I have an Amazfit smartwatch that gets charged by a simple USB cable with two pins that magnetically attaches to the back of the watch. When I was on vacation and forgot that cable I was able to make my own by cutting a USB cable and attaching the wires to the contacts of the watch with tape. That simplicity is hard to beat. And this watch is water resistant.
I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C
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Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C
#12It would be great if this review had a bit more pixels. Bit hard to tell how good the screen is
Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C
#13It's always good to remember that battery life in sports watches (aren't they smart?) can last a whole week, and some models even have complementary solar charging.
You can also use a "dumb" watch that has 10 years battery life.
Or that constantly charges with a solar face or mechanical motion.
Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C
#14As someone who loathes jewelry on myself and has no interest in the watch culture, nonetheless I have an interest in smart watches I can monitor things with. I'm turned off by big ugly blocks with childish straps.. is there anything remotely attractive?
Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C
#15As someone who loathes jewelry on myself and has no interest in the watch culture, nonetheless I have an interest in smart watches I can monitor things with. I'm turned off by big ugly blocks with childish straps.. is there anything remotely attractive?
Garmin is my typical recommendation for decent fitness watches with good battery life. The venue and vivoactive have bright high res screens with raise to wake or always on (with a big battery life hit). There are also things like the lily or the vivomove.
The straps are usually standard watch straps and easily changed.
Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C
#16As someone who loathes jewelry on myself and has no interest in the watch culture, nonetheless I have an interest in smart watches I can monitor things with. I'm turned off by big ugly blocks with childish straps.. is there anything remotely attractive?
Withings makes smartwatches that do not scream Apple Watch
Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C
#17Impressive for a 16GBP watch !
Xiaomi mi bands used to cost the same and were much better
Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C
#18It's always good to remember that battery life in sports watches (aren't they smart?) can last a whole week, and some models even have complementary solar charging.
Xiaomi mi band's 10 battery lasts a week with all the functions enabled at the most expensive setting
Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C
#19Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C
#20As someone who loathes jewelry on myself and has no interest in the watch culture, nonetheless I have an interest in smart watches I can monitor things with. I'm turned off by big ugly blocks with childish straps.. is there anything remotely attractive?
Look into hybrid smart watches. Withings are fairly good, but there are a handful of alternatives. They're watches that use mechanical hands like a normal watch, but also include smart components like health tracking and notifications and things.
They tend to be less powerful than other smart watches (in particular, you won't be able to download arbitrary apps to the watch or deeply configure it), and if you want a dedicated health tracker, you're probably better off with a minimalist Fitbit or something similar, but I really like them. They strike a nice balance between providing me with useful things, and still looking like a decent looking watch.
The main companies in this space are Withings and Garmin.