SMART WATCH

[julie22]

I have an old fitbit, and want to upgrade. The two options I am looking at are the Fitbit Versa or an Apple Watch Version 3. I also want a something that looks attractive

From research on the internet, the Apple Watch is more costly and has a much shorter battery life, but looks nicer!!! Does anyone have an Apple watch.... what features do you use, not use.

[El Cid]

The Apple watch is way ahead of any of the other Smart Watches - but at a serious price. It is almost the equivalent of having an iPhone on your wrist.

The Fitbits are good and much cheaper with fewer facilities. If you just want a fitness tracker, the Fitbits are good, and the new versions are a big upgrade.

My wife and I have Fitbits. She has the Alta HR and I have the Fitbit Charge 2. I recently upgraded mine to the iWatch 4 and it is an amazing bit of kit. I am amazed just what it will do. Today they upgraded it with the ability to do an ECG and check for heart problems (which, sadly is very important to me). It even recognized if you fall over and come up with a screen to enable you to call an ambulance.

I expect you are aware of this, but you really need an iPhone to get the best out of it as it piggy backs on the iPhone for most of its facilities. There is a version with a mobile SIM in it, but that is €100 more and you will have to pay for a mobile contract for the SIM.

Battery life on mine is just under 48 hours so I recharge it every day when I am having breakfast.

I can receive and send emails, Whatsapp, SMS etc. Access my contacts, make and receive phone calls, play music via headphones or a Bluetooth speaker, use as it as a Satnav - the list is endless.

The earlier version lacks some features and has a smaller useable display, but is on offer at the moment at a lower price than V4.


Sid

[costakid]

The hands free on the iwatch is better and clearer than my E Pace Jaguar. Amazing piece of kit.

[julie22]

Thank you both for your quick replies. I was erring on the side of a fitbit, but now seriously considering the apple watch, I have an iphone.

Can I ask you both where you purchased your watches, the nearest apple store is over 90 minutes drive from my house.

[Beachcomber]

Being someone who has an absolute aversion to Apple and anything with an 'i' in its name I am on the point of buying this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ticwatch-Smart ... op?ie=UTF8

I am holding off for the moment because it seems there may be an updated version in the pipeline.

[costakid]

Thank you both for your quick replies. I was erring on the side of a fitbit, but now seriously considering the apple watch, I have an iphone.

Can I ask you both where you purchased your watches, the nearest apple store is over 90 minutes drive from my house.

Apple store online.

[El Cid]

I usually buy online, but this time I wanted to try one for size so I went to El Corte Ingles and bought it there.

I felt the 44mm version was just too big so went for the 40mm. The iWatch 3 comes in 38 and 42mm sizes. The iWatch 4 is therefore 2mm bigger in both sizes, but the new display technology gives much more usable screen space compared to the old one. Comparing the 38 v3 to the 40 v4, the difference is very significant.

The standard straps are pretty basic plastic, but the better ones cost a huge amount extra. I like the "Milanese Loop" stainless steel strap, but Apple will charge you €140 for that. I bought an exact copy on Amazon for €12.

Sid

[casita-bonita]

Not quite in the iwatch league but I just bought one of these to try out.

https://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B07GCB ... UTF8&psc=1

I'm not overly interested in phone integration, although it does do notifications and music control.

Nor do I want something that has a plethora of different training functions which I would never use, although it does have a bunch of these that I haven't figured out yet.

What swung it for me is that along with pulse rate it also measures blood pressure. There seems to be very few watches that do this, at least according to the search I did on amazon. So far the BP readings correlate pretty well with my cuff BP monitor.

Still early days but the app seems pretty usable and informative.

[El Cid]

What swung it for me is that along with pulse rate it also measures blood pressure. There seems to be very few watches that do this, at least according to the search I did on amazon.

That's because the technology to do it and get FDA approval is very difficult. As far as I know, the only one that does is the Omron and that uses an inflatable cuff in the watch band.

Sid

[casita-bonita]

Came across the omron while searching. Makes the Iwatch seem cheap.

Obviously my watch doesn't have FDA approval. But at the end of the day I have a cuff monitor I can use if the watch indicates anything unusual going on, which for me is blood pressure going to high while exercising. By exercising I mean walking the hilly campo tracks, not pumping iron in a gym.

[julie22]

Thanks for the replies. I think I will need to make the long trip to the Apple Store, as I am reluctant to purchase online as I want to 'try on' the different sizes. I initially selected the Iwatch Version 3, as it could track my fitness and also swimming, and of course it was cheaper!!! After reading the comments I think I might opt for the Version 4!!!!!

Useful to know that there are watch straps on Amazon, the Apple store does have some beautiful straps.....but at a price!!!!