I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C • Hacker News Board

Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C

#21

Post by themafia » Sat, Aug 09, 2025, 4:58 AM UTC

mancerayder wrote: post #14

As 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?

Fossil?

Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C

#22

Post by jkkola » Sat, Aug 09, 2025, 4:58 AM UTC

ofrzeta wrote: post #11

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 have one too and I swear by it, but let's face it - it's not £16. But thanks for the tip about the cable!

Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C

#23

Post by makeitdouble » Sat, Aug 09, 2025, 5:22 AM UTC

mancerayder wrote: post #14

As 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?

This might sound like an odd approach, but buying a small and cheap band (Xiaomi or Amazfit, even last or yesteryear's model) and try it for a while can be great.

You'll get decent tracking and alert management if that's what you're into. I won't be top notch but 95% there, and it will last for a week or two on a single charge instead of dying everyday .

Then after a week or two you'll know if you really cared about these numbers, how it helps you or not, and how you feel about the form factor.

Mine if off in a drawer most of the time and I get it out once every few weeks when hiking, but there is no sunk cost for something this cheap, and now I know I wouldn't have kept wearing something more advanced either.

Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C

#24

Post by albatrosstrophy » Sat, Aug 09, 2025, 5:39 AM UTC

ofrzeta wrote: post #11

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.

The battery is the single reason why I got the Amazfit. I use as a dumb health tracker and occasional GPS running. It easily lasts 4 weeks on a single charge. That's one less proprietary charging cable to bring on a trip.

Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C

#25

Post by incone123 » Sat, Aug 09, 2025, 5:40 AM UTC

I have a Garmin with a monochrome LCD face. Ok, it can't compete on price but battery life is a couple of weeks (and can top up with solar) so the proprietary cable is not a big problem.

Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C

#26

Post by edent » Sat, Aug 09, 2025, 5:43 AM UTC

mancerayder wrote: post #14

As 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?

The straps on this one are replaceable if you'd rather have one made cloth or metal etc.

But, yeah, no denying it is a chunky monkey.

Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C

#27

Post by croes » Sat, Aug 09, 2025, 5:58 AM UTC

_giorgio_ wrote: post #17

aneutron wrote: post #4

Impressive for a 16GBP watch !

Xiaomi mi bands used to cost the same and were much better

But no USB-C

Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C

#28

Post by __rito__ » Sat, Aug 09, 2025, 5:58 AM UTC

ofrzeta wrote: post #11

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 like Amazfit because it can fully function without sending any data whatsoever to a server. I can export data from the app very easily.

Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C

#29

Post by 1123581321 » Sat, Aug 09, 2025, 6:03 AM UTC

_giorgio_ wrote: post #19

1123581321 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or that constantly charges with a solar face or mechanical motion.

You can get a Rolex

In my case it’s just a Citizen chronograph from eBay for $100.

Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C

#30

Post by ofrzeta » Sat, Aug 09, 2025, 6:10 AM UTC

jkkola wrote: post #22

ofrzeta wrote: post #11

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 have one too and I swear by it, but let's face it - it's not £16. But thanks for the tip about the cable!

It's not £16 but I got mine (GTS 2 mini) when there was some kind of sale in a huge online warehouse for around 50 Euros. Since then I tried in vain to find it again for that price, until recently someone sold a bunch of new ones on eBay for around 45 Euros. So now I got my spare one in a drawer :) The £16 got no GPS, too.