Smartwatches - which one are you using (or plan to get)?

[jco23]

curious to see how many of the Samsung Galaxy S8 community have smartwatches, and which ones they are using?
I've had the Asus Zenwatch 3 since before I got the S8 back in November.

this watch is very stylish and serves as a great time piece.

everything seems to run fairly well. I get notifications, able to respond with my voice, etc. but my main concern is lag. when I disable the "OK Google" detection from the watch, the lag is almost gone. thus, in order to enter a command, I need to press a button on the watch to launch google assistant. and each time, on the first pass, I get an error that google was unreachable. but when I try a second time, it works fine. so I'm not sure if this is due to the handshake between the phone and the watch or just the watch. also, when going on a run/walk/bike ride, I would like to start the activity through the watch. however, I cannot seem to get Map My Run to work properly. I'm fine using Google Fit, but it does not call out the milestones to my bluetooth headphones - only when I start the activity through the phone. to me, this makes have the smartwatch almost pointless if I have to initiate the activity through the phone.

I know that Samsung has their own line of smartwatches, but from what I read, they do not use Google, they use Tizen. I also read that the next release of their watch (Galaxy watch, I think) will have Bixby install as it's assistant. those two factors alone will keep me away from getting a samsung smartwatch.

however, I am eyeing the Ticwatch Pro, but just want to be sure that watch is true upgrade over mine.

I used to have the original moto 360 (paired with my Motorola Droid Turbo), and that was a great combination except that the heart rate monitor was spotty at best (the Asus Zenwatch 3, FWIW, does NOT have the heart rate monitor, also a downer).

curious to see anyone else's experience....

 

[StardustGeass]

If you're not in the rush, I recommend you to just wait for Samsung / Google next upgrade on smartwatch, because it is very near already..

Personally, I'm using Samsung gear S2 and loved it a lot for quite long... The rotating bezel is the best navigation out there imo... Sadly, Gear S3 and Gear Watch is a bit overpriced for me, so I'm still using the outdated Gear S2 for quite some time.

 

[jco23]

If you're not in the rush, I recommend you to just wait for Samsung / Google next upgrade on smartwatch, because it is very near already..

Personally, I'm using Samsung gear S2 and loved it a lot for quite long... The rotating bezel is the best navigation out there imo... Sadly, Gear S3 and Gear Watch is a bit overpriced for me, so I'm still using the outdated Gear S2 for quite some time.

I keep reading reviews of how everyone loves the rotating bezels. I'm sure I would like it, but i'm just fine with flicking my wrist to view the notifications or using my voice.

I wound up selling my Asus Zenwatch 3 and bought the TicWatch Pro. I had some difficulty setting it up at first - meaning that it took more than an hour to complete the process. but once it was done, seems to be working quite well so far.

the tough part is that in order to NFC to make payments via google pay (I think that the gear watches force you to use Samsung Pay instead?), is that you need to have a screenlock password/pin/pattern - and this is extremely inconvenient for normal use. But i believe that is more of a feature of Android Wear rather than the watch itself. if anything, I would prefer the to enter the password/pin/pattern only when I attempt to use google pay.

my only reason for waiting until the pixel watch would be to see it offered a watch with more RAM. however, this TicWatch Pro is very responsive and I'm able to leave the "ok Google" enabled - very helpful when driving.

 

[rhricik447]

I keep reading reviews of how everyone loves the rotating bezels. I'm sure I would like it, but i'm just fine with flicking my wrist to view the notifications or using my voice.

I wound up selling my Asus Zenwatch 3 and bought the TicWatch Pro. I had some difficulty setting it up at first - meaning that it took more than an hour to complete the process. but once it was done, seems to be working quite well so far.

the tough part is that in order to NFC to make payments via google pay (I think that the gear watches force you to use Samsung Pay instead?), is that you need to have a screenlock password/pin/pattern - and this is extremely inconvenient for normal use. But i believe that is more of a feature of Android Wear rather than the watch itself. if anything, I would prefer the to enter the password/pin/pattern only when I attempt to use google pay.

my only reason for waiting until the pixel watch would be to see it offered a watch with more RAM. however, this TicWatch Pro is very responsive and I'm able to leave the "ok Google" enabled - very helpful when driving.

I also ended up with a Ticwatch E model - didn't want to go all in with an expensive, high end watch until I was sure I liked the idea. Bought this one during Amazon Prime Days and have been really happy with it. Syncs to the S8, messaging, notification, Fit, Assistant, Maps, etc., all just work the way you think it should. You're right, it took about an hour before everything got set up and updated correctly. I even run Google Keep on it and check off my grocery list with the phone still in my pocket - no more burying the phone in the cart, then digging to find it!

 

[StardustGeass]

Samsung Galaxy Watch is up, but I don't see any difference with the Gear S3?
Everything just looks the same.

The size.
The OS.
The feature.

I don't even feel Gear S3 is worth the price, and here comes a newer, more expensive one.

Yes, I totally love android smartwatch. I own Gear S2 for quite some time, and I really enjoyed it. But, smartwatch price just feels so ridiculous.

 

[reggiexp]

i use my moto 360.
i got a tic watch S but sending that back it was the white one. + android wear 2 is stupid... u can only voice talk in one language... but im dutch and live in france so i need 2 language... but its only french or english.. i tried looked on internet it seems normal android wear 2 is stupid, otherwise its great to talk and reply to people but i can do that same on my moto 360 with android wear 1. with just a extra app on my phone i can get keyboard and all on watch.. and i can speak 3 language and its know which it talk and it works... but for real im really disapointed by android wear 2. . its great but seems stupid to not have multi language....
so yeah i guess i will never change my moto 360...

 

[miloshp]

Anyone have experience with Huawei watch 2 4G?

 

[jco23]

Anyone have experience with Huawei watch 2 4G?

I just picked up the Huawei Watch 2 Classic from Best Buy (also available on Amazon). I think it is JUST the bluetooth version, as I am not interested in getting the cellular version..

I compared it to the Ticwatch Pro, and the Huawei has a much better feel and classiness to it. The battery life has been great - I even have everything enabled (always on-display, "ok google detection", wrist gestures, etc.). At the end of the day (6:30am-10pm), I'm still at 50%+. I also take it off at night, and it charges very quickly. So I really do not need more than 2days of battery life. The watch also has an eco mode, where (just like the Ticwatch Pro), it will disable Wear OS, and you'll just get the time while it tracks your steps.

I'll submit my video and full specs review a bit later...

hope this helps.

 

[jco23]

Introduction:
I am comparing two smartwatches that use Android Wear 2.0. I have read where many people prefer the Samsung watches with their Tizen OS and rotating bezel, thus I felt that comparing a AW OS smartwatch to a different OS would not be fair. From my experience, Samsung tends to handcuff their customers (much like Apple), so many folks are already turned away from using any additional Samsung products. my previous devices were the original Moto 360 (paired with a Motorola Droid Trubo) and Asus Zenwatch 3. The Moto 360 had a heartrate feature, but was only available on demand, and took over a minute to find my heart rate. The Asus Zenwatch 3 is very classy, but lacked the heartrate monitor, and always seemed slow to respond. Neither of these watches had GPS, NFC, or IP68 rating. The Moto 360 capped out at AW 1.5 (which some still say is better than 2.0), while the Asus Zenwatch 3 started with 1.5 and moved quickly to 2.0. I had the Moto 360 for nearly three years (11/2014-8/2017) and the Asus Zenwatch 3 for less than one year (8/2017-7/2018). Battery life on both barely made it a full 24 hours. Both felt very comfortable and looked classy.

Tiwatch Pro:
I tested the Ticwatch Pro for about two weeks. Pairing it to my phone took well over an hour. There were many times when I had to disconnect/reset the watch, as I thought that the phone/watch was stuck. But really, it just took significantly longer than my other watches. The watch worked fine from the get go, however, setting up my credit card for NFC payments took some time as well (including disconnecting/resetting, as your watch must have a PIN/password/pattern in order to use this feature). Did not realize until later that each time I disabled the lock screen, I lost NFC, so I had to re-enable the lock screen and then set up my credit card all over again. But I think that is more of a feature of AW than the watch. Supposedly, the watch knows when it is on your wrist, so when you take it off/on, you'll have to get through the lock screen each time. The watch was not very consistent with this, so there were a few times when I had to enter the info even though the watch had been on my wrist for a while. Also, when I docked/charged the watch, I had to bypass the lock screen just to get to the nightstand mode. In terms of feel, the Ticwatch felt like I was wearing a smartphone on my wrist, and not a watch. This felt awkward to the point where I could not wait to take it off. The idea for the band is great - leather on the outside and a breathable silicon on the inside. However, the length was a little odd and felt too stiff. The battery life was acceptable, as I always take it off when I sleep, so I really only require 1-day+. The Ticwatch's best feature is what I dislike most - the digital display. In my opinion, this is not classy - not the reason to spend $250. Thus, I had to enable the always on display - which was fine, but for the stock watchfaces, I did not like having to read, "Ticwatch", and they were not that nice. I installed Watchmaker and used a custom watchface, which was much nicer, but with the always on display, my wrist was always illuminating (and not fading like the stock faces). However, the Ticwatch functions as it should, and is a nice watch. Just that it does not feel right to me.

Huawei Watch 2 Classic:
I tested the Huawei Watch 2 Classic for one week. Much like the Ticwatch, it took well over an hour to pair to my phone. The functionality is essentially the same as the Ticwatch with these few exceptions: the screen lock had to be entered far less. Only had to bypass the lockscreen when putting the watch on my wrist, and NOT when I docked/charged the watch for nightstand mode. Since I had the Ticwatch previously, the Huawei had a noticeably smaller screen size. Not a big deal, but the featured watchface has a circle that shows the date, and this circle is not legible, this making it useless. In terms of feel, the Huawei felt like very comfortable. Similiar to the Ticwatch, the Huawei has a dual band with leather on the outside and breathable silicon on the inside. However, this band feels more genuine and softer than the Ticwatch band. Also, the two tone (brown leather) looks better than the black band only offered by Ticwatch (Huawei also offers a black band). Battery life is better than expected, as I could get 2-days easily with limited use, and could probably get even longer if enabled "Smart Power saving" or "watch mode" via the Battery setting. Response is realatively quick, even with "Ok Google" detection enabled.

Conclusion:
Both watches work very well as advertised, and are great for both casual users and athletes. I go running/walking/biking at least twice a week, and both watches perform well with no hiccups. Battery life is a non-issue to me due the Huawei having it's own essential mode. The key difference is that the Huawei has more RAM (thus, performance is slightly better), and the Huawei looks/feels classier and far more comfortable. The Ticwatch has a slight edge for a larger screen size and being newer. However, given that the Huawei is now on clearance (could be a bad sign), the Ticwatch is more expensive. Thus, due to these factors, I went with the Huawei Watch 2 Classic.

 

[jco23]

by the way, the Huawei Watch 2 Classic on clearance at Best Buy for $180 ($125 open box) - not a bad deal for what I think is one of the best AW smartwatches available right now. Consider that the Pixel and next generation smartwatches will be $300+ (albeit they'll have an updated processor and probably more RAM). The Huawei Watch 2 is already in line to get Android P to sync up with our phones (whenever the Samsung Galaxy S8 gets pie).

 

[TheMadScientist]

I got 2 gear S2s and they are absolutely wonderful I bought a second one as I am a mechanic and figured I would tear it up fast...Nope take most of the abuse and other than a beat up band which i have 3 others still 6 months later the watch has a couple scratches and thats it

 

[dh350nwo]

I've got 3 watches. Diesel On Full Guard, Michael Kors Grayson, and Nixon Mission. The first 2 are essentially the same thing just different styling. The Nixon has the same processor and is more rugged for out doorsey use. All three lack NFC and heart rate monitoring. So unless you need to pay for your Starbucks after your power walk they are not for you.

Nixon has very basic functionality, it will accept voice imput, but will not talk back (no speaker). The Grayson and Full Guard has a speaker and is a real '**** Tracy' watch. All of these are considered fashion watches and have built in watch faces that are extensive. Add an app like!e Watchmaker and you can expand the looks. Nixon is pretty fixed when it comes to bands, while the other will easily take any 24mm band and the stock bands are quick release.

Working with my S8+ has been easy. Notifications are easy to read and interface with. Assistant works well. Battery life needs improvement, and the next generation should address this. But for now I'm pleased with these choices. All are in my daily rotation based on my mood or style preference for any given day.

 

[FurFur_]

I've got a LG G Watch R and I'm happy with it after all these years. The battery sadly doesn't lasts that much anymore but it's perfect for me.

With Bluetooth : ~2-3 days
With Wi-Fi : ~1-1/2 day.
Airplane Mode : ~ 4-5 days.

It's rooted, all the bloat removed and TWRP on it. Android Wear 2 installed. Cheap too nowadays

 

[jco23]

I got 2 gear S2s and they are absolutely wonderful I bought a second one as I am a mechanic and figured I would tear it up fast...Nope take most of the abuse and other than a beat up band which i have 3 others still 6 months later the watch has a couple scratches and thats it

I got those for my kids (used on e-bay), so far, so good. lone downside is that I had to a samsung phone for best results. I feel that samsung is trying to be like apple with all of their propriety crapps.

 

[TheMadScientist]

I got those for my kids (used on e-bay), so far, so good. lone downside is that I had to a samsung phone for best results. I feel that samsung is trying to be like apple with all of their propriety crapps.

I found a modded gear app for any phone and any ram size no 1.5 gb ram limit Its posted in the gear s2 thread
I used mine on a 30$ ZTE straight talk and my lgs

 

[jco23]

I found a modded gear app for any phone and any ram size no 1.5 gb ram limit Its posted in the gear s2 thread
I used mine on a 30$ ZTE straight talk and my lgs

yeah, I saw those apps. somewhat unreliable in my experience. but since I won't be using the phone or watches, I needed something that would require zero maintenance (or as close to zero as possible).

if it was just for me, then I probably would have gone the same route. however, I did use the windows executable that copies MP3 files from the computer to the watch via WiFi - that was pretty nifty.

 

[georgeiulian89]

I'm using a Fitbit Versa and it works flawless with my S8+ (before I had a Moto G4 and it worked terrible tbh).

 

[dancook963]

I'm looking at the new Galaxy Watch but A. It's too expensive, B. It doesn't have MST like the Gear S3. So that's a deal breaker for me.

 

[razr1911]

I have tag heuer connected modular 45 and seriously it's great to use both together with 1.5 day battery.

 

[dpbarik]

I am using Zenwatch 3. Its more than 1 yr now and running fine.