Key Takeaways
1. Preference for Simplicity: The author values simple features over complex smart functions, finding little use for health tracking and notifications.
2. Importance of Alarm Functionality: The primary desired feature is a gentle alarm, as the author prefers waking up without disturbing others.
3. Battery Life Concerns: Long battery life is crucial; the author dislikes frequent charging and prefers devices that last longer without needing power.
4. Design Preferences: The author favors round designs that resemble classic watches and is dissatisfied with the available options that focus on fitness tracking rather than basic timekeeping.
5. Privacy and Data Concerns: There is discomfort with sharing personal health and activity data with manufacturers and third parties through smartwatches.
Maybe I’m the odd one, but I just can’t bring myself to spend hundreds of dollars on a watch or smartwatch — that $400 Apple Watch can go away. Honestly, I’m not interested in most of those so-called “smart” features.
Prefer Simplicity Over Complexity
I sleep just fine without any sleep tracking. When I’m playing indoor soccer, I don’t care about my heart rate as long as I’m making slick passes, assists, blocks, and scoring goals. If I wanted to track my bike rides, I could do that with my phone anyway (and honestly, I haven’t felt the need to!). Plus, every time I see someone lifting their arm every few minutes to check notifications, it gives me the creeps — I really don’t want that (I tried it once, but turned it off after just two days).
Alarm Clock Matters Most
You can call me old-school, but besides telling the time, the only feature I truly value is alarms: I love being gently woken up by a light vibration on my wrist rather than some loud alarm that ruins my morning. Ideally, it won’t wake anyone else who’s sharing the bed with me.
Battery life is super important for me too — I really don’t want to be charging my watch every few days. My last smartwatch, the Amazfit Bip, lasted over a month because I hardly used it! The feature-packed watches today hardly compare.
Design & Functionality Issues
However, I wasn’t a fan of the Bip’s square design. To set alarms, I always had to take out my phone and use the app (it was the Mi app, but I switched to Gadgetbridge). After many years — surprisingly, the battery is still holding up — the watch is pretty much done: the glass cracked, came loose, had to be taped during a trip, the strap-pin holes are worn out, and it just looks worn out.
Unfortunately, reasonably priced smartwatches (around 50 euros) that just offer alarms are almost non-existent. “Just look at fitness bands,” people suggest. But I don’t want a rectangular fitness tracker (I don’t care about fitness features anyway). I’d rather have a round design that resembles a classic watch. “Why not check out regular watches?” they ask. Apparently, some even have alarm features — but they’re tough to find and, after losing market share to smartwatches, often quite pricey too.
Am I truly the only one who doesn’t care about tons of smartwatch features but still desires good design, strong build quality, and long battery life at a reasonable price? Am I the only one who feels uneasy about linking my personal activity, sleep, and health data to an app that sends all that info to manufacturers and third parties?
Maybe smartwatches with long battery life, basic features, and optional phone connectivity just aren’t profitable (less data to collect), but to me, almost all popular smartwatches are overloaded, overpriced, and way too invasive!