Smartwatches: Too clever by half?

First and most obvious on the ‘pros’ list goes: the mobility. As if your smartphone wasn’t ‘mobile’ enough, just like the wires now they have you losing the whole device too! Smartwatches let you not just check the time but also your email and social media notifications all on one small circle display right on your hands.

With the rise of bike rides in the city, even bluetooth earphones have been left behind with the arrival of smartwatches. The watch itself vibrates to let you know of an incoming call so you no longer have to miss hearing a ringtone or miss the vibration in any hustle or bustle, and can decide to receive and talk right then and there.

If you are a person who travels a lot, especially in a two wheeler where smartphone mounts are not reliable, a smartwatch can show you the map right at your convenience.

Smartwatches analyze your sleep data, and keep a count of your steps every day, making it an interesting method of tracking your health and remaining fit.

Unlike a normal watch, you can change the dial or watch face every day to avoid redundancy and stay stylish.

However, if you enjoy long conversations with your friends, or make long business relevant calls, smartwatch cannot serve you well with that low volume.

You can only check your social media notifications or fitness statistics for so long, with a battery that does not last as long as a smartphone would. This remains the biggest on the ‘cons’ list for smartwatches. Smartwatches typically can be used 1-2 days after a full charge and some watches do not even last for a day.

Even though smartwatches are able to provide you tonnes of data regarding your exercise and fitness, many smartwatch tests shows that the data is not 100% accurate and not even 80% sometimes. The steps calculator and heart rate sensors are not known for accuracy in a smartwatch. Hopefully the brands are working on improving the sensor feedback and analyzing the data. And if fitness tracking is your primary concern, there are definitely more suitable options for that.

They say you can watch movies and listen to music on a smartwatch, but the small display might make that a little difficult for you.

Other factors such as getting outdated quickly, being expensive, and bands getting damaged through constant water interaction, does not make the smartwatch a must-have.

Having read all that, you can finally ask yourself, are you being smart with your smartwatch?