Buying Guide: Smartwatch

The smart wearables industry is growing rapidly; the expectations are around 23.91% CAGR (2022-2027) only in India. People are using those for various reasons. Some people are health-conscious, and for some, they are part of their fashion outfits.

In India, anyone can get a smartwatch for as little as Rs 999. But don’t fall for these low-rate devices because brands are marketing fitness bands as smartwatches. There are multiple options available in the market, but we hardly get accurate fitness tracking results in budget watches. If you are paying low, you have to compromise on some quality.

How do I choose the perfect smartwatch?

Here, I am assuming that you actually want to use a watch. You want to use it for calls, notifications, fitness, and so on. 

If you belong to this group, take into account the following factors before purchasing:

Don't fall for the word 'Cheap'

“Gold has a fixed value, so if someone sells it to you for a low, always test the authenticity." We can apply the same to smartwatches. In the new watch market, a decent watch typically costs a minimum of Rs 2500, but even at this price, you won't receive a 100% accurate health tracker. If you're interested in 'Wear OS', you'll need to pay a minimum of Rs 7000 to 8000.

If you want to settle yourself for less, you can go for fitness trackers.

Wear OS: 

Google designed Wear OS, also known as Android OS, specifically for smart wearables. You can install and uninstall applications as per your requirements on your watch. You get proper support for Google Maps, music, and voice assistant, but you sacrifice this feature in low-budget smartwatches and miss out on important tracking features.

Display: 

As for the display, make sure you go for an AMOLED display with a minimum 600 nit brightness and a 60 Hz refresh rate. 

(You can choose a TFT or IPS display if choosing a rugged watch, as AMOLED displays are prone to cracking.)

Sensors:

This is the most important point of any smartwatch. Less-priced smartbands can play with your health by showing fake health data.

Brands like Samsung, Fitbit, and Garmin are some major players in the watch industry, and they provide almost 100% accurate sensors, sleep monitoring, and step counting. 

Low-range smart-bands use inaccurate sensors, and one wrong piece of data regarding your heartbeat or stress can ruin your health cycle.

You should test the SPO2 meteor of a watch on neutral things because cheap sensors may detect life in bottles as well. You can also compare it to actual health monitors to test accuracy.

Internal Storage:

A smartwatch can reduce your screen time significantly. You can download and save songs so that you don't need to ‘Lock-Unlock’ your phone to listen to tracks.

Internal storage is also needed to install important applications. 

Bluetooth Calling:

It is the most essential feature of this device, but here is a glitch: some brands transfer calls to your watch via Bluetooth, some come with an external slim slot, and some support e-sim.

Premium and budget smart bands come with or without e-sim support, but with the budget-friendly product, you are not allowed to use the same number on your wearable device (not even with e-sim) because of a lack of Wear OS support, and somebody will rarely expense an extra amount to buy a dedicated sim card and mobile plan for a watch.

Wear OS smartwatches can handle networking, SIM support, and calls perfectly. 

Brand Support:

After-sale support is also important if you buy any gadgets. Premium brands always work on firmware updates, but low-quality ones don't come with any firmware support. 

Conclusion

If you are planning to buy a proper smartwatch, don’t fall for gimmicks; choose the one that has quality sensors, e-sim support, Bluetooth calling, and proper brand support.