Smart watches - are they all terrible?

JonathanRyan

JonathanRyan

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So I'm running a lot less at the moment and my Fenix 6 pro is massive. I wanted a smaller watch and like getting WhatsApp messages without looking at my phone so I looked at the Google Pixel. Lots of sites call it the best Android Smart watch. It's very pretty and the Google Maps on your wrist is an absolute delight

After living with one for a couple of days (it's a trial one so it can go back) I've found a couple of glaring oversights by the techs. But the one I can't get over is the battery life. It's an alleged 24 hours and like all devices, quite a bit less if you actually use it.

So that means, either you don't use the much hyped sleep tracker and charge like a phone, or you charge it at least every day during the day. Recharge time seems a bit over an hour - so that's an hour every day leaving it on the curiously bespoke charger rather than wearing it,

Out of interest I checked Apple Watches - most (apart from the newest eye wateringly expensive ones) run for "up to" 18 hours. So, no sleep tracking for you.

The Galaxy 5 looks better but the reviews say "don't actually use it if you want a decent battery life". The 5 Pro is better but that's almost the size of my Fenix - and if I don't track sports, the battery on that lasts a month.

Anybody have a smart watch they are actually happy with? Or have the manufacturers made a major blunder around battery life?
 
I'm happy with the handmedown Apple 5 smartwatch I have. I don't actually use the health etc apps, on the basis that I know very well if I've slept ok or not, I have a proper blood pressure monitor, so it's only useful for counting steps and distance when I'm walking. But I guess many people want a lot more from a smartwatch?
 
Sadly I don't think anyone has perfected the ideal smartwatch yet.

I used various Garmin Fenix watches for years alongside an Apple Watch. I much preferred the screen and smartwatch facilities of the Apple Watch but the battery time drove me mad. The Fenix's would last for weeks rather than hours but we much more geared to activities rather than day to day wear. Now I am no longer running much at all I have gone for an Apple Watch Ultra and sold my Garmin. The battery is still way short of the Garmin but I can at least get two days out of it if I have to. Whilst it is a similar size to the Garmin it seems to wear smaller if that makes sense.
 
I've tried several. Garmin had decent battery life but the back of it I seemed to be allergic to. Software was mostly ok until it went stupid. Gave it away. Think that lasted 10-12 days between charges. Charger was a fiddly annoying idiot of a thing though.

Had a fit bit Versa. No allergic reaction to it. Software not too bad until one update basically ruined the battery life and that was that one into the drawer of shame. Sleep and activity tracking was the best of all of them. If it hadn't ruined itself I'd still be using it. You can set up alerts with it so it's almost apple watch useful but without the rubbish battery life. I'd usually get 6 or 7 days out of the Versa. I am not a runner though so I think if you use the GPS it toasts the battery more.

Cheap apple watch 3. Worst of all of them. Terrible battery life. Sleep tracking is nowhere near as sophisticated as the Fitbit was. It mostly tells the time which I don't need or tells me when the phone is ringing and who it is. That's the most useful bit of it. It also has the apple pay function which is on other devices with their own NFC but not supported by many UK banks so AW wins on that front. I usually get 2 days use out of the AW though so sleep tracking is possible. It's not worth having but it's possible.

It's the crap software that kills all of them, unfortunately. I have no idea how they manage to wreck them. Most don't offer a way of factory restoring the watch and keeping all the fitness data in the app. That's what stopped me with the Fitbit. I would have just reset and reinstalled and it probably would have been fine but to have it say all the data would then be deleted (lost it all the first time after having a warranty replacement on the first one) it's just annoying to lose it all again every so often. They may have found a way to keep it on later models or software. I don't know.
 
JonathanRyan said:
So I'm running a lot less at the moment and my Fenix 6 pro is massive. I wanted a smaller watch and like getting WhatsApp messages without looking at my phone so I looked at the Google Pixel. Lots of sites call it the best Android Smart watch. It's very pretty and the Google Maps on your wrist is an absolute delight

After living with one for a couple of days (it's a trial one so it can go back) I've found a couple of glaring oversights by the techs. But the one I can't get over is the battery life. It's an alleged 24 hours and like all devices, quite a bit less if you actually use it.

So that means, either you don't use the much hyped sleep tracker and charge like a phone, or you charge it at least every day during the day. Recharge time seems a bit over an hour - so that's an hour every day leaving it on the curiously bespoke charger rather than wearing it,

Out of interest I checked Apple Watches - most (apart from the newest eye wateringly expensive ones) run for "up to" 18 hours. So, no sleep tracking for you.

The Galaxy 5 looks better but the reviews say "don't actually use it if you want a decent battery life". The 5 Pro is better but that's almost the size of my Fenix - and if I don't track sports, the battery on that lasts a month.

Anybody have a smart watch they are actually happy with? Or have the manufacturers made a major blunder around battery life?
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Apple Watch no sleep tracking?

Strange thing to say because I use mine for sleep tracking every single night.

2B106495-D431-4B61-BEEF-0DF9FFE4226E.jpeg
 
srichards said:
Most don't offer a way of factory restoring the watch and keeping all the fitness data in the app. That's what stopped me with the Fitbit. I would have just reset and reinstalled and it probably would have been fine but to have it say all the data would then be deleted (lost it all the first time after having a warranty replacement on the first one) it's just annoying to lose it all again every so often. They may have found a way to keep it on later models or software. I don't know.
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I doubt it. Factory resetting means exactly that, clearing all the data.

Plus the fitness data is private and should be encrypted, and definitely be removed during a factory reset.
 
Mrs Nod has a Galaxy 3 (she thinks it's a 3!) which is reporting a day and a half of battery left in it. Gets plenty of use through the day.
 
SMART = Simply Moneymaking As Retail Therapy !

SIMPLE = Sparce Information Means Prices Less Expensive !
 
I've got an ancient Huawei band 4 and the battery is good for about 5 days. It might be too small for your needs but it does notifications, etc. and everything I need. It looks like the Band 6 and 7 have larger displays, but that might shorten battery life.
 
I have a Fossil Gen 5. It has been pretty good, no major complaints but the battery is starting to fail now, it is nearly 4 years old now, and it would never have lasted a full day anyways.

Charging I don't find to be an issue as I charge it over night. I tried using a sleep tracker and found that a) it didn't tell me anything I needed to know and b) I found it heavy and uncomfortable for sleeping, it needs some time off to avoid a stinky wrist.

I have turned off most notifications, getting a message often needs a reply so even if I am made aware of it by my watch first I still have to get out my phone to respond.

Step counting//heart rate monitoring is kinda useful but still a bit unnecessary for me, I am no athlete so the numbers don't mean a lot and I know myself if I have had a lazy day or an active one. Any exercise I do is on a bike so I record on strava via my phone and I am only really interested in distance/elevation/time.

I keep using it out of habit and because it was a gift from the missus, but when it finally dies I would have to think long and hard about replacing it or going back to analogue.
 
have an apple watch 8 now with my old 4 as backup.

Battery life typically poor but otherwise finding it very useful to partly monitor health issues. Find sleep tracking fine - managed to get nearer 7-8 hours sleep now rather than 4-5 before I got it.

Tried a gamin vivismart 4 before - didnt find it any use so returned it. Little control of pulse oxy function and so on.
 
piper said:
managed to get nearer 7-8 hours sleep now rather than 4-5 before I got it.
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Being something of a Luddite when it comes to tech gadgets, can you explain in fairly simple terms how the smart watch improved you sleep so dramatically?
Cheers.
 
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simon ess said:
Being something of a Luddite when it comes to tech gadgets, can you explain in fairly simple terms how the smart watch improved you sleep so dramatically?
Cheers.
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Because Apple / (insert other tech giant here) told you it does.
I really don't see the point. I don't need a watch to tell me I got a good nights sleep. Somehow the human race has managed without them for 100's of years.
Each to their own I guess.

I own three normal watches and very rarely wear those.
 
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piper said:
have an apple watch 8 now with my old 4 as backup.

Battery life typically poor but otherwise finding it very useful to partly monitor health issues. Find sleep tracking fine - managed to get nearer 7-8 hours sleep now rather than 4-5 before I got it.

Tried a gamin vivismart 4 before - didnt find it any use so returned it. Little control of pulse oxy function and so on.
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When I wake up I’m usually at a minimum of 75% battery. I think one of the benefits of the Apple Watch Ultra is a larger battery.
 
I had a Series 3, (2nd hand, from this forum) for 4 years and it lasted more than 24 hours on a charge. I now have an SE, which I think is Series 8 equiv? and get a day and a half plus out of it.

For me the notifications of calls and texts is brilliant, oh, and looking at the heart data in the morning to see that I haven’t died in the night.
 
Ricardodaforce said:
A few minutes ago after waking up.

Plenty of battery after waking up. Last charge was 23 hours ago.

View attachment 384750
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This was about 20% before I went to bed. Down from 65% in the morning and with a very brief charge.


Maybe there are some advantages to your walled garden. Or at least to paying £700 more for your watch than mine :)

Screenshot_20230325-072108.png
 
Mag1cp2x said:
Have a look at a Garmin Venu sq - a really good and robust watch with lots of features inc. health and activities and battery lasts for ages.
Edit. Excellent customer service too
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Thanks - for some reason, I just don't like square watches :) But the Venu 2 looks very nice indeed. Certainly a contender.
 
@JonathanRyan turn the PulseOx to sleep only (or off altogether) battery life on the Fenix 6 Pro improves dramatically (for me it's 6-7 days between charges) with 2-3 hours of GPS activity per day.
 
Husband had a Skagen e-ink display smartwatch for a while. 2 week battery life seemed okay. Think it didn't do the notifications thing quite as well as an lcd one.
 
sirch said:
I've got an ancient Huawei band 4 and the battery is good for about 5 days. It might be too small for your needs but it does notifications, etc. and everything I need. It looks like the Band 6 and 7 have larger displays, but that might shorten battery life.
Click to expand...

That's what I have, does the job for my needs [check time obviously, steps and heart beat. I rarely use anything beyond that, not sure the sleep monitor is very reliable. The charger for it is starting to come apart though so I have been looking to something a bit beefier - I like the look of this one:


Has some neat features, it's water proof, full charge apparently lasts up to 2 weeks and doesn't break the bank
 
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BethAtTheHug said:
Husband had a Skagen e-ink display smartwatch for a while. 2 week battery life seemed okay. Think it didn't do the notifications thing quite as well as an lcd one.
Click to expand...

Oo I hadn't seen those though Skagen are popping up in adverts for me now :) The Born doesn't seem widely available in the UK but Skagen make some awfully pretty smartwatches.

Cagey75 said:
That's what I have, does the job for my needs [check time obviously, steps and heart beat. I rarely use anything beyond that, not sure the sleep monitor is very reliable. The charger for it is starting to come apart though so I have been looking to something a bit beefier - I like the look of this one:


Has some neat features, it's water proof, full charge apparently lasts up to 2 weeks and doesn't break the bank
Click to expand...

Versions of this are popping up when I allow FB ads. It's exactly what baffles me - if a no name firm can make this with a battery that lasts 15 days then why are the Mighty Google so awful at battery life? Obviously the Pixel is miles ahead in style and probably functionality - it would be weird if Pixel wasn't the best Android wearable. But batteries are pretty well understood - how are they (and with the exception of the Utlra - Apple) losing so badly at them?
 
JonathanRyan said:
Oo I hadn't seen those though Skagen are popping up in adverts for me now :) The Born doesn't seem widely available in the UK but Skagen make some awfully pretty smartwatches.



Versions of this are popping up when I allow FB ads. It's exactly what baffles me - if a no name firm can make this with a battery that lasts 15 days then why are the Mighty Google so awful at battery life? Obviously the Pixel is miles ahead in style and probably functionality - it would be weird if Pixel wasn't the best Android wearable. But batteries are pretty well understood - how are they (and with the exception of the Utlra - Apple) losing so badly at them?
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Tbh, I often feel as though the 'cheap' Chinese models are as good as what you pay 4x for - I remember when Xiaomi and Huawei were considered cheap chinese 'knock offs' - they now make solid higher end smart phones to match the likes of Samsung for 1/2 the cost and are considered serious contenders. I saw a review on the watch I linked above and it was favourable, on one of the usual techy review YT channels - the only down side I remember was not having gps, so it might be as accurate as higher end ones that do include gps, but if I remember in the side by side testing it was barely out by a few steps
 
Cagey75 said:
Tbh, I often feel as though the 'cheap' Chinese models are as good as what you pay 4x for - I remember when Xiaomi and Huawei were considered cheap chinese 'knock offs' - they now make solid higher end smart phones to match the likes of Samsung for 1/2 the cost and are considered serious contenders. I saw a review on the watch I linked above and it was favourable, on one of the usual techy review YT channels - the only down side I remember was not having gps, so it might be as accurate as higher end ones that do include gps, but if I remember in the side by side testing it was barely out by a few steps
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Yes - they probably have shorter R&D cycles (often copying the leaders), possibly poorer paid staff, fewer marketing overheads and (even) more planned obsolescence that the big guys - many "knock off" phones never upgrade their version of Android. And if that fits what you want it's a bargain. I bought a rugged smart phone from Blackview and it was incredible for the cost but there was no residual value after 2 years.

But c'mon Google / Apple - a battery that doesn't last all day unless I pay you nearly a grand? Huawei will eat your market :)
 
JonathanRyan said:
Yes - they probably have shorter R&D cycles (often copying the leaders), possibly poorer paid staff, fewer marketing overheads and (even) more planned obsolescence that the big guys - many "knock off" phones never upgrade their version of Android. And if that fits what you want it's a bargain. I bought a rugged smart phone from Blackview and it was incredible for the cost but there was no residual value after 2 years.

But c'mon Google / Apple - a battery that doesn't last all day unless I pay you nearly a grand? Huawei will eat your market :)
Click to expand...

I have a Redmi Note pro 9 [Xiaomi] that I got 3 years back, they're still updating for it. It only recently it updated to their MIUI 13.0.5 OS. Before this Phone I had a Samsung Galaxy S7 that died after a splash of water hit it :/ This Redmi has been bounced, wet, trodden on! been in pockets with scratchy keys, coins etc and there's not a mark on it, still working like new - haven't felt the need to upgrade. And it was 1/4 the price of that S7 and IMHO just as good spec-wise - better even as I got 128GB over the 64 I had with that Sammy. I still use the camera on it for work purposes and it's solid enough for my needs.
 
'k Pixel is on its way back and I'm on a Galaxy 5 Amateur. So far, pretty decent. Not as pretty as a Pixel and somewhat larger (I went for 44mm for the battery life). Seems overall better ATM.

I'm getting tired of Samsung vs Google already though. The Pixel came with a trial sub to Fitbit pro and I actually quite like it but of course Fitbit doesn't run natively on the Galaxy - you have to use some 3rd party connection from Samsung Health. The same with the much hyped Google Fit - it supports "practically all" fitness platforms and unifies the data in one place. Of course "practically all" doesn't include anything that runs on a Samsung.

Possibly out of revenge, some of the more advanced features of the watch (ECG, Blood pressure, camera viewfinder) won't work because I don't have a Samsung phone......

It would be awfully nice if I could have whatever phone I wanted and whatever watch and for all the features of each to work.
 
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