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After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch

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Re: After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch

#71

Post by dogman1050 »

kingnothing wrote: post #13

After wearing an analog watch for two years, I'll never buy another smart watch. I do not need to be so connected to my phone that my wrist vibrates when someone texts me. The little reminders to stand up are ignored. The guilt at the end of a day when I didn't get enough steps in is gone. And I have a newfound appreciation for the pure craftsmanship that goes into making this tiny analog device on my wrist that is p…

I'm with you. I get great joy knowing that the machine on my wrist started out as rocks (ore) and was refined and fashioned into something that keeps time with very little energy input. Just keep them away from some modern devices, like an Air Pods case, which will magnetize a watch making run poorly unless demagnetized!

Re: After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch

#72

Post by stronglikedan »

kingnothing wrote: post #13

After wearing an analog watch for two years, I'll never buy another smart watch. I do not need to be so connected to my phone that my wrist vibrates when someone texts me. The little reminders to stand up are ignored. The guilt at the end of a day when I didn't get enough steps in is gone. And I have a newfound appreciation for the pure craftsmanship that goes into making this tiny analog device on my wrist that is p…

I couldn't imagine wasting so much time having to take my phone out of my pocket to see my important notifications (the unimportant ones don't go to my watch).

Re: After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch

#73

Post by jsbisviewtiful »

kingnothing wrote: post #13

After wearing an analog watch for two years, I'll never buy another smart watch. I do not need to be so connected to my phone that my wrist vibrates when someone texts me. The little reminders to stand up are ignored. The guilt at the end of a day when I didn't get enough steps in is gone. And I have a newfound appreciation for the pure craftsmanship that goes into making this tiny analog device on my wrist that is p…

After 3 attempts at an Apple Watch over the years, I finally had the experience that pushed me over the edge and I sold my Apple Watch 10 for a Coros APEX 4 - a device that has real battery life and a quality build, so no more worrying about my activity tracker dying during a half marathon, no more charging a device 2-3 times during an overnight backpacking trip and no more worrying about every bump and scrape. Apple has truly dropped the ball with their Watch line, with their only solution to the dismal battery life for *active* people being spend another $400 for a few extra hours of battery. No thanks.

I'm quite happy with my Coros upgrade. It's really shown me that Apple Watches are a general catch all with feature bloat that don't do anything super well for serious activity seekers, yet its main requirement is the user be tethered to a charger every damn day - sometimes multiple times. That being said though, once this Coros kicks the bucket, I will being giving a lot of thought into whether I will be purchasing another activity tracker. Even with this new device that lasts 2~ weeks on a charge, I find myself missing the simplicity of my Casio G-Shock - a device that simply works. My phone still functions as a great activity tracker for biking, running and brief hikes, but lacks the real battery life needed for backpacking - which is my only holdout.

Re: After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch

#74

Post by BeetleB »

stronglikedan wrote: post #72
kingnothing wrote: post #13

After wearing an analog watch for two years, I'll never buy another smart watch. I do not need to be so connected to my phone that my wrist vibrates when someone texts me. The little reminders to stand up are ignored. The guilt at the end of a day when I didn't get enough steps in is gone. And I have a newfound appreciation for the pure craftsmanship that goes into making this tiny analog device on my wrist that is p…

I couldn't imagine wasting so much time having to take my phone out of my pocket to see my important notifications (the unimportant ones don't go to my watch).

I can't imagine wasting so much time finding a way to separate important and non-important notifications.

But out of curiosity, what is an important notification for you?

Re: After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch

#75

Post by jhbadger »

dzogchen wrote: post #14
kingnothing wrote: post #13

After wearing an analog watch for two years, I'll never buy another smart watch. I do not need to be so connected to my phone that my wrist vibrates when someone texts me. The little reminders to stand up are ignored. The guilt at the end of a day when I didn't get enough steps in is gone. And I have a newfound appreciation for the pure craftsmanship that goes into making this tiny analog device on my wrist that is p…

Cannot relate. I do not have notifications enabled on my Pebble. I don't have any guilt over not having enough steps at the end of the day. But I am walking more thanks to my smartwatch. I can start a timer in seconds when I am meditating, when I am cooking, when I am starting the watching machine. Also I have made a little app that shows me the weights and reps and sets I need to do for my powerlifting programme. I…

While there are things like heart rate monitors that can't be replicated on a phone, I've never understood why people bring up step tracking or timers as traits of a smartwatch. My phone tracks my steps and can be used to set a timer just as easily (probably easier as it is has a much larger screen).

Re: After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch

#76

Post by BeetleB »

wojciii wrote: post #24

I'm still trying to figure out what exact user case having a digital watch solves. I mean .. I have a phone which shows time, plays music and can tell me who called / sent me a signal message. I have issues with having to charge my phone so having another device that I will have to charge will not make my life any better.

The value is being able to see the time and use timers/stop watches quickly. I use the timer on my watch many times a day, and it'd be a pain to use the phone for that.

But of course, the real benefit is that I don't want my phone on me all the time, but I do want to be able to tell time all the time. I sleep with my watch, not my phone. Occasionally when I go do errands, I prefer to keep my phone in the car. At home, I typically leave the phone in one room.

Re: After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch

#77

Post by kingnothing »

gwbas1c wrote: post #39
kingnothing wrote: post #13

After wearing an analog watch for two years, I'll never buy another smart watch. I do not need to be so connected to my phone that my wrist vibrates when someone texts me. The little reminders to stand up are ignored. The guilt at the end of a day when I didn't get enough steps in is gone. And I have a newfound appreciation for the pure craftsmanship that goes into making this tiny analog device on my wrist that is p…

I've been tempted to go that route: I used to have a transparent self-winding watch and I miss it. The thing is, I really like seeing text messages on my watch out of the corner of my eye. I don't read them, but I know that so-and-so texted me, and if it's important I figure out how to read the text safely. Otherwise, I turn off almost all watch notifications very aggressively. --- I also really enjoy using my watch…

For most of my waking hours, my phone is sitting next to me on my desk, couch, or table. Carplay has my back when I'm driving. I honestly don't miss any of the notifications from my smart watches.

Re: After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch

#78

Post by uxcolumbo »

woile wrote: post #35

I have been using a "withings" smartwatch for the last 8 years. The battery now last 3 weeks instead of a month. It has all the features I need spite of being an oldy: heartbeat, steps, calories, countdown, sport mode, etc. The newer ones even have gps and more. But the thing is: it looks analog, the smart is almost hidden away, that's how I like the tech, because the watch looks really cool. It can receive messages,…

What do you do when the battery eventually dies.

For example the Withings Scanwatch Horizon is quite expensive but it seems it doesn't have a user replaceable battery. So what do you do when the battery can't hold a charge anymore?

Re: After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch

#79

Post by jrflo »

renegade-otter wrote: post #49
jrflo wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100% agreed. I wore an apple watch daily for almost 10 years and have switched back to automatic watches. The notifications caused me to be way too connected to my phone, and the "tracking" aspects of it were kind of useless to me. I know intuitively if I got enough exercise in a given day (did I go to the gym? Did I go on a long walk?), I don't need a computer to tell me that. Same thing with sleep tracking: do I fe…

I stopped caring about wellness trackers ever since the FIRST FitBit. Once you get an idea of what 10K steps feel like, it really becomes redundant at that point. This personal optimization fad is exhausting. We already get enough "data-driven" at work - I don't need that in off-hours. Listen to your body and stop converting every minute of your life into numbers. Maybe lift up your head and listen to the world for a…

Agreed. It's motivational for some people, and that's great, but the "data driven" information it gives you fails to pass the "use your brain" baseline.

Re: After wearing the Pebble Time 2 for two weeks, I'll never buy another smartwatch

#80

Post by everdrive »

kingnothing wrote: post #13

After wearing an analog watch for two years, I'll never buy another smart watch. I do not need to be so connected to my phone that my wrist vibrates when someone texts me. The little reminders to stand up are ignored. The guilt at the end of a day when I didn't get enough steps in is gone. And I have a newfound appreciation for the pure craftsmanship that goes into making this tiny analog device on my wrist that is p…

Well said. "Smart" watches seem to make the argument that somehow your phone was not accessible enough, not ever-present enough, and the best solution would be to build a phone relay and strap it to your body. Although the smart phone did flatten most people's impulse control to near zero, it seems the last little bit of progress in the area of impulse-control-destruction could be achieved by strapping a phone relay to your wrist. Too tough to pull your phone out of your pocket? Good news, now that stupid post / notification / chime / whatever is on your wrist and you can never get away from it.
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