Hello.
For a long time I have considered smart watches to be a gimmick but since they have become more accessible and common now for some time, I was wondering what the people who own and use them think of them?
So what has your experience been of them?
One thing I am curious about is how functional these (especially the Android ones) are without being connected to a phone via bluetooth since bluetooth drains battery?
…I don’t think you have any idea how stupid these arguments are.
First of phone booths are nowhere to be found these days, also the things we carry on our pockets have little to do with the thing Graham Bell invented. They are pocket PCs at this point, having a smartphone removes the need for a camera and an mp3 player and allows you to do a ton of stuff on the go. And you can access your mobile phone anywhere, unlike a phone booth.
Delivering a message to someone in person can take hours (months if they are in another city and years if they are in an other country). Carrying one with yourself fixes a ton of issues you might have otherwise had.
A smartwatch doesn’t fix any problems, and only convenient thing about is a total joke. Looking at notifications without pulling your phone, are you kidding me? That saves you like one second! What else can it do? It literally runs Android, it can’t do anything your phone can. I would understand if you buy one to replace your phone since they can do phone calls and allow you to view images, video and listen to music. If that’s all you need you may prefer those over a phone due to cheaper price. But paying money for a dedicated device just to view your notifications and doing fitness instead of pulling your phone out of your pocket and using a fitness app is stupid.
All of the limitations you’re describing are part of the point, from what I understand (I don’t have one myself). Interacting with notifications without pulling your phone out is supposed to help keep you focused. A common complaint with smartphones recently is that they’ve affected attention spans and peoples relationship to empty time. If you can’t get sucked into twitter, facebook, email threads, etc on a smartwatch, there’s less risk in checking a notification.
What kind of sense does that make? Smartphones grab your attention too much, so use this other thing that grabs your attention instead. How about just turning off notifications? At least for specific apps?
It sounds like you don’t have the problems smartwatches address, so they’re probably not for you. But that doesn’t mean they’re not useful for other people.