Pebble Watch Replacement Needed

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  • July 6, 2019 at 10:52 am #34703
    Ed PEd P
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      @edps
      Forumite Points: 39

      Unfortunately Fitbit have withdrawn all Pebble Watch from the Store at the same time I had to do a factory reset of my phone (bah!). I now have a smart watch that is no better than an analogue one!

      As a result I am now in the market for a replacement – Fitbit are a total no-no due to their actions, many seem to struggle to give a one day battery life. I looked at hybrid watches but their silly watch-hand massaging is just not on, so are their any viable Pebble replacements?

      I’d like an e-ink display but the Sony e-paper watch made me shudder.

      Has anyone tried the Huawei – two weeks on battery?

      July 6, 2019 at 11:15 am #34706
      blacklion1725blacklion1725
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        @blacklion1725
        Forumite Points: 2

        Have had experience of a few of these through me, other half and kids – ranging from full on Smartwatch to fitness-only to “bit of both” – all depends on the essential features. I have a Xiaomi (WeLoop) watch that I would class as a sports watch with a few smart features. Similar at feature level to the Fitbit Charge but battery life is way, way better. If I don’t use GPS would do weeks on end – easily a month. It will give whichever notifications you enable, and is waterproof. It is not a full on Smartwatch though.

        I tried the Huawei band but returned it – similar shape and feel to the fitbits (i.e. band) which I’m not keen on. I had a play with the Huawei Watch 2 (a Smartwatch) which was very nice but way over the top for me and you pay for it in battery life.

        One of mine has the Xiaomi Amazfit watch – which is very nice – quite a bit bigger – more features (bluetooth music for example) and you can side load otherapps on to it. Battery life with normal use is only 5 days though – less if you hammer the GPS.

        July 6, 2019 at 11:45 am #34707
        Ed PEd P
        Participant
          @edps
          Forumite Points: 39

          Thanks, those were useful comments that made me focus on what I wanted. i.e. not much on the watch as I would have the phone, but something easy to glance at that would jog me to look at the phone if necessary.

          That pushed me to looking at the Withings brand, as I get battery life but still get the minimum messaging I need. I just hope that it isn’t another Pebble situation down the road, but they survived Nokia so maybe its ok.

          July 6, 2019 at 1:03 pm #34710
          blacklion1725blacklion1725
          Participant
            @blacklion1725
            Forumite Points: 2

            Looks nice Ed – be interested to see how you get on

            July 6, 2019 at 4:03 pm #34717
            The DukeThe Duke
            Participant
              @sgb101
              Forumite Points: 5

              I think it looks nice in the ad photo, however the photo in the review section isn’t so flattering.

              July 6, 2019 at 4:44 pm #34718
              Ed PEd P
              Participant
                @edps
                Forumite Points: 39

                I’ll let you know as I decided to let SWMBO buy it for me as my Anniversary present.  It ticks the box for the functionality I need, and I do like the conventional watch format. Problem is that I now need to get her a reasonable present!

                July 6, 2019 at 10:50 pm #34731
                Bob WilliamsBob Williams
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                  @bullstuff2
                  Forumite Points: 0

                  Analogue Bob is hoping his kids (or anyone) will buy him the Omega he once had years ago and dropped 3 stories onto an Army Bedford RL and a concrete truck park floor. Don’t want a Smart watch, can’t wear a quartz watch, they all stop and never restart. I just want an Omega. Something like this:

                  It is the current version of the Seamaster I once had and is now £4,220. I bought mine for a little under £1,000 around 1969, after a very good poker win and a desire to buy something that would last and be an investment. Of course, what I should have done was buy a much cheaper alternative, take the Omega home and let dad look after it. Not wear it every day in Army service!

                  Deep sigh! Hindsight…

                  When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
                  I'm out.

                  July 7, 2019 at 6:05 pm #34744
                  Ed PEd P
                  Participant
                    @edps
                    Forumite Points: 39

                    Indoors the ad photo is 100% accurate, however in full sun the analogue watch face is great but the ‘smart’ black area is illegible just like my Android phone. It is a great shame the smart bit is not e-Ink as that works best in full sun. Other than that the watch does what it says on the tin. It is just fine with respect to the usual fitness apps plus pulse rate and messaging other phone alerts. Messages are very abbreviated and small font which I can handle but SWMBO cannot read.

                    The only criticism I have is the watch setup, it requires the Withings fitness phone app to be fully installed but for some reason it would not accept my Google credentials without a lot of messing around = 3 out of 10 for phone setup ease.

                    July 8, 2019 at 7:21 pm #34773
                    The DukeThe Duke
                    Participant
                      @sgb101
                      Forumite Points: 5

                      My android watch, was a bit of a pita to set up. (fossil explorer), turns out I don’t need the fosil app installed. Which made it far easier a set up.

                      July 8, 2019 at 8:04 pm #34775
                      Ed PEd P
                      Participant
                        @edps
                        Forumite Points: 39

                        I discovered one other issue – the metal watch bands are sized for Chinese males i.e. much slimmer than Caucasians. My wrists are those of a pen-pusher not a weights trainer and the band only just goes around on the largest setting. Anyone who does upper body training would probably not be able to use a metal band.

                        July 8, 2019 at 10:42 pm #34778
                        Bob WilliamsBob Williams
                        Participant
                          @bullstuff2
                          Forumite Points: 0

                          Any watch with a metal band is no good for my hairy wrists, which match most of the rest of me! My barber says he never knows when to stop…

                          When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
                          I'm out.

                          July 9, 2019 at 10:16 am #34781
                          RichardRichard
                          Participant
                            @sawboman
                            Forumite Points: 16

                            Leather straps and my wrists not go well together; they tended to rot out in short order in the past. The metal strap on my present watch has however lasted pretty well since the mid 1970s. It does have some adjustments but appears to be on the last notch at the moment, so would need a link added to make it larger. I suspect my wrist has expanded since I bought it about 47 years back, though when I lost weight a while back, even my wrist slimmed down a bit.

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