Having an Apple Watch now for about 6 months, I can say I love it, and none of those things (and I shared the same skepticism before buying one) have proven to be issues.
I don't tend to look at my watch when I sleep - so that one's easy, and when you charge the watch its in a mode that gives off a low-light time (nightstand mode, i think they call it). On top of that, it takes about an hour to charge, so often I end up charging it during my night time regiment, and by the time I go to bed, i COULD wear it (if i need to make sure I'm up early for something, i wear it so i get the vibration)
If you want a traditional watch, then get a traditional watch - comparing it to a traditional watch and holding to the same standards is not a position of common sense...
I don't think this is accurate. Someone brought up a comparison of smartphone to a Nokia phone, but this is not the same kind of comparison. A smartphone greatly simplified user interface and made accessing the internet and sharing much easier, and also created new ways of interacting (swiping etc). Whereas, the watch seems to be very featureful sure, but the internet is already accessible using your phone. And the added worry of carrying yet another charger when traveling (and the horror of losing it...). Now, a traditional watch, you don't worry about it for YEARS, not a week. Its mostly another ornament, like a cap or a shirt.
It may be a difference in temperament. But personally, I like to reduce things in my life which require any form of attention: because I forget things very easily (or am just too lazy to do them).
Also, this may not apply to everyone, but there is simply too many beautifully crafted wristwatches out there for me to ever seriously consider a smartwatch.
That was exactly my primary concern. In practice though, you (well, I, and most people) charge my phone at night. I set it next to the bed and plug it in... now my watch charger is right next to my phone charger, so its a no-brainer (and the wristband is fast on/off - thats important to me). Turns out because of the phone, i had no new habit to get into :)
Totally agree, the old Nokia phones used to last entire week with a single charge, I don't see people hanging on to it.
I've seen many skeptics who end up actually likeing smart watches after using them.
Only one person I've known who's had a smartwatch has told me that they were worth the money. In general, the consensus has been "Given that I have it, I like it. But it's not a big enough deal to be worth several hundred dollars."
Good, because of the pot and kettle thing.
I'm still happy enough with being able to more or less customize my watchface, but if you both care about your privacy and want to make serious use of the "smart" smartwatch features, I don't think there's currently anything on the market for you.
No Smartwatch for me, I think my mechanical watch is much smarter.
A watch should be good to tell the time. smartwatches are a throwback to the 70's where you had to press a little button.
It's also beautiful. It's the only thing I wear, other than my wedding ring, that could be considered jewelry. I'm going to give it to my son some day. And at that moment, perhaps 40-60 years from now, it will still be a functional work of art.
I look at smart watches vs. dumb watches and just think it's a bunch of total nonsense. Eventually, yes, they will likely get their, but it's going to 50-something years from now when it's cheaper to put a super computer in something than it is to leave it out.
The same happens with e.g. paper vs computer. With paper the "battery" lasts forever. But you tradeoff some things to get other stuff.
>What I get now is some piece of crap that needs to be charged every night. So I basically have no features while I'm sleeping. I can't just wake up in the middle of the night an instantly know what the time is.
Well, you probably have your phone next to you, your alarm clock next to the bed, and several other clocks nearby in the bedroom.
So I should supplement my smart watch with other devices in order to know what time it is? Makes $ense.
What does the watch being waterproof have to do with wearing it in bed?
In order to know what time it is:
(1) at bed at night &&
(2) if you haven't kept it charged &&
(3) if you don't charge it by the bedstand
Besides, no reason to buy a smartwatch for its timekeeping, you could just as well buy a $10 Casio watch and be done with it. Or one of those alarm-clock/radio bedstand thingies.
The device in question is a Fitbit fitness tracker. The killer feature regarding the battery is the ratio of life to charging time, viz that I can wear it all day and all night (gaining sleep tracking and, best of all, a silent vibrating alarm) and keep the battery topped up in the duration of a daily shower. Not 24/7, but 23.6/7 easily.
It has to solve SOME problem that some subset of people care about so intensely that you don't mind the many ways in which it is not as mature as the incumbent.
It's clear that the current smart watches do not accomplish this for you. That's ok as long as there is an initial target audience for which they do. Whether that is the case right now.. well, we'll see.
The tricky part is that they face a crossing-the-chasm problem now. The initial group of users is happy - but does that generalize to all users? Is it worth continuing to invest money into what's currently a niche market? Tivos, Blackberries, WebTV, 1st-gen PCs all found success in an early adopter market that was roughly as large as the smartwatch market is now, but it took a major re-envisioning of the concept before they became a mainstream product that all customers wanted.
I sleep with my Apple Watch on every night. I use it in tandem with my phone as an alarm clock. (That's actually incredibly useful. I haven't slept through an alarm a single time since I started doing this.)
It needs to be charged once per 24 hour period, but it doesn't have to be charged at night. I pop mine on the charger in the morning when I get ready for the day (shower, etc.) and at night when I get ready for bed. That's all it takes for me to keep it charged. It's never died on me in a year. In fact, it's never even entered power saving mode, which will retain the features of a "dumb" watch (telling the time) which you stated you desired at night.
Some might say that's exactly what they have :)
Traditional look, smart features, and 2-year battery life.
Check out Vector Watch. It's more like a traditional watch that is also smart (it tells you when you got a phone call, an email, a meeting etc), the battery lasts for more than 30 days and it's always on.
After the world is over, I'll still be able to tell time.
I would love a smart watchband so I can get meeting alerts but I don't see a way they can make a smartwatch that beats my $100 mechanical.
I'd have to get one and try it out first, though; it seems like a reasonable compromise.
My Moto360 turns on instantly when I flip the wrist.
> I can't just wake up in the middle of the night an instantly know what the time is.
The Moto360 charging on its cradle shows the time pretty much like an ordinary stationary clock. It glows softly in the dark and shows you the time. It's a lot more visible that way compared to an old wristwatch.
> Let me know when battery life is within a couple of orders of magnitude of real watches
That is a legitimate complaint.
However, showing time is much less important nowadays, I think. Pretty much anything that uses electricity can show you the time. In my kitchen, there's something like 3 time displays visible at once. My wife's car has two (one is the old car clock, the other is from the new radio I've installed a while ago).
The reason why I wear a smartwatch is to avoid having to pull out the phone every time I get a notification. That, IMO, is the killer app of the smartwatch. I get the notification sound, just flip the wrist; decide whether it needs attention, and act accordingly or ignore. Done. Super-useful.
I agree that as timepieces alone the smartwatches are a regression.
my casio digitals are solar. life is too short to replace or charge watch batteries. i mean, this problem was solved nearly a century ago.
the cheapest automatics are made by seiko and are barely $50. solars are cheaper.
i'll never buy a smartwatch until they're one or the other. watches should not have batteries or any other design feature that renders them useless on purpose.
What I get now is some piece of crap that needs to be charged every night. So I basically have no features while I'm sleeping. I can't just wake up in the middle of the night an instantly know what the time is.
As a battery saving measure, the time isn't displayed until I turn my wrist and wait some obscene amount of time (around a second?). It also goes from being dark to being lit... so much for being discrete.
I wish they would stop calling these things "watches" just because they go on your wrist. I expect anything called a watch to have the features of a watch and be on my wrist pretty much all of the time. Call it a fitness tracker if it's not meant to be worn 24/7.
Let me know when battery life is within a couple of orders of magnitude of real watches, then maybe I'll revisit.