Some thoughts about round smartwatches - Other SmartWatches

Hello!
1. Why nobody says that round smart watches -lack the ability to show everything that needed on the round screen.
2. there is a problem of showing whatsapp notifications?
3. A way to integrate between the smart watch heart rate sensor and sport tracker apps?
With such problems-there is a question about buying such watches.
Waiting for your opinions.
Thank

alfi07 said:
Hello!
1. Why nobody says that round smart watches -lack the ability to show everything that needed on the round screen.
2. there is a problem of showing whatsapp notifications?
3. A way to integrate between the smart watch heart rate sensor and sport tracker apps?
With such problems-there is a question about buying such watches.
Waiting for your opinions.
Thank
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see your points. I prefer the round design because it more like the traditional watches I wear. Also, there are so many great custom watch faces that look awesome and I don't see as many square faces that are as great. While you can put a round watchface on a square watch, to me it just doesn't look right. As to apps, there has been some great work done on making apps work for the round face. I know there are some problems with some, but I don't find it too bad. The two things that cause me pause with smartwatches in general is: 1) the lack of 3G US bands (1900) and 2) if you have an iPhone like me, there is still a lack of connectivity versus an Android phone. I know that has a lot to do with Apple locking down their operating system and not giving true access because they want you to buy an Apple watch. But knowing this does not change the fact that since I have an iPhone, my connectivity issues or just simple lack of connectivity, it going to make the smartwatch experience less than stellar.

Related

Help to choose smartwatch

Hello, I am looking to buy my first smartwatch. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'd really like features such as a camera and handsfree. But the only one I found so far with both of those are the Galaxy Gear 2. It looks like a good watch, but I'd rather have a watch that runs Android Wear.
Thanks in advance.
23732 said:
Hello, I am looking to buy my first smartwatch. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'd really like features such as a camera and handsfree. But the only one I found so far with both of those are the Galaxy Gear 2. It looks like a good watch, but I'd rather have a watch that runs Android Wear.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can either chose between the G Watch or the Gear live. Both very similar, mostly design differences.
G Watch has bigger battery.
Gear Live has heartbeat sensor and amoled display.
That's the difference, everything else apart from the design is the same. So if you want an android wear watch there's not much to chose from.
23732 said:
Hello, I am looking to buy my first smartwatch. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'd really like features such as a camera and handsfree. But the only one I found so far with both of those are the Galaxy Gear 2. It looks like a good watch, but I'd rather have a watch that runs Android Wear.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I were you, I'd rather wait for the Moto 360. Though it doesn't have a camera, it still would pack in some of the best features otherwise. If you are in ahurry to lay your hands on a watch, you could go for the Gear 2, its a great watch too.
Here at XDA, we typically do not allow threads like these to remain open as these type questions truly can only be answered by the individual and based on their own research and reading of the information here on the threads. "Best" device or "best" anything is really in the eye of the beholder.

[Q] Looking for a smartwatch.

Hello,
I'd like to ask you people for help regarding my choice of smartwatch that I'd love to buy very soon.
There are criteria that I'd like the watch to fulfill.
1.) Make/answer calls with the watch
- speak to the watch through a built-in microphone and get answer from a built-in speaker
- possibility of getting answer to headphones, when connected to a phone, while being able to normally talk to the watch while making a phone call
2.) other stuff like controlling the music player, send messages (can be templates) etc., I don't really care for anything else, oh and yea, It should also look nice, the display I mean, I don't want any casual looking digital-like watch.
I've been searching through the internet for days or even weeks without any satisfying results.
My phone is SGS2 running on CM11 4.4.4 and I know it is possible to even connect it to Gear 2 and other Android Wear watches, which need 4.3+ Android , but I'm also not sure wheter to go for Tizen or Android Wear, I really like the Moto 360 but if it can't make calls, then it's a no go. Gear 2 can make phones on the other hand as well as Sony Smartwatch 2, but it's Tizen in the first case and I'm not sure how it would work with i9100, because it's running on custom firmware after all and in the second case I don't want to buy the old model with so many cool watches comming out.
Has anyone possibly tried this with S2, or does anyone have experience with it? Is it possible for Android Wear to support fully functional phone calls later in time?
I'm desperate please help.
Unfortunately, without having Samsung's factory OS with all of the touchwiz junk... You may run into many incompatibilities with the Gear line of products.
The SW2 lacks speaker and mic functions.
I would keep an eye on the Asus zen and LG's R that are about to hit the market. One of these might suit your needs.
Otherwise, keep an eye on SmartQ's upcoming releases... They may have something for you at a reduced price.
Good luck.
mghtymse007 said:
I would keep an eye on the Asus zen and LG's R that are about to hit the market. One of these might suit your needs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Neither of those watches has a speaker. Overall, Android Wear doesn't support making/receiving calls on the watch. Heck, it doesn't even have speaker support built in yet. It has bluetooth support, but, not a speaker. That's one of the things preventing me from pulling the trigger on one of the Wear devices.
doc_lee said:
Neither of those watches has a speaker. Overall, Android Wear doesn't support making/receiving calls on the watch. Heck, it doesn't even have speaker support built in yet. It has bluetooth support, but, not a speaker. That's one of the things preventing me from pulling the trigger on one of the Wear devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about Smartwatch 3?
Edit:
Nvm, just found out it doesn't support it.
Somehow Sony thought it would be a great idea to include phone call possibility in the new Sony SmartBand but not in the Smartwatch 3
I was looking about a smartphone with the same capabilities and I found RWATCH M26 on Gearbest .
Using the coupon TSRWHF, the price will be $28.99. Not bad at all .
I've also read the comments on the seller page and I didn't found any big problem. I'm looking forward to buy it.
You can also watch some youtube videos of it.

[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 .

Please advise - Finow X5 vs. K9

Hello,
I am looking to buy a Smartwatch. I saw very good reviews of the Moto 360 1st gen (good price too) but I have small wrists so it would look huge on me. I recently stumbled upon Finow X5 and No. 1 D5 (and G4) but since they are not as popular I couldn't find as much information... Now I just found another one - K9 3G. That's why I am seeking your help. Which one should I go for? It saw that No. 1 tends to look weird on the hand, so for me now is mostly down to X5 vs K9. I don't know if the X1 / X3 models of Finow are worth over X5.
I am open to any smartwatch suggestions in the budget of £100-150, which means I also consider the Moto 360 2nd gen (42mm), but there are so many options in this market, I am just confused.
Also, I will plan to use the Smartwatch with no SIM inside (who uses a sim with that anyway? I need it in my phone), I live in the UK and I got an Android phone with 5.1. Will i be able to get full functionality out of the above models?
If you can drop your 2 cents here, I would greatly appreciate.
If you can afford it moto 360 2nd gen especially if it's for watch faces as they are much easier to install over the full Android watches. Android wear is a bit like Apple it just works well and more apps come out daily.
Sent from my JAZZ using Tapatalk
snake65 said:
If you can afford it moto 360 2nd gen especially if it's for watch faces as they are much easier to install over the full Android watches. Android wear is a bit like Apple it just works well and more apps come out daily.
Sent from my JAZZ using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. Sorry for being such a noob, Finow devices don't use android wear? So if they use stock android, there might be some advantages in that too I guess.
You would say Moto 2nd gen 42mm over Finow X5 for functionality? Cause regarding design, Moto has that little black strip unfortunately, a bit of turn off)
I had the Moto 360 1st gen and loved it but wanted something more powerful. Don't get me wrong from what I've seen here the finow is exceptional value for money , I have an i2 but stuck at bootloader and waiting on the arrival of the kw88, but you need to look around and read for yourself.
Sent from my JAZZ using Tapatalk
The 2nd gen Moto 360 has appalling battery life apparently, which is a thing to be wary of. I'd love for the Chinese manufacturers to up their game when it comes to companion watches, I understand the advantages of a standalone, but I think they've underestimated what a large market segment they could tap into by pressuring the mainstream brands (I also understand this is down to Google licensing of android wear, but what happened to AWC? Shows there are workarounds?).
That said, watches like the X5 etc. Show massive potential, the Ticwatch 2 looks very interesting as well.
PS. Just to add that Motorola's customer service and repair centres are woeful also if you're in the UK
letrix42 said:
Thanks for the reply. Sorry for being such a noob, Finow devices don't use android wear? So if they use stock android, there might be some advantages in that too I guess.
You would say Moto 2nd gen 42mm over Finow X5 for functionality? Cause regarding design, Moto has that little black strip unfortunately, a bit of turn off)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take a look here - https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/109827242607524552712
We have done a lot of work with these devices and when it comes to custom watch faces the X5, X3 (which is the same as K9) and X1 (same as D5) is a fantastic watch.
It is really a stand alone watch at the moment though. It takes a sim card and works exactly like a mobile phone.
pablo11 said:
Take a look here - https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/109827242607524552712
We have done a lot of work with these devices and when it comes to custom watch faces the X5, X3 (which is the same as K9) and X1 (same as D5) is a fantastic watch.
It is really a stand alone watch at the moment though. It takes a sim card and works exactly like a mobile phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, just awesome!! Finow X5 looks like a great great device. I see you know what you are talking about, so maybe you can help me out a little.
My main concern is that I won't be able to get the most out of my Finow if I don't use it with its own SIM - and really, who would ditch the phone over a smart watch? I can only think how much you lose: web browsing with ease on bigger screen, private phone calls (you keep it to your ear, not on speaker), writing messages a lot easier, photos/videos on decent screen etc.
Will I be able to do the following with the X5?
- get notifications from the phone on the watch (SMS, Emails, Whatsapp, Facebook)
- disable notifications / reply to messages received on phone with the X5
- accept calls from the watch (again, no SIM inside, call received on the phone)
Also, is the Moto360 (2nd gen, 42mm) more limited compared to the Finow X5 from other points of views? Will I be able to load any watchface on the Moto 360, as I see we are able to do with the X5? Will I be better off using a SIM in my phone and one in my X5? Does the X5 communicate with my smartphone whatsoever - do they share any notifications?
letrix42 said:
Wow, just awesome!! Finow X5 looks like a great great device. I see you know what you are talking about, so maybe you can help me out a little.
My main concern is that I won't be able to get the most out of my Finow if I don't use it with its own SIM - and really, who would ditch the phone over a smart watch? I can only think how much you lose: web browsing with ease on bigger screen, private phone calls (you keep it to your ear, not on speaker), writing messages a lot easier, photos/videos on decent screen etc.
Will I be able to do the following with the X5?
- get notifications from the phone on the watch (SMS, Emails, Whatsapp, Facebook)
- disable notifications / reply to messages received on phone with the X5
- accept calls from the watch (again, no SIM inside, call received on the phone)
Also, is the Moto360 (2nd gen, 42mm) more limited compared to the Finow X5 from other points of views? Will I be able to load any watchface on the Moto 360, as I see we are able to do with the X5? Will I be better off using a SIM in my phone and one in my X5? Does the X5 communicate with my smartphone whatsoever - do they share any notifications?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest - looking at your list of requirements - I would suggest Android Wear.
All you really want is a companion watch - these X5 etc etc are stand alone.
Not good for pairing with phones - although some people do manage to work through it with app like M2D and similar
pablo11 said:
To be honest - looking at your list of requirements - I would suggest Android Wear.
All you really want is a companion watch - these X5 etc etc are stand alone.
Not good for pairing with phones - although some people do manage to work through it with app like M2D and similar
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I will definitely take the X5 over Android Wear if I could get paring to work too. The no flat tire display just looks better. Can you please tell me which are, in your opinion, the 1-2 major functionalities of X5 over Android Wear (Moto 360) and one major downside?
And hold on a minute, I got an idea. What if I put my SIM in the X5 and use this M2D app on the phone to get notification from the watch on the phone. Will that improve the communication between the devices? I mainly use my phone for browsing on a big screen (over WiFi, no SIM use), taking pictures (no SIM use) and making calls (SIM use). So how do you cope with phone calls on the speaker of the X5? Aren't you concerned about other people hearing the person you are speaking to / the quality of the X5 microphone?
Honestly, I incline more for the X5 at this point, but I still want to clarify the above points before making a decision. Thank you so much Pablo!
letrix42 said:
Well I will definitely take the X5 over Android Wear if I could get paring to work too. The no flat tire display just looks better. Can you please tell me which are, in your opinion, the 1-2 major functionalities of X5 over Android Wear (Moto 360) and one major downside?
And hold on a minute, I got an idea. What if I put my SIM in the X5 and use this M2D app on the phone to get notification from the watch on the phone. Will that improve the communication between the devices? I mainly use my phone for browsing on a big screen (over WiFi, no SIM use), taking pictures (no SIM use) and making calls (SIM use). So how do you cope with phone calls on the speaker of the X5? Aren't you concerned about other people hearing the person you are speaking to / the quality of the X5 microphone?
Honestly, I incline more for the X5 at this point, but I still want to clarify the above points before making a decision. Thank you so much Pablo!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as a companion, Wear is a much better choice. Of Wear, skip the 360 and get the original LG (square). You can find the LG for as little as $50 these days. And even though the LG might not look cool to you, it has the same CPU, RAM, storage and features the Asus, LG R and many others.
In a X5 vs Wear;
Readability of the font- Wear (the UI is designed for smartwatches)
Notification interaction- Wear (X5 requires third party apps for notification interactions)
Notification logs- X5
Wearable Apps- Wear (while limited in features, all apps for Wear are designed for smaller screens)
Voice Commands- Wear
Navigation- tie
Remote music and camera control- Wear
Phonecalls on watch from phone- neither work
Phonecalls on watch (no phone)- X5 *requires a SIM in the watch* (but about 2 hours is the best you will get)
Custom watchfaces- Wear has something like 100,000, X5 couple hundred
Watchface features- Wear, by a long shot if you use WatchMaker
Battery life- As a companion using BT, same
The best way to look at this is Wear is designed to be a companion out of the box. The X5 (D5, K9, etc) are tiny little phones for your wrist with tiny little batteries, and not really designed to be a full companion device.
Lokifish Marz said:
As far as a companion, Wear is a much better choice. Of Wear, skip the 360 and get the original LG (square). You can find the LG for as little as $50 these days. And even though the LG might not look cool to you, it has the same CPU, RAM, storage and features the Asus, LG R and many others.
In a X5 vs Wear;
Readability of the font- Wear (the UI is designed for smartwatches)
Notification interaction- Wear (X5 requires third party apps for notification interactions)
Notification logs- X5
Wearable Apps- Wear (while limited in features, all apps for Wear are designed for smaller screens)
Voice Commands- Wear
Navigation- tie
Remote music and camera control- Wear
Phonecalls on watch from phone- neither work
Phonecalls on watch (no phone)- X5 *requires a SIM in the watch* (but about 2 hours is the best you will get)
Custom watchfaces- Wear has something like 100,000, X5 couple hundred
Watchface features- Wear, by a long shot if you use WatchMaker
Battery life- As a companion using BT, same
The best way to look at this is Wear is designed to be a companion out of the box. The X5 (D5, K9, etc) are tiny little phones for your wrist with tiny little batteries, and not really designed to be a full companion device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright, I just bought a second hand LG Urbane W150 in good condition for $130. I hope I made the right choice, looking for your opinion. I didn't go for the square LG cause I don't like the design... and the Moto 360 has that flat tire on the bottom that I don't like.

Need recommendations for a first watch

I have already been looking around a lot, but there are so many watches with little nuances that are hard to keep track of. I am a regular watch wearer, never wanted a smart watch because they were a little too gimmicky when they first started. The technology is getting so good and useful now, that I am finally interested in swapping my regular watch for a smartwatch. I would like to find something on the cheap end for the first one in case I don't like it. Old and discontinued is fine if it meets my requirements
My requirements are:
1) Good battery, it needs to make it through a whole day at the minimum
2) Always on face is preferred. If I am ditching my regular watch, I would like for the face to be on and at least look like I am still wearing a watch. Kind of petty, but I prefer it. I can do without depending on how easily and quickly the face comes on.
3) Ability to use faces from places like facer or facerepo, and custom make my own face with watchmaker if I can't get what I want. The biggest thing for me is that I want an interactive face with a rotating on-screen bezel. I am wiling to design my own. I don't know how, but I learn well and will figure it out if I have to.
4) Round screen of good resolution without the notch on the bottom like the moto 360. I want to make a bezel face that needs the whole round screen.
4) Alert notifications for text, email, alarms, etc. is all I require for smart features. I do not care, nor do I really want fitness features like heart rate monitor, pedometer, etc. So if they don't work well on a model that otherwise meets my needs, that's fine.
5) Size on the smaller side. I can't really wear anything bigger than abut 45mm, so smaller than that is preferred.
I have been looking a lot and found some watches like the No. 1 and KingWear that seem to use their own version of Android OS. The battery life is amazing, but the faces are too limiting. My biggest concern is being able to make an interactive watch face with the moving bezel, zoom, and chronograph subdials. From what I have read, those watches take VXP faces, and they are not compatible with the features I want to have. They just have hour, minute and second hands. So am I supposed to be looking for something that just uses Wear OS or straight Android OS? The Fossil watches look good, as does the Galaxy, but I don't want to spend that much to try this out. Is there an older, sluggish, discontinued watch that will let me mess with faces on Watchmaker and make the face I really want? I feel that once I have a face I like, I will buy a newer watch and just use my proven face on it and be done. I would like to spend under $150, obviously the less the better. I have seen older Samsung watches like the S2 available at a fair price used, just not sure if there is a clone I could order new for less money, or something even cheaper I could use to get my face dialed in. I am totally open to suggestions if anyone can help.
For always ON and facer/watchmaker there are just Samsung > S2 (S2 has only a degraded always ON) or Wear watch. All are higher than $150. Always ON with an OLED screen is not very good idea I think, it feel strange with a wrist star war laser
dersie said:
For always ON and facer/watchmaker there are just Samsung > S2 (S2 has only a degraded always ON) or Wear watch. All are higher than $150. Always ON with an OLED screen is not very good idea I think, it feel strange with a wrist star war laser
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response. I didn't realize how limiting the always on feature would make my choices. But you're right about the OLED. So if I scratch that requirement for always on face, do you have a recommended way to proceed looking? Like what to look for and what to avoid? Specific models if you know any, but I would like to know what to look for in the specs, like OS or firmware that will allow the faces I want to be used.
Almost same answer.
Facer/Watchmaker works only on Tizen (Samsung) and WearOS. So your choice stay only in Samsung or Wear Watch.
Just Gear S2 is OK without real Always ON.
To increase your choice you must delete the Watchmaker/facer option.
dersie said:
Almost same answer.
Facer/Watchmaker works only on Tizen (Samsung) and WearOS. So your choice stay only in Samsung or Wear Watch.
Just Gear S2 is OK without real Always ON.
To increase your choice you must delete the Watchmaker/facer option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, thanks. I actually like the looks and size of the S2, but I don't know if I would actually like it. They can be found easily for under $100 USD, so the price is right. But going to a straight Andorid watch (non Tizen or Wear OS) might be the smartest thing for the future.
One thing I really don't understand. On a straight Android watch, are the faces just ordinary APKs running as a widget or regular application on the watch? Or is there a different file/application type that is used to make a face for an Android watch? I think that's what I have not been able to really understand.
I have tried making an Andorid app in the past and it was beyond my ability. That's why I thought Watchmaker would be a little easier for me to use. But if I can't get what I want because of the hardware, I will try my hand again at making an app or hiring someone to do so, if that's what needs to be done.
Gear S2 is really a very nice Smartwatch. Just screen a little small : 1.2". But very better than any pure Android Watch.
All pure Android watch are not really "smart" because they have almost 0 connected features. Just notification and almost nothing else.
Watchfaces for Android only watch ? we can almost say that they are non existent. We can not really found any faces for Android only, try to search on the store. Existent faces are only for special Android watch where the manufacturer has created special option for, ex Amazfit Stratos.
dersie said:
Gear S2 is really a very nice Smartwatch. Just screen a little small : 1.2". But very better than any pure Android Watch.
All pure Android watch are not really "smart" because they have almost 0 connected features. Just notification and almost nothing else.
Watchfaces for Android only watch ? we can almost say that they are non existent. We can not really found any faces for Android only, try to search on the store. Existent faces are only for special Android watch where the manufacturer has created special option for, ex Amazfit Stratos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see now, watches like the Kospet advertise as having customizable faces, but it appears all you can really do is customize the background image. It is not false advertising, but it is misleading a bit. And I see other watches like KingWear say something like "hundreds of watch faces to choose from", which like you said, come from the manufacturer. So I get it now, without a Wear OS watch or Tizen, I am limited. That's fine and understandable.
What I have not tried yet, is to see how the Watchmaker app works. If I want a face with a rotating bezel around the edge, and subdials for chronograph features, can I build that in Watchmaker? The biggest one is the ability to have a round graphic around the edge of the watch that rotates by touch like a dive bezel on a diver's watch. If that can be done in Watchmaker, I'll go for the S2 to play with it. If not, I will see if I can get an Andorid app to work with the features I want and then run that on a watch.
All I really want is a watch with rotating bezel, chronograph subdials and an analog or digital clock. I've seen the faces available, but the subdials don't do what I want, and I don't think the on screen bezel rotates like I want.
Sorry for all the questions, but I'm finally getting a good understanding here and I think you've pointed me in a good direction with the S2 for a very affordable watch to test.
gadsden said:
What I have not tried yet, is to see how the Watchmaker app works. If I want a face with a rotating bezel around the edge, and subdials for chronograph features, can I build that in Watchmaker? The biggest one is the ability to have a round graphic around the edge of the watch that rotates by touch like a dive bezel on a diver's watch. If that can be done in Watchmaker, I'll go for the S2 to play with it. If not, I will see if I can get an Andorid app to work with the features I want and then run that on a watch.
All I really want is a watch with rotating bezel, chronograph subdials and an analog or digital clock. I've seen the faces available, but the subdials don't do what I want, and I don't think the on screen bezel rotates like I want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use facer and after Watchmaker for the beginning of this apps. If I can resume : I think we can do all we want with Watchmaker. The apps has all needed features. For rotating it has a "rotate" on his field for the item image, so you can rotate all you want and in the way you want because it has also an user "script" (LUA) applied on all items you want.
dersie said:
I use facer and after Watchmaker for the beginning of this apps. If I can resume : I think we can do all we want with Watchmaker. The apps has all needed features. For rotating it has a "rotate" on his field for the item image, so you can rotate all you want and in the way you want because it has also an user "script" (LUA) applied on all items you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool, thanks. I'll buy the premium and just try it out to see if I can do what I want. If I get anything going, I'll let you know what happens. Thanks again for your time and replies.
gadsden said:
Cool, thanks. I'll buy the premium and just try it out to see if I can do what I want. If I get anything going, I'll let you know what happens. Thanks again for your time and replies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even with Free version you can test all you want. I think premium is just for unlimited faces.

Categories

Resources