Will there ever be a smart watch?

[MontyBiggles]

As a Pebble Steel user I really had hoped FitBit would make a really nice smart watch by now to replace my pebble steel but everything FitBit make looks so plastic.

Using expertise from Pebble and Vector they have all the cards to come up with a really nice business looking smart watch! What's going on?

Fitbit seem intent on churning out cheap looking fitness trackers and this new blaze watch is not attractive, I’m sorry but they look like kids watches.

Are there any rumors of a smart watch in the pipeline or should I start looking elsewhere?

I really had big hopes for FitBit!

[mariossp]

Are you referring to the Blaze or to the Ionic?

[shipo]

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@MontyBiggles wrote:

As a Pebble Steel user I really had hoped FitBit would make a really nice smart watch by now to replace my pebble steel but everything FitBit make looks so plastic.

Using expertise from Pebble and Vector they have all the cards to come up with a really nice business looking smart watch! What's going on?

Fitbit seem intent on churning out cheap looking fitness trackers and this new blaze watch is not attractive, I’m sorry but they look like kids watches.

Are there any rumors of a smart watch in the pipeline or should I start looking elsewhere?

I really had big hopes for FitBit!

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Not only is there a Smart Watch in the pipeline, it is already on the market, it's called the Ionic.  I've been rockin' mine for a week now:

One item to note, due to the lens of my phone camera, the Ionic looks way bigger on my wrist than it really is; I get lots of compliments on how it looks.  🙂

[bbarrera]

@shipo If you had ever used Pebble Steel (original poster) or Apple Watch then you would understand the question. Some Pebble Steel owners have already commented (in several threads) on specific smartwatch features missing from Ionic, I think this topic has been covered quite a few times so I won't repeat it.

[dermbrian]

My wife had her Apple Watch Series 3 delivered the same day as my Ionic.  Hers is definitely a smarter watch.  She wanted the LTE version but none were to be found in Dallas/Ft Worth or online.  With her iPhone nearby, it's pretty impressive.  She talks to Siri to set reminders and ask questions ON HER WATCH and her waterproof watch has a microphone and speaker, so Siri answers her and they have a dialogue.  Siri's set to a guy's voice, so maybe I should be worried.  Anyway, very impressive stuff by Apple.

I don't have an iPhone.  I have a Samsung Galaxy Edge 7 but am not impressed with what I've read in their forums.  I had a TomTom Spark with on-board music and liked it with its always-on display and multi-day battery life, but the Ionic is much more appealing to me and is working flawlessly (except the adding the music process).

I still like my Ionic.  I think stylewize it's much more attractive than the Apple Watch.  The Fitbit web of challenges and friends has the most promise as a social network and for incentivized fitness goals/rewards.   I enjoy seeing the SMS notifications with message text from my wife on my wrist without picking up the phone.  The other notifications are useful, but not as impressive.  I use the weather app a lot, and the GPS a lot.  I like the ability to have steps displayed during a walk GPS activity.  Couldn't do that with my TomTom. 

I'm concerned about the long term waterproofness as I read about a few that have apparently died from moisture.

I wish there was an ability to keep the watchface on for longer periods (eg. 2 minutes or so) through some secret keypress. 

I will load up a Starbucks card eventually.  My bank doesn't yet support Fitpay, but that's OK.

Rambling, I know.  But if my Ionic can stay waterproof and the music transfer be made more bulletproof, it's a very good smartwatch for me and I'm happy to finally be in the Fitbit family.

Brian

[Rhoyz]

You should try to test the water resistant feature from time to time.  When the issue surfaced from the other thread I was worried.  I don't have access to pool or beach (unless vacation and summertime) so I drop my ionic from time to time in a jar of water (maybe 1-2 mins) just to see the integrity of the water resistant feature.  I figured it's better to know now while I'm still in that return/warranty window.  So far so good (crossing fingers).

[mariossp]

Try using the GPS, listen to music and all the other stuff you mentioned on Apple watch during a day and tell us how long the battery will last.

[MontyBiggles]

TBH the Ionic and Blaze look like the same watch- they look really big for me! I am not one to watch movies on my watch so I don’t need an IMAX screen 🙂 

If you look at the watches Vector made they are stunning- look at the image of the round watch below; steel, glass, leather all bonded to make something stunning! I even put a pic of my old pebble; again it’s steel, glass, leather and looks smart and it’s nice and compact.

Fitbit just go for plastic and rubber and IMHO look ghastly. 

Then of course there’s the waterproofing, I have been swimming 3 meters down wearing my pebble steel and never gave it a thought!

There’s battery life; pebbles last 7 - 10 days (Vector battery lasted a month!) and of course you have an always on screen.

I may add that I would never use my watch for fitness, so heart rate GPS etc are wasted on me. I cycle a lot and go to the gym where I hate anything on my wrist. I have a Garmin bike computer that’s easier than navigating using my watch for cycling. If I do want my watch for navigating my Pebble can get GPS data from my phone.

Essentially I just want something for notifications, music control maybe some other apps (I so miss the UK public transport app!) and that’s pretty much it.

[mariossp]

FYI Vector belongs to Fitbit now.

[MontyBiggles]

I know, I almost bought a Vector when FitBit bought Pebble. I actually had a £300 Vector watch in my amazon cart but I cancelled buying it when FitBit then bought Vector - thinking that FitBit would then do something better!

As I said in my first post, with Pebble and Vector engineers in their team, FitBit should be able to use that technology to build some amazing watches. 

Part of my is thinking that they are sitting on the display technology Pebble and Vector developed so no one else can use it.

[NellyG]

I guess we have different tastes @MontyBiggles! I think the two watches you posted pics of look dated and a bit ho hum! I have never wanted a smart watch and dislike big watches on my small and skinny wrist, but I think the Ionic is fantasic, looks very sleek and modern, and although big it appears not overwhelming on my wrist. And it is very comfortable. So I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

[N8teGee]

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@NellyG wrote:

I guess we have different tastes @MontyBiggles! I think the two watches you posted pics of look dated and a bit ho hum! I have never wanted a smart watch and dislike big watches on my small and skinny wrist, but I think the Ionic is fantasic, looks very sleek and modern, and although big it appears not overwhelming on my wrist. And it is very comfortable. So I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

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I agree, I really dislike the look of the Pebble.

I've also got both the blaze and Ionic and don't really think they look similar. Maybe in pictures, but once in the hand they are completely different. The Ionic certainly isn't plastic, it's made from aluminium and glass. Yes the strap may be rubber but it's interchangeable. 

[datalore]

I guess it all comes down to what you want a smartwatch to be and what you think the killer feature is. For me fitness is the killer app; others have different opinions. I think both the apple watch and the garmin watches are good products; I just prefer fitbit. Some things are as simple as personal taste. I don't want LTE on my wrist and one day battery life, but that's perfectly fine for some people. I don't care about notifications really, but some people do and that's fine. I'm going to get the best product for me and what I think my needs are.

[SunsetRunner]

Yep. Had a pebble steel but tbh I think people are using rose tinted glasses when talking about it. It was fairly agricultural in its finish and I had to change 3 under warranty because of screen tear.

I've had two Apple Watches, my current being v2. Thought I'd miss the "smarts" of the AW2 but interestingly I'm actually missing my Ionic more while I wait for my replacement due to screen gap issue.

[bbarrera]

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@datalore wrote:

For me fitness is the killer app;  

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Me too, so I’m focused on best-in-class fitness apps and tools from other companies. I struggle to find any fitness features in Fitbit app, it’s primarily tracking basic *activity* metrics and health/wellness stuff. 

Fitbit app is a great “weight watcher” tool and helped me walk my way to losing 30 lbs over 6 months. Fitbit helped me achieve “30 by 50” goal, although I was a year late (ha ha, took me awhile to commit to sticking with the plan). Love Fitbit app for that, and recommend it to people when they ask how I lost weight.

But when they ask how I finished the DeathRide, or Davis Double Century, I tell them Fitbit isn’t the right tool because it only logs activities, it doesn’t track rising and falling fitness levels. And there are no planning tools to safely keep pushing up my fitness level to get “race ready” for a big event. I don’t mean “race” in literal sense - I’m just looking to finish an epic event like hiking Yosemite Falls Trail, Half Dome, or ride the Mt Figueroa Gran Fondo. Or being able to strap on my skis and fly down the slopes until the lifts close at a Lake Tahoe ski resort. And not just finish, finish with a smile on my face and waking up the next day feeling fine. Maybe a little sore but stretching and moving takes care of that, ready for active recovery or hitting the ski slopes again. 

I don’t need a tracker to tell the doc I sleep well and usually from 10:30-5:30, if he asks. Give your wrist a rest! And RHR I only check when waking up, didn’t find any real value in having 24x7 but yeah it’s mildly amusing to look at HR graphs from time to time.

My perspective as a healthy, no meds or conditions, career desk jockey in my mid 50s. Stronger and healthier now than in my 30s and 40s. I’d love to see Fitbit put more Pebble DNA into the next iteration of their smartwatch. If you want to dismiss smart features on the wrist, I suggest you sell that smartphone and go back to a basic phone because who needs notifications/calendars/search in the pocket - you’ve got a laptop that makes doing those things a lot easier!

[datalore]

Wow, you’ve got some impressive achievements there, and thanks for giving me a road map to shoot for in the years to come. I guess, thankfully, we all view things differently. I actually wouldn’t have a smart phone if I wasn’t married with a kid. In the interest of marital harmony; I just take the phone my wife gives me when she upgrades her plan every few years. I love technology and work in the field, but honestly don’t understand smartphone addiction. I sync my Charge 2 exactly twice a day. In the car my cell phone resides in the glove compartment. I don’t take my phone in the office with me. In the rare event I have lunch out of the office the phone stays in the glove compartment and I talk to the people I’m eating with. I have nothing against smart phones and love the features just don’t care about it on my wrist. When I’m swimming notifications are useless and I take the phone on bike rides and runs in case of emergency, but honestly don’t even text my wife, we talk. I realize I’m an outlier in today’s world, and definitely not anti-tech or a Luddite just view cell phones as primarily a phone. I understand the frustration with fitbit for lack of smart watch features; I’m just not that target market. 

[bbarrera]

@datalore I'm on the phone and emailing all day... my social media is down to kudos on Strava and trying not to get buried by all family texts (17 people, without my sisters and mom). Watch triage for almost everything, blissfully reducing amount of time in front of my phone. Post-ride I do like reviewing my ride data on Strava, TrainingPeaks, and Xertonline.

LOL, if you are thinking of doing an epic event, this makes my current 10+ hours a week of training look normal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B03dFMG8nR4

That was sent to me be a friend training for first Ironman (Arizona next month) and its going to take her close to the max 17 hours to finish.

[datalore]

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@bbarrera wrote:

@datalore I'm on the phone and emailing all day... my social media is down to kudos on Strava and trying not to get buried by all family texts (17 people, without my sisters and mom). Watch triage for almost everything, blissfully reducing amount of time in front of my phone. Post-ride I do like reviewing my ride data on Strava, TrainingPeaks, and Xertonline.

LOL, if you are thinking of doing an epic event, this makes my current 10+ hours a week of training look normal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B03dFMG8nR4

That was sent to me be a friend training for first Ironman (Arizona next month) and its going to take her close to the max 17 hours to finish.

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Man, 17 people in the family? I can't even imagine; no wonder you need notifications  I think it's a good idea to limit screen time if we can. Sadly, with my job I can't quiet do that, but I view programming as putting together a puzzle. 

My hats tipped to anyone that finishes an Ironman no matter what the time. I'm training for a few long swims this spring and summer and the training is going well, but man I can't imagine the level of training and commitment to complete an Ironman. I swim train with a group of triathletes and I don't know if I should admire them or pity them; I actually love that group, but I'd never admit it to them and have fun talking smack to them about the crazy lifestyle they maintain. I can't help but admire the discipline they maintain day in and day out. 

[shipo]

Off-topic/thread-creep warning, but an entertaining story none-the-less...

In 1990 I trained for and raced a half-dozen Olympic distance triathlons plus a half-Ironman; at the time I was an elderly 33 years old and had just taught myself how to swim.  My first race was early May in rural Michigan, and so a week or two before the race I went out and bought a cool "Farmer John" Quintana Roo wet suit, however, I made the nearly fatal mistake of never once trying it on and going for a swim before the race.

Come race day I was all decked out for my 1,500 meter swim, and when the gun went off, I bolted into the water as if I'd been doing something like that my whole life.  Best laid plans and all that.  About a third of a mile out into the very-VERY cold lake (ice had covered the lake a few week prior), I noticed Mr. Panic was along for the ride; he wasn't sayin' nuthin' but he was sitting there on my shoulder and making his presence well known.  That was when I realized, A) my goggles were fogging up, B) the wet suit was constricting my breathing, C) my attitude in the water was different due to much more buoyancy around my legs, D) I was in WAY over my head, and finally E) I was swimming in a crowd with folks kicking and pushing and shoving.  Just then a swimmer crossed in front of me and his or her heel came up square in the middle of my forehead.  PANIC!

I went vertical in the water and simply flailed away, barely keeping my mouth high enough to breath, even with the wet suit.  I almost called for the life guard boat, but then thought better of it and told myself, "Look dummy, you've trained for this, you can do the distance, get your a$$ back in the game!"

I did maybe a hundred yards of doggy paddle before I gradually transitioned to a crawl, head out of the water of course, and finally back into some semblance of a stoke.  I did fair on the bike and pretty well on the run, and when I finished, I was determined to learn from that first race.

Three weeks (or there abouts) later was the Bud-Light Triathlon in Chicago with, I don't know, maybe 4,000 competitors.  My swim heat, Men's 30-34 had over 400 individuals in it, and when the gun went off, I simply stood there on the beach until every one else was in the water, then I casually strolled out into the water and went on my merry and solo way.  As I approached the buoy marking the turn-around point I saw a swimmer coming in from my right and angling hard for the buoy; the timing was such that he was going to shove me right into said buoy so I reached out and gave him a shove.  Ummm, yeah, about that.  It turns out the heat behind mine was the 18-24 year old women, complete with hundreds of college level athletes.  When I reached out and pushed, I got a whole hand full of breast; needless to say I was shocked, and needless to say, she gave me a very wide berth around the buoy.

I guess it's safe to say I'm one of the few triathletes to ever cop a feel during a race.  

[datalore]

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@shipo wrote:

Off-topic/thread-creep warning, but an entertaining story none-the-less...

In 1990 I trained for and raced a half-dozen Olympic distance triathlons plus a half-Ironman; at the time I was an elderly 33 years old and had just taught myself how to swim.  My first race was early May in rural Michigan, and so a week or two before the race I went out and bought a cool "Farmer John" Quintana Roo wet suit, however, I made the nearly fatal mistake of never once trying it on and going for a swim before the race.

Come race day I was all decked out for my 1,500 meter swim, and when the gun went off, I bolted into the water as if I'd been doing something like that my whole life.  Best laid pans and all that.  About a third of a mile out into the very-VERY cold lake (ice had covered the lake a few week prior), I noticed Mr. Panic was along for the ride; he wasn't sayin' nuthin' but he was sitting there on my shoulder and making his presence well known.  That was when I realized, A) my goggles were fogging up, B) the wet suit was constricting my breathing, C) my attitude in the water was different due to much more buoyancy around my legs, D) I was in WAY over my head, and finally E) I was swimming in a crowd with folks kicking and pushing and shoving.  Just then a swimmer crossed in front of me and his or her heel came up square in the middle of my forehead.  PANIC!

I went vertical in the water and simply flailed away, barely keeping my mouth high enough to breath, even with the wet suit.  I almost called for the life guard boat, but then thought better of it and told myself, "Look dummy, you've trained for this, you can do the distance, get your a$$ back in the game!"

I did maybe a hundred yards of doggy paddle before I gradually transitioned to a crawl, head out of the water of course, and finally back into some semblance of a stoke.  I did fair on the bike and pretty well on the run, and when I finished, I was determined to learn from that first race.

Three weeks (or there abouts) later was the Bud-Light Triathlon in Chicago with, I don't know, maybe 4,000 competitors.  My swim heat, Men's 30-34 had over 400 individuals in it, and when the gun went off, I simply stood there on the beach until every one else was in the water, then I casually strolled out into the water and went on my merry and solo way.  As I approached the buoy marking the turn-around point I saw a swimmer coming in from my right and angling hard for the buoy; the timing was such that he was going to shove me right into said buoy so I reached out and gave him a shove.  Ummm, yeah, about that.  It turns out the heat behind mine was the 18-24 year old women, complete with hundreds of college level athletes.  When I reached out and pushed, I got a whole hand full of breast; needless to say I was shocked, and needless to say, she gave me a very wide berth around the buoy.

I guess it's safe to say I'm one of the few triathletes to ever cop a feel during a race.  

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Man I don't even know where to start here. You taught yourself to swim and then just jumped into a race? That was an entertaining story and tip of the cap to you for kicking Mr. Panic in the arse.