A Smartwatch that isn't too smart

October 29, 2022 10:57 AM

My fitbit Inspire is in the process of dying, and I’m thinking of replacing it with something that looks nicer. I am leaning towards a hybrid watch – something that looks like a real wristwatch, but has some of the functionality of my old fitbit. I’m also willing to consider another smart watch if it fit my criteria. Most important functions: looks nice, an analogue clock, step tracking and vibrating notifications. I’m flexible on price, say up to $300 CAD if it is really nice. Complication: tiny wrists, so something small is best. Available in Canada Snowflakes below the fold:

Must haves:
• A clean, simple look with a metal or leather band available.
• An analogue clock face, I dislike digital.
• Step tracking
• Notifications from my phone! Vibrating! This is really the thing I love most, that my watch buzzes when I have a phone call, since my phone is normally on mute in a purse. Note: it doesn’t need to display the notification, just tell me to pull out my phone, though I guess display is nice.

Nice to haves:
• I like how fitbit tries to make me walk every hour. I find the hourly prompts get me up from my desk and walking around.
• The date on the display.
• An “always on” display, so hybrid with a real watch, or a screen with someway of always showing an analogue clock.
• Data can go directly to Apple Health, so I don’t need to use a 3rd party app.
• A reasonable data policy, that in an ideal world didn’t sell my data. I have a fitbit now, so I’m willing to settle.
• A small screen (35 mm would be nice, but I can probably handle up to 40mm), in a classic light colour, like white, or silver.
• Ability to get a real watch strap, either gold/ silver metal, or a classic leather band.
• A long lasting battery, and an easy to use charger.

Indifferent / prefer not to have:
• Any kind of heart rate monitor, or ECG
• Sleep monitor
• A touch screen that looks cool or cycles through statistics
• Calorie counts, my weight, glasses of water, my exercise routine, ect.
• Ability to answer phone calls, write texts, use spotify, ect.
• GPS
• A finicky charger like my fitbit that needs at least 6 tries on the magnet to connect.

posted by Valancy Rachel to Technology (15 answers total)

The Garmin Lily or Vivomove come to mind
posted by blue suede stockings at 11:02 AM on October 29, 2022

Best answer: I have no personal experience with them, but the Withings watches have actual, physical hands with a small inset digital display and vibrating alerts; the more expensive models seem to check all your must-haves and some of your nice-to-haves, but may also include some of your prefer-not-to-haves.
posted by adamrice at 11:10 AM on October 29, 2022 [2 favorites]

I don't know about smart watches, but I have tiny wrists. It took a long time for me to realize this because I wear normal size everything else, but the answer to tiny wrists is children's watches!
posted by aniola at 11:33 AM on October 29, 2022

I would check and see if anyone near you is selling a used Apple Watch. You don’t need one of the newer ones, but any of them will do all of the things on your list.
posted by Bottlecap at 12:55 PM on October 29, 2022 [1 favorite]

I have a Garmin vivomove Style, which I purchased after trying a Samsung watch and an Apple watch. I've had various Fitbits in the past. I really like the Garmin, mostly because it just looks like a watch, with actual watch hands. I think most smart watches are pretty ugly. My primary desired features: step/floor tracking, time, date and weather, and a buzz on my wrist when my phone gets a notification. It does all this well. I will say, it's not the most intuitive interface, but since I'm not asking it to do much for me, I don't find that I care. I hated that it was nearly impossible to get a full day charge out of the Apple watch for my (relatively light) usage, but the Garmin I need to plug in once a week or so. The plug is proprietary, but it also just works. It does have various health and sleep tracking features, that I actually find quite nice, but they can almost certainly be turned off.
posted by another zebra at 1:32 PM on October 29, 2022 [2 favorites]

Not meant to be a pedantic question but to help narrow answers:

Do you want actual, physical hands or could you accept an electronic display that shows "hands" instead of digits?
posted by mph at 1:40 PM on October 29, 2022

I have an older Apple watch series 5 - I love the "utility" face which is an analog watch face including a second hand. I have the date written out in words along the bottom curve "Saturday, October 29", my next calendar appt in top left corner (which takes me the day's calendar when I touch it) and the battery life in the top right. My watch still shows the time in lower light and no second hand when the watch is "asleep", it brightens up when I bring the watch up to look at it but it is still visible even if I don't. Great connection Apple health features. Battery lasts all day but not all night as well if you want to do sleep tracking you have to find 30-60 minutes to charge it.

I have a milanese band - metal looking but very soft with a magnetic clasp. My wrists are on the small size but there is room to make it even smaller with no problem.
posted by metahawk at 2:05 PM on October 29, 2022 [2 favorites]

I have a fitbit luxe that I really like, paired with a silver toned link watchband that looks more like an elegant bracelet. The band has removable links so it fits really well on my (also small) wrist. It does have more features than the inspire, but you can personalize which ones you can access by swiping. It has good notifications, lots of alarms, and an easy-to-set countdown timer (which I suppose is there for timing exercise, but really I mostly use it to time the perfect soft boiled egg) The charger is magnetic, but snaps easily onto the whole back face to the device, no little prongs to align.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 2:32 PM on October 29, 2022

Best answer: I really love my Withings watch. Gets about 30 days to a charge, analog watch face, looks really good, does step and sleep tracking. It has vibrating notifications and you can select which apps notify (I only have my calendar notify, 5 minutes before a meeting, which is super helpful). I use the included silicone band but there are others available for purchase. Absolutely love the watch and would highly recommend buying one.
posted by kdar at 2:52 PM on October 29, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I have a Withings watch currently collecting dust. I liked it when I wore it, but I decided that a smart-ish watch wasn't for me. I agree that there's probably one in their range that meets what you're looking for. This is the one I have; I haven't done a deep dive into whether it meets all of you needs and I'm not sure if I can find the charger but if it you're interested you're welcome to it, just memail me.
posted by true at 3:30 PM on October 29, 2022

Best answer: I also have a Withings, have been happy with it, and suspect you might like one that's a model or two less track-all-the-things than mine.
posted by Stacey at 4:25 PM on October 29, 2022

Garmin Vivoactive 3 is what I got after having three (!) FitBits die on me. I can only speak for myself, but I find that you can make it as complex or simple as you like in setting it up. I'm in Ontario and I bought mine at my local Running Room. My Garmin is still going strong five+ years later. I cannot say that for my FitBits.
posted by Kitteh at 4:59 PM on October 29, 2022 [1 favorite]

Back when I started my weight loss journey, I set a reward goal for myself: At 20lbs lost, I'd get a fitbit or a smartwatch to help better track my exercise. At the time, the price difference between the fitbit I was looking at and the Apple Watch was very small. I was leaning toward the fitbit, thinking the Apple Watch was a gimmick and who is really going to use it and so on. Eventually, I thought eh, the price gap is so small, what the heck let's see what it's like, and I got an Apple Watch G4.

As ludicrous as I once thought the idea of a smartwatch was, to an even greater degree I now can't imagine not having one. I can customize and choose from a number of faces (including lots of nice analog options), it tracks my steps and my walking/hiking mileage very accurately, it logs my heart rate, the gentle "You can still do it!" reminders and "7-workout week, go you!" notifications actually do work to get my ass out of the chair and outside for a Stupid Daily Walk For My Stupid Health.

I like getting text and call notifications on my wrist that I can dismiss, ignore, or act on from the watch or from my phone. My alarm wakes me gently and silently every morning, and the same vibration alerts for turn-by-turn driving directions are very nice. (When using driving directions on the phone, the watch will throb your wrist to notify you of an upcoming turn or action.) Quick weather and air quality checks, an overview of what's on my calendar for the day, it's all right there. You can view and reply to texts on the watch itself, and while there is an option to reply by writing letters on the screen with your finger, it's a little tedious, and I usually just opt for the one-tap "thumbs up" or whatever to acknowledge that I've seen the text.

I (45, M) have smallish wrists, 6.5" circ, and the smaller (38mm for my Apple Watch G4) watch size looks and feels appropriately sized on my arm.
posted by xedrik at 7:57 AM on October 30, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Another vote for Withings. I’ve had this model for 2-ish years and it ticks all your “must haves” and most of your “nice to haves.” I get lots of compliments and love the look of it.
posted by Empidonax at 9:13 AM on October 30, 2022

Response by poster: Thanks everyone! The withings watch looks exactly right, and I can handle the heart rate if needed. I’ve picked out my preferred colour/ band options, and passed it on to my partner and kids as a Chanukah gift. Thanks all!
posted by Valancy Rachel at 5:38 PM on November 2, 2022