When 2014 started many were saying that is was going to be the year of the wearables. Everybody was expecting some crazy new innovations from Apple, Motorola, LG, Samsung and even Google on the software side. But things didn’t take off exactly as planned. Probably because many manufacturers weren’t exactly sure if it’s even worth making a wearable device; the people weren’t very sure if they needed one as I talked about here. This year things are looking a bit different and we’re finally getting some diversity on the market. And here are a few of the great competitors this year:
Moto 360
This one has to be here. It’s the smartwatch that started everything. It is one of the first truly great looking smartwatches that has an elegant touch to it. It resembles a normal watch, something a normal person would use in his everyday life, has a decent battery life, a cool charging dock and it has all the features of Android Wear. At the start of this year it’s still a really good choice and one that I often consider getting.
Pebble Time
Pebble was leading the smartwatch industry at one time because they offered simple, elegant products that got the job done. The notification from your phone, to your wrist. That’s it. No unnecessary apps, no option to remote control your new BMW, no ordering pizza from it, but all that resulted in a battery that would last for a whole week. And now Pebble adapts to the market bringing some color to their design. Or should I say, to their display. A new e-ink based color display and a new approach on the interface to make it a bit more intuitive organizing the events in time categories “past”, “present” and “future”, this still remains a choice for those who want something simple, durable and efficient with no added buzz.
Huawei Watch
This is another really worthy contender with a round screen. From a looks point of view, it’s a bit taller than the Moto 360 but has a slightly smaller screen so for those with smaller wrists, should be a really elegant fit. It comes with premium materials such as stainless steel, leather all those stuff that the Motorola has too. It’s not yea available to buy, bun when it will be (which is pretty soon) if the price is right it’s a great choice for those who like the design of the Moto 360 but dislike that “flat tire” black band at the bottom.
Withings Activitè
This is a smartwatch for those who don’t want a mobile phone strapped to their wrist, but do want something that is smarter than your average watch (sorry Yogi). There are a few really interesting aspects here: 1) it works with regular watch batteries and the manufacturer says that it will last around 8 months. And I find that reasonable enough. Secondly, this is more like a fitness tracker with a built-in meter to show you how close you are to your goal. It works with an app that’s available for both iOS and Android where it keeps all the health data that it records with its sensors, and it’s also the place where you can monitor progress and set your goals. It looks very elegant, nobody would really suspect how smart this watch really is and for those who like to start a healthier life style without looking too geeky, this is the watch to go for.
LG G watch Urbane
LG has been on the smartwatch game since Google released an Android version for wearables. They had a couple of smartwatches and this is their third one which looks the most refined of them all. With smartwatches there isn’t much to say about them: you have the same software on most of them, everything that’s using Android Wear has almost identical hardware so the only real difference in between watches is their design and which one you like the most. This has been the case with watches since they were invented, but the thing is that here you can get the same watch face on more than one device so it’s really down to the casing of the thing. And this has a really nice polished metal one, not as extravagant as the G watch R but slightly more bulky than the 360.
Apple watch
It can’t be a smartwatch list without including the Apple watch. Why? Well because except the Pebble Time and the Withings Activitè nothing on this list would work with an iOS device. And the Apple watch won’t work with anything Android so I guess that makes it even. The Apple watch will go on sale in about a week or two and while it does offer a nice interface with an interesting approach compared to Android Wear, it doesn’t offer anything to set in apart from the crowd. One thing that does set it apart is the price! There are a number of different models and sizes that you can get which range from ehem, $350 to $17.000. Yes, that is correct. No typo, it start and three hundred and fifty and goes all the way to seventeen thousand dollars. Is it a watch or a car?
So this is a short list of the main smartwatches that are out there in the market right now, or will be in the very close future. What do you think about smartwatches? Do you like them? Do you have one? Do you want one?
RaduThinks 