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I've got a Sony Smartwatch (the original) and am thinking about replacing with a Gear. I have 2 reasons; My Sony watch died a week ago, and the Gear is a new toy
Questions that I would like answered about the Gear that I do (or used to do, anyway) with the Sony starting with the things I *need* it to do:
1) Battery Life. I'm used to charging it every night, so as long as I can go 1 solid day, I'm good. However, Sony has this ridiculous proprietary cable, and I don't remember seeing in video what the Gear uses...?
2) Vibration. I haven't seen it in video, but heard it mentioned a bit. Basically the MAIN thing I need the watch to do is vibrate when I get a call/sms/email. Ideally, this could do different vibrations (1 vibration for mail, 3 for sms, continuous for phone calls). I'm in noisy areas constantly and I don't want to miss calls.
3) Speaker. Does it make noise when you get a sms/call/emal & can this be turned *off* ? I don't really need an audio alert on my watch.
4) Summary of messages. I've seen mixed results by reading reviews. I'd like to see all of the SMS, and the sender/first line or so from email. (without needing to go to the phone)
5) Caller ID. For phone calls, with the option to pick up the phone, and possibly activate the speaker phone on the phone.
6) Tell the time. (I know it can, but through I'd throw it on my need to do list)
Just Gravy Stuff for me, anything below would be nice but isn't needed to make me 100% happy:
7) SMS. Can you send back a pre-programmed quick response (preferably a choice from like 5 or so)?
8) The answer or call from the watch. How is the quality in a non-noisy environment? What happens if you are paired up to your car and watch - which one wins the fight, the car's built in bluetooth or the watch?
9) S-umm-Search (forgetting what it's called. S-Voice?). I have visions of giving a command through the watch and pulling out the phone from my pocket. By the time the phone is out, I'd like to see results.
10) Camera. Anyone know a place with bunches of sample pix? I'm not aiming for high quality, more a novelty then anything.
11) Apps. I presume trying to use Twitter or Evernote or anything is going to be mostly useless. It would be nice eventually, but nothing I can see where I wouldn't just use the phone. I've seen video of other watching uses things like Fleksy and umm.. cute, but not realistic.
12) The watch face: I've seen some video of the built in choices, but can you make your own or it that an api/developer thing. F'instance, if I want to make a Mickey Mouse watch can I do it?
Thanks for any help - looks like I've got a few days to make a decision!
polstein said:
I've got a Sony Smartwatch (the original) and am thinking about replacing with a Gear. I have 2 reasons; My Sony watch died a week ago, and the Gear is a new toy
Questions that I would like answered about the Gear that I do (or used to do, anyway) with the Sony starting with the things I *need* it to do:
- Battery Life. I'm used to charging it every night, so as long as I can go 1 solid day, I'm good. However, Sony has this ridiculous proprietary cable, and I don't remember seeing in video what the Gear uses...?
- Vibration. I haven't seen it in video, but heard it mentioned a bit. Basically the MAIN thing I need the watch to do is vibrate when I get a call/sms/email. Ideally, this could do different vibrations (1 vibration for mail, 3 for sms, continuous for phone calls). I'm in noisy areas constantly and I don't want to miss calls.
- Speaker. Does it make noise when you get a sms/call/emal & can this be turned *off* ? I don't really need an audio alert on my watch.
- Summary of messages. I've seen mixed results by reading reviews. I'd like to see all of the SMS, and the sender/first line or so from email. (without needing to go to the phone)
- Caller ID. For phone calls, with the option to pick up the phone, and possibly activate the speaker phone on the phone.
- Tell the time. (I know it can, but through I'd throw it on my need to do list)
Just Gravy Stuff for me, anything below would be nice but isn't needed to make me 100% happy:
- SMS. Can you send back a pre-programmed quick response (preferably a choice from like 5 or so)?
- The answer or call from the watch. How is the quality in a non-noisy environment? What happens if you are paired up to your car and watch - which one wins the fight, the car's built in bluetooth or the watch?
- S-umm-Search (forgetting what it's called. S-Voice?). I have visions of giving a command through the watch and pulling out the phone from my pocket. By the time the phone is out, I'd like to see results.
- Camera. Anyone know a place with bunches of sample pix? I'm not aiming for high quality, more a novelty then anything.
- Apps. I presume trying to use Twitter or Evernote or anything is going to be mostly useless. It would be nice eventually, but nothing I can see where I wouldn't just use the phone. I've seen video of other watching uses things like Fleksy and umm.. cute, but not realistic.
- The watch face: I've seen some video of the built in choices, but can you make your own or it that an api/developer thing. F'instance, if I want to make a Mickey Mouse watch can I do it?
Thanks for any help - looks like I've got a few days to make a decision!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do realise that the Gear will, at present, only function with the Galaxy Note 3 don't you?
The new Sony Mk 11 (oddly named the 2 but it is in fact sony's third watch?) Will work with most Android devices. The Gear will not.
Ryland Johnson said:
You do realise that the Gear will, at present, only function with the Galaxy Note 3 don't you?
The new Sony Mk 11 (oddly named the 2 but it is in fact sony's third watch?) Will work with most Android devices. The Gear will not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm planning on getting the note 3 on Friday, but thanks for checking.
polstein said:
I'm planning on getting the note 3 on Friday, but thanks for checking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay. can you edit your post and number each question so I can reply to each question please. Trying to reply would takes ages using any other manner. Thanks.
Lovin my Galaxy Gear
I had the S4 Active but still went ahead and bought the Galaxy Gear. I think its just fantastic. Yes, it didn't work with my Active, so i went and bought the Note 3 the next day. Once i got it started up and paired and played around with it for a day, i realized why the previous versions of androids (4.2) didn't work with it. The Gear, via bluetooth, is deeply integrated into the Note 3 OS. In Samsung Apps, it has its own collection and quite a good list of apps to start with (including evernote).
I'm gonna try and answer you queries but in random order, hope thats ok.
The phone vibrates while you receive notifications, be it calls or other alerts.
Once pairing is complete with the Note 3, you can use it just by itself.
The Gear is synced with your phone, so calls logs, contacts, everything shows on the screen.
It has caller id and the mic n speaker work perfectly.
You can change the face of the clock by selecting from the preinstalled options or download more from samsung apps for Gear.
Once you answer a call, you have the option to transfer it back to the phone or to a paired bluetooth headset.
Gear has a dialer when you swipe from the bottom upwards.
Camera does a decent job but i'm sure an software upgrade can make it better.
The Gear's software upgrade can be done via the Gear Manager app in the Note 3.
Battery has lasted almost the whole day for me, in spite of making calls, using the camera and fiddling with it all the time.
It can get a bit buggy at times while using third party apps but the default apps have given no trouble.
Hope this helps, if you need specific answers, do let me know.
Ryland Johnson said:
Okay. can you edit your post and number each question so I can reply to each question please. Trying to reply would takes ages using any other manner. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Easy enough - done.
@clickqass - thanks for the reply. Sounds like you're enjoying it!
polstein said:
I've got a Sony Smartwatch (the original) and am thinking about replacing with a Gear. I have 2 reasons; My Sony watch died a week ago, and the Gear is a new toy
Questions that I would like answered about the Gear that I do (or used to do, anyway) with the Sony starting with the things I *need* it to do:
1) Battery Life. I'm used to charging it every night, so as long as I can go 1 solid day, I'm good. However, Sony has this ridiculous proprietary cable, and I don't remember seeing in video what the Gear uses...?
2) Vibration. I haven't seen it in video, but heard it mentioned a bit. Basically the MAIN thing I need the watch to do is vibrate when I get a call/sms/email. Ideally, this could do different vibrations (1 vibration for mail, 3 for sms, continuous for phone calls). I'm in noisy areas constantly and I don't want to miss calls.
3) Speaker. Does it make noise when you get a sms/call/emal & can this be turned *off* ? I don't really need an audio alert on my watch.
4) Summary of messages. I've seen mixed results by reading reviews. I'd like to see all of the SMS, and the sender/first line or so from email. (without needing to go to the phone)
5) Caller ID. For phone calls, with the option to pick up the phone, and possibly activate the speaker phone on the phone.
6) Tell the time. (I know it can, but through I'd throw it on my need to do list)
Just Gravy Stuff for me, anything below would be nice but isn't needed to make me 100% happy:
7) SMS. Can you send back a pre-programmed quick response (preferably a choice from like 5 or so)?
8) The answer or call from the watch. How is the quality in a non-noisy environment? What happens if you are paired up to your car and watch - which one wins the fight, the car's built in bluetooth or the watch?
9) S-umm-Search (forgetting what it's called. S-Voice?). I have visions of giving a command through the watch and pulling out the phone from my pocket. By the time the phone is out, I'd like to see results.
10) Camera. Anyone know a place with bunches of sample pix? I'm not aiming for high quality, more a novelty then anything.
11) Apps. I presume trying to use Twitter or Evernote or anything is going to be mostly useless. It would be nice eventually, but nothing I can see where I wouldn't just use the phone. I've seen video of other watching uses things like Fleksy and umm.. cute, but not realistic.
12) The watch face: I've seen some video of the built in choices, but can you make your own or it that an api/developer thing. F'instance, if I want to make a Mickey Mouse watch can I do it?
Thanks for any help - looks like I've got a few days to make a decision!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) The gear uses a cradle to charge the phone, the cable is NOT connected to the watch, the watch sit into or snaps into a complete surround type cradle then the charging cable fits into the cradle. If you leave home for a few days one would need to carry this cradle of one could not recharge the watch. I doubt the Mk2 will be like this, its rather odd.
The battery life is so objective. It will depend on usage. I am getting three clear days so far but have only had the gear since Friday 27th. I would imagine, I don't know, but It is possible for a heavy user to get through the battery in 24 hours. So many factors come into play, the brightness settings to name only one.
2) The gear vibrates and can be calibrated.
3) Turned OFF obviously nothing works. On standby the quality of the speaker is less harsh than the Note 3, it is also plenty loud enough.
4) So far this works for me. I do not know if the SMS would be truncated at some point though due to size?
5) Don't really understand the question. Caller ID does show on the watch.
.......Hang on I have just realised something, rather than me boring you with amateur answers you could go to the Samsung sight and down load the manual as I have done:laugh: I should have made that number one :good:
Just tried to upload it for you but it exceeds the forum limits. Sorry. Go to Samsung and download the manual, all is explained there.
Regards.
Ryland Johnson said:
1) The gear uses a cradle to charge the phone, the cable is NOT connected to the watch, the watch sit into or snaps into a complete surround type cradle then the charging cable fits into the cradle. If you leave home for a few days one would need to carry this cradle of one could not recharge the watch. I doubt the Mk2 will be like this, its rather odd.
The battery life is so objective. It will depend on usage. I am getting three clear days so far but have only had the gear since Friday 27th. I would imagine, I don't know, but It is possible for a heavy user to get through the battery in 24 hours. So many factors come into play, the brightness settings to name only one.
2) The gear vibrates and can be calibrated.
3) Turned OFF obviously nothing works. On standby the quality of the speaker is less harsh than the Note 3, it is also plenty loud enough.
4) So far this works for me. I do not know if the SMS would be truncated at some point though due to size?
5) Don't really understand the question. Caller ID does show on the watch.
.......Hang on I have just realised something, rather than me boring you with amateur answers you could go to the Samsung sight and down load the manual as I have done:laugh: I should have made that number one :good:
Just tried to upload it for you but it exceeds the forum limits. Sorry. Go to Samsung and download the manual, all is explained there.
Regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Overall how would you rate the GG? Do you feel its actually useful or more of a toy?
2 questions as I ponder purchase.
1. What is the range before the watch and phone lose connectivity? I hear it's only 5 feet.
2. When you received an MMS or Picture mail does it appear on the watch screen?
Or do I have to open the phone to view the pic.
RaptorMD said:
Overall how would you rate the GG? Do you feel its actually useful or more of a toy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good question. I need more time with it to make a more knowledgeable assessment. I will keep you posted. So far I would say 50-50. I don't think it indispensable. Give me a week. BTW, the software has just been updated. Seems Samsung are on their toes?
---------- Post added at 02:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:09 AM ----------
xManMythLegend said:
2 questions as I ponder purchase.
1. What is the range before the watch and phone lose connectivity? I hear it's only 5 feet.
2. When you received an MMS or Picture mail does it appear on the watch screen?
Or do I have to open the phone to view the pic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More like 10m. Who told you 5'?
Cant yet answer your second question.
How is the viewing in day light? Saw a video which showed horrible viewing in direct light but wanted to get a user's opinion. Any trouble seeing it outside?
Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2
Ryland Johnson said:
Good question. I need more time with it to make a more knowledgeable assessment. I will keep you posted. So far I would say 50-50. I don't think it indispensable. Give me a week. BTW, the software has just been updated. Seems Samsung are on their toes?
---------- Post added at 02:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:09 AM ----------
More like 10m. Who told you 5'?
Cant yet answer your second question.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
An early preview said the phone locks itself automatically when the Gear is out of range and they said it's approximately 5 feet. Noone else has mentioned it.
Since we are forum best friends I will send you an MMS for testing.
Noone else has mentioned it but there are new sensors in the Nexus 5 that I have not seen on the Nexus 5 area yet. It is new to 4.4 as well as the Nexus 5.
http://developer.android.com/about/versions/kitkat.html#44-sensors
Basically, the new sensors make the product http://www.moves-app.com/ much more powerful. To the point of eBaying my fitbit (in theory). Going to be testing this out but I wanted to point it out to others who are fitness minded who overlooked this feature like myself.
I tried the moves app earlier today and just sitting at my desk and texting my girlfriend it said I took 67 steps. Not very accurate right now
BiznessMan said:
I tried the moves app earlier today and just sitting at my desk and texting my girlfriend it said I took 67 steps. Not very accurate right now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had Moves running during the day today and it counted 11000 steps instead of 8000 my Withings Pulse says - and I carry Pulse everywhere, while the phone was on the table occasionally, do discrepancy is even bigger. I trust Withings Pulse very much as far as step counting goes, I compared it with Garmin pedometer before and they're very close. So I agree, this thing is way overcounting.
Have to say Moves is also a battery hog - it will turn on GPS every couple of minutes or so, which can be seen very nicely with N5, and comes up high in battery stats. I don't even care for this functionality and there's no way to turn it off.
So I am very unimpressed for now. Hopefully this can be solved in software...
PS: That said, I very much like the direction in which this is going. It's just the implementation still has some mileage to go.
jup007 said:
Had Moves running during the day today and it counted 11000 steps instead of 8000 my Withings Pulse says - and I carry Pulse everywhere, while the phone was on the table occasionally, do discrepancy is even bigger. I trust Withings Pulse very much as far as step counting goes, I compared it with Garmin pedometer before and they're very close. So I agree, this thing is way overcounting.
Have to say Moves is also a battery hog - it will turn on GPS every couple of minutes or so, which can be seen very nicely with N5, and comes up high in battery stats. I don't even care for this functionality and there's no way to turn it off.
So I am very unimpressed for now. Hopefully this can be solved in software...
PS: That said, I very much like the direction in which this is going. It's just the implementation still has some mileage to go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree and also found it as a battery hog.. Uninstalled until it gets refined..
Thoughts on it, display in sunlight, battery life, handling of notifications, look/feel of it on your wrist..... basically anything to do with the watch!
i like it. granted that its a new class of its own, i still get confused especially when i get multiple notifications on an app (ie hangouts). its confusing where the group text starts or if im still being shown a private text..
the screen is kinda hard to read in direct sunlight but tilting it a bit or using a different watch face helps.
i like the feel of it.. i preferred this over the g watch coz of the added feature and the look.
I really like it; however, screen is difficult to see in sunlight at times; screen is also a smudge magnet which adds to difficulties in seeing the display outdoors.
Love it - compared to the sony smartwatch and the Galaxy Gear it really has great improvements. Only Day 2, but my initial thoughts:
Pros
- Look/feel - it is little large (I don't have big wrists) but still stylish.
- Screen: awesome that the clock is always on, this was my biggest gripe about the Gear
- Usefulness: I've spent time training Google Now, and that's really paid off. Notifications mean i take my phone out of my pocket a lot less, and Google Now surfaces reminders and other useful info pretty well (although you don't have a lot of control over the order of notifications etc). The fact that it syncs dismissed notifications on the phone immediately is, in a word, awesome
- Apps: early days yet on this, but most big apps I'm sure will integrate so you can do the key features easily
- Voice recognition works great so far
Cons
- No speaker means if you want to do stuff without looking at the screen with your voice, it's harder. But seems like something I can live with
- Charging dongle is kinda annoying to fit on, and have to remember to travel with
- Starting an app (say Fit) takes a few too many swipes (if you're in a place where you don't want to be speaking to your wrist...)
A lot of the other potential "cons" like not many watch face designs, no feature to locate your phone (I know there's an app for this though) I reckon will play out over time and Google can fix pretty quickly...
A
eurorauser said:
, no feature to locate your phone (I know there's an app for this though) I reckon will play out over time and Google can fix pretty quickly...
A
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take a look at this one for that: Wear Aware
i'm pleasantly surprised with how much i'm enjoying it.
my first full day with it will be tomorrow so i haven't taken it outside in the sunlight much yet, but checking email, counting steps, reading and replying to texts (i use evolve and it works great) is great and much more reliable and smoother than it was on my OG gear, and it's proving to be far more useful than my pebble.
the strap is actually quite comfortable and i'm glad i didn't buy a new strap before getting the watch.
the charging cradle, if you put it on tab side first it snaps in much easier. it's annoying but i haven't found it to be the spawn of lucifer as some people were screaming about it. treat it like part of a $200 gadget and it will be fine. mash it on like the hulk and it's going to break, it is plastic tabs after all.
i used it for about 7 hours today and it's now around 65% remaining. moderate use, but i def was clicking and swiping for no reason since it's new as well. i am pretty sure i'll have to charge it every night, but i don't sleep with a watch on and i charge my phone every night too, so i don't see it as being a big issue. my pebble lasted longer, but it would often die since i didn't have a set pattern on when to charge and would head out and a few hours later realize i had 20% left.
so in short, i'm happy, yes there are growing pains but those are the early adopter blues.
So far very please for what it can do. Regarding bot visible in sunlight, tell me what phone is visible in sunlight. None of them are great, only the kinfpdle due to the ink screen it has. I can wait till indoors or in shade. 9 more days testing and then deciding to keep or not. Off charging cradle at 6:30am today and as of this post still has 34% left. About the same as my previous Gear watch.
Ian B
The number of apps pouring in each day are a great sign for the platform as a whole. The Tizen gears were nothing like this.
Quick reply.... I like it. Had Nero, no comparison.
I've had a few issues and design factors that I'd like changed:
Hate the alarm mute icon. I would love to figure out a way to hide that on the clock face. Would make the watch look more watchie if you will.
Also would like to only wake the watch from the button vice touchscreen, or atleast an option to set that insettings.
Does anyone else find themselves open palming your watch to put it in hybernate?
FynxSyndct said:
Does anyone else find themselves open palming your watch to put it in hybernate?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I pressed it against my forehead earlier because I was in bed and my other arm wasn't free.
SkuzFoz said:
I pressed it against my forehead earlier because I was in bed and my other arm wasn't free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This really made me LOL
I'll be the lone wolf in the wilderness by bucking the trend and saying that I'm very disappointed with my Gear Live. I'm a gadget lover and really wanted to love this device. But I was far more enthusiastic about this thing before I actually received it. Once I had one, I quickly grew disappointed with it.
Out of the box, pairing with my Nexus 5 took multiple attempts. Once I finally did get it paired, only the stock apps would work. Any apps that I downloaded from the Play store would run on my phone but the watch interface would never show up (no matter how many times I tried to force the apps to sync via the Android Wear app or rebooted the watch).
Factory resetting the watch and starting again cleared up that problem but I still found the functionality of the watch to be quirky at best. Add to that the fact that the screen is virtually impossible to read outdoors, the lack of support for continuous heart rate monitoring, and the sudden dramatic drop in my Nexus 5's battery life (which cleared up after I uninstalled the Android Wear app).
Bottom line for me is that this isn't ready to replace my old fashioned watch. So until I read about some new killer Wear app that I can't live without, the Gear Live had gone back into its box to be stored away. I'm hoping that the software will mature quickly to a point where I can give it another try.
Does gear live suport sleep monitoring? Can it automatically figure out that user is cycling?
How good is the fitness tracking on it?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
Hello all
I have purchased a Mini and a regular Ghome around Christmas last year . They have been working fantastically as far as recognizing commands and such.
Hue lights, Spotify music ...etc
The only problem that I have had was not being able to open Netflix on my Android TV(Sony) although it works with a Chromecast. Nobody was able to explain why, but I could live with that
Recently (past 2 months or so) the voice recognition got so bad to the point that I would go and grab my phone and do whatever command I wanted (mostly turning on and off the lights).
Unlike initially when I could say it across the room (Hey Google turn the bedroom lights off) , now it keeps on saying "Sorry I cannot help with that" and so on. Or it would be picking up a totally random word and screw up the whole sentence. I have not changed anything in my setup, i have reset the bejesus out of all my equipment with no luck.
It became so frustrating but what is even more frustrating is that I have no clue what caused it.
Tried closer, literally yelling from right above it with no success. It would take it let's say, out of 10 attempts maybe 2 will be going through, unless I get pissed and drop it altogether. This is happening on both the Mini and the "big" Ghome.
Has anyone experienced the same issues with their devices lately? If yes have you guys been able to fix it or it's just one of the Google screwups that will be fixed whenever will be fixed?
The Google reps when chatting are useless and keep giving me useless troubleshooting steps that I have already done.
Funny thing is that if I say the same commands to my phone it takes it right away .
Thank you for your input
rainfactor said:
Hello all
I have purchased a Mini and a regular Ghome around Christmas last year . They have been working fantastically as far as recognizing commands and such.
Hue lights, Spotify music ...etc
The only problem that I have had was not being able to open Netflix on my Android TV(Sony) although it works with a Chromecast. Nobody was able to explain why, but I could live with that
Recently (past 2 months or so) the voice recognition got so bad to the point that I would go and grab my phone and do whatever command I wanted (mostly turning on and off the lights).
Unlike initially when I could say it across the room (Hey Google turn the bedroom lights off) , now it keeps on saying "Sorry I cannot help with that" and so on. Or it would be picking up a totally random word and screw up the whole sentence. I have not changed anything in my setup, i have reset the bejesus out of all my equipment with no luck.
It became so frustrating but what is even more frustrating is that I have no clue what caused it.
Tried closer, literally yelling from right above it with no success. It would take it let's say, out of 10 attempts maybe 2 will be going through, unless I get pissed and drop it altogether. This is happening on both the Mini and the "big" Ghome.
Has anyone experienced the same issues with their devices lately? If yes have you guys been able to fix it or it's just one of the Google screwups that will be fixed whenever will be fixed?
The Google reps when chatting are useless and keep giving me useless troubleshooting steps that I have already done.
Funny thing is that if I say the same commands to my phone it takes it right away .
Thank you for your input
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, I have about the same, but no fix here either. The timeline sounds about right too, about 2 months or so. Same with my Hue lights. I don't have my Hue account hooked up in my Home app since Goog Voice is supposed to work natively with Hue lights with a bridge. I was thinking of maybe adding my Hue account into my Home app and see if that helps. Haven't quite gotten to it yet. :angel:
Same here
Voice Recognition
Yes it's true as the time pass by the voice recognition is getting worse recently when i said to turn off the light of my room it did but after saying 3 - 4 times but now it turn off the entire light of my house.
Google home not performing
I have used the home during 2017 and it was very good in picking up what I say. During 2018 the hearing abilities has been very effected and hard reset and starting over did not solve it.
I moved mine to the end table at like 3ft off the ground it's Mic being on top hear much better now. No more telling or repeating myself
Sounds very familiar. Especially my wife has been getting tantrums because GH doesn't understand her. (Insert joke about not understanding wife)
I've always found myself explaining to people about how great the Pebble 2 is which many people never really knew about because it's not one of the more expensive and prestigious brands like an Apple Watch. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Tech Junkie and can afford whatever watch I want, but I'm also not one looking to pay a higher price just to wear something to impress people - I want good functionality, practicality and value. Nothing could match my Pebble 2. When I told people I only need to charge it once every 5-7 days, they are flabbergasted. Heart Rate Monitor? Check. HUGE selection of custom 3rd party apps. Check. Design your own custom watch face with dynamic stats (like temp, phone signal strength, etc.)? Check. Waterproof to the point you can swim with it on? Check.
All that, under $150? Check.
Now, my eyes have grown old and I can barely read the text messages that come through as it is a pretty small face. I don't NEED color - I prefer long battery life. So what's out there (I'm an Android Phone User) that people would say is the closest replacement that has a bigger screen? Maybe I just keep wearing my Pebble and wear trifocals all the time - no thanks.
My MUST haves are:
- Long battery life (no more than 2 charges per week are necessary)
- Waterproof (can swim in it)
- Heart Rate Monitor
- Large screen, but I'm not an NFL player so not too gigantic
Nice to haves but not MUSTS:
- SOME degree of customization (some 3rd party apps, custom watch screen design, etc.)
- Built in GPS (I really don't need this - I'm not a runner and my phone is always with me, so would rather avoid paying extra for it, but if I have to have it to get other stuff I must have then so be it.)
All I really need the watch to do is: tell me the date and time, show my text messages and notifications (with setting to increase default text size), track my fitness activities, and don't bug me about charging it every 1-2 days.
Only Garmin Watch
Amazfit bip, Stratos, pace
All Amazfit (bip Stratos....) have almost 0 connected feature, just basic notification a Weather wich works only sometime and nothing else. 0 connected app, so not really smartwatch, maybe just a poor tracker
dersie said:
All Amazfit (bip Stratos....) have almost 0 connected feature, just basic notification a Weather wich works only sometime and nothing else. 0 connected app, so not really smartwatch, maybe just a poor tracker
Click to expand...
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Can you give some examples of "connected features" you think that most users would find extremely useful in their daily lives? I've found with many devices, a lot of bells and whistles are just that, bells and whistles to brag about having and when you look at your actual use of the device, you find you really don't use those features.
For example, on my Pebble 2, I can reply to text messages both using canned text responses or voice transcription by talking into the watch. I've had the watch for like 3 years and I've used the text reply maybe two or three times and the voice transcription once. When I used it, I thought, "that was sort of cool." But then why didn't I ever use it again? Because it wasn't THAT useful considering 99% of the time I have my phone sitting next to me or in my pants or jacket pocket and talking to my watch I look like a complete DORK. I can just easily type the reply on my phone. The notification is what's important as sometimes I'm in another room, or have it in my jacket in a place I can't hear the notification or feel the vibration.
So I'm still quite interested in what "connected features" a Bip doesn't come with that are so useful?
In my pebble I add item to my shopping list every day with WunderVoice, I read my List on my pebble with WunderPebble : shopping, to do,........, I read my Google Task, I look every time at the moon location, I take quick note and view also memo quickly, I look at my next event calendar, I mark read my mail notification, I can select snooze 5,10, 30min or dismiss my event calendar, I use multiple timers for 25min, 30min, 35min, 40min to look at my grilled meat, I look my phone battery, I can set my phone to vibe or mute with my pebble , I start some task with tasker, I use multi counter to count different things.....
All this can be done with few click in 10s, in this time I have not the time to put my phone out my pocket
dersie said:
In my pebble I add item to my shopping list every day with WunderVoice, I read my List on my pebble with WunderPebble : shopping, to do,........, I read my Google Task, I look every time at the moon location, I take quick note and view also memo quickly, I look at my next event calendar, I mark read my mail notification, I can select snooze 5,10, 30min or dismiss my event calendar, I use multiple timers for 25min, 30min, 35min, 40min to look at my grilled meat, I look my phone battery, I can set my phone to vibe or mute with my pebble , I start some task with tasker, I use multi counter to count different things.....
All this can be done with few click in 10s, in this time I have not the time to put my phone out my pocket
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With most all of that, shopping list, tasks, moon location, notes - can you explain what *specific benefits* there are to using your watch instead of your phone to input information (via keyboard or voice) and to read lists of information (considering the phone has a much bigger screen)? Why is using the watch so much better to do those things?
Easier and quicker
dersie said:
All Amazfit (bip Stratos....) have almost 0 connected feature, just basic notification a Weather wich works only sometime and nothing else. 0 connected app, so not really smartwatch, maybe just a poor tracker
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Was not the main scope of the op
dersie said:
Easier and quicker
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Man, you must be beside yourself trying to figure out what to do with all that spare time the watch creates being so much quicker?
I just switched back from an Amazfit Pace to my Pebble 2 SE. Notifications just don't work reliably on the Amazfit, and all the fitness stuff is too much for me. I just want a geeky watch with working notifications. That's a Pebble 2 SE
chaozz said:
I just switched back from an Amazfit Pace to my Pebble 2 SE. Notifications just don't work reliably on the Amazfit, and all the fitness stuff is too much for me. I just want a geeky watch with working notifications. That's a Pebble 2 SE
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I've also returned my pace due to bad battery life and notification reliability. I'm using a BIP and the notifications are there in real time(using gadgetbridge like before with PTS) and it gives me a minimum of 4 WEEKS of battery life :highfive:
No single freeze or glitch since months, absolutely reliable for that price! Custom watchfaces easily made.
My 2nd Pebble 2 HR just died & I've been shopping to replace it, but havent found anything that does everything I need it to, or that my Pebble used to. I had upgraded to Rebble prior to their deaths, paid for voice and weather since Rebble was up. I had found some good sites to investigate: Smartwatch Series website lets you look at detailed valuations of specs and comparisons of many smartwatches.
Battery is one of my biggest anxieties, but glowing screens or timeouts also was a concern. I tried the Samsung Gear Sport, then the Samsung Galaxy Active 2, and although they had many great features and 2+ days of use between charges (Active 2 only) with comparable use-time to my pebble, the screen glowed if on all the time, and when I went swimming, the screen face would change unless I locked it before entering the water.
I settled with a compromise... I was able to get a new PowerWatch 2 Luxe edition (usually $699) for $400. Still, way to expensive, but, I get messages (no reply), health basics, always on LCD screen (no glow) with back-lit ability, Heat Rate and GPS, and NO CHARGING NEEDED. EVER. Solar and thermoelectric engine (backup wireless charging dock included just in case) keep it charged always. I can't do voice, can't customize my watch face, can't load apps (stopwatch and timer are there), and no weather.
dumbquestion said:
My 2nd Pebble 2 HR just died & I've been shopping to replace it, but havent found anything that does everything I need it to, or that my Pebble used to. I had upgraded to Rebble prior to their deaths, paid for voice and weather since Rebble was up. I had found some good sites to investigate: Smartwatch Series website lets you look at detailed valuations of specs and comparisons of many smartwatches.
Battery is one of my biggest anxieties, but glowing screens or timeouts also was a concern. I tried the Samsung Gear Sport, then the Samsung Galaxy Active 2, and although they had many great features and 2+ days of use between charges (Active 2 only) with comparable use-time to my pebble, the screen glowed if on all the time, and when I went swimming, the screen face would change unless I locked it before entering the water.
I settled with a compromise... I was able to get a new PowerWatch 2 Luxe edition (usually $699) for $400. Still, way to expensive, but, I get messages (no reply), health basics, always on LCD screen (no glow) with back-lit ability, Heat Rate and GPS, and NO CHARGING NEEDED. EVER. Solar and thermoelectric engine (backup wireless charging dock included just in case) keep it charged always. I can't do voice, can't customize my watch face, can't load apps (stopwatch and timer are there), and no weather.
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Interesting charging design maybe something for the future watches and prices will drop hopefully...
Why not just buy a brand new Pebble 2 on Ebay for low $100 range? You could by two of them, one for future, and save money while we all wait for someone to actually design a good watch for a good price, like the Pebble 2. The only thing lacking on the Pebble 2 is that it's not designer/fancy looking. Otherwise it is still by far the best bang for the buck - battery lasting nearly a week! Lots of apps and customizations. Puts these higher priced watches to shame in the flexibility of the functionality and battery life. But it's no status symbol that people want for their watch, unless you consider being an intelligent buyer a status symbol. LOL.
jazee said:
Why not just buy a brand new Pebble 2 on Ebay for low $100 range? You could by two of them, one for future, and save money while we all wait for someone to actually design a good watch for a good price, like the Pebble 2. The only thing lacking on the Pebble 2 is that it's not designer/fancy looking. Otherwise it is still by far the best bang for the buck - battery lasting nearly a week! Lots of apps and customizations. Puts these higher priced watches to shame in the flexibility of the functionality and battery life. But it's no status symbol that people want for their watch, unless you consider being an intelligent buyer a status symbol. LOL.
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The problem when buying those pebbles: the battery is several years old and might not have a good capacity.
Actually I'm testing a Honor Magic Watch 2 and it's very good, actually one week usage with GPS and lots of calls and down to 49%:good:
strongst said:
The problem when buying those pebbles: the battery is several years old and might not have a good capacity.
Actually I'm testing a Honor Magic Watch 2 and it's very good, actually one week usage with GPS and lots of calls and down to 49%:good:
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I read a review and it sounds promising if you can live without the ability to download apps.
My main question would be, on my Pebble, I can get notifications from all the apps on my phone and select which ones I want to get and which ones I don't want to get, so I'm not just limited to SMS and Email notifications. Can this watch do that, so for instance if the Amazon app displays a notification about a shipment on my phone, will it show on the watch?
Also wondering if a firmware upate fixed this...
"Talking of notifications, we found these to be a little buggy. Most of the time phone notifications came through to the device without issue, but now and then they didn’t come through until some time after they should have, and we also found some notifications came through to the watch multiple times, though we never worked out why."
jazee said:
I read a review and it sounds promising if you can live without the ability to download apps.
My main question would be, on my Pebble, I can get notifications from all the apps on my phone and select which ones I want to get and which ones I don't want to get, so I'm not just limited to SMS and Email notifications. Can this watch do that, so for instance if the Amazon app displays a notification about a shipment on my phone, will it show on the watch?
Also wondering if a firmware upate fixed this...
"Talking of notifications, we found these to be a little buggy. Most of the time phone notifications came through to the device without issue, but now and then they didn’t come through until some time after they should have, and we also found some notifications came through to the watch multiple times, though we never worked out why."
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Everything is working so far. Your quote to my post for example, was notified by fair mail which I selected and shown then on the watch, see pics As long as a notification pop-up is shown on the status bar it will work, but one app did not work it's delta.chat. Don't know why, still investigating. Maybe a app or health issue
strongst said:
Everything is working so far. Your quote to my post for example, was notified by fair mail which I selected and shown then on the watch, see pics As long as a notification pop-up is shown on the status bar it will work, but one app did not work it's delta.chat. Don't know why, still investigating. Maybe a app or health issue
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I'm guessing you can't prevent notifications from certain apps on only the watch?
Did you consider the Amazfit GTS? They seem similar but the Amazfit I think is considerably cheaper.
jazee said:
I'm guessing you can't prevent notifications from certain apps on only the watch?
Did you consider the Amazfit GTS? They seem similar but the Amazfit I think is considerably cheaper.
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You can select the notification what you want to be shown on the watch, see screenshot. Or do you want to have a notification only to be shown on the watch, but not on the phone?
I ordered both watches and the following are my personal pros and cons.
Amazfit GTS: 128€
-can't make calls
-no storage for music
-GPS not that accurate
-no SpO2
Honor Magic Watch 2: 146€
-round design(I wanted a round watch again)