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Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch

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Re: Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch

#141

Post by aquir »

sfRattan wrote: post #17

Maybe I'm a curmudgeon, but I have subzero interest in smartwatches, even hackable or open source models. I want my watch to tell me the time, and I want it to do so 10, 20, and 30 years from now without having to fiddle with software. I love Linux. I cut my teeth on it in high school after one too many viruses on Windows XP made me bite the bullet and try debian. I love my Raspberry Pi. It went from retro-gaming con…

The only thing that I would miss from a "non-smart" watch is the vibration alarm. If someone can show me a proper watch with silent vibration alarm I would buy it

Re: Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch

#142

Post by MrsPeaches »

abetusk wrote: post #64

Wow, this article doesn't do it justice. Watchy is an open source hardware device that uses an e-ink display and has an ESP32 module builtin [0]. SQFMI, the creator of watchy, has a twitter account [1] which has some very nice screenshots [2] [3]. Even the CrowdSupply website has better pics of the device [4]. This is one of the few watches I've been sorely tempted to buy. [0] https://github.com/sqfmi/Watchy [1] http…

Can anyone find any specs on how long the battery lasts?

The ESP32 is a pretty serious power hog...

Re: Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch

#143

Post by dandelany »

ajsnigrutin wrote: post #127
dandelany wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is also a new Watchy community on Discord here: https://discord.gg/uKcfZZa2 For those considering purchasing - as a Watchy owner - if you're looking for a polished smartwatch product that you can put on your wrist and not think about how it works - this isn't that product. It's still rough around the edges, uploading new watchfaces takes some work, phone notifications aren't implemented yet, no case, etc. But i…

Except for e-ink, why should I buy one, instead of this "polished" one: http://www.lilygo.cn/prod_view.aspx?TypeId=50053&Id=1290&FId... (i need a new gadget to play with, a watch seems a 'fun' choice, not affiliated with anyone, I just order a bunch of crap from aliexpress)

The link isn't loading for me, but I'm assuming that's a TTGO. Also a cool device & a good choice too, but as others mentioned Watchy has placed a high priority on docs, community, and open source - TTGO is more like "here's some hardware good luck". Plus, the e-ink screen just speaks to me :)

Re: Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch

#144

Post by dandelany »

MrsPeaches wrote: post #142
abetusk wrote: post #64

Wow, this article doesn't do it justice. Watchy is an open source hardware device that uses an e-ink display and has an ESP32 module builtin [0]. SQFMI, the creator of watchy, has a twitter account [1] which has some very nice screenshots [2] [3]. Even the CrowdSupply website has better pics of the device [4]. This is one of the few watches I've been sorely tempted to buy. [0] https://github.com/sqfmi/Watchy [1] http…

Can anyone find any specs on how long the battery lasts? The ESP32 is a pretty serious power hog...

ESP's only a power hog when it's using the WiFi... In deep sleep it can go as low as 10 uA! .15mA gets you the low-power processor for doing sensor interrupts.

In reality Watchy currently draws around 1mA while sleeping and 55 hours of battery for me, not using WiFi (not really a priority for me).. I think that can be improved with firmware updates, seems like there is potentially some low-hanging fruit. It's all open source firmware, so you can eg. program it to deep sleep while you deep sleep to save battery :)

Re: Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch

#145

Post by dandelany »

shultays wrote: post #135
abetusk wrote: post #64

Wow, this article doesn't do it justice. Watchy is an open source hardware device that uses an e-ink display and has an ESP32 module builtin [0]. SQFMI, the creator of watchy, has a twitter account [1] which has some very nice screenshots [2] [3]. Even the CrowdSupply website has better pics of the device [4]. This is one of the few watches I've been sorely tempted to buy. [0] https://github.com/sqfmi/Watchy [1] http…

Are there any videos? [2] is a video but only 5 seconds long and demonstrates 1 small change on screen. I was wondering if e-ink screen suffers the same problems other e ink screens such as ebook readers

The screen supports incremental updates which are pretty fast, so you don't get the full flash refresh every minute. But yeah, it's not "video" fast, it's still the same old e-ink technology with all its pros and cons - you still have to do full screen updates sometimes.

Re: Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch

#146

Post by stavros »

ajsnigrutin wrote: post #127
dandelany wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is also a new Watchy community on Discord here: https://discord.gg/uKcfZZa2 For those considering purchasing - as a Watchy owner - if you're looking for a polished smartwatch product that you can put on your wrist and not think about how it works - this isn't that product. It's still rough around the edges, uploading new watchfaces takes some work, phone notifications aren't implemented yet, no case, etc. But i…

Except for e-ink, why should I buy one, instead of this "polished" one: http://www.lilygo.cn/prod_view.aspx?TypeId=50053&Id=1290&FId... (i need a new gadget to play with, a watch seems a 'fun' choice, not affiliated with anyone, I just order a bunch of crap from aliexpress)

This isn't polished either, I have one and it registers phantom touches all the time, keeps vibrating, actual touches don't register, etc etc. It's not really usable, I left it in a drawer ten minutes after opening it.

Re: Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch

#147

Post by flal_ »

WhiteListed wrote: post #132
flal_ wrote: post #121

Does anybody knows about something similar ( open hardware/source ) in the fitness watch space ? with a HR sensor + GPS ? I really like my Garmin, but no so found of sending them all this health related data...

I was looking into this but I have not found a satisfying solution. I ended up buying a Garmin Venu SQ with the following plan: - Use the Garmin Connect app without giving it permission to upload data. This makes the app basically useless expect for managing some settings and creating custom workouts on the device. - Use workoutizer (a pip package) to process my activity data. Workoutizer should be able to import the…

Oh, I didn't know about workoutizer, it seems like it could work for me. Thanks !

Re: Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch

#148

Post by mewse »

King-Aaron wrote: post #81
sfRattan wrote: post #17

Maybe I'm a curmudgeon, but I have subzero interest in smartwatches, even hackable or open source models. I want my watch to tell me the time, and I want it to do so 10, 20, and 30 years from now without having to fiddle with software. I love Linux. I cut my teeth on it in high school after one too many viruses on Windows XP made me bite the bullet and try debian. I love my Raspberry Pi. It went from retro-gaming con…

I was dabbling in smart watches for quite some time - jumping between Huawei and Samsung watches mainly. They are very cool, but after a while I switched back to my vintage seiko automatics and Oris mechanicals for two main reasons: 1. The current crop of smart watches felt bulky. I know the newer apple watches are quite slim but they don't suit my tech ecosystem, but the android/etc offerings just feel 'big'. I know…

> I know the newer apple watches are quite slim

They’re really not. I’ve owned three different Apple Watches (including the current model), and even the most recent models are heaps thicker than even my old Citizen Eco-Drive watch, which already seemed absurdly massive on my wrist when I bought it.

I’m still using Apple’s smart watches for just one reason:

As thick as they still are relative to regular watches, they’re heaps smaller than phones. And if all you want to do is basic phone functionality (check the weather, make/receive calls and text messages, listen to music, set timers, etc), you can do all of that from a cellular-enabled watch+wireless earbuds, without carrying the bulk of a phone around with you at all.

For those of us who feel like phones are getting too large to reasonably carry around all the time, having all the critical functionality in something that just sits on your wrist until you need it is kind of amazing. If it wasn’t necessary to have an up-to-date phone in order to configure the watch, I’m not certain I’d still own a phone at all.

Re: Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch

#149

Post by ourcat »

jmiskovic wrote: post #129
ourcat wrote: post #28

I have a couple of the £30 LilyGo 'TTGO T-Watch 2020' ESP32 based 'watches'. Lots of fun to tinker with and has a colour TFT touchscreen which introduced me to the very impressive lvgl library to create UI. But the battery life is not great (though that teaches you how to write and use deep sleep modes). An e-ink display would naturally help with the battery life, but the screen refresh times can be an issue for some…

I also got one of those, unfortunately the V1 which doesn't have the microphone. It has a decent feel to it, plenty of features packed into small form and decent amount of open source support. Hardware wise, display and touch sensor is quite good and I was surprised that I was able to type with 90% accuracy on a tiny qwerty keyboard. The tiny speaker is very low quality and not really usable for speech. There's also…

> It works well as an isolated handheld ESP32 development platform.

Exactly this. It's great for learning.

I feel that once I get my head around things like lvgl and TFT touchscreens on this 'platform', then I should be able to do any type of (touch)screen UI. eg: 3D printers and other devices.

Re: Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch

#150

Post by mavhc »

devnonymous wrote: post #130
mavhc wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

e-ink is a company, it's a Active Matrix Electrophoretic Displays (AMEPD).

Are there any other companies besides E-ink Corp that sell ^AMEPD^?

Yes, the people who make the Watchy display seem to, https://www.good-display.com/product/6/
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