[ajayc123]

Background
Like everything else, watches have evolved with time. When I was a kid, a lot of people used to have watches that were supposed to be wound everyday (and even adjusted now and then to match with the time announced on the radio/ TV). Parallel to these used to exist the self-winding automatic watches, that did not need winding, what a luxury that was. Then we also started having battery operated quartz based dial watches and the digital watches, that were more accurate, and did not need winding. Things were going at a leisurely pace for decades, till we started hearing about Smartwatches.

Team BHP Threads on Watches & Smartwatches
Team BHP also has a few popular threads on watches.

Which watch do you own? (started in 2005)
Link (Which watch do you own?)

The Fitness Band / Smartwatch Thread (started on 2015)
Link (The Fitness Band / Smartwatch Thread)

Evolution of Smartwatches
Smartwatches have evolved quite rapidly, especially in the last decade, where we have seen a number of new advances including but not limited to:
- Entertainment
- Productivity
- Fitness
- Health monitoring
- Connected car

You can read about the Smartwatch evolution in more detail at this Wikipedia page: Link

So What?
A poll to find out the state of adoption of Smartwatches among Team BHPians. And as always, inviting commentary about your choice.

Some seed questions:
What makes you stick to a traditional watch, if you still use a traditional watch ?
What was your trigger to make the switch to a Smartwatch ?
What are the most important use cases of a Smartwatch for you?
What you like/ hate about your choice ?
Has your lifestyle changed with a Smartwatch?
Or, are you one of those, who don’t even use a watch ?

But Why?
With the intersection of ideas on this thread, we may come to know what we are missing, or what else we can use our smart watches to help us improve our day to day living.

[GTO]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

I wear an Apple Watch to work (mainly for its fitness features) & have a nice collection of traditional watches. Voted for analog watches. Reason = smart watches are just a gadget. But they don't come close to the style, look, presence & satisfying feel of a good analog watch. When I'm going out, it is always a traditional watch on my wrist. Compared to the fairer sex, men anyway have limited options in terms of accessorizing their attire, and a handsome watch is the ultimate.

Similar to EVs = I love electric cars and would love to own one in the future, but a fast turbo-petrol or turbo-diesel will always rank higher on my list.

[Jeroen]

Voted analog.

I have an Apple watch (I think the third version) and I have a Garmin sports watch. In all honesty, unless you are seriously into sports these smartwatches have no purpose for me.

I bought the apple watch some years ago when I was attending a course a Stanford. At the time everybody in town was wearing an Apple watch. They also had a massive Apple store, so I thought I would give it a try. It was interesting fiddling about with it for a while.

I have a collection of various analogue watches. I always wear a watch and I look at whichever watch is on my wrist at least a hundred times a day and enjoy it. I just dont get that feeling from a little black Apple brick around my wrist.

Jeroen

[ninjatalli]

Analog watches. Always.

I owned a Garmin several years ago, and though it served it's purpose during my runs, it never really even came close to replacing my daily watch(es). I'm one of those guys who can not go out without a watch on his wrist. And there's a charm in the analog watches - be it quartz or mechanical or even solar (my main preference).

I will definitely own an Apple/Android/other brand smartwatch in the near future but I'm sure it won't be the default option for my wrist atleast for a decade. Unless they bring in something that goes beyond what the current suite of smartwatches offer. Maybe another 'Steve Jobs' in the wearables would bring about that change

[GForceEnjoyer]

I've voted analogue.

I absolutely love the way good ones look. There are so many elements to customise on a good one; the strap, the bezel, the back, the hands, etc. Nothing against digital watches, but analogue ones just do it for me. They have a certain charm to them; I love all things mechanical, so I like my watches mechanical too!

I know that this is by no means an "everyday" analogue watch, but just look at this fabulous Grand Seiko I stumbled upon!

[MotoBlip]

Voted digital.

I have a Galaxy Watch 3, and I wear it almost everywhere primarily because of lack of better options. This is the only watch I own and have couple of different straps to pair it with. I have never owned an analog watch and even back in college used to sport a Timex triathlon watch which too I conveniently misplaced.

Honestly, I don't have a proclivity for either(digital/analog) and would be happy with both although I do sometimes thirst over a Submariner .

[ajayc123]

This one is getting interesting. My kid (class 12) asked me for a traditional watch recently. The reason was that for exam timekeeping, smart watches are not permitted.

We got a Casio youth series analog dial watch for him, which had a date counter, similar to the picture in GForceEnjoyers post. I told him, that you would be required to adjust date for some months as the watch counter always turned 31 days, whereas some months have fewer days.

Within a few seconds, he decided that the watch should be returned (Thanks Amazon), since he does not want to bother about changing a date. See how things are changing by the generation.

[warrioraks]

I used to love analogue watches, and agree with the posts above that nothing matches the style and class of a good watch.

Despite this, I have stopped wearing them altogether since the time a Fitbit Versa 2 was gifted to me. It has been instrumental in improving my health and fitness levels through excellent tracking of my daily step goal, calorie target, resting heart rate and weekly exercise quota. As a wearable, it holds nearly the same weightage in life as my spectacles. So these are the last things to go off before I hit the bed and the first thing to be worn on waking up. In addition, the excellent battery life makes sure that this device lasts up to a week and is able to do the job of an actual watch - tell me the time. I am a full convert from analogue to smart watch.

[ajayc123]

Originally Posted by warrioraks

So these are the last things to go off before I hit the bed and the first thing to be worn on waking up.

So you are not doing sleep tracking! Why not?

I am using a Polar Ignite, and the only time that it is off my wrist is when it's charging, or its time for a bath. Full story shall follow in further posts.

[warrioraks]

Originally Posted by ajayc123

So you are not doing sleep tracking! Why not?

I am using a Polar Ignite, and the only time that it is off my wrist is when it's charging, or its time for a bath. Full story shall follow in further posts.

I used to. But then something changed, and sleeping without the watch felt more comfortable. So have let go off that habit.

Quick Google search tells me you might not need to remove the Polar Ignite watch during a bath. The company claims it’s waterproof. Just kidding

Looking forward to your story.

[Sherlocked]

I have been using a Galaxy Watch 4 since last 4 months or so and don't think I will ever go back to a traditional analog watch in the future.

Reasons being:

• A smartwatch tracks my fitness and daily steps. It kind of pushes you to get up and move. Not possible with analog watches.
  
  
• Spotify control right at my wrist. I can pause or change tracks without even looking at my phone
  
  
• I have kind of gotten used to my watch's voice assistant (Google Assistant) and create Reminders or Timer instantly. Helps in productivity.
  
  
• All the important notifications come on my watch. Helpful in case you want to ignore any in-between your work. Also my phone these days is always on Silent mode. My watch vibrates for any incoming calls or important notifications.
  
  
• I can change the watch face according to my mood or the color of the shirt I'm wearing that day.
  
  
• Ample options of aftermarket watch straps. I don't remember last time I changed my analog watch's strap.
  

[PJ1987]

Interesting thread.
I love wearing smart watches and traditional watches. I started wearing Apple watch 6 years back when my weight jumped from 73 to 88. I needed some motivation to get back to healthy habits. Within 5 months I reduced my weight from 88 to 64. So Smart watches definitely have some upsides.
Used to have a wide variety of quartz watches in my collection but recently I trimmed my collection to just 2 very nice mechanical time pieces. I’m planning to wear them for a very long time and hand them over to the next generation.

[Samfromindia]

Originally Posted by Sherlocked

I have been using a Galaxy Watch 4 since last 4 months or so and don't think I will ever go back to a traditional analog watch in the future.

Yes exactly. Smart Watches have become daily drivers while traditional ones are more of vanity items these days reserved for special occasions.

[shancz]

Voted Analog.

Due to mobiles being a necessity, don't wear that often but if I do its the normal(digital/analog) watch, zero interest in smart.
Just good old Titan/Timex stuff.

[ajayc123]

Originally Posted by Sherlocked

• A smartwatch tracks my fitness and daily steps. It kind of pushes you to get up and move. Not possible with analog watches.
  
  
• Spotify control right at my wrist. I can pause or change tracks without even looking at my phone
  
  
• I have kind of gotten used to my watch's voice assistant (Google Assistant) and create Reminders or Timer instantly. Helps in productivity.
  
• All the important notifications come on my watch. Helpful in case you want to ignore any in-between your work. Also my phone these days is always on Silent mode. My watch vibrates for any incoming calls or important notifications.
  
• I can change the watch face according to my mood or the color of the shirt I'm wearing that day.
  
• Ample options of aftermarket watch straps. I don't remember last time I changed my analog watch's strap.
  

Wow! Those are some great examples of using the smartwatch to the fullest: entertainment, fitness, productivity, and surprisingly fashion too. You are really able take out some juice from your device. Surely something to learn. So far, I have used my watch only for fitness goals, your hacks are really worth exploration.

Originally Posted by PJ1987

I started wearing Apple watch 6 years back when my weight jumped from 73 to 88. I needed some motivation to get back to healthy habits. Within 5 months I reduced my weight from 88 to 64. So Smart watches definitely have some upsides.

That reminds me of the often quoted phrase "what gets measured gets done".

Smart watch captures a lot of data and possibly provides steady motivation towards your goal, as you said.

This begs the question: Did the adoption of a smartwatch help with your fitness goal, or could you have done equally well without your smartwatch? What were the specific data/ analysis features that helped you in the fitness journey?