# Do Androids Dream of Electric Watches? (Android Wear Discussion) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 29, 2017, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-androids-dream-of-electric-watches-android-wear-discussion/803102 "2017-11-29T22:36:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-androids-dream-of-electric-watches-android-wear-discussion/803102/1 "2017-11-29T22:36:01Z")
Until the start of this year, I was a happy Pebble customer. When they got (mostly) acquired by FitBit and stopped officially supporting their watches, I happened to also be ready for a new cell phone: in February I decided to go all Samsung, and got a Galaxy S7 phone and a Gear S2 Classic watch (uglier for a woman than the Pebble Time Round I’d been wearing, but better than the even bigger/bulkier Gear S3). Nine months later I’m still not crazy about the size and weight, there are a lot of features on the watch that I don’t use, and Samsung seems completely uninterested in scaling a watch for female wrists. I’d been waiting for details about the Gear Sport, which I’d heard would be smaller, but turns out it’s only smaller than the S3; it’s slightly bigger than the S2. Because I’ve realized that form is more important to me than most functions – all I need is an always-on display, and email/text/call notifications – I’ve decided to look into other watches. I know that the newer Apple watches will work with Android, but I’m not crazy about that design (though it’s better than the S2): I want a watch that looks like a _watch_, and that won’t look out of place if I’m in heels. And, like I said, I just want an always-on display and notifications; I don’t need GPS, heart rate monitoring, step tracking, weather info, the ability to make or answer phone calls, etc. I’ve done some preliminary research, and I think it’s down to either the [LG Smart Watch Style](http://www.lg.com/us/smart-watches/lg-W270-Silver-style) or the [Huawei Watch](http://consumer.huawei.com/us/wearables/watch/). I’m leaning toward the Huawei, even though it’s slightly more expensive (and I don’t know how to pronounce it [“WAH-way”?]). Does anyone have experience with either the LG or the Huawei? Recommendations? Warnings? Are there any other Android-compatible watches – with the form factor and features I’m looking for – that I should seriously consider? ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-androids-dream-of-electric-watches-android-wear-discussion/803102/2 "2017-12-01T16:50:13Z")
First time I’ve started a tech/gadget thread and gotten no bites! 🙂 A little bump just in case I missed my target audience the first time… ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-androids-dream-of-electric-watches-android-wear-discussion/803102/3 "2017-12-01T22:22:11Z")
I got one of those from my sister for my Bday. It had this little 1 cm thick booklet. Which was NOT a guide/instruction manual, but instead was chock full of legalese mumbo jumbo. I tried to activate/synch it with my phone several times, all to no avail, since I had no idea what the instructions to do so were. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-androids-dream-of-electric-watches-android-wear-discussion/803102/4 "2017-12-02T02:04:44Z")
Yikes! Thanks for the info. I did more research today, and the Huawei is chunkier than it first seemed. I’m now leaning toward the LG (after briefly considering the Asus ZenWatch 3). C|NET’s “cons” for the LG were mainly the lack of features/apps I don’t care about. They also weren’t thrilled with the battery life – averaging 20 hours, with the same phone I have – but that’s actually not much worse than what I get now with my S2. The “silver” version is currently out of stock on Amazon, so I won’t be pulling any triggers any time soon, but I think the LG Watch Style might be the winner. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-androids-dream-of-electric-watches-android-wear-discussion/803102/5 "2017-12-02T02:23:58Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > all I need is an always-on display, and email/text/call notifications – I don’t need GPS, heart rate monitoring, step tracking, weather info, the ability to make or answer phone calls, etc. Garmin’s are always on display & have notifications. If you don’t use the GPS, they can go for days before needing a recharge. Just a thought to consider. This [link](https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/c571-p1.html?FILTER_FEATURE_SMARTNOTIFICATIONS=true&sorter=featuredProducts-desc) is just to their activity trackers, they also have additional wearables in the [running](https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/cRunning-p1.html?FILTER_FEATURE_SMARTNOTIFICATIONS=true&sorter=featuredProducts-desc) category. ---
**Author:** ![JPrescott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e36b37/32.png) [@JPrescott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JPrescott)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-androids-dream-of-electric-watches-android-wear-discussion/803102/6 "2017-12-02T04:28:45Z")
I still use my Pebble Time. I wish i could find something just like it. I’m dreading the day i have to replace it. I like having the always on display, and the battery still lasts at least nine days. I was really upset when Pebble just kinda shrugged and walked away. Needless to say I won’t be buying anything Fitbit. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-androids-dream-of-electric-watches-android-wear-discussion/803102/7 "2017-12-02T05:07:16Z")
I’ll throw a vote for Garmin. I have one that I’ve loved for about 6 months now but its on the opplsite side of the spectrum from you’re looming for giant and packed with features. I won’t recomend my model but i willsay in general there stuff is very well made and reliable. My brother in law also has one of a different model that he loves of a different variety so I’ve got at least two data poi t that they don’t suck though they may be too feature rich for you. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-androids-dream-of-electric-watches-android-wear-discussion/803102/8 "2017-12-02T15:16:12Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Garmin’s are always on display & have notifications. If you don’t use the GPS, they can go for days before needing a recharge. Just a thought to consider. > [@Oredigger77](#): > > I’ll throw a vote for Garmin. > > I have one that I’ve loved for about 6 months now but its on the opplsite side of the spectrum from you’re looming for giant and packed with features. Thanks to both of you, but as **Oredigger77** guessed those are \*not \*what I’m looking for. In order to get a style I like, I’d have to pay hundreds of extra dollars for a bunch of features that I don’t want. > [@JPrescott](#): > > I still use my Pebble Time. I actually went looking for my old Pebble Time Round the other day. It’s not where I thought it would be, so I’m hoping I didn’t throw it away (figuring it wasn’t worth trying to sell/give away). I’ll look in some other places this weekend, and if I find it I’ll see if I can re-download the software to my phone. If I still have the watch, I might actually prefer continuing to use it for as long as I can. I, too, was quite bummed when Pebble up and folded their tent. I’d Kickstarted one of the next generation watches, and had been expecting delivery for a month or two. We kept getting vague “production delays” emails, then finally the announcement that Pebble had been sold and we’d be getting refunds instead of watches.