Smartwatch for an iPhone that's not an Apple Watch
April 13, 2018 8:48 AM Subscribe
I spent a week with an Apple Watch and returned it. I'm looking for a similar device with different specs. Can you help?
The biggest issue I had with the Apple Watch is the terrible battery life and the failure to actually show me the time when I needed it. With this in mind here's the short list of things I do need from a smart thing on my wrist, in no particular order:
The biggest issue I had with the Apple Watch is the terrible battery life and the failure to actually show me the time when I needed it. With this in mind here's the short list of things I do need from a smart thing on my wrist, in no particular order:
- Battery life of at least two weeks
- Always on
- Silent alarm for early wake up
- Notification pass back (notifications on the phone are passed to the watch)
- Heart rate monitoring
- Integration with iOS HealthKit
- Integration with Runkeeper or strava
Response by poster: Thanks @arkhangel!
I just want to be clear, HealthKit integration and whatnot is very far down the list, basically unnecessary. I should've kept it out of there to avoid confusion. I'm surprised that android wear is broken.. I thought for sure there'd be a watch that would support rudimentary notifications and last for a couple of weeks on a single charge. Bummer.
posted by aeighty at 9:15 AM on April 13, 2018
I just want to be clear, HealthKit integration and whatnot is very far down the list, basically unnecessary. I should've kept it out of there to avoid confusion. I'm surprised that android wear is broken.. I thought for sure there'd be a watch that would support rudimentary notifications and last for a couple of weeks on a single charge. Bummer.
posted by aeighty at 9:15 AM on April 13, 2018
Best answer: It sounds like you're describing the Amazfit Bip, but it sounds pretty cheap and nasty even compared to the homely Pebble (of which I love). The Bip is the only smartwatch that meets your two-week battery life requirement.
I have three Pebbles and love them, but they don't have the battery life nor the integration that you want. Also the fact that they're going completely unsupported in a few months makes them a very hard sell.
You could also get one of the higher-end Garmin GPS watches (Vivoactive 3, 640, Fenix 5). They only have a week or so of battery life in watch mode (and even less if you use the GPS), but they match many more of your requirements and have more support than the Amazfits or Pebbles. Only negative is that they cost considerably more.
posted by meowzilla at 9:27 AM on April 13, 2018
I have three Pebbles and love them, but they don't have the battery life nor the integration that you want. Also the fact that they're going completely unsupported in a few months makes them a very hard sell.
You could also get one of the higher-end Garmin GPS watches (Vivoactive 3, 640, Fenix 5). They only have a week or so of battery life in watch mode (and even less if you use the GPS), but they match many more of your requirements and have more support than the Amazfits or Pebbles. Only negative is that they cost considerably more.
posted by meowzilla at 9:27 AM on April 13, 2018
Best answer: Life of two weeks will be pretty hard. If you're OK with "7-10 days" then there's a number of Garmin devices that might work.
I have a Garmin 235 (there's lots of models, and a vivosmart/vivoactive might be more for you) - it's always on, and has a dedicated button to turn on the back light. Default screen is the watch face, there's multiple watch faces available via ConnectIQ (garmin specific app/watch face "store" - most are free).
The screen is a transreflective screen. If you're used to the world of LCD this will look "cheap and unsaturated" depending upon the lighting. My watch can display 16 colours. 16!
In the times when I've been uninjured I've been able to get over a week of battery like, however in GPS mode I lose about 9% battery life per hour, and run 8-10 hrs per week. I typically charge 2x per week - for ideal battery life I only try to charge to 80% - I've had my device almost two years now and have noticed no reduction in battery life.
There is a significantly smaller market of apps for ConnectIQ versus most stores. However, I have stopwatch/timer app, excellent run recording, weather and HR display. I can't really think of anything more I'd like my watch to do.
My watch auto-uploads to garmin connect. Connect and strava are connected, so this automatically uploads to strava. I've sure runkeeper can also be setup as so.
posted by nobeagle at 9:32 AM on April 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
I have a Garmin 235 (there's lots of models, and a vivosmart/vivoactive might be more for you) - it's always on, and has a dedicated button to turn on the back light. Default screen is the watch face, there's multiple watch faces available via ConnectIQ (garmin specific app/watch face "store" - most are free).
The screen is a transreflective screen. If you're used to the world of LCD this will look "cheap and unsaturated" depending upon the lighting. My watch can display 16 colours. 16!
In the times when I've been uninjured I've been able to get over a week of battery like, however in GPS mode I lose about 9% battery life per hour, and run 8-10 hrs per week. I typically charge 2x per week - for ideal battery life I only try to charge to 80% - I've had my device almost two years now and have noticed no reduction in battery life.
There is a significantly smaller market of apps for ConnectIQ versus most stores. However, I have stopwatch/timer app, excellent run recording, weather and HR display. I can't really think of anything more I'd like my watch to do.
My watch auto-uploads to garmin connect. Connect and strava are connected, so this automatically uploads to strava. I've sure runkeeper can also be setup as so.
posted by nobeagle at 9:32 AM on April 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I have a Garmin Fenix 3 and it's a great watch and a wonderful GPS/bike computer/run tracker. It gives me OK notifications. I can't see pics or emoji on it. Battery life is better than the Apple Watch. Heavy gps use runs it down.
posted by advicepig at 9:41 AM on April 13, 2018
posted by advicepig at 9:41 AM on April 13, 2018
If you wind up going with a FitBit, there's an app called PowerSync that lets you push FitBit data into HealthKit. I use this to push my FitBit steps/stairs/etc into the Health app so I can see my stuff into one place.
posted by msbutah at 12:36 PM on April 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by msbutah at 12:36 PM on April 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
Thirding a Garmin. I've had both a Garmin fenix and an apple watch and I prefer my fenix.
posted by frumiousb at 4:06 PM on April 13, 2018
posted by frumiousb at 4:06 PM on April 13, 2018
Fitbit is launching a smartwatch in a few days that seems like it hits most of your requirements. It’s called the Versa. The main difference between the regular version and the Special Edition is that the latter has an NFC chip so you can use it to pay for things.
posted by Autumnheart at 9:00 PM on April 13, 2018
posted by Autumnheart at 9:00 PM on April 13, 2018
I got an amazfit bit a few weeks ago, and i love it. it works great with notifications, and the battery life is amazing (2 to 3 weeks, based on the battery indicator) its really thin, and it really reminds me of the pebble, but the screen seems much bigger and more easily read. It doesn't the ability to load apps like the rest do, but after going through so many different smart color touch watches, this simple, basic watch does almost everything i want it to do. (i say almost, because recent smart watches seem to have blood pressure monitoring, and this doesnt)
posted by edman at 2:11 AM on April 14, 2018
posted by edman at 2:11 AM on April 14, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
That means that your best option to do everything you want is going to be an Apple Watch. Everything else is going to be:
1. kludgy
2. subject to future breakage, or
3. both.
That said, you want options! It's going to depend on your budget. I'd look at the Fitbit Versa, which isn't available yet, but will probably provide most of the functionality you want. You can try the other Fitbit products, but the Versa is probably the most polished out of all of them.
Android watches are probably a far second down the list. AndroidWear doesn't really play well with iOS. There's some functionality, but it's subject to breakage; for a hot minute, the latest version of AndroidWear didn't work at all with the latest version of iOS. It does now, I think, but that means you're going to be dependent on Google to fix those breakages, and they're not the...most reliable in doing that. Certainly, Apple has no interest in fixing those breakages.
I've used Fitbits, Android watches, Pebbles, you name it. PM if you have questions.
posted by arkhangel at 9:09 AM on April 13, 2018 [2 favorites]