My Smart Watch Journey
Over the years, Iβve worn many, many different watches. Maybe a little too many. I was thinking of doing a big blog post going over all of them. But that would be really long. So Iβm breaking it up into two parts. This is part one, just Smart Watches. Part two will be on my traditional watch collection. So letβs get started.
Jump To Section
Pebble | Pebble Steel | Pebble Time | Pebble 2 | Some Moto Thing | Back To Pebble | Apple Watch S2 | Apple Watch S4 | Non Smart Watches | Apple Watch S7 | Apple Watch Ultra 1
You can view a picture of the watch by clicking π·, or watch a review from when that watch came out by clicking π₯
Pebble π· π₯ π
This was my first watch. Not just my first smart watch, but my first watch. I didn’t participate in the kick starter, but I did put a pre order in on their site. I ended up canceling my pre order, and just buying one at a Best Buy.
The Pebble got so much right out of the gate. You had notification, watch apps, custom watch faces, 5-7 day battery life, and an always on display. That display was only black and white, no grey scale. But it worked, and was insanely readable in direct sunlight.
The Pebble was pretty fantastic, the only downside was how plasticky it was.
Pebble Steel π· π₯ π
The Pebble Steel fixed that one main issue. It was made out of stainless steel.
Pebble Time π· π₯ π
The Time brought new features to the Pebble. The big one, a color screen. That fancy color screen, didn’t hurt the battery life. Still perfectly viable in sunlight, and with the same 5-7 days battery life. The Time also had a microphone, so you could dictate messages.
Pebble 2 π· π₯ π
I had the first Pebble, and I was going to have the last. The Pebble 2 was a refined Pebble. It had the same black and white screen, but with the improvements of the Time. Extra storage, and that microphone. The 2 was a fantastic smart watch. But with the death of pebble, I knew I had to start looking for a replacement.
Some Moto thing π
Now that Pebble was dead, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to keep using mine forever. While walking through a Best Buy, I noticed an open box Moto watch (I don’t remember what model it was). I used it for about three days before returning it. The round screen was cool, but Android Wear was not.
Back to Pebble π
Not long after returning the Moto watch, Fitbit (the buyer of Pebble), announced they were going to keep the Pebble servers up for a year. This bought me plenty of time to think. Think of where I was going to go.
Apple Watch S2 π· π₯ π
With the death of pebble, and my dislike of Android Wear at the time. I was still keeping my eyes open. I didn’t really like the Apple Watch, as it had some software issues, and wasn’t water resistant. That changed when Apple announced the Series 2. The S2 brought the performance up, and added water resistance. exactly what I was looking for.
Going from a Pebble to an Apple Watch was pretty interesting. I could now take phone calls, send iMessages, use Siri. all on a bright color touch screen. It did take a bit to get used to charging every night, and not having an always on display. But it was nice to have a heart rate sensor that didn’t feel like a drill bit1.
Apple Watch S4 π· π₯ π
The Series 4 was a good leap from the 2. Larger rounded screen, better performance, and LTE support. Yes I know, LTE got added in the Series 3, but this was my first time with the feature. I thought it was kinda cool when I got it, but fell in love with the feature at a water park. I was able to keep my phone in a locker, and still stay connected to the group I was with. After that, I was sold, and have had it on every Apple Watch since.
Non Smart Watches π
I was kinda fed up with smart watches at this point. The daily charging of Apple Watch, and some software annoyances were really getting to me. So I decided to stop using a smart watch, and pick up a traditional watch. This is were part 2 comes in. You can read that here
Apple Watch S7 π· π₯ π
After a couple years on traditional watches, I was starting get a little board of them. So I pulled out my old Apple Watch S4 to see if the newer software fixed my complaints. In short, it did. But, If I was going back to a smart watch, it had to have an always on display.
So I traded in my Series 4, and picked up a Series 7.
The S7 brought me the additions from the S5 and 6 that I skipped. Mainly the blood oxygen sensor, and the always on display. Man did I like the AOD. The S7 also had a slightly larger display, compared to the S4.
Apple Watch Ultra 1 π· π₯ π
This is my current daily driver. I originally wasnβt sold on it, but after getting a deep scratch on my S7βs display, I picked one up. I was originally just going to get a stainless steel Apple Watch, as that had a sapphire crystal. But the Ultra also came with one, and was the same price.
I was loving that battery life right off the bat. Only having to charge every two and a half days was a big relief. Still wasnβt sold on the design. That was until I smacked it in the steel trailer tongue. The watch was fine. After that, I was sold, this thing is built like a tank.
So yeah, I’ve had a lot of watches. And that was only the smart watches. It’s been fun watching the market grow. And it’ll be interesting to see where the wearable goes.
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Looking at you Pebble 2 ↩︎
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