We have heard for a time relating to this tiny gadget and the increasing interest a lot of people have shown, but what is a smartwatch and what does it do?
Well, a smartwatch appears like a normal wristwatch but, besides showing the exact time, it comes with “smart” capabilities. You will need to connect it to a smartphone or tablet to be able to access the smart functions.
Some have called them an add-on to smarter gadgets.
What can a smartwatch do?
Smartwatches include various configurations and applications however the most common features are the possibility to read emails, text messages, take pictures, become GPS and a lot more. (Note: Right now, the Pebble company has implemented about 5500 apps for their smartwatch.)
So that you can access the applications of other smart devices, the smartwatches usually connect via Bluetooth.
Note: Some smartwatches may not connect to all smartphones among others may lack compatibility to various operating systems (not all are appropriate for iOS and Android).
Why do I need a smartwatch?
If you don’t prefer to check your phone every 5 minutes and fancy the idea your watch may alert you once you receive emails, keep up with important news, check your social feed or other important services you may have subscribed to, then your smartwatch may be the perfect device for you.
Basically you will be far less distracted than you’d be when checking a smartphone, you won’t be interrupted from your work and when a significant notification arrives you will know about it. Besides all of this, smartwatches are used extensively for his or her fitness applications.
Applications like RunKeeper will monitor your heartrate, count steps, measure your stress level and how many calories have you burnt.
Hopefully we managed to capture your interest so let’s take a look at among the best and non expensive smartwatches available, the Pebble Smartwatch.
Note: The Pebble SmartWatch took birth thanks to an extremely successful Kickstarter campaign that were able to raise over 10 million dollars in about five weeks.
Design and Display
At the first glance, the Pebble Watch appears like a normal watch. MYSmartwatch includes a simple, yet elegant look, without being bulky or heavy. The casing is made of plastic and has a cushty and sturdy strap.
It weighs 38g and its dimensions are 50x32x11mm. On the right side you will find the up-down and choose buttons and on the left side an individual menu button plus a group of contacts for the magnetic power connector.
The Pebble Smartwatch isn’t fragile and is competent to withstand temperatures between 14 to 140F and will function even if it really is submerged up to 160 feet in water (this is great for explorers!).
The display features a 1.26in 144�168 Sharp Memory LCD e-paper, it really is black and white and is included in a plastic lens that can reflect light. Even though viewing angle is not a full 180 degrees, it will be possible to see notifications or any running screen app minus the backlight during the day without difficulty.
Comparing to its competitors, the screen is a tiny low point nonetheless it does its job properly.
Performance and Battery Life
The Pebble Smartwatch features an ARM Cortex-M3 processor and 512 KB on-chip storage that will be able to retain some apps and customizable watch faces. Besides the main specs, the watch includes a magnetometer, an ambient light and a three-axis accelerometer.
The apps should benefit from all this features and develop a great user experience.
Thanks to its tiny low-resolution display and the 140 mAH battery, the Pebble watch is capable to continue to 5 days of extensive use and over a week of occasional usage.
Note: Pebble watch does not have a battery indicator.
To be able to be waterproof, the Pebble watch could be charged by connecting a bespoke cable to the tiny magnets privately of the watch.
iOS and Android
What’s really interesting about this watch is that it supports both the iOS and Android platform.
After downloading the Pebble app, first we tested the watch along with an iPhone. It was a bit of a hassle to make it run, as iOS doesn’t really look like it tried to produce a good management for Pebble but after we configured it properly, the watch worked perfectly across the iPhone.
We were able to download new watch faces or access contact support nonetheless it does appears like everything happened at the iOS level (iOS acted as a placeholder).
The Android experience is quite different. The settings on this platform appeared to be more set up and the apps made more sense. Comparing to iOS the Android seemed more open sufficient reason for a lot more applications to select from.