Smartwatches - Wearable Tech

Hey there, friend! Would you like to know about wearable technology? What's that, you say? Well, wearable technology is basically any kind of technology that you can wear on your body [1]. Wearable tech is also called consumer wearables. Pretty simple, right? There are all different kinds of wearable technologies including health and fitness trackers, gaming systems, medical devices, and smart accessories. While there are so many awesome wearable devices, I'm going to talk to you about one of my favorites, and one of the most popular, the smartwatch.

A smartwatch is like a teeny tiny touchscreen computer that you wear on your wrist like a watch, but it can do a lot more than tell time. There are different companies or brands that make smartwatches – like Apple, LG, Samsung, and Android [4] – and while they are similar concepts, different kinds of smartwatches have different abilities. What do they do, you ask? Well, I am here to show you.

There are four main types of smartwatches [2], one of them being fitness smartwatches. Fitness watches are a great option for those who love to be active and work out. Like before, many different companies have their own versions of fitness watches but for now, I am going to use the Fitbit as an example. The Fitbit is smaller than most other smartwatches and its main purpose is to track your daily activity [3]. Fitbits are known for tracking how many steps you take and setting step goals for you, but they can also track a lot of other cool stuff like your heart rate, sleep, your weight, how much water you drank that day, your workouts, and more! You can even sync your fitness watch to your smartphone or computer and see your data. You are able to set all kinds of different goals for yourself and keep track of your progress. How useful!

While fitness watches are pretty neat, not everyone is into health and fitness, which is why there are other kinds of smartwatches like notification smartwatches [2]. This kind of wearable tech is a type of smartwatch that is great for those who want to disconnect from their phone. Why? Well, these kinds of smartwatches sync to your phone and the user is able to receive notifications from their phone but are not able to reply to their notifications. These watches are usually made by traditional watch manufacturers and look like normal watches but alert the wearer when their phone receives a call, text, or social media notification. They are great if you are in class or in an important meeting and can’t use your phone but would like to stay updated if something happens, or even if you’d just like to cut down on your phone use. Notification watches allow you to be notified without any of the distractions!

 Now you are probably all familiar with the Apple Watch by now, but did you know that it is actually a type of smartphone smartwatch companion (SSC)? What the heck is that? Well, like the others, it is a type of smartwatch that syncs to your smartphone over WiFi and/or Bluetooth but unlike the notification watch, you are able to access and interact with its features. The SSC allows you to make calls and texts, stream music, track fitness goals, access apps, play games, and basically anything that you can do on your smartphone. That’s so cool, isn’t it? All the potential and ability of a smartphone wrapped up in a tiny wearable device that is both fashionable and functional.
All of the types of smartwatches that I talked about above require you to sync your device with your smartphone, but what if you don’t have a smartphone or didn’t want to have your device connected to your phone? Lucky for you, there are Standalone smartwatches. Standalone smart watches do not sync or connect to your phone, instead they independently on a network– Android, AT&T, Verizon Wireless, etc.– and use 3G or 4G LTE chips or eSim cards to provide the same kinds of features (calls, text messages, internet access, etc.) as other kinds of smartwatches [6]. You don’t even need a phone, computer, or anything like that to sync your smartwatch before using because it’s its own system. This means that you could potentially have a watch, like the Samsung Gear S2, that makes its own phone calls, receives its own texts, and everything else and not ever even need a smartphone because SSCs do it all by themselves! 

       There are all kinds of wearable technology out there today and smartwatches are just one of those. Watches have clearly come a long way from just telling time; there are smart watches that can track your fitness, send you notifications, connect to your smartphone, and even work as an independent device! It’s no doubt that wearable technology is on the rise and hopefully now you understand a little bit more about the different kinds of smartwatches out there and what they can be used for. So now is you happen to find yourself browsing for a new smartwatch you have the information you need to decide which kind would be most beneficial for you!

[1] https://www.lifewire.com/an-introduction-to-smart-watches-3441381

[2] https://bestreviews.com/best-smart-watches

[3] http://lalymom.com/fitbit-101-what-is-a-fitbit-what-does-it-do-and-how-do-i-get-started/

[4] https://www.techradar.com/news/wearables/best-smart-watches-what-s-the-best-wearable-tech-for-you-1154074

[5] https://www.apple.com/apple-watch-series-3/

[6] http://www.smartwatches4u.com/news/Top-Standalone-Smartwatches