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Very cool! I like the idea of smart watches but don't really like the walled ecosystems or incentives of smart devices manufacturers to sell user data. Unfortun

Very cool! I like the idea of smart watches but don't really like the walled ecosystems or incentives of smart devices manufacturers to sell user data. Unfortunately it seems sold out for now.

uxp100 6y ago
Yeah, I don't really like the idea of smart watches at all, but the price is low, and the form factor seems reasonable, so I put myself on the notify list. (I use the timer on an F91-W to time my coffee brewing, and that's about as smart as I need a watch to be. But hey, it's programmable, a timer preset for different brewing methods that buzzed but continued when I needed to do a step sounds nice.)
- ashtonkem 6y ago
  I owned one of the original Pebble watches. My takeaway was that without significant phone interoperability, a smart watch is primarily useful for notifications and not much else. I want to like this, but even if it gets back in stock I wouldn’t get it.
  - Sodman 6y ago
    Another original Pebble kickstarter here. I still feel that "smart" watches peaked with Pebble. Long battery life, physical buttons / no touch-screen, waterproof, shows notifications / allows basic actions to be taken on them. That's all I wanted from a smart watch, and it provided it all! I don't know who decided that I need to be able to make and receive calls on my watch, have a color screen, or any number of the other "new features" modern smart watches push. I wouldn't mind a HRM, but I'd still prefer a 1-week battery life.
    - Fnoord 6y ago
      Fossil HR Hybrid ticks most of your needs. It isn't waterproof as a Pebble, though buttons on my Pebble 2 disintegrated (I also had a Pebble 1 KS edition). Doesn't have touch screen. Battery life 2 weeks (approx). Shows notifications, can control music, doesn't have color. You can even put the smart display off, or customize it (slightly). It has 3 buttons. What I miss is an option to put Bluetooth off.
      - Sodman 6y ago
        These do seem nice! I'd like waterproofing for swimming, but in reality it's not a deal breaker.
    - mPReDiToR 6y ago
      I really like my TicWatch Pro. Obviously it's underpowered, has too little RAM and storage, and the GOOG badness makes me sad. That said, it allows me to read my heart rate, reply to messages, have a customisable Linux terminal prompt tell the time/date, and store an SSH key for when I need it. This is the peak, IMHO. The next peak will be when it doesn't have teh GOOG OS. Things move slowly, but I'm getting a PinePhone (just had the email about Brexit messing up shipping) because if we can help get a proper OS onto devices, we should. Nothing should peak so early that it gets forgotten about for another "generation".
      - abhinuvpitale 6y ago
        I really want to know more about the usecase of having to store SSH key on your watch.
        mPReDiToR 6y ago
        You know when you're marching on the Capitol and you've left your phone at home so the Feds don't know it's you and you nick Pelosi's laptop then need to SCP (or rsync over SSH seeing as SCP is getting binned) all the files back to your server? Nah, me either. Especially as I'm in England. Please don't send the black helicopters. Having something critical on your watch (PGP/SSH) means you're never stuck without it. I'd love to be able to plug it in as a bootable USB with Tails on. I seem to recall someone doing that for phones so it might be possible! The reason I always need keys... Mum uses Linux (my choice) and I admin it from 200 miles away when she can't get her game to run.
    - tacitusarc 6y ago
      Garmin is your friend here. Ticks all those boxes + 10 day battery life with regular use.
      - sneeze-slayer 6y ago
        I've looked into Garmin as they seem fairly rugged and seem nice for hiking/biking/running, but wow are they expensive. I struggle to pull the trigger on what is essentially a computer with a limited lifetime.
        tacitusarc 6y ago
        I've had my Garmin for about a year and it's great. I don't intend to replace it for many years. I got it on sale, I think that's the key.

Very cool! I like the idea of smart watches but don't really like the walled ecosystems or incentives of smart devices manufacturers to sell user data. Unfortunately it seems sold out for now.

uxp100 6y ago

Yeah, I don't really like the idea of smart watches at all, but the price is low, and the form factor seems reasonable, so I put myself on the notify list. (I use the timer on an F91-W to time my coffee brewing, and that's about as smart as I need a watch to be. But hey, it's programmable, a timer preset for different brewing methods that buzzed but continued when I needed to do a step sounds nice.)

ashtonkem 6y ago
I owned one of the original Pebble watches. My takeaway was that without significant phone interoperability, a smart watch is primarily useful for notifications and not much else. I want to like this, but even if it gets back in stock I wouldn’t get it.
- Sodman 6y ago
  Another original Pebble kickstarter here. I still feel that "smart" watches peaked with Pebble. Long battery life, physical buttons / no touch-screen, waterproof, shows notifications / allows basic actions to be taken on them. That's all I wanted from a smart watch, and it provided it all! I don't know who decided that I need to be able to make and receive calls on my watch, have a color screen, or any number of the other "new features" modern smart watches push. I wouldn't mind a HRM, but I'd still prefer a 1-week battery life.
  - Fnoord 6y ago
    Fossil HR Hybrid ticks most of your needs. It isn't waterproof as a Pebble, though buttons on my Pebble 2 disintegrated (I also had a Pebble 1 KS edition). Doesn't have touch screen. Battery life 2 weeks (approx). Shows notifications, can control music, doesn't have color. You can even put the smart display off, or customize it (slightly). It has 3 buttons. What I miss is an option to put Bluetooth off.
    - Sodman 6y ago
      These do seem nice! I'd like waterproofing for swimming, but in reality it's not a deal breaker.
  - mPReDiToR 6y ago
    I really like my TicWatch Pro. Obviously it's underpowered, has too little RAM and storage, and the GOOG badness makes me sad. That said, it allows me to read my heart rate, reply to messages, have a customisable Linux terminal prompt tell the time/date, and store an SSH key for when I need it. This is the peak, IMHO. The next peak will be when it doesn't have teh GOOG OS. Things move slowly, but I'm getting a PinePhone (just had the email about Brexit messing up shipping) because if we can help get a proper OS onto devices, we should. Nothing should peak so early that it gets forgotten about for another "generation".
    - abhinuvpitale 6y ago
      I really want to know more about the usecase of having to store SSH key on your watch.
      - mPReDiToR 6y ago
        You know when you're marching on the Capitol and you've left your phone at home so the Feds don't know it's you and you nick Pelosi's laptop then need to SCP (or rsync over SSH seeing as SCP is getting binned) all the files back to your server? Nah, me either. Especially as I'm in England. Please don't send the black helicopters. Having something critical on your watch (PGP/SSH) means you're never stuck without it. I'd love to be able to plug it in as a bootable USB with Tails on. I seem to recall someone doing that for phones so it might be possible! The reason I always need keys... Mum uses Linux (my choice) and I admin it from 200 miles away when she can't get her game to run.
  - tacitusarc 6y ago
    Garmin is your friend here. Ticks all those boxes + 10 day battery life with regular use.
    - sneeze-slayer 6y ago
      I've looked into Garmin as they seem fairly rugged and seem nice for hiking/biking/running, but wow are they expensive. I struggle to pull the trigger on what is essentially a computer with a limited lifetime.
      - tacitusarc 6y ago
        I've had my Garmin for about a year and it's great. I don't intend to replace it for many years. I got it on sale, I think that's the key.