The advantages of a smartwatch are many. It goes without saying that it is a full-fledged watch and as such, it allows you to view the time too. A smartwatch, in addition to providing the time and date, offers many useful functions such as a calendar, calculator, distance meter or thermometer. But its essence lies in the collaboration with the smartphone, with which it is connected via a wireless Bluetooth connection.
It is simply a matter of pairing the two devices so that the smartwatch starts using the applications on the smartphone. In this moment the watch becomes smart by transforming itself into an extension of the phone, a perfect and useful complement that can greatly facilitate daily activities.
If you want to buy the best smartwatch in India and don’t know which one to choose, in this article we explain everything you need to know about smartwatches. It’s not as expensive a product as it sounds, as there are a few available for relatively affordable prices.
What can a smartwatch do?
After connecting the smartwatch to the smartphone, you can choose which notifications you are interested in receiving on your wrist from text messages, e-mails, calls, social networks.
Generally speaking, with a smartwatch you can:
Make Calls: Many smart watches have LTE connectivity, such as Apple Watch Series 3. And while it doesn’t support any mobile connectivity, you can pair the smartwatch to your phone via Bluetooth – just click the contact and talk on your wrist.
Listening to Music: Many smartwatches have built-in memory, and can be connected to any pair of Bluetooth headphones to listen to music. Also, you can download applications like Spotify or Soundcloud to play music online.
Check your fitness: Most smartwatches track your movements and heartbeats. Additionally, there are tons of apps to download that provide metrics, health tips, important data like resting heart rate or sleep tracking.
Make Payments: Smartwatches such as the Apple Watch series or Samsung Gear have built-in payment mechanisms via NFC. If you are interested in this feature, remember to check for NFC on your device.
Many smartwatches can also identify the user making a call and there are even applications that allow you to control the music playing on your phone or take a photo remotely.
What sensors does a smartwatch have?
These sophisticated devices include the presence of many sensors that guarantee a satisfactory user experience. Obviously, each model differs from another, but generally these are the sensors present:
- Accelerometer: Detects any type of movement we make.
- Gyroscope: Some smartwatches use it to stay in the waiting state until the wrist is rotated to see the time and to activate or dismiss a notification with a flick of the wrist.
- Light sensor: Automatically adjusts the brightness to save battery life.
- Optical heart rate meter: Using low intensity waves it detects the blood flow and therefore determines the pulse.
- Barometer: Measures the ambient pressure. It is used to predict the weather and the height you are at.
- Thermometer: Measures the ambient temperature.
- GPS: To track location. Although not available on all models.
Who is a smartwatch recommended for?
For those who constantly look at the phone to see new notifications, as it will save much of the inconvenience that this entails.
On the other hand, if you are a fitness fan, these devices usually incorporate many sensors that, for example, measure your heart rate and track your health throughout the day. And if you run while listening to music, you can change the song right from your wrist.
But if you don’t carry your smartphone with you, these watches lose much of their intelligence. As they are generally unable to connect to the internet directly (most don’t have WiFi or 4G) and need a phone to do so (via Bluetooth). So, it is not in any case a replacement for the mobile phone.
Differences between brands and operating systems
The procedure for connecting a smartwatch and smartphone may differ depending on the device we use. It is also important to check the compatibility of the smartwatch with the smartphone we currently own. It is necessary to know the peculiarities of each model so that the experience with our smartwatch is completely satisfying.
For example, you should know that Android Wear is the system used by smartwatches based on Google’s Android operating system, and compatibility with the same system on Android phones is logically much higher than on devices with Apple’s IOS system.
Other smartwatches like Samsung, considered among the top of current smartwatches, have their own operating system, which obviously does not prevent them from connecting with both Android and Apple smartphones.
In the case of the Android operating system, the Wear OS by Google app (formerly Android Wear) available on Google Play must be installed on your smartphone in order for the connection to take place effectively.
On the other hand, it is also interesting to know how the smartwatch works with different operating systems. If, for example, we want to use a smartwatch with Android Wear with an iPhone, the procedure to pair it is more complex and the available functions are more limited.
We have to use applications like Airlink on an Android smartphone and BLE Utility on the iPhone to use the watch with the Apple device, taking into account that there are requirements that must be met regarding the versions of the operating systems.
For all these reasons, it is important to underline the importance of buying a smartwatch compatible with our smartphone. However, compatibility between different brands and models is expected to increase to standardize the link between smartwatch and smartphone. For example, Samsung, which initially only allowed you to associate watches and phones of its own brand, now allows you to connect with devices from other brands.
