These are some of the things I like about the Smartwatch 3, and why I think it is the best watch on the market.
Top of the list has to be the waterproofing. I have been wearing watches for 25 years and they have always been waterproof so that I can jump into the pool or take a shower without having to worry about my watch. I have already been in the pool several times and the watch works fine, except that it loses bluetooth conection when it is under water, so it keeps vibrating every time it disconnects-reconnects. I wore it in the shower once and the water spray kept making the screen turn on, so it's not very practicle. Still, water has not gotten inside the watch so I consider that a win.
Due to the design of the band, the watch has the optical illusion of being thinner than it really is. The band hangs over the edge of the watch, and they put it at the top, so you can't see the watch body from most angles, and the watch looks as slim as the band.
I like how easy it is to remove the watch from the band, but it has to be removed from your wrist first, so there is no possibility of it falling out.
Here's another big favourite, the Transflective display. Basically the layer between the LCD and the backlight is reflective, so when the backlight is not on, ambient light reflects back making the LCD still visible. It is only greyscale in this mode, but even in direct sunlight, the screen is still easy to read. No, make that especially in direst sunlight. It also means that your wrist is not glowing all the time which makes going to the movies or wearing it to bed less of a problem.
The battery life is pretty good for a wear device. You would have to be a very heavy user to not be able to get through a workday on one charge. Personally I get more than 24 hours out of my watch, and it charges so fast. The other day I forgot to charge it and it was down to 10% when I left for work. Plugged it in in my car, and in the 20 minutes it took me to drive to work I was back upto 87%. My car charger is not a great one either, only about 1.3 amps.
I also love that it is a USB charger, I have USB chargers all over the place for my phone, and they charge my watch too.
The band is well made and comfortable. It is not a lint magnet like most of the reviews say, that only happens when it is new. And frankly, it's waterproof. It can be washed.
Like a supercharged V8, the power is there when I need it. Voice commands can be a little slow, but that must be due to the data limits of bluetooth, because everything else on the watch is fast and responsive.
The other thing I like about it is Android Wear. Google now integration, voice commands, wear apps, and integration with apps on your phone. I've only had it for 2 weeks, and if I had to do without it I would not be happy.
I guess it's nice that it can play music to bluetooth headphones, and has GPS, but those are two features that I wont be using. I have tried them though, and they don't work that well. If either of those features are why you are looking at this watch, then you have to accept that it is bleeding edge stuff. For example, I tested the GPS when I went for a run the other day, and it took more than 2 minutes to get a GPS fix. Also the distance updates in spurts, but reviewing the map afterwards, it seemed pretty accurate. I expect the smartwatch 4 will do this better though.
The rest of what I like about this watch are 3rd party app features that would be the same on any wear watch, except that they work better on this watch because it's faster.
Top of the list has to be the waterproofing. I have been wearing watches for 25 years and they have always been waterproof so that I can jump into the pool or take a shower without having to worry about my watch. I have already been in the pool several times and the watch works fine, except that it loses bluetooth conection when it is under water, so it keeps vibrating every time it disconnects-reconnects. I wore it in the shower once and the water spray kept making the screen turn on, so it's not very practicle. Still, water has not gotten inside the watch so I consider that a win.
Due to the design of the band, the watch has the optical illusion of being thinner than it really is. The band hangs over the edge of the watch, and they put it at the top, so you can't see the watch body from most angles, and the watch looks as slim as the band.
I like how easy it is to remove the watch from the band, but it has to be removed from your wrist first, so there is no possibility of it falling out.
Here's another big favourite, the Transflective display. Basically the layer between the LCD and the backlight is reflective, so when the backlight is not on, ambient light reflects back making the LCD still visible. It is only greyscale in this mode, but even in direct sunlight, the screen is still easy to read. No, make that especially in direst sunlight. It also means that your wrist is not glowing all the time which makes going to the movies or wearing it to bed less of a problem.
The battery life is pretty good for a wear device. You would have to be a very heavy user to not be able to get through a workday on one charge. Personally I get more than 24 hours out of my watch, and it charges so fast. The other day I forgot to charge it and it was down to 10% when I left for work. Plugged it in in my car, and in the 20 minutes it took me to drive to work I was back upto 87%. My car charger is not a great one either, only about 1.3 amps.
I also love that it is a USB charger, I have USB chargers all over the place for my phone, and they charge my watch too.
The band is well made and comfortable. It is not a lint magnet like most of the reviews say, that only happens when it is new. And frankly, it's waterproof. It can be washed.
Like a supercharged V8, the power is there when I need it. Voice commands can be a little slow, but that must be due to the data limits of bluetooth, because everything else on the watch is fast and responsive.
The other thing I like about it is Android Wear. Google now integration, voice commands, wear apps, and integration with apps on your phone. I've only had it for 2 weeks, and if I had to do without it I would not be happy.
I guess it's nice that it can play music to bluetooth headphones, and has GPS, but those are two features that I wont be using. I have tried them though, and they don't work that well. If either of those features are why you are looking at this watch, then you have to accept that it is bleeding edge stuff. For example, I tested the GPS when I went for a run the other day, and it took more than 2 minutes to get a GPS fix. Also the distance updates in spurts, but reviewing the map afterwards, it seemed pretty accurate. I expect the smartwatch 4 will do this better though.
The rest of what I like about this watch are 3rd party app features that would be the same on any wear watch, except that they work better on this watch because it's faster.
