[satish.gawai]

Hi,
I am very much fascinated with smartwatches. I had used smart bands like fit bit /GOQii and smart watches like Amazfit/Noise in past.

In 2020 I bought a Samsung galaxy watch active2. It's a great product from Samsung and all measurements are also accurate. I really enjoy the watch for tracking workouts and other health data.

Any idea when will we get BP and ECG features in India? These features are working in many other countries now.

I installed the Samsung Health monitor app in past(mandatory for BP and ECG) on the watch as well as on my One plus3 and it was working well. Recently I bought Samsung A73 and now I am not able to install the Samsung health monitor app.

Also, I did not find an option for body composition measurement on active2. Is this feature only applicable to watch 4 and watch 5?

Any help pl....

[zadoom]

Have been using a Garmin Instinct Solar Tactical 1 for the last almost 2 years. My summary below -

My main requirements
- Sturdy
- Good battery life
- Cycling, Running, Swimming measurements plus the other basics
- GPS

Pros
+ Super Sturdy, built to some Millitary standards (Garmin Speak) - personal experience, have had many falls, no scratches or watch stopping to work till date because of that.
+ Super good battery life. I get 22 days of battery on full charge, extendable if am outdoors in the sun. Further extendable by going on battery save mode (didn't try but I think it's 50+ days in that mode). Don't have an accurate assessment of battery life in GPS on mode, but most recently went with GPS tracking for about an hour with 7 - 8 days of battery life left and at the end of the session still had 4 days of battery left.
+ Accurate measurements, had tried step measurements once, every count corresponded to an actual step and movement of arms didn't lead to an step count.
+ Unique - features like Stealth mode, Night mode, 3 satellite support for positioning support etc
+ Physical buttons for everything

Cons
- The screen is monotone, though that in itself is not much of a bother but the screen resolution becomes. The readability of smaller text or numbers is not the best.
- No NFC payment support
- For some of the stuff like music, navigation etc the access is cumbersome. eg: i have never used the music controls - partly because I prefer the sound of silence while working out and partly because even exploring that seemed too combersome.
- The standard straps that come with it are not the best for hot & humid weather like ours. I never felt uncomfortable with wearing it almost 24*7 while in Europe but back in India I prefer to wear it wear it only when required. Though this can be resolved possibly with other type of straps available.

Cheers,
M

[poloman]

Recently purchased Amazfit GTS4 Mini for 6499/- I would say I am pretty impressed with the watch with usage of around 2 weeks.

Just had two basic requirements. Track the steps with decent accuracy and extremely good battery life. I can't even think of charging my watch daily. So most Samsung watches were ruled out. Also I am a hard core Android person, that virtually ruled out Apple watches.
So the choice narrowed down to some Indian (again Chinese DNA) and Chinese options.

Had a terrible experience with Noise with two watches dying in a span of 6 months. Did not even bother to repair them since the accuracy was too bad. Connectivity to phone also was a nightmare

I kind of like square form factor for a smartwatch. So read few reviews of Amazfit GTS4 mini and was impressed with the huge battery life and decent accuracy. So ordered the same and got it during Amazon sale. After using it for 2 weeks here are my observations.

Pros
1)The battery last for more than 10 days with decent usage. If you use GPS for tracking the workout, it will drain fast. Same with AOD. But can still get around 5 days min.
2)The build quality is decent.
3) The connectivity to Zepp app is good. The app is also decent with lot of trackers and useful health indicators.
4) GPS is accurate and locks fast.
5) Decent accuracy for sensors.
6)Good number of watch faces available. I wanted something with all data displayed on the main screen itself.

Cons
1) I always thought I had a small wrist. But the watch turned out too 'Mini' for me. May be my wrist was not that small . It looks like I will need watches above 45mm. Amazfit GTS4 would have been a better option.
2) The strap quality is poor and not built to last.
3) Finesse is missing in the build quality.
4) Very light at around 30g. I would have preferred some thing more solid and thick.
5) No mic or speaker. So no calls. For me this is a non issue.

Overall I would recommend this for some one looking for an average, mid range watch with good battery life and decent accuracy.

[ani_meher]

Is there any fitness band with fall alert sensor? I have Samsung watch 3 and Honor band, and feel that Honor band is far more comfortable for continuous wearing even while sleeping or swimming. Hence, looking for an OLED band with fall alert sensor. Is there any such band available?

[Eddy]

Anyone here using an Ultrahuman ring?

https://ultrahuman.com/ring/?currency=inr

[vellatechie]

Samsung Watch 4 is a fine watch for the price but it's not really that accurate and is nowhere close to fitbits, apple watch or Huawei watch.

https://youtu.be/bEM1m7OdlyY

[roamer]

Originally Posted by satish.gawai

Also, I did not find an option for body composition measurement on active2. Is this feature only applicable to watch 4 and watch 5?

Samsung health is available by default on every Samsung phone. Also body composition measurement is only available in Galaxy Watch 4 and 5 series.

Originally Posted by ani_meher

Is there any fitness band with fall alert sensor?

Not aware of any! I think Fall alert requires ability to call or text which is not available in fitness bands.

[RYP]

Galaxy Watch 4 is the first real competitor for the Apple watch and a proper Smart watch on the Android side of things. Rest 'Smart watches' are all just beefed-up smart bands. I bought it exactly a year ago, pre-booked on the Samsung app and paid 17.5k after all discounts.

I too used a Mi smart band for 2 years before this. My use case is almost similar to yours, except I wear it especially during sleep and the sleep tracking is pretty much amazing. If i feel somewhat groggy in the morning i'll just cross check the deep sleep time which will be like 25-30mins (not good) ideally >45-50 mins is good. I do a 30min jog/treadmill every day and all the tracking parameters i feel is very satisfactory.

Google maps navigation is very bad and a battery drainer, i was looking forward to this feature and was thoroughly disappointed. GPay through NFC works only outside of India, another bummer. ECG is not yet licensed to work in India. I played around with the watch faces for the first few weeks and never bothered after that. Calling is barely a necessary feature and i dont understand why many people who never used it fancy it, guess its the equivalent to a sunroof. Battery life is 1-1.5 days atmost. I'm 100% WFH and I wear it only during workouts, sleep and while going out, rest of the time it just lies on the table or on the charger.

For me smart watches as a category itself are a 4/10. Whoever don't have it, will want one and whoever have it doesn't get what the hype was all about. Will I continue using it? Yes. Will i upgrade once battery is dead? Absolutely not. My next wrist upgrade would be a horses for courses approach - a highly accurate band like a Fitbit & a Swiss made Watch

[sbkumar]

Originally Posted by RYP

Calling is barely a necessary feature and i dont understand why many people who never used it fancy it, guess its the equivalent to a sunroof. Battery life is 1-1.5 days atmost. I'm 100% WFH and I wear it only during workouts, sleep and while going out, rest of the time it just lies on the table or on the charger.

For me smart watches as a category itself are a 4/10. Whoever don't have it, will want one and whoever have it doesn't get what the hype was all about. Will I continue using it? Yes. Will i upgrade once battery is dead? Absolutely not. My next wrist upgrade would be a horses for courses approach - a highly accurate band like a Fitbit & a Swiss made Watch

It depends on the lifestyle and the phase of life you are in I guess. I started with a band in 2012, moved to Fitbit couple of years later and then Garmin a few years down the lane when Fitbit was not providing upgrades and the GPS became problematic . I am no Apple fan but their watches look increasingly irresistible given their accuracy. I’m talking mainly from a health perspective and that’s important as I have moved to my 40s now. It has helped me understand my body better and keep me conscious about what I do or don’t do. The one reason cellular becomes important is I can leave my phone back at home for my morning walks and runs. May be not that critical if you hit a gym.

[Blooming Flower]

Folks, what are the present options of LTE smartwatches (capable of running JioEverywhereConnect service or e-sim from other service providers) in Indian market, which are fully functional with any Android phone? I am keeping aside Apple watch as they work with limited functionality. A comprehensive list with ascending order of price is much appreciated.

Also, heard in many YT videos, Galaxy watch Jio LTE service gets enabled in-app only with Samsung phones. Is it true?

[atnyia]

Originally Posted by ram.iyer95

Hi all, I've been using the Galaxy Watch 4 (44mm, BT version) for the past two weeks..
..
Even though the model is more than a year old, it is still very similar to the latest Galaxy Watch 5...

Thanks for the fantastic review Ram. I had very similar experience with the Watch 4. Just adding Watch 5's for the complete context.

As you already have mentioned, value proposition for Watch 4 is immense relative to Watch 5. But, things are a little different when one looks at Watch 5 Pro.

The way I see it, while Watch 4/5 are mostly fitness accessories, Watch 5 Pro also fills in for the aesthetics and usual durability requirements that we expect from a wrist watch. It has a titanium build with Sapphire glass that looks very elegant both with formals and casuals. As build is strong enough, case is not needed. The glass is also somewhat receded. While I always keep my phone in a case since it stays in my pocket, watch is something that I wear. It must look good. One of the reasons my previous smart band disguised as watch was the T-Rex because it was a proper watch and somewhat smart.

Then, fast charging and big battery definitely helps. A 20 min charge gives you a whole day. No plugging in in office or in car. With fully charged, it will survive the weekend outing. So, this way, Watch 5 Pro is very functional.

The third is the trackback feature. Infrequent, but useful for folks like me.

On a side note, just a demonstration why I want to get rid of my Nothing Phone 1. iPhone 13 captures the realistic color tones, wile NP1 is all over the place in a lot of settings.

Originally Posted by Eddy

Anyone here using an Ultrahuman ring?

https://ultrahuman.com/ring/?currency=inr

I asked for the same a while back. Looks interesting to me because it's so subtle.

[satish.gawai]

Samsung health is available by default on every Samsung phone. Also, body composition measurement is only available in Galaxy Watch 4 and 5 series.

Thanks for this info.
I wish Samsung releases some updates for the galaxy watch active2 to work body composition. Don't know whether it also needs hardware updates...

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by RYP

Google maps navigation is very bad and a battery drainer, i was looking forward to this feature and was thoroughly disappointed. GPay through NFC works only outside of India, another bummer. ECG is not yet licensed to work in India. I played around with the watch faces for the first few weeks and never bothered after that. Calling is barely a necessary feature and i dont understand why many people who never used it fancy it, guess its the equivalent to a sunroof. Battery life is 1-1.5 days atmost. I'm 100% WFH and I wear it only during workouts, sleep and while going out, rest of the time it just lies on the table or on the charger.

I wear the Apple Watch the whole day (remove it only before sleep), and actually find all the above-mentioned features very useful. Payments are super easy, be it in a department store, or on public transport, Google Maps are handy when out cycling, and I find the cellular/LTE connectivity very useful when out on a walk; there is no need to carry the phone in the pocket and is still contactable when needed.

---

Wanted to change to a good smartwatch (with cellular connectivity) that can work with an Android phone (Samsung/Google), but so far not found something that can match the finesse of the Apple Watch. The Galaxy Watch is mediocre in comparison and the recently launched Pixel watch looks underwhelming. So one option is to switch to a Regular watch + Garmin band (and forget about cellular convenience), or switch back to iPhone sometime next year, and probably upgrade to the Watch Ultra.

[eminemence]

Originally Posted by ram.iyer95

2. Standby battery drain: On an average, the watch loses 9-10% of charge over a 9 hr night, even when it is not worn, and is in power saving mode. I have tried turning off bluetooth on the phone to disconnect it from the watch and stop syncing, but it still does not make a difference.

You can try enabling the "Watch Only" mode when not wearing it in the night. That should help you save some more charge. It's under "Settings" -> "Battery". Scroll down to the bottom to see the "Watch Only" button.

[IshaanIan]

Hi folks I need help selecting a reliable, accurate and cheap fitness tracker which comes with a good app service that should allow me to share data from a certain time-frame with someone else. This is for the purposes of a bet that a friend and I have.

I recently bought a treadmill and my friend challenged me that I will not use it. We agreed upon average usage in terms of kilometers per day covered on the treadmill and now I am looking for a fitness tracker that can help me gather that data to share with my friend.

Please help me select something that is not too expensive as I have mentioned, I only need it for the purposes of this bet and that is all.

Thanks in advance