With Oculus VR headsets and Portal video conferencing smart displays, Facebook is increasingly becoming a hardware maker. One Facebook product reportedly in the pipeline is a smartwatch that’s trying to compete with Google-owned Fitbit and the Apple Watch.
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With new hardware and software options that continue to get better and better, there’s no time like the present to buy a smartwatch. While iOS users are pretty limited in what they could buy, Android users have too many choices to count. Not sure where to start looking? Let’s go over some of the best options…
It’s hard to convince someone why they should buy a smartwatch. One argument might be for notifications, payments, or apps, and another might be for fitness. In many cases, today’s smartwatches fall into one of those two categories. However, Samsung’s new Gear Sport bridges the gap with impressive fitness features paired with the company’s excellent Tizen wearable OS.
When it comes to smartwatches for Android, nearly all of the great options are powered by Google’s Android Wear OS. One of the few outliers though, was Mobvoi’s Ticwatch 2. With the latest generation, however, the company is making the switch, and you can get yours for a very affordable price.
When smartwatches first debuted, most people saw them as the futuristic wearable we always wanted. Early adopters loved options like the Pebble, first generation of Android Wear, and more. However, it seems like those early adopters might have been the only ones who were interested.
Smartwatches aren’t a necessity, and that makes them a tough sell for many customers. Paying $200+ for a watch with a display that shows notifications and lasts a couple of years vs buying an inexpensive normal watch that lasts basically forever just doesn’t make sense for a lot of people.
Earlier this year Michael Kors revealed a new selection of Android Wear smartwatches in two styles. The “Dylan,” a watch for men, features a sporty look, with the all-metal “Bradshaw” being aimed at women. Now, they are finally available, both starting at $350 only in retail stores. They are available in 18 countries including the US and UK…
Most watches have received the Android Wear 1.5 update at this point, but now we’ve spotted the first report of the update hitting the Fossil Q Founder. Still based on Android 6.0.1, the Android Wear 1.5 update contains just a few incremental tweaks…
Android Wear 2.0 went official following Google I/O and as we learn everything it’s capable of, we’re also finding out who will and will not get it. Just like with previous updates, just about everyone will be getting it, but this time around Google is dropping two models, the original LG G Watch and the 1st generation Moto 360.
Back at Google I/O 2016, Google took the wraps off of Android Wear 2.0. The Mountain View company has added a lot of new features in this version, but one thing we’ve noticed is that — despite many hands-on articles and videos floating around — most publications haven’t really shown everything that Android Wear 2.0 really has to offer.
Let’s fix that. Follow along with us as we dive into everything you already know and everything you might not already know about Android Wear 2.0…
We’ve seen dozens of smartwatches hit the market over the past couple years, but none of them have yet to be a real runaway hit. Just about every major OEM has one on the market, so with all of those options out there, it’s tough for smaller companies to get their chance in the game — or at least, that’s what OnePlus thinks.
According to OnePlus CEO Pete Lau, the company not only was considering a smartwatch, they also had a completed design. But as we know, they decided not to release it (via WSJ).
While the Pebble smartwatch range may not compete with the more sophisticated Android Wear watches in terms of functionality or display quality, it can be a good option for those who want multi-day battery-life. Third-party company Powerstrap is now aiming to boost that life even further with a powered strap that claims to add a full week of power through a 250mAh battery, as well as an on-board GPS module.
Rumors of an HTC-made smartwatch have been around for quite some time. In fact, in the build up to last year’s HTC One M9 launch, it was expected that the company would announce an Android Wear device — or smartwatch of some kind — alongside 2015’s all-metal gold-tinted flagship. Instead, the company showed off its Vive VR headset and a fitness band. Now, it looks like its smartwatch plans are close to fruition.
Albeit still not as popular as smartphones, smartwatches are indeed making their way to the market as gadgets with ever increased functionalities — like the recently announced CoWatch and its Amazon Alexa integration — but at the same time trying to appeal to classic timepiece customers as well.
Samsung is an OEM trying to please both audiences: according to The Korea Herald, Swiss watchmaker de Grisogono has confirmed to be working with the consumer electronics giant again in order to bring to the market a luxury version of the yet-to-be-announced Gear S3, supposedly coming next March…
After the big splash made by smartphones and then, albeit with less of an impact, tablets, various forms of smartwatches have tried to sneak in into everyone’s digital life. As companies like Google and Apple try to extend their reach with increasingly bigger ecosystems that attempt to lock users in, the smartwatch race may prove to be an important area, despite the generally lukewarm reception consumers seem to have so far given.
Indeed, much like with chatbots, companies like Microsoft and Amazon may be interested in having a part of their services used right on your wrist, and while not directly coming from the Seattle company, it looks like Alexa may be your next wearable’s digital assistant. iMCO and Chronologics, the two companies behind the project, seem to be on track to deliver the “CoWatch” smartwatch, and have started an Indiegogo campaign that already raised over $10,000 in the first day of debut…
The LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE — yeah, that’s a mouthful of a name isn’t it? — is back. The Android Wear smartwatch that was supposed to debut the latest version of Google’s smartwatch software all the way back in November of last year was pulled from sale just days after it became available. LG eventually confirmed that the device was suffering a quality issue with a display component, but it was unclear what the device’s future would be.
Now, it seems that the Korean company has relaunched the LTE-enabled smartwatch…
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IDC’s latest report is out today with new estimates based on worldwide wearable shipments, and in it is a prediction that Apple Watch will hold the market lead this year and through 2020 as Android Wear begins to close the gap.
While the report shows estimates based on overall wearable shipments, which IDC says will go from 72.2 million last year to 100 million in 2016 for watch and wristband products, it also shows a breakdown of estimates for leading smartwatch platforms by operating system…
Following the introduction of the TAG Heuer Android Wear watch late last year— the first of the major Swiss brands to launch a full-fledged smartwatch— TAG’s parent company says Hublot will likely be its next brand to receive smartwatch features. Bloomberg reports:
Nixon is the latest traditional fashion watch maker to announce an Android Wear product, joining the likes of Fossil and Casio in hopping onboard the smartwatch train. And if the promotional pre-launch media is anything go by, this will be a beastly device built for those of us who like living on the edge.
A $17 smartwatch sold on eBay that pairs to both Android and iOS devices was found by a security researcher to be sending data back to an unidentified serve in China, reports The Register.
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Qualcomm has announced a brand new processor designed specifically for smartwatches and wearables. The Snapdragon 2100 has been developed to enable manufacturers to create thinner smartwatches with longer-lasting batteries, and make it easier to design watches that don’t need to be tethered to phones.
Robinhood is easily the best app for buying and trading stocks (at pretty much no cost upfront), but it doubles as one of the best Android apps for tracking stocks as well. Now, the Robinhood experience is coming to the wrist via recently-announced (via Android Police) Android Wear support…
