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!

[bbarrera]

@shipo A real smartwatch would stop people like me from doing stupid things, like signing up for a sprint triathlon in three weeks without having done any real swimming in 2 years and no running in 5 years  No tri kit and no changing on course? No problem! Err, lemme rethink that...

[shipo]

@bbarrera, LOL, back when I was into triathlons there was no such a thing as a smart watch; I was rockin' a Mark One/Mod Zero Timex Ironman.  🙂

[Drea_Says]

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@MontyBiggles wrote:

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.

The Ionic is a fitness tracker with a few smart watch features. If you aren't seeking a fitness tracker you are looking in the wrong place. Maybe a gear s3, or some other Android wear would suit your needs? The fitbit trackers are made with materials suitable for working out rather than business meetings.

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[RedPanda5150]

I kind of agree with MontyBiggles - those Vector watches are a thing of beauty! There are some nice hybrid watches from Fossil and Withings and others, too, and I keep holding out hope that Fitbit will branch out in that direction. The smart watch + fitness tracker Ionic design is a fine product in and of itself, but I would love a complementary line that looks like a classic watch on its surface but with all of those fitness and smart watch features (step tracking, sleep and HR monitoring, notifications, GPS, etc) running in the background. 

[ToddKo]

I agree 100%! Garmin and Samsung have watched that look better but their tracking tools are not as good. They need to implement a strategy of being the "Intel inside" and get out of the plastic watch business or give us a dress watch!  I've owned every Fitbit they've put out and I always end up at the same place looking at Garmin and the others and wishing a cool watch could be merged with the Fitbit tracking and app.