Why get a smartwatch? There are many great things you can do with a smartwatch. Connecting your phone to check emails, make calls and reply to texts are some of the features they have. According to a study from Forrester Research, Smartwatches are getting smarter every year. They now have an improved and more intuitive user interface. They are developing a good app ecosystem that is constantly improving. Who knows in the next ten years what a smartwatch can be capable of.

Smartwatches, or wearables, as they’re also known, have been around for decades. Over the past few years, they’ve been gaining traction among consumers, thanks in part to advances in technology. While we’ve seen the rise of smartwatches that track activity such as steps, heart rate and sleep patterns. many people are still waiting for the perfect device. There’s no question that the smartwatch industry is in its infancy. According to global industry analysis firm Counterpoint, Global smartwatch shipments in the third quarter of 2021 increased 16% compared to the same period last year. This continues a double-digit growth following the previous quarter.

When people think about getting a smartwatch, they often ask the same questions when people buy a new car: “Are there any good reasons for getting it?” “What features should I look for?” “Is this model reliable?” “How much will it cost me?” “Am I getting a good deal?” 

In this article, I’m going to look at the best reasons for getting a smartwatch. We’ll explore the advantages, drawbacks, and features when buying a smartwatch, and I’ll show you how to decide if a smartwatch is right for you.

Why Get a Smartwatch?

Reasons To Get A Smartwatch

Notifications

You might be in an important meeting and you get a message. Pulling your phone out will be unethical in this situation. To some, it might offend them and make you look like you were not listening. With a smartwatch, all you have to do is have a quick glance at your wrist. You can also leave your phone on silent so it would not cause any distractions. Having a quick look at your wrist is a lot more convenient and unnoticeable in these situations.

Smartwatches can also show your calendar events, appointments, emails and other important reminders. This is very ideal for someone that is very busy. Someone that needs everything to be organised with all their tasks delegated. Being able to have all these abilities at hand, naturally makes you use your phone less.

Can Track Your Health

Technologically Advanced Monitoring 

Some watches like the Apple Smartwatch have advanced tracking tools like the electrocardiogram heart monitor also known as ECG. Having these types of advanced features easily available really helps to meet your fitness goals.

Check Your Dieting

You will be able to track your calories for every meal. Whenever you do exercise you can find out how many calories you have burned. Although Smartwatches can help you with your diet. It cannot calculate your macronutrients or assist to keep you in ketosis.

Caffeine Tracking

If you think you are consuming too much caffeine then your Smartwatch can also track this as well. For people that are addicted to caffeine. This will be helpful to make a start in cutting down on their caffeine intake.

Monitor Stress

To measure stress, smartwatches use a combination of measurements. They can measure your heart rate and blood pressure. Measuring these will show your stress levels. If you suffer from chronic stress your smartwatch can identify this as well. 

Heart rate variability also known as HRV measures the time interval between heartbeats. These readings focus on minor fluctuations in the heart. This is not like your BPM reading which measures how many times your heart beats by the minute.

Travel Assistance and Navigation

Most smartwatches have GPS nowadays which work similarly to the ones on your phone. You can get maps to run on them and input nearby locations. This can be very handy when you’re on the move. All you have to do is have a quick look at your wrist without having to pull out your phone. Having Bluetooth headphones connected, you can get directions in your ear similarly to how you would on your phone.

By having this feature you would not have to keep pulling out your phone to check the maps. This gives you more freedom to focus more on where you are going. Due to the smartwatch being easy to access, this helps give out less indication that you are a tourist. When someone constantly pulls their phone out it looks obvious they’re not familiar with the area.

Music Management 

Most smartwatches allow you to play music on them. They can be used for fitness or just to have a little bit of fun. You can also create playlists and listen to them at the same time. You can use them to sync your favorite songs and play music while you’re running.

Take the Apple Watch for example, it is great for managing music. It has the ability to let you play music and it has an app that lets you manage your music. You can create playlists that you can use while you’re working out. You can also control it with your voice using Siri voice assistant. With a voice command, you can create a playlist, choose an album or artist and also choose a specific song of your choice.

Managing music in this way saves you the hassle of pulling your phone out. This way if you are going for a run it is a lot safer, and it can save you from getting distracted.

Save Battery on Your Smartphone

A positive in using smartwatches is you use your phone less. This helps save the battery on your phone. Battery life is always an issue with smartphones to the point where people are equipped with portable battery chargers. 

Even though some power is being used from your phone to run the smartwatch. This does not compare to it actually being on by using the display and running other various apps. 

You will still get your notifications but you wouldn’t have to pull your phone out to see them. This will reduce the urge of scrolling through social media and wasting time on useless apps.

Phone Calls

Without having to pull out your phone you can make and receive calls. To make it even easier for yourself, you can get a wireless headset and talk through that when you’ve accepted a call. Let’s be honest it looks very unusual talking to someone on your smartwatch and it’s not practical.

Using a wireless headset makes you truly hands-free. This makes it easier for you to be able to focus on other tasks without getting distracted.

If you do not fancy taking a particular call, you can enable do not disturb easily from your smartwatch and let the call go straight to voicemail.

Options for Customization

Nearly all smartwatches come with many different options of customization. From different clock faces to different straps, there are many to choose from. 

However, if you want to have a truly unique smartwatch that will stand out from the crowd, get a custom strap or band for your watch. Strap or band customization is one of the most popular ways to customize smartwatches. There are numerous companies that will do this for you.

There are numerous ways to customize a watch strap. Some companies like to create a design for you, while others may let you upload your own image. Others still may let you pick from a selection of pre-made designs.  You can even have your name printed directly onto the strap itself.

Reasons You Shouldn’t Get a Smartwatch

Price

Smartwatches can be expensive and vary in price from $200 to $1000 plus, that’s if you’re getting a decent one. You can get a regular analogue watch for a fraction of the price of a smartwatch.

 A smartwatch should have a high-quality display and enough processing power to provide a reliable user experience. The most basic smartwatch displays are not as pretty as those in the higher bracket. They offer a much better experience than your typical smartwatch. 

If you take into consideration all the functional features that I have mentioned, is it worth spending $200 plus every few years? The benefits in time, monitoring health and stress levels worth the investment? For most people, the answer is no. 

Daily Charging

Due to the demanding functions, smartwatches have these days, the battery life can be an issue depending on how you use it. On average they last you 12-24 hours so you’re best off charging it every day just like your phone.

They also come with a specified charger which you need to make sure you don’t misplace. This just adds to the stress list because if you were to forget it when you’re going out it can pose a big problem.

A Fitness Tracker Can Suffice for Some Users

Given the fact that smartwatches can track your health may be a good thing. The issue is that there are more distractions that come with it, which takes it away from that purpose.

This is why some users, are better off with a fitness tracker. These are specially designed solely for fitness. They track your steps, distance walked/run, calories burned and other basic activities. They do not have many features as a smartwatch does. They do not give you notifications. They simply track basic information and let you know how you are doing. 

Can be a Distraction, Especially for Children

Smartwatches are easy to look at. This means there is more of a chance you will want to keep checking your incoming notifications on all your apps and appointments. This will keep you constantly connected and won’t give you time to breathe. Mentally this is straining, and it will be better to just keep everything on your phone.

There is more of a chance adults can have some self-control in this. When it comes to teenagers and children, they will give in to all the distractions. This can seriously affect their learning and concentration levels. The harms outweigh the benefits, so it will be best to keep them away. Especially if they have no self-control. 

Are Smartwatches for you?

looking at everything that I’ve mentioned about smartwatches. You can see they are mainly targeted at business professionals. In the past, planners and other productivity tools were used. Smartwatches are the answer to them in these modern times. They can keep track of your schedule to the minute if that’s what you want.

Smartwatches can be used casually, but it’s not what it was designed for. For the casual user, it can present a look of professionalism depending on the design and the social circles you are in.

Final Thoughts

Should you own a smartwatch? if you want one and are old enough to make your own decisions. Then by all means buy one. Take into consideration all the pros and cons mentioned and decide for yourself if it is worth buying.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Do you agree or disagree? Let us know what you think in the comments below.