Find the right WATCH for your wrist
The smartwatch has
come a long way. It has evolved from being a geeky indulgence to a stylish
wearable that packs in some practical applications. …
APPLE WATCH
SERIES 4
The Apple Watch has become the gold standard in smart
‘lifestyle’ gadgetry. Since its first appearance in 2015, it has seen steady
improvements with each iteration: The Series 2 boasted of a brighter screen,
larger battery, built-in GPS, and went from being splash resistant to water
resistant—up to 50 metres—for swims.
With Series 3 (2017), Apple announced an ‘eSIM’ model that let
you answer calls, send messages and stream music without having your iPhone in
proximity; you got extra 256MB RAM, 16GB (up from 8GB) storage in LTE models,
and a built-in altimeter to measure elevation.
Now with Series 4, the Watch sees one of its biggest upgrades.
This year, Apple has ditched the 38mm and 40mm sizes for 40mm and 44mm models.
The Watches have a thinner bezel, allowing Apple to fit a larger display on its
40mm model than what was possible on the older 42mm model. This allows for new
watch faces with extra complications. Also, the near edge-to-edge display makes
for a more pleasing aesthetic.
Again, with Series 4, you can opt for cellular connectivity via
eSIMs. In India, Apple has tied up with Airtel and Jio; this means you can use
this feature only if you subscribe to one of these providers.
When it comes to health, the Series 4 now has an ECG feature
baked into its rotatable crown; this, besides the heart rate sensor at the back
of the dial. The ECG app has obtained FDA approval and the
service will be available in the US soon. But in India, even though the Watch
supports ECG, we will not be able to use it just yet.
The Watch 4 also has an accelerometer that detects up to 32
G-forces as opposed to the 16 G-force sensor in older Watches. This is for its
new fall-detection feature: When someone trips, their swinging arms generate
high “G” (gravity) forces when they slam against the ground on impact. Apple
uses its gyroscope and accelerometer to detect these instances to send out an
SOS message to family and first responders. This feature could be of possible
use to folk who have aged and ailing family members.
To connect it to your iPhone—through the Watch app—you
have to use the handset’s camera to scan the graphic that appears on the
smartwatch screen and you’re done. After it’s paired, it stays connected.
As far as apps go, the Watch has a bouquet to choose from in categories
such as fitness, weather, productivity, news, photography, astrology, education
and reference that are customised for its display.
With the new Watch OS 5, you also get a walkie-talkie app to
communicate with other Watch users—over cellular or Wi-Fi—from your Contacts
list.
The crown on the side of its screen lets you customise watch
faces or scroll through options. Press this once, and it presents a
beehive-like view of all your Watch apps. Long press, and Siri is
activated; you can swipe the screen for notifications, its heartrate
monitor, Breathe app, activity tracker, weather report and
more.
You can transfer songs from your iPhone to the Watch’s 16GB
storage and play them via Bluetooth headphones, so you don’t need to carry the
handset on jogs.
A button below the crown gives you access to recently-used apps.
You can remotely—via Bluetooth—trigger the camera app on your phone to shoot
photos or a video. The Watch can be set to display alerts for messages, email,
appointments, social networks and phone calls. And you can even dictate replies
to messages. The Watch understands punctuation when you say “full stop” and
“comma”, which makes all the difference when composing messages. Plus, you get
Apple’s voice assistant Siri, which understands Indian accents.
Its mic lets you answer calls, while its speaker is capable of
sound that’s loud enough to carry out short phone conversations. Take it off
your wrist and the Watch locks to protect your data. It can only be unlocked by
the passcode you have set.
Simply, the Apple Watch Series 4 is by far the best smartwatch
there is. It works flawlessly and lets you get quite a few things done:
‘like’ Instagram pics, see recent tweets, reply to SMS, check
your calendar, measure your physical activity and more. On the downside, you
have to charge it every day.
Starts at ₹40,900 (GPS), ₹49,900 (GPS +
Cellular)
SAMSUNG GALAXY
WATCH
Over the last five years, Samsung’s smartwatch has transitioned
from being a clunky wearable that could be paired only with its flagship
handsets to a sleeker version that now works with Android and iOS. At the same
time, the company moved from the Android OS to an open-source platform called
Tizen.
This year’s Galaxy Watch—available in 42mm and 46mm sizes—is a
follow up to 2017’s Gear Sport, but it also incorporates some of the design
elements of the two-year-old Gear S3. It sports a metal body with a Gorilla
Glass DX+ screen for scratch resistance; it carries a 50-metre water-resistance
rating as well as a MILSTD-810G certification for durability, and its
underside, which sports an optical heart rate sensor, is coated with a layer of
tough polycarbonate. It also sports a dial, which can be rotated to scroll
through apps, notifications and read long messages. You also get two buttons on
its side that let you return to the home screen or navigate backwards one step
at a time. The circular watch face with the metal trimmings gives it a formal
appearance, while the rugged build allows you to use it as a sturdy fitness
band.
Barring the 1.1GHz Exynos 9910 dualcore processor, the Galaxy
Watch is similar to its predecessor: You get 4GB internal storage (of which
1.5GB is free) along with NFC, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for connectivity, as well as
GPS to track your location without the handset.
Pairing the Galaxy Watch with a smartphone requires the Galaxy
Wearable app for Android and Samsung Galaxy Watch app
for iOS. With Android, we also had to install a plug-in and an “accessory
service” tool from the Play Store.
Once connected, you will also have to create a Samsung account.
This is necessary to install apps from the Galaxy Apps store on the Watch. Its
app will also let you manage storage, change watch faces, sync photos, music
and more. On the downside, you cannot configure the Watch to save your step
count, heart rate, sleep patterns, etc to Apple Health or Google
Fit. Instead, you have to install the S Health app and
sign in with your newly-created Samsung account.
Besides S Health, the Galaxy Watch comes pre-loaded
with apps like Samsung Flow to
share content between compatible Samsung tablets/computers and
your phone, PPT Controller to remotely control presentations
on a Bluetooth-enabled laptop, Flipboard and ESPN for
news updates. You also get options to sound an alarm, set a voice reminder, add
widgets on the screen for quick access, view appointments, reorder apps with a
tap-and-drag, etc.
Apart from these functions, the Watch can be used as a
standalone music player (after pairing it with a Bluetooth headset).
The Galaxy Watch works seamlessly with a Samsung handset, but it
was a mixed bag with other brands. We received notifications on the iPhone, but
we were unable to respond to them from the Galaxy Watch or answer phone calls;
also, transferring music is a tedious process. When paired with a OnePlus
handset, the Galaxy Watch kept breaking its connection, though it worked
decently with an Honor smartphone: It let us answer calls from our wrist, reply
to messages with templated answers and initiate web searches.
The Watch comes with Bixby, Samsung’s voice
assistant, which lets you set a reminder or an alarm. It even understands
punctuations, but is inconsistent with Indian accents and unable to perform
actions that involve third-party apps – like WhatsApp, Google Keep, Twitter –
installed on the phone.
Since the watch does not natively support Android apps on your
phone, it is not possible to navigate with Google Maps, send Whats-App messages,
etc. That said, you will receive notifications from all these apps and be able
to respond to most of them.
Currently, there are many watch-face customisations and health
tools available on Samsung’s Galaxy Apps store for the Tizen platform, but it
still lacks support for popular services like Instagram, Facebook,
Twitter and WhatsApp.
On the battery front, you can get up to three days of basic use
– notifications, step count, sleep and intermittent GPS tracking, weather, news
updates, etc – before needing a recharge.
₹24,990 (42mm), ₹29,990 (46mm)
FITBIT IONIC
& VERSA
Both these Fitbits boast of tough builds—comprising aluminium
and Gorilla Glass 3—that are rated to be waterproof, so you can even wear them
when you swim. The Ionic and the Versa come with 1.42- and 1.34-inch
touchscreens respectively and give you about 4-days of use on a fully charged
battery. The Ionic has an extra GPS chip for outdoor runs, but this feature is
known to drain the battery so we recommend you use it sparingly.
The Fitbits are designed to auto-detect your activity to give
you a reading of your calorie burn. But for more accurate measurements, you
also get the option to manually choose from different exercises: run, bike,
swim, treadmill, weights, etc. Based on the mode you choose, the Ionic and
Versa recalibrate how they interpret data from their sensors.
If you need guidance, Fitbit’s Coach feature provides with
preset ‘timed’ exercises for warmups and workouts. The display gives you mini
demos of the actions you have to replicate, while the watches record your
metrics.
You can also transfer nearly 300 songs to the wearables – you
will need the PC app for this – and listen to these via Bluetooth earphones
during your workout. Both devices store motion data for up to a week, and
automatically sync with your handset when it’s near.
Now, Fitbit has been a front runner in fitness wearables, and
its app is testament to its experience in this area. It interprets the data
from the watches to present it in a way that can be understood and worked upon.
Its main screen provides you with a dashboard for your weekly exercise, sleep
patterns, heart rate, steps per day (split into hourly targets), weight chart,
water as well as food consumption (you will need to add these two values
manually and the app will calculate your overall wellbeing). Women can also add
a widget to track menstrual cycles, fertility windows and related symptoms
under a section called Female Health.
The app explains what each reading means in the context of the
user. For instance, after measuring your sleep, it will not only give you a
reading of the different stages: awake, REM, light and deep sleep, but it will
also explain the role they play in your wellbeing.
You can set bedtime reminders that encourage you to wind down
when it’s time to sleep. After measuring your heart rate, the app will also
provide you with a personalised Cardio Fitness score to show you where you
stand in comparison to people of the same age group and sex. The Ionic and
Versa is meant for committed fitness buffs who want advanced features to better
understand their bodies. The app greatly adds to the efficacy of its watches as
a fitness companion.
Starts at ₹22,700 (Ionic), ₹17,000 (Versa)
Savio D’Souza and Ashutosh Desai
TOI 10NOV18
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