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Some people like smartwatches, some don't. I thought it might be worthwhile to ask fellow Soylentists about a decent phonewatch. Maybe there is something nice out there?
About 1.5 years ago I replaced my old Nokia 5310c with an Omate Truesmart. The Omate has died this week - it fell for the third time from my desk, and this time it wouldn't charge (or connect to a PC) anymore. I guess that the USB wiring inside it got disconnected. So now I'm back to my old Nokia.
I was never completely happy with Omate: crappy software and not a single software update from the seller. Buggy apps desperately needed updates, which were in fact released by software authors, but not pushed as Omate updates. At least the Omate worked, and I was mildly content with that. I felt comfortable talking to it on my wrist. It made me pay attention to find a silent spot first, so that I troubled people less during my phone conversations. That was good, since I too hate listening other people yelling at their phones.
I never used a smartphone or a phablet because those are too big for my taste (my wife uses one and sort-of accepts it). I prefer smaller mobiles than bigger ones. They are supposed to be mobile after all, this is why I deliberately did not use the term "smartwatch" in the title because some companies think that smartwatch is "good enough" when it has a companion phone. Well, that is not the case for me, a phonewatch has to have a simcard slot in it. Also it must be able to record audio memos (e.g. to record some idea that I had), and a decent calendar. In fact I look forward to some opensource Ubuntu phonewatch, but it hasn't arrived yet. So until then I'll have to use something that might not be as good.
I looked into Samsung Gear S, but I am not entirely convinced. Do any of you fellow Soylentils had any experience with phonewatches?
Original Submission
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday June 22 2015, @12:04PM
Whats the battery life like on one of those watches? Yeah I know all marketing is lies. On one hand the display is smaller, on the other hand radios don't draw less current because they're physically small. Also if I carried my phone everywhere (which I do not) then I'd use it more, so the smaller display should be cancelled by higher use.
Anyway I checked one link and found a typical watch with 400 mAh battery, assuming the marketing is a lie but the tech specs are true, and my full size phone runs for about a day on 1800 mAh, I'm guessing you'd only get six or so practical hours between charges? Which brings up some questions about how mobile you really are if you can't survive more than a couple hours away from a charger. I've gone on longer nature trail hikes, I've been on shopping expeditions longer than that, I've gone to parties longer than that...
I have a fitbit that I charge once a week, every Thursday evening. When I can get a watch with a battery life like that, I'll consider it. I probably still won't buy it, still won't go back to wearing a watch, but at least I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand as being too inconvenient. I occasionally use my fitbit as a watch, after all, it does display the time and is always with me and is quite waterproof (even washer and dryer proof).
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 22 2015, @03:08PM
... I've gone on longer nature trail hikes,...
Isn't there a beanie with solar cells for that?