The Smart Watch Poll

I voted D, but not because I don’t care. They are the future and the present, but they are not for me. 
 

The same reason that people tell me they don’t need a mechanical watch, ”because my phone tells the time” is the same reason I don’t need an Apple Watch. I like mechanical, have never owned a smart watch and have no intentions of owning one. 

Not for me but I totally understand why they are so appealing to some people. My Dad rocks a smartwatch everyday and my partner has one she primarily uses as a fitness tracker. 

I did try one out but it didn't last long. I had a 2nd gen Moto 360 (probably still have it discarded in a box somewhere) was one of the first with a round screen, looked much less smartwatchy at a glance and I enjoyed it for a couple of months. 

A smart watch is basically just an extension of your phone and in my mind is a completely different accessory to a watch, but as you have to choose one or the other I'll stick with my dumb watches 😁

If i ever go complete smartwatch (never go complete smartwatch), it would be to ditch the phone, not the mechanical/quartz watch. 

Such a device would need to have:

• Do not Disturb mode
• Work like a phone for calls/texts
• Accept speech to text at a better accuracy rate than now 
• Have a multi-week battery that can be replaced when the time comes 
• Also, I need 1000% control of who can contact me. So when I give my number to someone, it can't be sold or given to anyone else. 

So simply for the last one, I will never go full smartwatch. 

I wore one every day for a couple years before getting into mechanical, etc. watches. I found it quite useful and appreciated the techy aspect of it. But I also appreciate the engineering and artistry that go into traditional watches. I believe they can coexist. 

I'm too lazy to keep it charged. Rather just charge a phone. Tech gets old and out dated or no support because it's too old. Hell I deal with that already with my smartphone lol. But not my mechanical or quartz watches. Anyway I'll use the money on watches that will give me pleasure for years or decades to come. Smart watches are here to stay and yes will be part of horological history. Not a smart watch hater. Yawn I just don't care.

cheers!

P.S. I do like your smart watch. Like the display!

Cheers!

My favorite smartwatch, and the one that I added to my collection, is the Frederique Constant Horological Smartwatch Gents Classic...I wore this watch everyday for at least a year (when I was focused on counting my steps and meeting daily exercise goals - done with that kind of recordkeeping)...it's a beautiful watch and does the job much better than a fitbit. I have no need to have people pinging me on my wrist with messages - nothing is that important and it's a constant distraction that reduces efficiency and effectiveness...don't believe that marketing that it is a productivity tool.

I moved back to mechanical and other watches to enjoy the variety of wearing a different watch each day. Whatever makes you happy...life is short enough...

I have a smart watch, the Amazefit, with a week battery life. Really 15 days without constant use. 

I wear it more than any other watch. Every time I work out (and that's a must for health reasons). I wear it. I can't not. 

The data it provides is simply too valuable to ignore. It's helped me lose 30 lbs. 

I've said it before, smart watches are the tool watches of our time. Extremely useful and meant to be discarded. 

But I tell you what. Nowadays, if I don't see an apple watch, I see no watch at all. 90% of people don't bother wearing watches. 

Garmin … for runs and swims , garmin 530 head unit for serious bike rides , and a nice watch for normal daily life when I’m a fancy fellow.   no chance I’m wearing a an automatic on a 20km run, no chance I’m wearing a smartwatch doing anything that’s not a workout 

I wear an apple watch during workout and sometimes I also wear double wrist.

The sales record already proves that part of the people has already joined, but I don't believe they rival our automatic watches, because I do believe the full-time wearers are new customers who have never loved watches so much before.

Those who like automatics will never replace it for a smart watch!

Smartwatches for exercise - traditional watches for all other times.

Apple Watch ultra got me through my latest marathon with music, pace alerts, the odd message of support. Invaluable.

Smart watches are a cool gadget to own, but personally I don't find a specific reason to own one.  It's pretty much a phone on your wrist. 

I said "yes they are the future" because I believe that they are - wearable tech is here to stay. But I don't particularly like them. I gave away my galaxy watch. But I miss a couple of features of it. I may buy an inexpensive sw for those features. 

Galaxy 4 on the right wrist,  watch of the day on the left. Easy peasy.

I like the idea in theory, but I just don't like the experience of touch screens and the form factor is still clunkier than I'd like. I also have privacy concerns about the app dependence.

The concept of "inclusive luxury" is often heard now on watch media, talking about traditional watch brands, the idea being that the industry moves from a buttoned-up bunch to embrace 2023 vibes of coolness.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Even if way more people get into analog displaywatches now than 10 years ago, it remains a topic of interest for a very small minority, even if some brands are genuinely cool (think Studio Underd0g). World population is 8 billion, total 2021 Swiss watch production was 15.7 million units (0.2 % of humans get one)

If you remove sub $200 quartz watches (ie many Swatch watches) and consider that the "nice watch" game starts with the Seiko 5, you will see that even considering a non-snobbish brand like Oris puts you in a quite exclusive club. And I'm not even talking about a €7 k Omega SpeedMaster.

On the other hand, few models are as inclusive as the highly addictive smart watches. Even people who can't afford shoes fancy Apple Watches.

I've had a couple of Samsung smart watches and in about 3 years time the watch is so slow and restarts so much and drains the battery so quickly. It's not even worth it..

It's obviously the question of 'what is watch to you?'. If a watch is 'everythinghaving tool', smartwatch is a natural choice - functionality can be changed dynamically as needed. But if a watch is a companion, something you actually care about, I don't think it's a good choice (again, it's just my opinion based on my CURRENT feeling)? Electronic devices have a very short lifespan so naturally it's hard to establish an emotional connection, if anything, it's a very unhealthy addiction to dopamine, same as all other screens in our lives. I am trying to reset my life to the point where a smartwatch will be on my wrist only during sport exercises where vital metrics are stored (gps, heartrate, ECG) but for the rest of the time, even during hikes in the mountains it will be a mechanical watch (for now it's my beloved Hamilton Khaki Field automatic). 

I currently don't care for smart watches at the moment, but I think it'll be inevitable for them to be in my rotation or even be my daily wear down the line when I get older given their health sensors. My mom was alerted by her Apple Watch about a possible heart issue which she got checked and dealt with proactively which probably saved her life. So given 20-30 years down the line, I imagine having a smart wearable of some sort will probably be an essential, I just hope it will be in the form of something other than a watch haha

Smart watch?

I can't even bring myself to buy a quartz watch...

I've had a fitness tracker and turned off all notifications. Unfortunately it really wasn't all that accurate, and provide little value, as my excercise routine is fairly constant.

Once a smartwatch can replace a smartphone, at which point it would be a no-brainer, my eyesight might be poor enough that it doesn't matter.

But I really think that the future is "no watch", as the smartphone seems to remain the benchmark.

Such devices to me are gadgets, an extension of my phone. I carry that everywhere and don't see a need for that extension. Plus I'm probably on my phone too much as it is. I don't need to enable that more. 

I'll probably never get one.  Can't wear it at work, and with my eyesight a lot of the geewhiz functions would get little to no use.  Besides, for the price of a new smartwatch I could get a "real" watch I'd much rather have anyways.   

I go back and forth.  

I'm a complete luddite in most facets of my life, and probably know how to use 10% of what my Garmin can actually do, but I really like that 10%.  

But... sometimes I like to go back to vintage-style mechanical dive watches to cosplay as Albert Falco...  (red beanie, speedo, Seadweller, you know the look)

Smart watch is a mini super computer. It is not a watch.  I draw the line at any piece that needs an external power source as uninteresting.  I own quartz watches for convenience but they don't interest me. Nor do smart watches.

Wear a smartwatch everyday on my left wrist and something analog on my right.  Dont really think of the smartwatch as a watch at all, its a fitness tracker that could just as easily be a ring, or a bracelet, or a pair of smartglasses.

That last part is why Im pretty sanguine on the idea the smartwatch will replace the watch - in the end smartwatches are only valued for their utility and the second something comes that's more useful they'll get ditched.

The option wasn’t there, but I wear both every day and have for 7 years or so. 

I've used some years ago. The very first one with a proper OS in it, Moto 360 and right after that an LG which was their first smartwatch and it was pretty solid. Still have them both in drawer  btw and LG one is still working (I believe). But after sometime both of them were gone. LG stop getting charge properly and Moto is almost dead completely because of the battery and the display. So, they have a life time way less than a mechanical watch. Some people might fing getting notifications on their wrist pretty helpful but i don't like it. I don't wanna say strictly but smartwatches not for me anymore. 

100% agree.  No one notices until you bring it up. 

I'll wear my smart watch for workouts and fitness tracking or just wear them for fun. Other times, back to my mechanical and digital watches.

Or I can do both wrist. Smartwatch on one and whatever I feel like on the other. Sounds fun! LOL