Bought my "first" smart-watch and have some regrets

[AkioOhtori]

And it isn't even here yet! My history with Smart Watches is... not great.

For example. My actual first smart watch was a Pebble Time, purchased on December 6th, 2016, on a random whim.

The very next day Fitbit announced they'd bought Pebble in what ended up being a catch and kill situation for which I have not forgiven Fitbit. Luckily I had the good sense to immediately return the order without even opening the box.

On December 7, 2016, Pebble officially announced that the company would be shut down and would no longer manufacture or continue support for any devices, nor honor any existing warranties.

Last night a switch just flipped in my brain and suddenly I wanted a smart watch. No idea why. No previous desire for one. Actually I had an active dislike of them literally up until that point. Must be that chip they put in me...

Anyway, I have a well documented fetish for e-ink displays and after a little bit of research discovered only two mainstream manufacturers are making e-ink watches at the moment: Fossil and Skagen.

Both under $200, which was nice. The Skagen is, frankly, gorgeous but I know nothing about the brand. Fossil, on the other... wrist... is a brand I am quite familiar with as I've owned their watches since high school. Point for Fossil there. Both have physical watch hands and move out of the way on command, customizable faces, backlights, and promise 2+ weeks of battery life. Neat.

Not wanting to overlook anything else I trolled around other well rated, high battery life options, and uncovered a few. Apparently one of the new Fitbit watches rates very well, but I still haven't forgiven them and have strong memories of how crap their ecosystem was when I finally ditched them. (Started with a Fitbit One and switched to a Blaze years later. Also had one of their smart scales. I don't recall a single update to their app or website that didn't make things worse.) The Samsung Gear was rated highly but with 2 days of expected battery life it seemed more like a liability than an asset.

I poked around Garmin's offerings and was intrigued by the Vivoactive 3 and 4, both close to my "impulse buy" threshold. Both promised good battery life, good sized display, and good functionality. My partner is a Garmin devotee so I asked him what he thought, even though I pretty much already knew. He has a Fenix 6s and loves it, says Garmin is pretty much the best for sports tracking (don't care) but to expect with mixed use the battery will last about half the estimated time. Spiffy. After unsuccessfully trying to upsell me on the Venu (too expensive) it ended up being the Fossil vs Vivoative 4.

After reading reviews and looking at specs, I went with my gut and bought the Fossil.

Why?

• "Always on" face that isn't a screen
• Brand that should continue being around for a while*
• Long battery life and good charger
• Looks like a normal watch
• Tells time like a normal watch

Why the asterisk?

Well... see the bit up above where this exact thing happen about the same time 5 years ago? Where I bought a smart watch on a whim and the company immediately was made to cease to exist? I honestly expected to wake up to news that Google or Facebook or Microsoft or Fitbit had purchased Fossil today and was likely to do something horrible to them.

But... so far so good.

Wait... so do you have it yet?

Nope! Comes in Sunday. Tried to find both the Garmin adn Fossil locally and failed so... Amazon got more of my money so they can build bigger, better space dicks.

Camping this weekend so that is for the best. Will report back all the reasons I regret buying it! First off is likely to be how bigly it is but... we'll see...

[Just Jeepin']

@akioohtori Funny timing, about an hour ago I canceled my Apple Watch order. I decided since I was being irresponsible with the new Jeep, I should exercise a little restraint; my current one works fine.

[Tripper]

@just-jeepin I love mine but I'm more or less tied to it now and I have found that they are REAL easy to break if you don't take them off when your're wrenching or doing other things like wrenching

[Jarrett]

@akioohtori These are nice watches. If I could justify it, I'd definitely take the same route as you.

[DipodomysDeserti]

@akioohtori Skagans are basically nicer Fossils. Fossil owns them. I worked on and sold watches during my undergrad and would go with the Skagan if they’re comparable price wise. I can’t comment on smart watches, but their older watches were usually a bit higher quality than the Fossils.

I wouldn’t take either brand camping. They’re built for fashion, not durability.

[EssExTee]

@akioohtori I actually had a Pebble 2 for a while and it was fantastic. While there is a healthy homebrew community that keeps them working by replacing the defunct Pebble web services, the bluetooth compatibility is broken on newer phones. In my case it would randomly disconnect and the only way to get it back was to factory reset.

[HoustonRunner]

@akioohtori Boo. I'm with your partner on team Garmin, but I also just it for running 3-4 times a week. I have couple of nice (not Rolex nice) watches, but haven't worn a non-Garmin watch everyday in 4 years.

I also get whatever one is newest almost every year....and the old ones sit in a drawer.

[WhoIsTheLeader]

@akioohtori said in Bought my "first" smart-watch and have some regrets:

I honestly expected to wake up to news that Google or Facebook or Microsoft or Fitbit had purchased Fossil today and was likely to do something horrible to them.

They'd better not. My only watch is a Fossil and I live it. Nothing fancy. It's just a watch and a good looking one at that.

[Highlander]

@akioohtori me, who still wears a Swatch.

[kiltedpadre]

@akioohtori I really wish I had a smart watch like the Fossil. I told my wife I was interested, and she took it upon herself to get me an Apple Watch. It’s ok I guess, but the battery life is a serious disappointment.
Plus I’m not a fan of the big square face.

[AkioOhtori]

@dipodomysdeserti said in Bought my "first" smart-watch and have some regrets:

@akioohtori Skagans are basically nicer Fossils. Fossil owns them. I worked on and sold watches during my undergrad and would go with the Skagan if they’re comparable price wise. I can’t comment on smart watches, but their older watches were usually a bit higher quality than the Fossils.

I wouldn’t take either brand camping. They’re built for fashion, not durability.

Lol I wish you hadn't told me that

Yeah looks like the Skagen is $30 more but, allegedly, offers a few more fitness features. More critically I can't get it until after I leave on a work trip, so I think I'm going to stay the course and keep the Fossil order going.

[AkioOhtori]

@kiltedpadre Yeah I have enough things in my life that need charging, so the idea of getting a device that needs to be charged but not every night would be... frustrating. Also hate that so many of these claim sleep tracking but need to be charged overnight! Like... pick a lane here bud.

[derp]

I have a handful (3? 4? 5?) fossils. Some are sentimental, but they've held up super well over literally decades. 2 of them are old Fossil Blue watches when those were a thing.

Skagen I don't own any of, but from what I hear they're just fine.

the 'smartest' watch I have is a g-shock that can do lap timing. watches for me are a utility piece, not another electronic device i need to use.

[AkioOhtori]

@derp said in Bought my "first" smart-watch and have some regrets:

I have a handful (3? 4? 5?) fossils. Some are sentimental, but they've held up super well over literally decades. 2 of them are old Fossil Blue watches when those were a thing.

As an additional blast from the past I own three "big tick" Fossils and the one "nice" one. I need to sell one of them as it was given to me as a gift and is... very tasteless haha.

[derp]

@akioohtori i also have one that was a gift that i don't particularly like, but since it was a gift it just lives (well, sits with a dead battery) in my watch box. No harm in keeping it in the collection, especially when I have like 20 anyway.

[Krusty Walnut]

@akioohtori We are a Garmin family. Dad has an Garmin aviation watch that he loves. I have one from 2016 that still works and does it's job (I would like a new one but won't buy until it breaks). My brother has a fenix series from 3 year ago that works great and my daughter has Vivoactive model that she wears every day. The great thing about the Garmin watches is that they are agnostic and their functionality is limited by the OS. They are also very durable and light. Best of luck.

[TexturedSoyProtein]

@akioohtori Fossil owns Skagen. Same guts, more or less.

[davesaddiction]

@just-jeepin

I had to laugh at this...

Balking at a couple hundred bucks when you've just committed tens of thousands.

I also have thought about an Apple Watch but never pulled the trigger. Mrs. addiction got one recently, using attaboy points from work, I think, so at least I can play around with one and figure out if I'd really like/use it. I used to never wear a watch, but recently have been wearing a very simple and light Fitbit, so... we'll see.

[Just Jeepin']

@davesaddiction Well, this was the titanium model, so it was more than a couple of hundred. My current one has lasted for 3 years without a hitch, so I decided that I could splurge a bit on the next one since I'd use it for several years.

[dejock]

@akioohtori i had a brief flirtation period with an apple watch a couple of years ago after a steady string of garmins...sold it almost immediately to get another garmin and havent looked back. i'm on my third instinct, just upgraded recently to the solar version. in my opinion, its one of the best watches garmin makes. anecdotally, id get 1.5-2 weeks of battery life while using the watch for sleep tracking and several hours of gps per week.

perhaps it was just a problem with my particular apple watch, but the damn thing would shut down on me and lose all of my activity data if the temps outside were below 40*F. ive never had that problem with any garmin i've owned, ever, and i've owned, jeez, probably a dozen of their devices over the years?

10/10 will buy another garmin.

[davesaddiction]

@just-jeepin

Ah, gotcha.

Now you can save up for platinum!

[davesaddiction]

@houstonrunner

Hmm... so sell me last year's model?

[Just Jeepin']

@dejock I'd wager that was faulty hardware that you could have had replaced. I've owned 3 different Apple Watches and never experienced a problem with cold weather.

[Someoneatacura]

I started with a Fitbit charge HR that bit it in the water (It can handle splashes but it got dunked accidentally). Switched to a Garmin Vivoactive HR and used it as a bike computer and smart watch. Worked great for a year before the display buggered up and wouldn't wipe (kept layers over the previous image). Returned that under warranty through MEC (life time guarantee they offer). Bought the new version the Vivoactive 3. Used that for literally a year again and the battery bit it - wouldn't hold a charge when it would normally last a week as long as GPS/fitness tracking wasn't being used. Returned that using the same guarantee and bought a 245. No touch screen but looks to be more durable. One year after purchase the screen died in a specific spot. Returned once again and now rocking a Venue SQ that hasn't shit the bed..... yet.

[A Former User]

@akioohtori I'm still not sure I see the use for a smartwatch? I don't get how it is more convenient than a phone? Or is this strictly for exercise tracking? I only ever see people dismissing notifications on them.