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Need help finding a smartwatch! (All help/suggestions welcome!)

Hi guys,
I've recently received my Galaxy S5 and I'm currently looking for a smartwatch to act as a compagnon.
First of all, I am not looking for a smartwatch that acts as "second" phone (stand-alone-phone), I'd like to connect my smartphone to the watch and keep it on the same line, if you know what I mean.
If it happens to be the best smartwatch that does have a simslot, I wouldn't mind, as long as it doesn't have disadvantages.
Now I have the following question: I am looking for a smart watch that offers as much functionality as possible for the lowest price, but with a good price-quality ratio.
I've seen the Following smart watches:
IKWEAR IK8
ZGPAX S5 & S6
K2 W100 (Samsung Gear imitation)
Sony SmartWatch 2
After reading and watching a lot of reviews, I have become increasingly uncertain about my choice. As one reviewer hates the watch, the other has something good to say.
To give you a good impression of what I'll expect of the smartwatch:
Prize: very important. I am willing to pay €125 max. ($160 - £100)
[*]Bluetooth: very important. Since I want to connect my SW to my smartphone.
[*]Quality: important. I do not prefer that the SW will fall apart after some days of usage.
[*]Functionality: important. A device that works well does have my preference. E.g. the touchscreen that works well etc.
[*]GPS: preferred. As I would like to use this watch as my navigator from time to time.
[*]Microphone & speakers: convenient. Handy to have for calls, listening to music, watching videos, etc.
[*](Google) PlayStore: convenient. This would be a good thing to have, but I can root afterall.
[*]Camera: optional. If I can buy a smartwatch doesn't have a camera, but seems to be the best overall, I don't mind not having a camera build in.
[*]Sim Lock & mobile network functionality: not important. Since I want a smartwatch that I will not use as a "second" phone, I do not see this as a necessity.
I might have forgotten to include the other features.
I hope I gave you an impression of what I'm looking for. If you have anymore questions, please let me know!
I wanted to thank you by taking time and reading this!
Cheers,
Jay.

I am in the same shoes, went with K2 W100

First off, your requirements constitute a full fledged sim based SmartWatch. Your not going to get GPS, cams and G-play in most companions.... Unless your comfortable with rooting/flashing ROMs.
After owning, using, testing and writing reviews for the Pebble, Gear, Gear 2, SW1, SW2, Z-Watch, Omate TS, Neptune Pine, and Meta I've seen the best and worst these have to offer.
Overall, each watch has their pluses and minuses. However, one thing sticks out among the myriad of watches I've had... The Samsung devices work best inside their own ecosystem (of course).
From your requirements above, i would go with a Gear. Lately, I've been seeing those go for ~$100-125 on eBay barely used and in like new condition. Since you have an S5, these will be the most headache-free choices
Not sure if you're going to miss things like the GPS and camera... Hard to get and work with these features on a watch.

I agree with the others, go the the Gear Clone or even the Sony SW2 (assuming it works with your Galaxy S5).
The Omate Clones would give you lots of features too, but slightly less battery life and maybe more bugs, the the Z15 comes with Play store, but not sure about the notifications app.

Alright guys, thanks for the replies.
I just got an offer to buy the Gear 2 (used) for only €150. (which is more than my limit, I know)
But I've decided to pick it up this eve. Any reasons not to?
Jay.

[Q] Sony Smartwatch 3 or Moto 360 - small wrists

I am trying to choose the right smartwatch for me and I am sort of losing my mind. I really can't decide which one to get. So I have finally narrowed my decision down to two. Sony Smartwatch 3 and Moto 360. I like Sony when it comes to mobile hardware - I currently have a Z3 Compact and it would seem only logical to pair it with a smartwatch from Sony. But... I like Motorola as well. Never had any problems with them before.
Both have their pros and the cons. Moto 360 basically looks way better. It also has a heart rate monitor which I like but it isn't a must. On the other hand Smartwatch 3 has a much smoother interface, better battery, is cheaper and has micro USB for charging.
My main problem is this - I am a pretty small guy and I have small wrists as well. So a big watch would just look ridiculous on me. My wrists are about 46mm in diameter at the widest point where the watch would sit. So that's a big issue and the determining factor will be the size. I know that the Smartwatch 3 is slightly larger in one dimension, but it is designed much differently and is thiner. But it is pretty new and I haven't seen much comments about its size.
Anyone with similar issues? What would you suggest?

I own Sony smart watch 3 for the following reasons:
1. All round watches will have troubles with ui in one app or another, they just awkward to code for
2. Sony one is waterproof, has GPS, transflective LCD, great battery life and better chipset (moto uses prehistoric chipset same as in their motoactv from 2011)
3. I have medium sized wrist it fits perfectly, you could try one and return if it doesn't fit.
Overall I would not bother with any round watches unless to show off and from current wear offerings I feel like sw3 is the best and if you'll use GPS it is the only one.

I personally am a Moto 360 person myself. I have fairly skinny wrists and haven't noticed an aesthetic or comfort issue wearing it. In terms of app support: it is indeed harder for coders to deal with round screens but it seems like most have figured them out. The marker for round watches just seems large at this point which forces most to support them if at all feasible.
I also do not trust Sony when it comes to Android based devices. They always seem to release products in that space that flop and thereby do not get as much updates/support compared to peer manufacturers.
Good luck in your decision!

I get a SW3 today. I've also a small wrist and it fits very well.
Why I choose SW3 not Moto 360? A round watch is pretty cool, but I cannot tolerate its black bar below, it makes me crazy...
And also consider the battery, SW3 finally becomes my first android wear.

Same here, wanted a moto 360. But after looking at everything I bought SW3 yesterday. Never had android wear before or actually worn a watch. But SW3 for £130 was an easy decision. It should arrive on Thursday.
I am 2 meter tall guy so size ssd never a concern to me. Only thing I didn't like about SW3 was that weird watch band. A standart 22mm watch bands would be much better. But I will see how it feels when it arrives. Can't wait! [emoji2]

Well I have finally decided and bought a Moto 360. It has arrived yesterday so I've had about a day of "play time" with it. A bit mixed feelings for now. But not really a HW problem. Android Wear seems very much like a huge beta for now.
First my thoughts on hardware - I love the design. It really is a beautiful watch. And just a tad too large for my wrists. Smaller would be better but size isn't too big of an issue on the current model. It could be a bit thiner though. I don't particularly like the leather strap to be honest. The leather feels a bit too stiff for my liking. I've seen much softer leather bands on watches before. I would probably prefer one of those. Or maybe textile. But maybe it will soften up a bit with time.
Battery doesn't seem like a particularly big issue. I am at 55% right now (I started using it in the morning and it is 9 in the evening now) and I have been playing with it a lot today. Installing apps, using things, ... So it seems like it will last me a day just fine.
Pedometer seems useless. I can't check how accurate it is because it doesn't update in real time - the ****? Who thought that this was a good idea? If I make a step I want to see it change immediately. Not two hours later. Heart rate sensor isn't much better either.
And now for android wear... What was google thinking? What's the point of having the ability to read an email or to reply to it but no ability to delete that thing? I delete 80% of my emails after I read them. Why can't I do that on my wrist? What about a keyboard? We know it isn't impossible. So why isn't it there? Something similar to a standard numeric keypad that we can see on old mobile phones would work (T9 anyone?). Or a full fledged keyboard in some other form. Not because I don't want to talk but because voice input is useless for anything but English. And we will be seeing support for Slovene in ... let's be honest ... never. So I can't send a message to anyone, I can't send an email to anyone, start a navigation to somewhere, ... KEYBOARD!
Why do "apps" like Yatse remote hide/close when the watch goes to sleep? This makes it pretty much useless then.

Deleting emails is just swipe left, delete.. I do it all the time as 90% of what I get is spam anyway.
IME the watches work best as notification devices.. they're great for telling you that an email or tweet has arrived, or that you have to leave to get to an appointment, without having to fish in your pocket to work out whether it's an important message or not. During meetings a quick glance at the watch is pretty unobtrusive.
They're too small though to be general purpose devices, and they're not designed to be (hence no real launcher.. 'apps' is buried at the bottom of a menu). Once you get into serious amounts of interaction you're better off just taking the phone out and using that.

TonyHoyle said:
Deleting emails is just swipe left, delete.. I do it all the time as 90% of what I get is spam anyway.
IME the watches work best as notification devices.. they're great for telling you that an email or tweet has arrived, or that you have to leave to get to an appointment, without having to fish in your pocket to work out whether it's an important message or not. During meetings a quick glance at the watch is pretty unobtrusive.
They're too small though to be general purpose devices, and they're not designed to be (hence no real launcher.. 'apps' is buried at the bottom of a menu). Once you get into serious amounts of interaction you're better off just taking the phone out and using that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The funny thing here is this - I've found it performs the worst as a notification device. It performs great when I need a timer or when I need to quickly check one of my notes.
Notifications are just... meh. I want f*** email notifications. And no I don't have a delete option when I swipe left. I have reply, mark as read and open on phone. No delete. What is even worse - the thing doesn't vibrate when I get an email. Probably it has something to do with the email client I am using - the stock (AOSP) android one. Not gmail or something else. How am I supposed to have faith in a platform when even the thing that is most advertised doesn't work with the built in app?
The first thing I installed on there was an app launcher. I also found a neat app that enables you to send text messages with an actual keyboard. So at least there is that.

I have a "swipe left" to delete also. It depends what you use for your email. I use "Blue Mail"

tonyguy2000 said:
I have a "swipe left" to delete also. It depends what you use for your email. I use "Blue Mail"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably.
I am not happy with the fact that something so basic as deleting emails and vibrating when that email arrives is not supported with the app made by Google. On their own platform.
I was also hoping that Lolipop update would bring us some improvements in that regard - the watch got an update today and it didn't improve any of my issues.

i don't know which one is more suitable for you .
but people are often talking about moto 360 ,
sony watch i havent heard it many time .
so i guess this maybe be able to help you decide .

ZGPAX S29 Quick Review

Hi everybody
I know there are a few reviews of the S29 around but I didn't find them useful for my decision to purchase the S29 so I'm going to throw in my own 2 cents (I'm Australian - if you don't know what 2c means then just google it). Hopefully if you are reading this review you are considering buying an S29 and probably (like me) you are faced with an overwhelming array of different devices and options. My plan is to present information that is helpful.
I decided that I wanted to get a smartwatch about three months ago because I'm a teacher and I don't like it when I miss important texts or phone calls from my wife. When I'm in class I will not bring out my phone, and sometimes I'm so busy teaching I don't even notice the phone vibrating anyway. Sometimes, if I had known that I had gotten a text or phone call, I could have gone at the end of the lesson to the staffroom, sorted things out in a minute, and proceeded to the next lesson.
I was also in a situation where the watch I used for running was really irritating me, and it had no way of telling me how I was going, other than the time it took me to run. If I run the same route, it's fine, but if I do extra bits then I have no way of comparing.
I'm also a bit stingy and a bit wary of buying into the next big thing when the price is high. The prices of first generation smartwatches have come down a fair bit in the last 6 months but I would have to spend at least $120 if not more for something that didn't have a great review of battery life and for something that my wife was telling me was a waste of money.
So, my criteria was that it needed to be cheap, have a battery that would last easily through a full day, show me texts and emails, have some kind of pedometer. I was also looking for some sort of storage just in case (some watches have very, very small amounts of storage) but things like camera, photos, and music weren't a big part of this decision for me.
I narrowed it down to about 10 chinese smartwatches that ranged in price from $30 (U8) to $80. Bear in mind that these were AUD.
As I was wading through all the information I decided that I was really drawn to the fake G2 look. Something about the colour and the icons just seemed attractive - it was just a personal taste thing. It wasn't a game changer for me, but looks count for something.
I really wanted a Bluetooth 4.0 or 4.1 but I decided that it was really going to go above my price range (I didn't really want to spend more than $60AUD) and that pretty much knocked that out. That really meant that the No.1 range was out.
After a lot of deliberation I ended up with the S29 and I have to say that I am really glad that I chose it. I managed to get it from Aliexpress for $55AUD (around $34USD) and I got it from China to me in about 2 and half weeks which is pretty good (so kudos to Aliexpress for that).
Having used it for half a week now, I can tell you a number of things about it. It's never going to beat any kind of Android wear for functionality and the software is fidly, but for what I wanted it is perfect.
The look and feel is great - very comfortable and just like the photos.
The software that you can download by QR scanning is useless on Lollipop so don't bother. I am using the Mediatek app (make sure you get the version that was released April 2015 or later) and it makes sure I get all my texts and emails. I have turned off my accuweather notifications (it didn't show the temperature) and chromecast notifications because they were just annoying and I could probably turn off a lot more. I haven't tried Facebook because I don't allow FB notifications on my phone (too many, too annoying, too distracting).
I have been for a run with it, and I'm pretty sure the pedometer works really well. I say pretty sure because it says mileage, but reads km. I knew the distance I ran and converted it from miles to Km and it was spot on.
Battery life is great. I've had a few days worth of fiddling around and changing things and hardly used any battery to do it. I'm up to day 2 without charging and it's still more than half full (according to the icon). I changed the screen on time to 15sec because I just don't need it to be longer and 15 seconds actually feels like a very long time once I've done what I need to do - it's not like a phone where I might be reading a lot of text and not touch the screen for a while etc.
Sound through the speakers is tinny which I expected but it's clear enough for me to listen to if I want - I just can't control the volume using the phone, and I can't get it through the audio icon (it goes for the bluetooth on the phone and opens up my podcast app - who knows why?) but I can get it through the file manager. The Camera is great for low resolution grainy photos but that's about it. The remote camera for the phone works really well. I accidentally had a conversation with my wife through the bluetooth (I haven't got a sim in it even though there is a spot for it) and it was clear enough and I didn't have to hold the watch up to my mouth and ear.
I have sent texts using the tiny keyboard without too many problems, but it's probably easier to get my phone out really.
I was pleasantly surprised by the "multimedia" function which is just sound or video recording - I haven't tried video, but sound was good enough and simple enough for a quick memo.
The interface is quite good. There's no real lag and mostly it's easy to get to the feature you want.
Here are my problems with it...
There is nothing on the screen normally so to see the time I have to press the button. I can't therefore surreptitiously look at the time.
The bluetooth is quite aggressive and wont let me turn it off if it is connected to my phone. I have to go to my phone settings to swap to my car bluetooth. Thankfully I have "trigger" (an app similar to IFTTT but simpler) and it there were enough options to create a rule to hand over the connection to the car and then back again afterwards without any dramas. I think the fact that I have the 450MH Battery is certainly an important part of the battery life with BT3.0 and I think they have made a good choice with it.
There is no way of recording the pedometer readings. I've tried a few apps but they just don't play nicely with the watch. It's no biggie to me, but if you were interested in that kind of thing then you would want to spend a little bit more for a No.1 watch and use Fundo (though be careful which app you download because fundo isn't a unique app name...) You'd also get a heart rate monitor which might be useful. The S29 tells you that it records your calories burnt, but really it just calculates your steps and comes up with a number of calories that you might have burnt.
The pop up notifications are just enough information to tell you who sent you a text and the first line, likewise with email but it's the name with a subject. I'd probably like a little bit more, but lets face it - it's a watch.
These are only very minor problems and I'm really happy with my purchase. My plan is to use it for about a year and then get something with android wear (or Tizen ... maybe).
At the very least I feel like I know the one feature I will have to have on my next watch is the ability to turn on the screen just by turning my wrist.
I hope this has been useful if you are making a decision about a smartwatch.

Hi! Im planning on buying this ZGPAX S29. Have you tried the Watchmaker app with this? Does it really work?? Thanks in Advance!

Searching for Smartwatch < $45 CAD with the following:

Sorry if this has been asked frequently. I don't mind a relatively spartan smartwatch. My current is an APLUS GV18, but it does have a few shortcomings I was wondering if someone had an alternative option that would deal with those.
On the whole, I don't mind NucleOS. I get it. It's cheap for cheap watches. HOWEVER, 3 things I would really, really like to have in a smartwatch are:
1. Wake by motion
2. Digital watchface options. First or 3rd party, I don't mind.
3. Live Preview of SMS (ideally other normal text like email, but SMS is fine). Basically, when the SMS comes in, I'd like for the watch to pull what text it can and display it for me.
Needs to be compatible with Android 6+. Anyhow, thank you for any suggestions if anyone knows them. Leave shop links as you wish, or just models. I can figure out where to buy.

I definitely recommend you the Amazfit Bip. It is a little bit over that price I guess but can be found online for ~54 USD
does all of that, has a gps and an impressive month and a half battery life.
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Anyone pre-order the Misfit Vapor?

It looks really cool, Amazon keeps having these flash sales on Amazon for $151. Right now you can pre-order it for $199 on their site. What do you guys think of it? Any-one get theirs yet?
https://misfit.com/products/misfit-vapor

I'm interested in hearing from anyone who ordered one/has one as well. Honestly, I'm stunned that a non-flat-tire, not ginormous, waterproof, android wear 2.0 smartwatch with a touch bezel is not getting more notice/media coverage.
It's like all the big review sites said, "Yeah, it's available on the 31st....so what. We had to wait for it too long, so we don't care". It's rather crazy in my mind. There are a few old reviews I can find (when the watch still ran the proprietary OS) but as far as I can find, there are no current reviews with the watch running AW 2.0. Why!?
I really hope some proud new owners chime in and let us know how the watch performs running AW, and some details on real-world use.

The only one that I've seen receive their's is this person. For $199 new, that's pretty good isn't it? A refurb Huawei watch one would cost me $150 at least.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MisfitVapor/comments/7ak9e0/i_received_my_vapor_and_am_willing_answer_any/

Oh, sweet! Good thread there with some pretty good initial info on the watch. Thanks for sharing the link.

Hi I just recieved mine last night and I am now looking around on the web for info/help with it. Ill give my first impressions of it here, Id like to be able to share my thoughts with Misfit so maybe they can take the feedback and improve it.
First off I am a formar Fitbit Surge user and liked it for the fitness attributes it had, before ordering the Vapor I bought a CHEAP $40 Kingware KW18 watch from China to see if id be ok wearing a larger watch such as these are. It had many short commings but also did some cool things.
First impression is the watch is well made and it has a great interface, I really like the touch navigation around the bezel.
Now for what I dont like about it:
- Heart rate monitor has to be manually activated each time and just does a short test. I want to have it on all the time and have the data graphed in the app, I understand that probably is a battery drainer but how about being able to turn it on during workouts so I know what my peak heart rate was riding my cycle up a huge hill for instance.
- Phone call answering - It lets you see an incomming call and decide to hang up or answer it from the watch, but if you answer it from the watch the call actually goes to the phone. You should be able to see the call and if your phone is handy answer it on the phone or if its not (say phone is in my pocket and i am driving) answer it on the watch and talk to the person through the watch as a speaker phone. THe cheap KW18 can do this.
- Displaying of info on the watch face - Id like to be able to select what info is displayed on the watchface, such as steps or calories burned. Seams simple enough, Fitbits, Garmins both can do this and is an expection for most people of a fitness watch.
- Sleep monitor, so I could be missing something when I set it up for this but when I synced it this morning it said I got zero sleep, gee I didnt feel that I got no sleep, I am tired but I did sleep some... If it cannot sense I am in a restful position on its on I hope it doesnt expect me to select something in the watch to say Im now sleeping....
- Charger - It is a non intrusive connection held onto watch with a magnet which is great but it doesnt stay on well at all. The cheap KW18 has a much better charger cable/interface.
- Misfit App - THis is on me as I could have downloaded this before hand and checked it out but basically it is pretty useless. Has very little info in it, does not food/water tracking and has no graphing ability that I could see. Will need to use the watch for a while to see if once there is data it then has graphs available with your daily/weekly/monthly activity...
Sorry to sound negitive but they tout it as a refined fitness watch but fitness is low on their prioritys from what I can see.
~ Phil

mpilihp said:
- Displaying of info on the watch face - Id like to be able to select what info is displayed on the watchface, such as steps or calories burned. Seams simple enough, Fitbits, Garmins both can do this and is an expection for most people of a fitness watch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can change the default watch face info at bottom of screen. Go to change face screen and click settings icon and you can change the 3 icons from in there to link to any app on watch incl Google Fit for steps, calories etc

dpjohnston said:
You can change the default watch face info at bottom of screen. Go to change face screen and click settings icon and you can change the 3 icons from in there to link to any app on watch incl Google Fit for steps, calories etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi thanks I did manage to figure that out, a user manual would be nice. It still is not very accurate on the step counting and it isn't tracking sleep at all either.
~ Phil

I have a few to sell if anyone is interested

So update on my Vapor i was told by tech support it does not do sleep tracking at all and heart rate monitoring is a snapshot only when you trigger it.
Have no idea how they can tout the Vapor let alone Misfit as fitness focused.
Im sending mine back and looking at the Garmin vivoactive 3 or the Samsung S2.
Phil
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