You say the idea of owning a smartwatch intrigues you, and it rightly should. These gadgets do way more than sport interchangeable watch faces, eye-catching though they might be. From pushing timely phone notifications for email, text messages, and social-media pings right to your wrist, to running full-blown mobile apps, today’s intelligent watches have more brainpower than ever before.
Even better, the modern smartwatch has upped its style game significantly as well. No longer clunky wrist-borne oddities only a geek could love, current products such as the Pebble Steel and Martian Notifier truly serve as genuine fashion accessories. They’ve become more durable too with many recent models, including the Steel, Samsung Gear 2, and Sony Smartwatch 2 boasting water and dust resistant bodies. So if you’ve been eyeing the smartwatch field, here’s a list of alluring gadgets you’ll certainly want to see up close and personal.
The Steel, the most recent device created by scrappy start-up Pebble doesn’t come cheap. That said it flaunts an all-metal design and build-quality that’s simply gorgeous. The Steel is also capable of running multiple Pebble-approved mobile apps plus serves up alerts from iPhones and Android handsets.
If you’re deeply addicted to the Samsung Galaxy universe of Android phones, then the Gear 2 is what you seek. This follow up to the first Gear features a less conspicuous camera, a similar vibrant and curved OLED screen, and exclusive support for Samsung smartphones, software, and mobile services.
Those seeking a serious yet affordable smartwatch capable of providing phone alerts, and running apps, the Pebble Watch is right up your alley. Sure its plastic frame lacks the artistry of the more expensive Pebble Steel, but at $ 100 less it’s also a heck of a lot more practical.
A firm believer that many smartwatches have crashed and burned by just being too complex, Martian decided to take a simple approach with the Notifier. With smarts concealed within a traditional and handsome analog watch face, the Notifier may appear conventional. A slim OLED screen, however, gives this gadget away by displaying phone notifications pulled from iPhones and Android devices in real time. Priced at an agreeable $ 129, the Notifier is also comparably affordable.
Of course if merely owning a watch that connects to a phone doesn’t impress you, well then perhaps the Omate Truesmart will. That’s because the Truesmart is a mobile phone in its own right. Yes, this gizmo not only runs Android Jelly Bean (4.2.2 to be exact), it has a cellular radio (and SIM card slot), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, micro SD Card slot, plus a water and dust resistant hide.
Longtime smartwatch-maker Sony’s freshest attempt at a wrist-worn gadget, the SmartWatch 2 is the company’s best. Both highly water and dust resistant, the SmartWatch 2 uses its large LCD screen to display phone alerts, email, and other messages. It’s also compatible with a wide range of Android handsets.
CNET