack 2 - how to find a hotel 20% cheaper

Thanks for reading

4,77 out of 5 (ratings: 65)

Comments (37)

Pancerbjorn

Vyacheslav

Julia

At the end of April, the start of sales of the new Apple Watch gadget died down. Of course, the results cannot be compared with the success of the new iPhone, but there was clearly excitement. After all the major companies such as Samsung, Sony, Apple presented their devices in the watch form factor, it becomes clear that this niche in the market will clearly develop. In addition, in the near future, other competitors who have not previously tried to create such gadgets will probably pay attention to this part of the market. Today, smart watches are no longer incomprehensible devices that only know how to display the weather and news. Over the past couple of years, technology has advanced and finally all such gadgets have taken on an understandable form. This is a device that is an interface for a smartphone and the main idea is to allow a person not to take out the phone at every notification. The remaining functions, as a rule, are different for all models. But before we understand the characteristics, let's take a little dip into the past.

Historical background

Watch from the movie "Spy Kids"

For the first time, science fiction writers started talking about smart watches. Remember, you probably read books or watched movies where there were wrist gadgets with impossible functionality. Of course, such references can most often be found in spy novels of the last century. But in the real world, such devices began to appear in the early 80s. Yes, yes, we were not mistaken, smart watches are not a year old or two, but almost half a century old. Of course, then the devices did not have any Bluetooth, they did not connect to smartphones, but they could surprise passers-by. They have as much in common with modern smartwatches as all these newfangled gadgets with a regular chronometer: they can be worn on the wrist, and they also show the time, but that’s where the similarities end.

James Bond Pulsar watch

The first watch that can be called smart was a device from Seiko, released back in 1982. This watch could remember text up to 24 characters long. Now even in SMS and Twitter the restrictions are greater, but for those years it was a success. By the way, it was Seiko that bought Hamilton Watch, the company that made the Pulsar watch with an LED display in 1972. They even managed to appear in the James Bond film Live and Let Die.

Seiko Data-2000 watch with docking station

In 1984, Seiko made a new smartwatch model, which became the basis for the future Seiko RC line. Just imagine, with the help of a Seiko RC-1000 wristwatch in the eighties it was possible to control Apple, Commodore, IBM and NEC terminals. The connection, of course, was by wire, but even for our century it sounds incredible, and even then it was completely out of the realm of science fiction. Then the engineers went even further and tried to make a full-fledged PC out of the watch (albeit with a docking station). The watch received a 42x32 pixel monochrome display, an 8-bit microprocessor, 2 KB of RAM and 8 KB of ROM. The gadget boasted notes, world time and an engineering calculator. Would you like a watch like this now?

Watch-computer Epson RC-20

In the 2000s, a new revolution began in the field of wearable electronics, this time much more powerful. So, IBM made a Linux Watch, with an infrared port and Bluetooth. Alas, the company stopped at prototypes and the gadget did not go into production. Then Microsoft also got busy, announcing the SPOT (Smart Personal Objects Technology) project. Essentially, this is what we are now with wearables and the Internet of Things. The guys from Redmond wanted to make all the equipment smart, and use VHF radio frequency to synchronize data. But the project also failed and was closed in 2008. Some companies produced watch-phones, for example, LG is known for the GD910 gadget, which was even worn by the then President of the Russian Federation D. A. Medvedev. However, all these watches can be called unsuccessful experiments, since none of the projects became successful. This is due to the high price, little functionality and bulky form factor. It was quite difficult to explain to people why they should pay almost a thousand dollars for a heavy wrist gadget that contains a calculator and a notebook.

Various watches on Android Wear

And the wearable electronics market has taken on completely different colors in the last few years, when the so-called “post-PC” era began. An important milestone was the release of Android Wear OS in 2014. Now manufacturers have the opportunity to make miniature and powerful gadgets, and with connection to smartphones and Internet access. What’s noteworthy is that, in addition to the major players, various startups began to appear on the market, which sometimes compete on equal terms with venerable vendors. The range of this niche is already very large, and every month several new models appear or even companies that start making smart watches. The main thing is that customers like these products and begin to actively purchase them. Otherwise, modern wearable electronics will face the same fate as before.

Do you need a smart watch?

There are several criteria by which it is very easy to determine whether you need a smartwatch or whether it will be another gadget that will go into the desk drawer and you will only occasionally shock guests with it. First, take a look at your hands and look for a wristwatch, bracelets, maybe even a fitness tracker. If you're not used to wearing anything on your wrists, then you probably won't be able to wear a smartwatch. Of course, the toy is funny, but it must be used every day, from morning to evening, otherwise the whole meaning is lost.

Smart watch

The reason to get yourself a smart watch may be if you have a smartphone with a large screen. Of course, there are gadgets that work without connecting to a phone (we’ll talk about them later), but this is the exception rather than the rule. As we have already said, smart watches are needed in order to take your smartphone out of your pocket less often. But to answer a letter or read friends’ statuses on social networks, you still have to turn on the phone. But if you receive any notification, you can view it from your watch. Thus, the watch is the second screen of your smartphone. And believe me, owners of large smartphones will appreciate these newfangled gadgets, because taking a healthy device out of your pocket several times a day is not a very convenient task.

A smart watch will also come in handy if you need a remote control, a navigator, a fitness tracker and an alarm clock in one. You can, of course, buy all these gadgets separately or even use the built-in functions in your smartphone. But it’s much more convenient when a wristwatch has such capabilities. However, smart watches have not yet become a necessary device in the arsenal of a modern person. If it is already difficult to imagine everyday life without a smartphone and laptop, then smart watches are still rare, but their popularity is constantly growing.

Design

A watch is not a fitness tracker that you can hide under your clothes and not show to anyone. It is a style element, just like a belt or tie, especially for a man. That is why you should pay attention to the design first of all. Previously, smartwatches were more sporty; the Pebble Watch looked more like a toy than a watch. But now manufacturers are already creating models with a classic look, for example, LG G Watch or Moto 360. However, there are also watch options that are unlike anything else and look a little futuristic. Such models include Apple Watch, I"m watch or the new Pebble Time.

LG Watch Urbane on hand

Of course, not a single smart watch comes close to Swiss Rolex. Maybe the $10,000 Apple Watch Edition, but if you buy it, you probably already have a couple of other watches. Nowadays, wearable gadgets are made of both plastic and metal. The choice of material will also affect the price, unfortunately. But almost all smart watches offer a wide selection of straps. Some models even allow you to use regular watch straps, which is very convenient. Some companies even include a couple of these necessary accessories with their watches.

Apple Watch Edition

The display format is your choice. Round, square, rectangular, triangular - whatever you like. Android Wear can work with any shape, but in the case of the Apple Watch there is no choice; watches only exist with a square screen. You should decide in advance whether you want a watch with a color display or with E-Ink. Because in the second case, the choice will be very limited, because these are only Pebble models. But electronic ink has an undeniable advantage in the form of longer battery life, but you can’t use it in the dark.

Functionality

Today there are a huge variety of smart watches. As a rule, these are models that need a smartphone as a data source. There are, of course, LG Watch Urbane LTE and Samsung Gear S, which have a communication module and a connection to the phone is not necessary for them. In addition, there are even devices that can be called watch phones, because It's more of a wrist phone than a smart watch. But still, these are exceptions to the rule, and the vast majority of gadgets cannot live without a smartphone. Or rather, they can, of course, work, but only as a watch and a fitness tracker. But for full implementation they need to be connected to the phone.

Perhaps the most popular OS for smartwatches right now is Android Wear. This is a fairly new platform on which many large companies make their products. The capabilities of this OS are quite large, and the set of functions depends on the specific device. The Apple Watch, Pebble and LG Watch Urbane LTE stand out now. These devices have a proprietary system. As for Apple, their system only works with iOS and nothing else yet. So, if you really want an Apple Watch, then make sure that you have an iPhone, and the latest generation. One of the disadvantages of smartwatches is that they cannot work with outdated phones. Pebble also has its own OS, but there is an application store. But the LG Watch Urbane LTE is based on a redesigned WebOS operating system and can run programs from Android Wear.

LG Watch Urbane LTE on your wrist

So, all smart watches connect to the phone via Bluetooth (and in the new firmware, via Wi-Fi directly to the access point) and notify about updates in applications: SMS, mail, social networks, calendars, etc. Using the watch, you can control the music player, and if the device has enough memory, you can even download tracks from Google Play there and then listen to them using Bluetooth headphones. This feature is useful when playing sports, if you don’t want to take your smartphone with you. In addition, almost all watches can perform the functions of a fitness tracker, in particular: counting steps, calories, and measuring heart rate. The clock can also work as an alarm clock if there is a vibration motor inside. The gadget will monitor your activity all night and wake you up at a specified time interval, when the body is in the light phase of sleep, which means awakening will be quick.

Android Wear watch shapes

Android Wear operating system

Using the watch, you can answer or reject a call, as well as respond to SMS, but only using standard replies or voice, because the keyboard is not displayed on the watch. These gadgets also work as a navigator, showing a map or direction of travel on the screen. And of course, Android Wear watches have the Google Now voice assistant, which is used to launch applications or search. But the results will open on a smartphone, because reading something on a small screen is not very convenient. In the Apple Watch, Siri took over the same function.

Alas, for now the choice of watch directly depends on your smartphone. If you have Android, then you can choose any gadget on Android Wear. Although it is best, of course, to use both a phone and a watch from the same vendor, because then they will be made in the same style. We advise iPhone owners to save money for an Apple Watch, because... Android Wear is unlikely to ever be able to make friends with iOS. The only universal option is Pebble. This watch can work with both iOS and Android, and even Windows Phone. There will no longer be any proprietary functions, because everything is universal, but you have to pay something for convenience.

We are a generation of electronics-obsessed people. Don't think this is an insult, I'm like that myself. Just recently, the films “Terminator” and “The Matrix” frightened us with the uprising of computers, and now we are trying to hang ourselves from head to toe with devices and shift all the work to them. And we do this for a reason. After all, modern gadgets really make our lives much easier. Do you remember the soap dishes that you had to carry with you on your travels? And what about the CD players and books that took up almost half of the backpack?

Of course, one can discuss the fact that a paper book is a different sensation and we even have it. But the fact remains: gadgets have made our lives a lot easier. It all started with smartphones, followed by tablets, and now we have entered a new era. The era of wearable electronics. These include watches, glasses and other less popular devices. In this article we would like to dwell on smart watches and reflect on the topic, are they needed now?

Advantages

Let's first understand what functions a smart watch can perform.

Show new notifications. This way, you don't have to constantly take out your phone to see what you've received. All you have to do is look at your watch and decide whether this message is important or not.
Physical activity trackers. Many smartwatches can track your physical activity by measuring your heart rate, steps taken, running speed, and so on.
Time. And let us thank them for this!
Other. This includes voice control (not very usable yet), camera, weather, calendar events and other small functions.

We figured out the functionality. Modern smart watches perform each of these functions quite well and do not raise any complaints about this.

Flaws

Let's think about what disadvantages these gadgets have and think about whether their advantages are comparable to their disadvantages.

Appearance. Almost all smartwatches look terrible. It’s worth looking at the recently released Samsung Galaxy Gear or Sony Smartwatch, and you immediately understand that you don’t want to hang such creations on your hand. Of course, this is subjective, but the design and size of the watch definitely needs modernization.
Opening hours. We are used to having to charge our smartphone once a day. But charging the watch every day? No, thanks. Until the battery life increases to at least 2-4 weeks, it is too early to talk about the convenience of such watches.
Uselessness. Considering that now almost everyone has a smartphone in their pocket, the usefulness of smart watches is reduced to a minimum. Reaching into your pocket and looking at the time or notification isn't a big deal, but it will save you $100-$300, which is the average cost of smartwatches on the market.

Why you should NOT buy a smart watch

Manufacturers have just begun to create smart watches, and people who buy them now are a kind of testers who try out different designs, features, functions, etc. If you are a geek and have been dreaming of something like this for a long time, then go and buy it. Even now, the choice of smartwatches is large and you can look at the most popular models.

But if you're still on the fence, here are two reasons why you shouldn't buy this watch. Firstly, if you have managed without them for so long, you can continue to manage. Moreover, they can become a burden and unnecessary inconvenience for you. Secondly, the expected new items. IT giants such as Google and Apple have not yet shown their products in this area, but they will definitely show them in the near future. And it is from them that many expect innovation and a revolution in the entire wearable electronics industry. Therefore, is it worth spending money on smart watches now, knowing that in six months or a year gadgets that are an order of magnitude, or even several orders of magnitude cooler, will come out?

Using the Pebble watch as an example, I want to show how watch design has changed in less than a year. On the left is the outdated Pebble Watch, and on the right is the Pebble Steel, a watch that was shown at the recent CES. This suggests that the smartwatch industry is not yet established. Remember how the design of any modern flagship differs from last year’s model? Almost nothing.

And finally, the concept of the Hungarian designer Gábor Balogh, who showed his vision of a smart watch. Here's what to expect from Apple and Google. Let's believe and hope that they will show something like this. Compare this concept with what is on the market, and you will understand that it is really worth the wait :)

Why should your watch be the second phone on your hand? Why should glasses be a second computer on your head? I will repeat the first law of gadgets (in fact, there is no such thing): any gadget should simplify your life. Do you think smartwatches comply with this law?

Many users are increasingly asking the question smart watchSmart, what are they for? To understand the answer to this question, you need to understand what exactly this accessory is. So, smart watches have only two similarities with regular watches - this is that they are worn on the wrist, and they can also show the time. All other features cannot be compared with the classic models of this accessory.

One of the main tasks of such a device is that a person does not hold his smartphone in his hands, but constantly searches and adds information using the watch. The dial of this accessory is essentially a second screen of the smartphone, that is, its teaser version. Such a gadget displays incoming letters, SMS messages, and updates of various information on social networks. In order to understand whether it is worth pulling out your smartphone because of an incoming message, you just need to look at the device of the wrist accessory.

High-quality smart smart watches allow their owner to even answer letters. That is, the user can set SMS message templates in advance in order to send them without taking out his phone. Options for such actions directly depend on the brand of the existing model. Some manufacturers only use written input, while others implement voice input.

The appearance of such gadgets is quite logical, because they do not take up a large amount of space, but at the same time they make human life much better, more comfortable, and more convenient. The appearance of such inventions is no different from ordinary wrist accessories. They can be made in a sporty or classic style. However smart watch functions may vary. Many manufacturers are trying to produce such gadgets with a full range of functions, namely:

owner;
the watch allows you to respond to SMS without taking your phone out of your pocket;
there is the possibility of personalization to suit your own needs;
the ability to improve training, monitor a person’s pulse, and show the results of sports activities.

In fact, it is the listed features that characterize watch accessories of this type. That is why consumers, when choosing such a product, rely on personal preferences. After all, not all existing models are equipped with these functions.

What can smart watches do?

So to understand how smart watches work and connect to a mobile device, you need to understand their capabilities in detail. These fashionable gadgets are friends with smartphones. They connect using Bluetooth/Wi-Fi and can maintain contact over a distance of 10 to 15 meters. However, if the connection is broken for some reason, then the sensors still take readings, it’s just that the person will be able to find out the results a little later, namely when he resumes contact with the phone.

Smart watches can make the life of their owner much easier; they will remind you of important things to do and will not give a person the opportunity to miss this or that event. And athletes will be able to significantly improve their training, because this, and after its completion, the watch accessory retains all the results obtained.

In addition to the above smart smart watch They are produced in various types and shapes, so anyone can choose an individual model. Square, round, rectangular, white, red, black, designed in a sporty or classic style - all this can be seen on the modern market.

The world of electronics is constantly in a state of evolution. It is human nature to invent and improve. At the same time, tasks become more and more complicated, and the equipment begins to work not for your needs, but... instead of you. The innovation of today, the so-called know-how, is “smart wristwatches”, or smartwatches. However, many of you still don’t understand - why and what are smart watches or smart bracelets needed for? Moreover, even many consultants at electronics stores cannot give a clear answer to this question.

For what?

Initially, wristwatches had one purpose - to show time. But time does not stand still, and people invent something new, incl. “hybrids” are devices capable of performing not just one, but many functions, and the Internet comes to their aid everywhere. Example: The telephone evolved into a smartphone. The latter is already dependent on the Internet and any modern person using a smartphone gives him this Internet almost constantly. Now the World Wide Web has come to watches.

Ordinary wristwatches can already be called “an endangered species,” because for many of us the need for their functional purpose has disappeared. You can always find out the time on a smartphone in your pocket or a tablet in your bag. However, the watch also has another purpose - an indicator of the status of the owner. Therefore, these days, for the most part, it makes sense to purchase watches as expensive jewelry or an accessory for a suit. Will smart watches become a “symbol of success”? Why not? Surely, over time, they will also be produced in beautiful designer cases and encrusted with diamonds. Swiss smartwatch? Hm...

Functional purpose

Yes, watches of the 21st century are becoming not only smarter, but also more interesting. Now they help us not only in the task of time control. Today smart watches can:

remind about scheduled meetings;
show weather forecast;
notify about missed calls on your smartphone;
measure your pulse while playing sports;
and much more.

It turns out that such a device, placed on your hand, helps free up your hands. And if you say, “I don’t need this,” then you can safely throw out your regular watch—you don’t need it either.

Of course, the smartwatch is constantly synchronized with your smartphone and the Internet, thus updating all data, and is able to work with special applications. How does a smartwatch connect to a smartphone, you ask? Answer: banal via the Blooetooth channel.

Usage example:

Let's take "smart"Android watch with Google Now. GN can process not only personal data, but also public data. The goal is to notify the user about a variety of events: traffic jams, results of sports matches, etc.

Let's say you bought movie tickets through Fandango. You will receive a notification via Gmail (if you have one). The Google Now smart watch will “read” this letter and check your current location throughGoogle maps will clarify the show time and address of the cinema, lay out a route to it taking into account traffic jams and as a result will offer you the best option, plus they will tell you the departure time of transport and other little things.

This is just one example of how a smartwatch can act as your virtual assistant. Their only disadvantage, which immediately comes to mind: the need for regular recharging, as well as a slightly faster discharge of your smartphone due to the turned on Bluetooth. But you also constantly turn on Wi-Fi on it at home!

The right choice

At the moment, smart watches are still in the development stage of such technologies. Now the main criterion for their selection is compatibility with your smartphone or tablet PC. Options:

Your watch can only work with a smartphone or tablet of the same brand.
The universal Android Watch device can easily synchronize with all devices running Android OS.
Apple watches, of course, only work with Apple equipment.

Interested in new technologies? Do you want something fresh, to stand out from the crowd, to feel like a super-agent from the future? Try it! After all, “smart watches” are already widely sold in stores and many models are quite affordable.