Although smartwatches have not had the same impact as smartphones, they are undoubtedly attractive and desirable electronic devices, since they allow you to receive notifications and use voice commands without unlocking the phone screen, as well as seeing the time like any other watch . Compared to a few years ago, when the smartwatch models were rather spartan, limited and ugly, today we can find many smartwatches for each price category, many of very famous manufacturers and, for those who want to save as much as possible, even Chinese brands, all with one of the operating systems developed for this type of device: Google Wear OS , Apple Watch WatchOS, Samsung Tizen or other simpler operating systems.
In this article we discover together how a smartwatch is made, so we can choose the right model for our needs.
READ ALSO: Best Smartwatch watches
Smartwatch operating system
The first technical feature to check before buying a smartwatch is, of course, the operating system used.
Wear OS (ex Android Wear)
One of the best is, without a doubt, Wear OS .This system is an Android version created specifically for smartwatches, so as to be able to interface with Android smartphones through the specific app, with apps that provide integration with wearables (for example fitness apps) and also with iPhones (in this case with limited functionality). Android Wear is a free, customizable system (both in the screens and in the theme of the watch), it allows you to use many functions of the Android smartphone even when we keep it in our pocket and we can give voice commands to the integrated Google Assistant.
WatchOS (Apple)
If we love Apple products we can buy the Apple Watch, a smartwatch on which the WatchOS system runs . As often happens with Apple, this system is 100% compatible only if there is a connected iPhone and it cannot be used with an Android smartphone; to make the incompatibility complete, Apple encodes the information exchanged between the Watch and the iPhone in order to create a unique Bluetooth connection, which cannot be replicated with an Android. If we decide to focus on an Apple Watch, make sure we have an iPhone 5S or higher available to be able to initialize it and be able to use it every day, otherwise we will have made an unnecessary expense.Other operating systems
When buying a Chinese smartphone or cheap ones, you may find an operating system other than Android Wear and AppleWatch, in many cases a very simplified version with few features available. Watches with these nameless systems are always super cheap, and offer very little from a smart point of view, perhaps they are only good for receiving notifications from SMS, WhatsApp and Facebook. Finally, some Samsung smartwatches mount the Tizen OS system, compatible with Samsung Galaxy phones, with any other Android phone and with iPhone even if with several limitations and does not have the same flexibility as Google's Wear OS.Connections and sensors present on a smartwatch
Smartwatches work almost all in the same way, as wearable interfaces of the mobile phone, always connected via Bluetooth (although in some cases WiFi Direct can be used for the connection). The Bluetooth connection must therefore always remain active between the phone and the watch, at least when going around, especially on a motorbike or in a car: those used to wearing a watch will find it convenient to be able to view notifications on the smartwatch screen without having to pull out the phone from pocket or bag; in addition there is also a certain convenience to launch voice commands on the phone by speaking on the smartwatch microphone. Obviously we take into account that leaving the Bluetooth turned on on the smartphone the battery of the latter will be affected.In some cases the watch can be used as if it were a mobile phone, since some are equipped with a SIM card and LTE antenna to connect to any operator's data network. This type of SIM card watches also allow you to make calls and send SMS without the need for a smartphone, they are less common and, often, these are cheap and poor models that are not Android and not even Apple Watch.
Practically all smartwatches integrate GPS and heart rate monitor : thanks to the presence of these sensors we can also use the smartwatch as a fitness tracker, i.e. also as a measuring device for competitive activities, therefore pedometer, calorie counter, heart rate monitor and tracker of the routes taken.
In fact, it must be remembered that if the intention is only to buy a fitness watch, perhaps those that measure heart rate as well as steps and sleep, it is not necessary to buy a smartwatch, but we can focus on another type of wearable like smartbands, as described in our dedicated guide -> Get back in shape with App and fitness bracelets to monitor physical activities .
Screen
Although I don't want to make aesthetic judgments in this article, it's important to know what kind of screen a smartwatch can have. In fact, we can find smartwatches with a round or square screen, with round ones that always cost a little more because they are more elegant to wear and less sporty, butwe can also find square-screen smartwatches, which are more comfortable to use with the touchscreen. While the screen can present itself with different strengths and weaknesses, it is preferable to focus on smartwatches that have an AMOLED type display, where black is not illuminated and, therefore, have a greater autonomy.
The only problem with the AMOLED screen is that under the sun it is seen less well than an LCD screen, but much depends on the type of screen produced (SuperAMOLEDs are discreetly seen in any light condition or almost). The Apple Watches have a Retina-type screen, which can be seen very well in any light condition and is also well lit, so as to offer a very high contrast.
Battery and autonomy
Regarding the battery of a smart watch, if we are talking about a traditional Android Wear or Apple Watch smartwatch, the battery will hardly last more than two days, so it is convenient to often put it on charge, especially at the end of the day (so as to always have it charged for the next day). In some smartwatches the time is always visible on the screen, albeit with a low-power mode that has little effect on the autonomous battery of the watch.
The presence of the brightness sensor is fundamental, so that the brightness of the screen is automatically adjusted according to the ambient light. Monochromatic screens or cheaper smartwatch screens can guarantee greater autonomy (like the 20 days of the Xiaomi Mi Band), but obviously the information provided is much more limited than the big screen of the flagship products.
Other useful features
Among the other technical features, another important and fundamental feature that the smartwatch must have is the resistance to water and dust, with IP67 or IP68 certification, so that you can use your smartphone outdoors even if it should catch a sudden storm or downpour (they last up to one meter under water for about half an hour). Processor, RAM and internal memory space are also features to consider since smartwatches are computers where applications that generate files to be stored can be installed. Modern smartwatches have dual-core or quad-core 64bit processors, capable of performing all apps and interactions with the phone at maximum fluidity.
Which Smartwatch to buy today
After a good overview of technical features, let's see together the best smartwatches that we can buy based on the operating system present in them.Android Wear smartwatch
- TicWatch (€ 200): a new manufacturer that immediately convinced everyone, since the cheapest model with 1.4-inch OLED display, Android Wear and compatibility with Android and iOS. The best model is the TicWatch Pro, currently the best of the Android Wear smartwatches, with classic sports watch design, exclusive display of the layered display with 2 modes and battery that can reach 30 days of duration.
- LG Watch Style (from 140 €): LG smartwatches all have the Android Wear system and are distinguished by elegance and a screen much more similar to a watch than to a wearable.
Apple smartwatch
Apple Watch is now in its fourth generation and comes with a much larger screen, new fitness-related features, new eSIM to work without iPhone (not yet available in Italy) and many other innovations that will make Apple users happy.
In another article we saw in detail how an apple Watch works, which can be purchased in all its versions from here -> Apple website (starting from € 439).
Samsung Gear (Tizen OS)
Samsung produces and develops its line of smartwatches with Tizen OS, capable of interfacing with both Android and iOS.
The models are unfortunately a few years ago, so if we want to buy them we also take into account the updates factor (not always discounted with Samsung).
The best we can buy are:
- Samsung Gear Sport (173 €)
- Samsung Gear S3 Frontier (225 €)
- Samsung Gear S3 Classic
Cheap smartwatches
If we want to save on the smartwatch, we really have hundreds of cheap Chinese models, all with essential features and often with little more than satisfactory autonomy; in fact they are good only if we want to receive notifications of the phone on the wrist without having to unlock it every time
screen.
The best we can buy are the following:
- YAMAY Smartwatch Watches (€ 50)
- Smart Watch, UMIDIGI (30 €)
- LIFEBEE Smartwatch (40 €)
Other good Smartwatches
Special mention deserve the Chinese smartwatches produced by Xiaomi, able to compete with Wear OS products from the point of view of quality and functionality and still have very competitive prices.
The best Xiaomi smartwatch models are the Amazfit, among which the Xiaomi Mi Amazfit Lite is good and cheap (60 €)
Another level smartwatch is the Huawei Watch GT 2 (230 €), really nice, with a round screen and hands (difficult to see that it is a smartwatch) and that has a proprietary Huawei operating system, which is not Android Wear (therefore unfortunately only the apps that Huawei has released for this smartwatch can be used).
