Although smartwatches have been around since the ’80s, they’ve gotten a lot of appeal in the last couple of years. One of the biggest reasons smartwatches are becoming more popular these days is perhaps because they aren’t quite what they used to be, and are so much better than when they were first conceived. When shopping for a smartwatch, you’ll be spoiled for choice given the sheer number of options available, but it’s not really about buying a smartwatch, the big question is whether you need one.
The first thing to keep in mind is the fact that smartwatches work in collaboration with your smartphone, which means that even if you have a wearable technology device on your wrist, it will only work when you are connected with your smartphone located inside a specific range. Smartwatches are designed to give you basic notifications like calls, texts, emails, and most even allow you to reply to them.
But the chances of you writing or reading an email or reading a long article on a smartwatch are highly unlikely. Unless, of course, you are stuck in a desperate situation and the only chance to survive is to read the information on the screen of your smartwatch. However, you can perform these tasks on your smartphone and get rid of the extra device you have to carry around on your wrist.
On a brighter note, there are some situations where a smartwatch can come in handy, such as using it to pay at the gas pump, unlocking your car doors, identifying yourself at the bank, or unlocking the door to your school or office. This would eliminate the need to pull out your keys, wallet, and ID.
With notifications on your wrist, you know right away when you get an email, text or call so you don’t have to dig around in your pocket, giving you the ultimate freedom of a smartphone. And if you’re thinking that your wrist will constantly vibrate with frivolous notifications, it’s not rocket science that you can turn these notifications on and off as you like.
You are usually prompted to choose the type of notifications and how you would like to be alerted: vibration, beeps, or both during the smartphone setup process. Another selling point of smartwatches is their health and fitness tracking capabilities, which means that there are some devices that give you various health-related metrics, including heart rate. Not only do they track these metrics, but they also advise what to do next, like letting you know when you’re stressed and how to combat it.
Unfortunately, however, not everyone is interested in this data, so if you don’t care, then this is a feature that you probably won’t need when buying a smartwatch. The new smartwatches, when they were first introduced, were silly looking and clunky devices, but the latest devices look and work great. On top of this, they offer several different customization options such as watch faces, straps, and even the battery life has been greatly improved and now lasts for days on end.
The bottom line is that smartphones provide a certain level of convenience and definitely a little break from your smartphone. They are also a lot cheaper than they used to be, so getting on and experiencing the perks is a lot cheaper than they used to be. Additionally, they can be paired with various other devices such as fitness trackers, high-end chest heart rate monitoring devices to measure comprehensive data on various aspects of your health, and some even allow you to pay for groceries at stores like Whole. Foods.
With a smartwatch, you no longer have to be a slave to your smartphone, but buying one depends entirely on individual needs.