• Great Tech Gifts for Any Occasion
  • The Best Gadgets for The Beach or Pool

What Is a Smartwatch and What Do They Do?

Everything you need to know about smartwatches

  • Bard College
  • Sarah Lawrence College

essay on smart watches

  • Western Governors University

In This Article

Jump to a Section

  • A Brief History
  • Standard Features
  • Main Categories

Smartwatch Market Growth

  • Frequently Asked Questions

A smartwatch is a portable device that's designed to be worn on a wrist. Like smartphones, they use touchscreens, offer apps, and often record your heart rate and other vital signs.

The Apple Watch and  Wear (formerly Android Wear) models prompted more consumers to appreciate the usefulness of wearing a mini computer on their wrists. In addition, specialty smartwatches for outdoor activities often supplement other, bulkier devices in an adventurer's tool kit.

A Short History of the Smartwatch

While digital watches have been around for decades—some with abilities like calculators and unit converters—only in the 2010s did tech companies begin releasing watches with smartphone-like abilities.

Apple, Samsung, Sony, and other major players offer smartwatches on the consumer market, but a small startup actually deserves credit for popularizing the modern-day smartwatch. When Pebble announced its first smartwatch in 2013, it raised a record amount of funding on Kickstarter and went on to sell more than one million units.

The Pebble smartwatch was discontinued when the company shut down in 2016, but still has a number of fans and enthusiasts who continue to use and develop for it .

At the same time, advances in silicon miniaturization opened the door to other kinds of dedicated-purpose smartwatches. Companies like Garmin, for example, support smartwatches like the Fenix, which are more rugged and optimized with sensors and trackers to support back-country expeditions. Likewise, companies like Suunto released smartwatches optimized for scuba diving that withstand extended time at significant depths.

What Do Smartwatches Do?

Most smartwatches—whether they're intended for daily use (as with the Apple Watch) or for specific purposes (as with the Garmin Fenix)—offer a suite of standard features:

  • Notifications : Smartphones display notifications to alert you of important events or activities. The types of notifications differ; devices connected to a smartphone may simply mirror the phone's notifications on your wrist, but other smartwatches display notifications that only a wearable could provide. For example, newer Apple Watches includes a fall sensor. If you fall while wearing the watch, it senses your subsequent movement. If it doesn't detect any movement, it sends a series of escalating notifications. Fail to respond to the notification, and the watch assumes you're injured and alerts authorities on your behalf.
  • Apps : Beyond displaying notifications from your phone, a smartwatch is only as good as the apps it supports. App ecosystems vary, and they're tied to either Apple's or Google's environments. Smartwatches with a dedicated purpose, such as hiking or diving, generally support the apps they need to accomplish that purpose without the opportunity to add other kinds of apps.
  • Media management : Most smartwatches paired with smartphones can manage media playback for you. For example, when you're listening to music on an iPhone using Apple's AirPods, you can use your Apple Watch to change volume and tracks.
  • Answer messages by voice : Remember the old Dick Tracy comics, where the hero detective used a watch as a phone? Modern smartwatches running either the watchOS or Wear operating systems support voice dictation.
  • Fitness tracking : If you’re a hard-core athlete, a dedicated fitness band is likely a better choice than a smartwatch. Still, many smartwatches include a heart rate monitor and a pedometer to help track your workouts.
  • GPS : Most smartwatches include a GPS for tracking your location or receiving location-specific alerts.
  • Good battery life : Modern smartwatches feature batteries that get you through the day, with normal use, with a bit of juice still left to go. Battery use varies; the Apple Watch typically gets 18 hours of normal use on a single charge, while the Pebble gets two or three days.

Types of Smartwatches

Broadly speaking, smartwatches occupy two niches in the wearables market. First, a general-purpose smartwatch—like the Apple Watch and most Google-powered Wear devices—blend form and function. They're designed to replace mechanical wristwatches and are heavily smartphone-dependent. Think of them as a support device for your phone that you happen to keep on your wrist.

You also see vendor-specific classes of general-purpose smartwatches in the consumer market:

  • Apple Watch : Designed and sold by Apple.
  • Pixel Watch : Designed and sold by Google, compatible with Android phones but not currently with Apple devices.
  • Wear watches : Designed and sold by many vendors, using Google's Wear operating system.
  • Tizen watches : Proprietary operating system designed by Samsung for its popular Galaxy line of smartwatches.

The other niche includes specialty devices intended for specific-use cases. These devices often offer a more robust version of a fitness tracker, insofar as they bleed between a phone-dependent smartwatch and a stand-alone fitness tracker like a Fitbit.

Examples of these specialized devices include:

  • Hiking watches : Intended for remote travel and featuring solid battery life, GPS tracking and navigation, basic vitals, and weather forecasting. Often engineered for advanced durability to protect against bumps, drops, dust, and water. Examples include the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus, the Suunto 9 Baro, and the 2022 Apple Watch Ultra .
  • Diving watches : Connect your first-stage regulator to a Bluetooth transmitter to use a diving watch. Garmin's Descent Mk2i and Suunto's DX offer depth, time-remaining, temperature, and other important indicators. And the Apple Watch Ultra can make use of the Oceanic+ Dive Computer App to calculate dive times, display a number of different stats, and can handle depths of up to 130 feet (40 meters).
  • Flying watches : A niche market, but Garmin's MARQ Aviator Gen. 2 offers a jet-lag advisor, GPS-powered moving map, NEXRAD weather reports (using METARs, TAFs and MOS2), flight logging, a barometric altimeter, and more.

Smartwatches settled into a steep growth curve in the late 2010s in terms of global market adoption. Data from Statista shows that sales rose from five million units worldwide in 2014 to an estimated 173 million in 2022. Apple's market share rose from 13- to 30-percent from the second fiscal quarter of 2017 to the same period in 2021. With Samsung in the second-place spot with a 10-percent market share.

During the same period, specialty vendors like Garmin saw a 4.1-percent increase in year-over-year growth, while fitness-tracker-only vendors like Fitbit saw a nearly 22-percent market plunge.

Statista predicts that over 253 million smartwatches will ship worldwide by 2025.

Hybrid smartwatches are watches with the traditional looks and feels of a watch, but they also come with smartwatch functionality.

Fitbits are fitness trackers, which do have functionality similar to smartwatches, but they focus on fitness-oriented features and don't often come with the advanced features of smartwatches.

Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day

  • Should You Buy an Apple Watch?
  • Apple Watch Series 9 Review
  • Apple Watch X: News and Expected Price, Release Date, Specs; and More Rumors
  • Wear OS vs. watchOS: Which Is the Better Software?
  • The First Steps for Wearable Activity Trackers
  • The 10 Best Tips and Tricks for Wear OS
  • All the Things You Can Track With Wearables
  • Apple Watch vs. Fitbit Blaze
  • How to Wear Your Fitbit
  • Getting Started With Your Smartwatch
  • The Complete Guide to the Wear Operating System
  • Can You Change Your Smartwatch Strap?
  • Meta Smartwatch: News, Rumors, and Estimated Price, Release Date, and Specs
  • The Best-Looking Smartwatches
  • What Is the Fitbit Ace?
  • The Best E-Paper Smartwatches

Inside The Technology: How Smartwatches Function

Copy to Clipboard

  • Computing & Gadgets

inside-the-technology-how-smartwatches-function

Introduction

Smartwatches have revolutionized the way we interact with technology, seamlessly integrating into our daily lives to provide convenience and efficiency. These wearable devices are not just a fashion statement; they are sophisticated pieces of technology that offer a wide array of features and functionalities. Understanding how smartwatches function involves delving into their intricate components, operating systems, sensors, and connectivity options. By exploring the inner workings of these devices, we can gain a deeper appreciation for the technology that adorns our wrists.

The evolution of smartwatches has been remarkable, with advancements in design and functionality continually pushing the boundaries of what these devices can achieve. From basic timekeeping to serving as comprehensive health and fitness companions, smartwatches have come a long way. As we explore the components and features that make these devices tick, it becomes evident that they are not just accessories, but powerful mini-computers that enhance our productivity and overall well-being.

Smartwatches have become an integral part of the modern lifestyle, offering seamless integration with smartphones and other smart devices. The user interface of these devices has been carefully crafted to provide a smooth and intuitive experience, allowing users to access a myriad of functions with a simple tap or swipe. As we delve into the intricacies of smartwatch technology, we uncover the seamless blend of hardware and software that powers these compact yet powerful gadgets.

The journey into the world of smartwatches unveils a captivating fusion of innovation and practicality, showcasing how these devices have transcended the traditional concept of timekeeping. With a keen focus on user experience and functionality, smartwatches have carved a niche for themselves in the realm of wearable technology, offering a glimpse into the future of interconnected devices. Let's embark on a fascinating exploration of the inner workings of smartwatches, unraveling the technology that makes these devices indispensable companions in our fast-paced, digital world.

Components of a Smartwatch

A smartwatch is a marvel of modern engineering, comprising a multitude of components that work in harmony to deliver a seamless user experience. At its core, a smartwatch houses a powerful processor that serves as the brain of the device, enabling it to execute various tasks with speed and efficiency. The display, often a vibrant touchscreen, serves as the primary interface for interacting with the device, allowing users to access apps, receive notifications, and track their activities.

Furthermore, a smartwatch incorporates a rechargeable battery, which is essential for powering its operations. The battery capacity and efficiency play a crucial role in determining the device’s overall usability and longevity between charges. Additionally, sensors such as heart rate monitors, accelerometers, and gyroscopes are integrated into smartwatches to enable fitness tracking, activity monitoring, and gesture-based controls.

Connectivity modules, including Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, facilitate seamless communication with smartphones, enabling the synchronization of data and the ability to make and receive calls directly from the smartwatch. Moreover, many modern smartwatches feature built-in GPS for precise location tracking and navigation, further enhancing their utility in various scenarios.

Another vital component of smartwatches is the housing, which encompasses the device’s internal components and protects them from external elements. The materials used for the housing can range from durable plastics to premium metals, contributing to the device’s overall durability and aesthetic appeal.

As we unravel the components of a smartwatch, we gain insight into the intricate engineering and meticulous design that culminate in a compact yet powerful wearable device. Each component plays a pivotal role in shaping the user experience and functionality of the smartwatch, showcasing the convergence of technology and practicality in a device that adorns our wrists.

Operating System

The operating system of a smartwatch serves as the underlying software platform that governs its functionality and user interface. Just like smartphones and computers, smartwatches rely on operating systems to manage various tasks, run applications, and provide a cohesive user experience. There are several prominent operating systems tailored specifically for smartwatches, each offering unique features and compatibility with different devices.

One of the most widely recognized smartwatch operating systems is Wear OS by Google, designed to seamlessly integrate with Android smartphones and deliver a unified experience across devices. Wear OS offers access to a diverse range of apps through the Google Play Store, allowing users to personalize their smartwatches with applications that cater to their specific needs, whether it’s fitness tracking, productivity, or communication.

Another notable operating system in the smartwatch landscape is watchOS, developed by Apple for its renowned Apple Watch series . Built to complement the iOS ecosystem, watchOS offers seamless integration with iPhones, enabling features such as call handling, messaging, and app synchronization. The operating system also boasts a robust selection of health and fitness-oriented features, making it a compelling choice for users deeply invested in Apple’s ecosystem.

Beyond Wear OS and watchOS, there are alternative operating systems such as Tizen, utilized in Samsung’s Galaxy Watch series, and Fitbit OS, powering Fitbit’s lineup of smartwatches. These platforms are tailored to the respective hardware and software ecosystems of their parent companies, offering unique interfaces and feature sets that cater to specific user preferences and use cases.

As smartwatch technology continues to evolve, operating systems play a pivotal role in shaping the capabilities and user experience of these devices. The seamless integration with smartphones, diverse app ecosystems, and intuitive interfaces offered by these operating systems underscore their significance in the overall functionality and appeal of smartwatches.

Sensors and Features

Smartwatches are equipped with an array of sensors and features that elevate their utility beyond basic timekeeping. These sophisticated devices integrate a multitude of sensors to enable diverse functionalities, catering to users’ health, fitness, communication, and productivity needs. One of the most prevalent sensors found in smartwatches is the heart rate monitor , which provides real-time insights into the user’s cardiovascular activity, facilitating comprehensive fitness tracking and health monitoring.

Furthermore, smartwatches often incorporate accelerometers and gyroscopes, enabling precise motion tracking and gesture recognition. These sensors are instrumental in detecting various activities such as walking, running, and cycling, allowing the smartwatch to provide accurate activity data and insights. Additionally, some smartwatches feature built-in GPS functionality, empowering users to track their outdoor activities with precision and access location-based services without relying on a paired smartphone .

Communication features are also a hallmark of smartwatches, with many devices offering the ability to make and receive calls, respond to messages, and access notifications directly from the wrist. This seamless integration with smartphones enhances user convenience, allowing for quick interactions without the need to retrieve the paired mobile device. Moreover, voice assistants such as Siri, Google Assistant, and Bixby are commonly integrated into smartwatches, enabling hands-free interactions and voice commands for various tasks.

Smartwatches often serve as comprehensive health companions, incorporating features such as sleep tracking, guided breathing exercises, and hydration reminders to promote overall well-being. These devices also offer a diverse range of apps and watch faces, allowing users to personalize their smartwatches to align with their individual preferences and lifestyles. From weather updates and calendar notifications to music playback controls and contactless payments, the features packed into smartwatches cater to a wide spectrum of user needs.

As we delve into the sensors and features integrated into smartwatches, it becomes evident that these devices are not merely extensions of smartphones, but powerful companions that empower users to lead healthier, more connected, and productive lives. The seamless fusion of advanced sensors and versatile features underscores the transformative impact of smartwatch technology on modern lifestyles.

Battery Life

The battery life of a smartwatch is a critical aspect that directly influences the device’s usability and convenience. Given their compact form factor and array of features, smartwatches are designed to balance performance with energy efficiency, ensuring that users can rely on their devices throughout the day without frequent recharging. The battery life of a smartwatch is influenced by several factors, including the capacity of the battery, the efficiency of the device’s components, and the user’s usage patterns.

Modern smartwatches typically utilize lithium-ion or lithium-polymer batteries, known for their energy density and rechargeable properties. The capacity of these batteries varies across different models, with some offering enough power to sustain multiple days of usage on a single charge, while others may require daily recharging, especially with intensive usage of features such as GPS tracking and continuous heart rate monitoring.

Manufacturers employ various strategies to optimize battery life, including power-efficient display technologies such as AMOLED and transflective LCD, which minimize power consumption while maintaining vibrant visuals. Additionally, smartwatches often incorporate power-saving modes that disable non-essential features to extend battery longevity during periods of low usage or when the battery level is critical.

Users can also prolong the battery life of their smartwatches by customizing settings, such as adjusting screen brightness, enabling battery-saving modes, and selectively enabling notifications and features based on their preferences. Furthermore, the efficiency of the device’s operating system and the optimization of background processes play a crucial role in preserving battery life, ensuring that the smartwatch remains operational throughout the day.

As smartwatch technology continues to advance, manufacturers are exploring innovative methods to enhance battery life, such as integrating solar charging capabilities, kinetic energy harvesting, and advanced power management systems. These advancements aim to alleviate the need for frequent recharging, providing users with extended usage times and greater convenience.

The battery life of a smartwatch is a testament to the ongoing pursuit of efficiency and longevity in wearable technology, reflecting the industry’s commitment to delivering devices that seamlessly integrate into users’ lives without imposing unnecessary constraints. As advancements in battery technology and energy management continue to unfold, the future holds promising prospects for even more resilient and enduring smartwatches.

Connectivity Options

Smartwatches offer a diverse range of connectivity options that enable seamless integration with smartphones and other devices, empowering users to stay connected and productive on the go. One of the primary connectivity features of smartwatches is Bluetooth, which facilitates communication and data synchronization between the smartwatch and a paired smartphone. This wireless connection allows for the exchange of notifications, call handling, and music control directly from the smartwatch, enhancing user convenience and accessibility.

Furthermore, Wi-Fi connectivity is prevalent in modern smartwatches, enabling independent access to online services, app updates, and cloud-based features without relying solely on a connected smartphone. Wi-Fi connectivity expands the functionality of smartwatches, providing users with greater flexibility and autonomy in accessing various online resources and services directly from their wrists.

Many smartwatches also incorporate cellular connectivity, allowing them to operate independently of a paired smartphone. With built-in cellular capabilities, smartwatches can make and receive calls, send messages, and access online services using their own cellular connection, providing users with enhanced freedom and connectivity, especially in situations where carrying a smartphone may be impractical.

GPS functionality is another crucial connectivity feature found in smartwatches, enabling precise location tracking and navigation without the need for a paired smartphone. This capability is particularly valuable for outdoor activities such as running, hiking, and cycling, where accurate location data and route tracking are essential.

The seamless integration of these connectivity options into smartwatches underscores the devices’ versatility and autonomy, enabling users to stay connected, informed, and productive without being tethered to their smartphones. As smartwatch technology continues to evolve, we can anticipate further advancements in connectivity options, further enhancing the devices’ independence and utility in a wide range of scenarios.

User Interface

The user interface of a smartwatch serves as the gateway to its diverse functionalities, encompassing the design, navigation methods, and overall user experience. Smartwatches feature intuitive touchscreens that allow users to interact with the device through taps, swipes, and gestures, providing a seamless and responsive interface for accessing apps, notifications, and settings.

One of the defining aspects of smartwatch user interfaces is the incorporation of customizable watch faces, which not only display the time but also offer a range of complications, such as weather updates, fitness metrics, and calendar events. This level of customization enables users to tailor their smartwatch interfaces to their preferences and priorities, transforming the device into a personalized hub of information and functionality.

Navigation within the user interface is often facilitated by intuitive gestures and on-screen controls, allowing users to effortlessly scroll through notifications, access apps, and interact with various features. Additionally, voice commands and voice assistants play a significant role in the user interface, enabling hands-free interactions and quick access to information and services.

Smartwatches often employ haptic feedback, utilizing subtle vibrations to notify users of incoming alerts, alarms, and notifications without the need for audible cues. This tactile feedback enhances the user experience, providing discreet and personalized notifications that complement the device’s visual interface.

As smartwatches continue to evolve, manufacturers are exploring innovative ways to enhance user interfaces, such as integrating gesture controls, contextual awareness, and advanced interaction methods that leverage the device’s sensors and capabilities. These advancements aim to further streamline the user experience, making smartwatches more intuitive and responsive to users’ needs and preferences.

The user interface of a smartwatch is a testament to the seamless fusion of design and functionality, offering users a dynamic and interactive platform to engage with a myriad of features and services. As smartwatch technology continues to progress, the user interface will undoubtedly remain a focal point of innovation, driving the evolution of these versatile and indispensable wearable devices.

Exploring the inner workings of smartwatches unveils a captivating fusion of advanced technology and user-centric design, showcasing the seamless integration of hardware, software, and connectivity options. These compact yet powerful devices have evolved from basic timekeeping accessories to multifaceted companions that cater to diverse aspects of modern life.

From the intricate components that power their operations to the sophisticated sensors and features that enable health monitoring, communication, and productivity, smartwatches exemplify the convergence of innovation and practicality. The operating systems tailored for smartwatches, such as Wear OS, watchOS, Tizen, and Fitbit OS, underscore the diverse ecosystems and user experiences available in the smartwatch landscape.

Moreover, the emphasis on battery life and energy efficiency reflects the industry’s commitment to delivering devices that seamlessly integrate into users’ lives without imposing unnecessary constraints. The connectivity options, including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular, and GPS, empower users to stay connected, informed, and productive, whether they are on the move or engaging in outdoor activities.

The user interface of smartwatches serves as a dynamic platform for interaction, offering intuitive navigation, customizable watch faces, and seamless access to a myriad of features. As smartwatch technology continues to advance, the user interface remains a focal point of innovation, driving the evolution of these versatile and indispensable wearable devices.

In essence, smartwatches have transcended their initial role as mere accessories, emerging as integral components of the modern lifestyle. Their seamless integration with smartphones, diverse app ecosystems, and comprehensive health and fitness tracking capabilities position them as indispensable companions in our fast-paced, digital world. As the industry continues to innovate and refine smartwatch technology, the future holds promising prospects for even more resilient, efficient, and feature-rich devices that further enrich and simplify our daily lives.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

  • Crowdfunding
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Digital Banking
  • Digital Payments
  • Investments
  • Console Gaming
  • Mobile Gaming
  • VR/AR Gaming
  • Gadget Usage
  • Gaming Tips
  • Online Safety
  • Software Tutorials
  • Tech Setup & Troubleshooting
  • Buyer’s Guides
  • Comparative Analysis
  • Gadget Reviews
  • Service Reviews
  • Software Reviews
  • Mobile Devices
  • PCs & Laptops
  • Smart Home Gadgets
  • Content Creation Tools
  • Digital Photography
  • Video & Music Streaming
  • Online Security
  • Online Services
  • Web Hosting
  • WiFi & Ethernet
  • Browsers & Extensions
  • Communication Platforms
  • Operating Systems
  • Productivity Tools
  • AI & Machine Learning
  • Cybersecurity
  • Emerging Tech
  • IoT & Smart Devices
  • Virtual & Augmented Reality
  • Latest News
  • AI Developments
  • Fintech Updates
  • Gaming News
  • New Product Launches

Close Icon

  • AI Writing How Its Changing the Way We Create Content
  • How to Find the Best Midjourney Alternative in 2024 A Guide to AI Anime Generators

Related Post

Ai writing: how it’s changing the way we create content, unleashing young geniuses: how lingokids makes learning a blast, 10 best ai math solvers for instant homework solutions, 10 best ai homework helper tools to get instant homework help, 10 best ai humanizers to humanize ai text with ease, sla network: benefits, advantages, satisfaction of both parties to the contract, related posts.

Dealing With Water Inside Smartwatch: Quick Tips

Dealing With Water Inside Smartwatch: Quick Tips

When Did The Apple Watch 7 Come Out

When Did The Apple Watch 7 Come Out

Fitbit Versa 2 Won’t Turn On? Here’s How to Fix It

Fitbit Versa 2 Won’t Turn On? Here’s How to Fix It

Configuring APN On Smartwatch: Step-by-Step

Configuring APN On Smartwatch: Step-by-Step

Hybrid Smartwatches: A Blend Of Style And Technology

Hybrid Smartwatches: A Blend Of Style And Technology

ITech Fusion 2 Charging Guide: Quick Steps

ITech Fusion 2 Charging Guide: Quick Steps

How To Set Up Samsung Galaxy Watch 4

How To Set Up Samsung Galaxy Watch 4

Texting On U8 Smartwatch: A Quick Tutorial

Texting On U8 Smartwatch: A Quick Tutorial

Recent stories.

AI Writing: How It’s Changing the Way We Create Content

How to Find the Best Midjourney Alternative in 2024: A Guide to AI Anime Generators

How to Know When it’s the Right Time to Buy Bitcoin

How to Know When it’s the Right Time to Buy Bitcoin

Unleashing Young Geniuses: How Lingokids Makes Learning a Blast!

How to Sell Counter-Strike 2 Skins Instantly? A Comprehensive Guide

10 Proven Ways For Online Gamers To Avoid Cyber Attacks And Scams

10 Proven Ways For Online Gamers To Avoid Cyber Attacks And Scams

10 Best AI Math Solvers for Instant Homework Solutions

  • Privacy Overview
  • Strictly Necessary Cookies

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

Smart Watches: Minimizing Ageing Issues through the Technology Report

Introduction, problem statement, high-level requirements: assumptions, constraints, stakeholders, interaction mechanisms.

There is need for radical transformation on how ageism has been perceived and handled over the years. Old age and the associated impacts of aging have led to myriads of health complications, loss of memory, high dependency level, and loss of social touch with events taking place in the immediate world. This essay briefly explores how technology can be embraced in order to minimize the effects of old age.

The old generation faces a lot of social discrimination especially in the modern societies. Old age seems to be a bother to the young generation bearing in mind that old people often experience higher levels of dependency than the young generation. They are also faced with additional health complications that demand regular attention (Mann 2005, p.26).

Moreover, old people are relatively slow in terms of responding to stimuli and therefore, they require assistance and guidance from time to time. However, there are ways through which modern technology can be adopted in order to combat the negative effects of old age.

Smart watches are wrist watches that have been invented so that they can improve the overall functioning of watches since most users have been unable to properly utilize the watch technology (Morley & Charles 2008, p.62). They have been used to improve technology in connecting several people. In other words, this type of wrist watch is meant to offer users with additional features that can improve their social lives.

Smart watches came into demand since they can be used for multiple purposes. For instance, they can be used to access the internet as any other computer. In addition, they can indicate updates on weather, sports, and traffic movement. Needless to say, electronic mails and several other sites connected to the internet can be accessed using a smart watch. Therefore, smart watches are specially designed to meet the needs of all types of people although individuals who are in old age can immensely benefit from this type of technology.

The main constraint that faces this modern application is that most people are not ready and willing to embrace the new technology installed in smart watches. Google glasses are also able to interface most of the applications at ago to enhance usability. It also improves the performance of the various individuals who are using it. The technology will also be enhancing the reliability and the way people interact.

Since Smart watches are worn on the wrists, the technology will enhance them to use it at any moment and at any place wherever they are. For example the smart watches can be used when cycling, swimming and also when jogging and at the various working places. They are light, consume less energy and are relatively cheap.

Another challenge is the issue of size. Quite a number of users have argued that the size is not appealing as the display of the information is not as large as expected by most users.

Smart watches are a type of wrist watches that have been designed with high level of interaction in order to offer multiple services to users especially those who are in old age (Stair & George 2010, p.12). Users are able to maintain their social lives in spite of old age. Some of the core features and functions of this type of watch include data storage, sending messages through speaking, monitoring sugar level, blood pressure, and heart beat as well as taking and sharing both audio and video files.

Smart watches use technology known as SPOT (Smart Personal Object Technology) that is aimed at bringing the power of technology to users.NET. They are computerized and they enhance low power consumption and low energy sources as compared to the other devices such as laptops and other technology related products. The main aim of building the smart watches is to improve communication and also make the gadgets more useful in the day to day lives.

SPOT is a technology that is used to deliver the necessary information and domains that aid in improving the welfare of the technology used. SPOT uses the main mode of technology has the FM broadcasting does. IT delivers the web-based data that is related to the smart appliances such as the smart watches.

The application and technology will be used by old people from all types of backgrounds. It will be modified by adding several vital applications so that old people will find it easy to use even in an environment with several communication barriers.

Easier and faster mode of communications will be applied to increase the rate at which the information is passed from one person to another. Some of the Input output devices that will be used in the project are the LCD displays, microprocessors and the numeric displays that are able to display to the users. The input and the output devices also enable users to boost their performance when interacting with the device.

The private life and work environment of an individual using a smart watch will be improved due to the hardware used to manufacture the gadget. The vibration feedback integrated acceleration sensors installed in this type of watch will indeed boost the user’s experience (Heckman 2008, p.72).

It is definite that the user will be offered with a non-obtrusive interaction with the computerized watch. Since the watch will be able to recognize physical activities, an aged user will be able to complete his or her social life without relying on external assistance.

Heckman, D 2008, A Small World: Smart Houses and the Dream of the Perfect Day , Duke University Press, Durham.

Mann, WC 2005, Smart Technology for Aging, Disability and Independence: The State of the Science , John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken.

Morley, D & Charles, S.P 2008, Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow , Course Technology, Boston.

Stair, R M & George W. R 2010, Fundamentals of Information Systems , Course Technology Boston.

  • Chicago (A-D)
  • Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2022, April 19). Smart Watches: Minimizing Ageing Issues through the Technology. https://ivypanda.com/essays/smart-watches-report/

"Smart Watches: Minimizing Ageing Issues through the Technology." IvyPanda , 19 Apr. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/smart-watches-report/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'Smart Watches: Minimizing Ageing Issues through the Technology'. 19 April.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Smart Watches: Minimizing Ageing Issues through the Technology." April 19, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/smart-watches-report/.

1. IvyPanda . "Smart Watches: Minimizing Ageing Issues through the Technology." April 19, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/smart-watches-report/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Smart Watches: Minimizing Ageing Issues through the Technology." April 19, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/smart-watches-report/.

  • Diagnosing Numbness and Pain in Wrist and Fingers
  • Reggie's Luxury Wrist Watch: Marketing Plan
  • Fitbit Company's Mission: The Business About Wrist
  • Alternative Packaging of Wrist Watches
  • Population Ageing in Canada
  • Healthy Lifestyles and Ageing
  • Ageing Workforce Will Challenge Employers
  • Smartwatches: Computer on the Wrist
  • Effects of Ageing Population as Driving Force
  • Individuals and Families in a Diverse Society: Ageing Population
  • Youth Issues: The State of Children’s Rights in UAE
  • Doing the Right Thing
  • Physical Appearance in Old Age and Social Degradation
  • Adult Education for Social Change: The Role of a Grassroots Organization in Canada
  • “Savage Inequality” a Book by Jonathan Kozol
  • Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Lindsay Crouse

I Ditched My Smart Watch, and I Don’t Regret It

essay on smart watches

By Lindsay Crouse

Ms. Crouse is a writer and producer in Opinion who writes on gender, ambition and power. Her best marathon time is a 2:53.

My rock bottom was when I caught myself at a nice dinner, transfixed by my phone under the table. I was opening the app for my smart watch, checking whether the numbers it assigned to my “training status” had improved since I finished my run an hour ago. The numbers hadn’t budged, so I closed the app and refreshed it, frowning a little. Was it broken? My companion asked what I was doing. “Nothing,” I lied.

At first, I loved that smart watch, which I used to get faster at racing marathons. Suddenly, I had metrics on things I didn’t even realize my body did: lactate thresholds, VO₂ max, heart rate variability. Each evening I had a full report, telling me what this device thought of my performance.

Soon I couldn’t stop thinking about the numbers on the watch. I was addicted.

At the dawn of the smart watch era, the introduction of the Apple Watch in 2015, Tim Cook pitched the new device as aspirational tech, the next must-have gadget, loaded with apps and features. After a choppy start, smart watches have exploded in popularity in recent years and are expected to reach shipments of 230 million units by 2026. Lately, companies have been marketing these devices less as luxury products and more as essential medical devices , necessities for anyone concerned about health. Amid the pandemic, this pitch seems to be working .

Some brands now have ECG monitors , which let you check for atrial fibrillation, and pulse oximeters , a useful feature during a coronavirus infection, when low blood oxygen can be a useful signal. Others can track your skin’s exposure to the sun. If you fall down in the woods, Apple assures us in some rather alarming advertising, its watch can call for help. And this kind of monitoring isn’t confined to watches: Smart beds that will report via an app on how you slept last night are among an arsenal of health-monitoring home technologies. There are light bulbs in development that will measure your heart rate and body temperature. A breathalyzing product called Lumen invites users to breathe into a tube that it claims can read your metabolism “to see if you have enough energy for your workout or if you should fuel up.”

The message is clear. Self-quantification isn’t just aspirational anymore — it’s essential. A roster of famously healthy-seeming people endorse these claims. Coros makes a watch for the marathon world-record holder Eliud Kipchoge. Jennifer Aniston says she’s “addicted” to her Oura ring , which tracks everything from breathing patterns to blood oxygen to sleep. In 2017 Gwyneth Paltrow promoted the Frédérique Constant Horological smart watch and its pointed command that women “Move More, Sleep Better, Improve.”

But does this constant monitoring of our vital signs truly yield better health? There’s no clear answer yet. One study found that people trying to lose weight who used wearable technology to help actually lost less weight than their watch-free counterparts. A review in the American Journal of Medicine found “little indication that wearable devices provide a benefit for health outcomes.” Another issue is that the measuring abilities of wearables are imperfect for some metrics.

I also worry that the safety-net sales pitch ignores one major downside to all this quantification: It can interfere with our ability to know our own bodies. Once you outsource your well-being to a device and convert it into a number, it stops being yours. The data stands in for self-awareness. We let a gadget tell us when and how to move, when we’re tired, when we’re hungry.

With my smart watch, sometimes I would wake up in the morning and check my app to see how I slept — instead of just taking a moment to notice that I was still tired. When I discovered that my watch could measure my stress levels, it was as if I’d started carrying around an expensive psychological pyramid scheme on my wrist. The more I used my watch to monitor my stress, the higher my stress levels rose.

It’s an extension of our hustle-oriented culture, said the executive coach and performance expert Brad Stulberg, author of “The Practice of Groundedness.” “Our culture promotes the limiting belief that measurable achievement is the predominant arbiter of success, and these devices play right into that,” he told me. “It’s like you’re trying to win at this game instead of living your life. Instead of learning what your body feels like, you have a number.”

Add a social or competitive component, as in the fitness app Strava or the community features on Peloton, and the feelings of control and empowerment that fitness can foster can morph quickly into the opposite. Halfway through one marathon training cycle, I discovered a new trick: My watch could measure my overall fitness level, assigning it a number, plotting its change over time and telling me how my levels compared with others’, sorted by gender and age. I craved its approval.

If it feels like an addiction, that’s because it can work similarly to smartphone and other digital addictions. Dependency is what these devices are designed to foster.

“These technologies have, in essence, druggified even exercise,” said Anna Lembke, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, and the author of “Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence,” which explores addictive behavior. “You may think, ‘A wearable device that keeps track of my actions couldn’t possibly be bad because it’s just a watch, and I’m just, for example, monitoring my heart rate, which is about my physical wellness.’ But in fact, we very much can become compulsively fixated on these wearable devices — in a way that is akin to addiction.”

These devices don’t just record your behavior — they influence it and keep you coming back. You become dependent on external validation. This in itself is nothing new: As with weighing yourself on a scale, or calculating your body mass index, or measuring your step goals, it’s easier to read a number than it is to know instinctively whether you are healthy. But you can’t quantify your way to good health. The reality is much harder.

For a while, my smart watch probably did help me get healthier. I know I got fitter. But I started to feel that my health wasn’t grounded in my own body anymore, or even in my mind. I didn’t know how my workout had gone until I opened the app.

I had been using numbers — and the success they validated — as a shortcut to feeling good enough in general. Exercise wasn’t helping me rebound from pressure anymore; it was adding to it.

Of course these watches can be useful: for health data, reminding you to move more or maybe even that emergency call if you wind up falling in the woods. Many of us make better choices when we know we’re being watched.

But if you’re thinking it might be time for a break from the numbers, I propose a challenge for the year ahead: Try taking your cues from your body instead of a device.

That’s what I did. At some point in the pandemic, I took off my watch. It left a stripe of skin on my wrist where it had spent years blocking the sun. Then I lost it and never bothered to find it.

The adjustment didn’t always feel natural. Once you outsource your confidence to something else, it takes a while to come back. But finally, I stopped counting, stopped tracking.

Now sometimes I come back from running in the dreariness of the pandemic and feel great, like the grown-up Peter Pan in “Hook,” out there relearning how to fly. The miles disappear when they’re done. And the only one who knows they happened is me.

Lindsay Crouse ( @lindsaycrouse ) is an editor and producer in Opinion who writes on gender, ambition and power. She produced the Emmy-nominated Opinion Video series “Equal Play,” which brought widespread reform to women’s sports.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram .

  • Search Menu
  • Volume 2024, Issue 3, March 2024 (In Progress)
  • Volume 2024, Issue 2, February 2024
  • Case of the Year
  • MSF Case Reports
  • Audiovestibular medicine
  • Cardiology and cardiovascular systems
  • Critical care medicine
  • Dermatology
  • Emergency medicine
  • Endocrinology and metabolism
  • Gastroenterology and hepatology
  • Geriatrics and gerontology
  • Haematology
  • Infectious diseases and tropical medicine
  • Medical ophthalmology
  • Medical disorders in pregnancy
  • Paediatrics
  • Palliative medicine
  • Pharmacology and pharmacy
  • Radiology, nuclear medicine, and medical imaging
  • Respiratory disorders
  • Rheumatology
  • Sexual and reproductive health
  • Sports medicine
  • Substance abuse
  • Author Guidelines
  • Submission Site
  • Open Access
  • Editorial Board
  • Advertising and Corporate Services
  • Journals Career Network
  • Self-Archiving Policy
  • Journals on Oxford Academic
  • Books on Oxford Academic

Issue Cover

Article Contents

Wearable devices: monitoring the future, conflict of interest, ethical considerations.

DCI and EMK contributed equally

  • Article contents
  • Figures & tables
  • Supplementary Data

Diomidis C Ioannidis, Efthymia Maria Kapasouri, Vassilios S Vassiliou, Wearable devices: monitoring the future?, Oxford Medical Case Reports , Volume 2019, Issue 12, December 2019, Pages 492–494, https://doi.org/10.1093/omcr/omz143

  • Permissions Icon Permissions

Wearable devices are becoming increasingly utilized in our contemporary world, and the Apple Watch is a popular tool for monitoring the heart rate and more recently, heart rhythm. The Apple Watch Series 4 was the first one granted clearance by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), allowing rhythm detection and identification of Atrial Fibrillation (AF), on 11 September 2018; outlying however that the definitive diagnosis should not be made before a doctor confirms the validity of the possible alarm signal transmitted by the watch [ 1 ]. Nonetheless, Apple watches have been used to inform patients about other rhythm abnormalities as well. In this issue of Oxford Medical Case Reports, Goldstein and Wells present the case of a previously asymptomatic 56-year-old man diagnosed with Atrial Flutter after he noticed a high rate on his watch, which coincided with palpitations. He contacted the medical services 4 days later and an electrocardiogram (ECG) confirmed Atrial Flutter with a 2:1 AV block ( Fig. 1 ). He proceeded to receive anticoagulation and a transoesophageal echocardiogram-guided electrical cardioversion [ 2 ]. In this case of an individual with a high thromboembolic risk score, it was clear that the Apple Watch had an instrumental role in identifying the abnormal rhythm and subsequent confirmation of the Atrial Flutter thus allowing further appropriate medical intervention and pharmacotherapy.

ECG undertaken following the Apple watch notifications demonstrating atrial flutter.

ECG undertaken following the Apple watch notifications demonstrating atrial flutter.

However, concerns have been raised about the accuracy of the watch with regards to rhythm abnormality detection, the need for perhaps unnecessary downstream testing in some individuals and ultimately whether it will benefit patients or simply increase the level of anxiety in those noticing abnormal heart rates or receiving notifications for abnormal findings. Only large population-based registries will allow us to place the exact role of the Apple Watch.

The Apple Watch is a commercially available device, which can be found in stores and online, thus being more commonly used by healthy individuals. It is effective for measuring heart rate [ 3 ], and moreover, as it can detect abnormal cardiac rhythm, it may prove helpful to people who occasionally have symptoms such as palpitations. Newer versions of the device can record the ECG for subsequent reading by a physician, but this function was not available in the country where the patient was present [ 4 ].

To support the potentially beneficial role of the Apple Watch, the large Apple Heart observational study of 419 297 participants using an Apple Watch over a period of 8 months has been recently published, the ‘Large-Scale Assessment of a Smartwatch to Identify Atrial Fibrillation’. This showed that detection of possible AF for more than 30 seconds was seen in 0.5% of the participants (who were generally younger) but for those over the age of 65, this rose to 3.2%. When the device recording was compared to an ECG patch, the positive predictive value was 0.84, which is very encouraging for potential clinical use [ 5 ].

However, there are certain limitations, which need to be considered. Firstly, there is a concern over the possible overdiagnosis of AF and the unnecessary anxiety that this could bring. Smart watches demonstrate high sensitivity but generally speaking, lower specificity, although with improving technology this is likely to also increase. Therefore, episodes of an otherwise benign dysrhythmia, may be misinterpreted as abnormal, resulting in patient stress, downward testing and even unnecessary anticoagulation treatment [ 6 ].

Linked with this is the fact that such wearable devices are utilized mainly by young healthy individuals who have a very low risk of AF, and therefore, the overall risk of a false positive notification of AF will be higher than the elderly population, who might be less likely to use an Apple Watch [ 7 , 8 ]. Even then, anticoagulation is unlikely to be indicated or beneficial in young; otherwise healthy individuals with very low thromboembolic risk.

Furthermore, another concern stems from the way the device operates. The watch, which is placed on the wrist, has an optical sensor detecting pulse waveform to passively measure heart rate [ 9 ]. Then, using an algorithm, each pulse peak is translated into an R wave in the ECG. Detection of this pulse irregularity is used to identify atrial fibrillation. It is evident that potential skin sensitivities could possibly interrupt this procedure and lead to inaccurate measurements [ 10 ].

However, despite its any possible disadvantages, the Apple Watch is here to stay. It is likely to help patients identify AF and also any other potential rhythm abnormalities in the future, but at the risk of necessitating significant downward testing in healthy individuals. In addition, many more companies are expected to produce similar wearables, thus leading to more people having access to home monitoring and then referring to physicians for further investigations [ 11 ]. Given that these devices can be easily purchased by healthy individuals, as physicians we need to expect and prepare for reviewing patients following Smart Watch notifications as they will become a more common feature of the daily clinical practice.

No conflicts declared.

Dr Vassiliou is the guarantor of this manuscript.

FDA . ( 2018 ). Apple Watch ECG and AF Approval . Retrieved from https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cdrh_docs/pdf18/DEN180044.pdf

Goldstein L , Wells M . Oxf Med Case Reports OMCR 2019-258 (in press) .

Koshy AN , Sajeev JK , Nerlekar N , Brown AJ , Rajakariar K , Zureik M , et al.  Smart watches for heart rate assessment in atrial arrhythmias . Int J Cardiol 2018 ; 266 : 124 – 7 . doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2018.02.073 .

Google Scholar

Sanders D , Ungar L , Eskander MA , Seto AH . Ambulatory ECG monitoring in the age of smartphones . Cleveland Clin J Med 2019 ; 86 : 483 – 92 . doi: 10.3949/ccjm.86a.18123 .

Perez M , Mahaffey K , Hedlin H , et al.  Large-scale assessment of a smartwatch to identify atrial fibrillation . New Eng J Med 2019 ; 381 : 1909 – 17 .

Cheung CC , Krahn AD , Andrade JG . The emerging role of wearable technologies in detection of arrhythmia . Can J Cardiolo 2018 ; 34 : 1083 – 7 . doi: 10.1016/j.cjca.2018.05.003 .

Foster KR , Torous J . The opportunity and obstacles for smartwatches and wearable sensors . IEEE Pulse 2019 ; 10 : 22 – 5 . doi: 10.1109/MPULS.2018.2885832 .

Turakhia MP , Desai M , Hedlin H , Rajmane A , Talati N , Ferris T , et al.  Rationale and design of a large-scale, app-based study to identify cardiac arrhythmias using a smartwatch: the apple heart study . American Heart Journal 2019 ; 207 : 66 – 75 . doi: 10.1016/j.ahj.2018.09.002 .

Apple Inc. Using Apple Watch for Arrhythmia Detection, (December). Retrieved from Apple Inc. (2018). Using Apple Watch for Arrhythmia Detection, (December) . 2018

Carpenter A , Frontera A . Smart-watches: a potential challenger to the implantable loop recorder? Europace 2016 ; 18 : 791 – 3 . doi: 10.1093/europace/euv427 .

Guo Y , Wang H , Zhang H , Liu T , Liang Z , Xia Y , et al.  Mobile health technology for atrial fibrillation screening using photoplethysmography-based smart devices: the HUAWEI heart study . J Am College Cardiol 2019 . doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2019.08.019 .

Author notes

Email alerts, citing articles via, affiliations.

  • Online ISSN 2053-8855
  • Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
  • About Oxford Academic
  • Publish journals with us
  • University press partners
  • What we publish
  • New features  
  • Open access
  • Institutional account management
  • Rights and permissions
  • Get help with access
  • Accessibility
  • Advertising
  • Media enquiries
  • Oxford University Press
  • Oxford Languages
  • University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

  • Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
  • Cookie settings
  • Cookie policy
  • Privacy policy
  • Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Book cover

International Work-Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering

IWBBIO 2022: Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering pp 256–268 Cite as

Smart Watch for Smart Health Monitoring: A Literature Review

  • Avnish Singh Jat   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7473-3010 12 &
  • Tor-Morten Grønli   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2026-4551 12  
  • Conference paper
  • First Online: 08 June 2022

2032 Accesses

15 Citations

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNBI,volume 13346))

This review paper focuses on analyzing research work related to the utilization of smartwatches in health informatics. In recent years, we have seen an ascent in life expectancy due to considerable innovations in the healthcare industry. Sicknesses identified with the cardiovascular framework, eye, respiratory framework, skin, and emotional well-being are inescapable around the world. Most of these sicknesses can be kept away from or potentially appropriately oversaw through consistent examining. To empower ceaseless well-being checking to serve developing medical care needs, moderate, non-intrusive, and simple to-utilize medical services arrangements are basic. The increasing use of wearables watches coupled with health monitoring sensors makes it an essential tech for a continuous and remote health examination. In this paper, we present a comprehensive review of different research work on the utilization of smartwatches to deal with various diseases. For this, we have screened 370 research publications related to smartwatches in health informatics and selected 20 journals for the review that matched our selection criteria. Finally, we discussed future research perspectives and concerns regarding smartwatch-enabled healthcare architecture.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution .

Buying options

  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Wissinger, E.: Wearable tech, bodies, and gender. Sociol. Compass 11 , e12514 (2017)

Article   Google Scholar  

Ajami, S., Teimouri, F.: Features and application of wearable biosensors in medical care. J. Res. Med. Sci. 20 (12), 1208–1215 (2015)

Article   CAS   Google Scholar  

Lu, T.-C., et al.: Healthcare applications of smart watches. A systematic review. Appl. Clin. Inf. 7 (3), 850–869 (2016). https://doi.org/10.4338/ACI-2016-03-R-0042

Poon, C.C., Zhang, Y.T.: Perspectives on high technologies for low-cost healthcare. IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Mag. 27 , 42–47 (2008)

Pearl Growing. In: Wikipedia (2021). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_growing . Accessed 3 Feb 2022

Systematic reviews: creating a search strategy. In: Research Guides. https://guides.lib.umich.edu/c.php?g=283340&p=2126706 . Accessed 3 Feb 2022

Alam, R., et al. Inferring physical agitation in dementia using smartwatch and sequential behavior models. In: 2018 IEEE EMBS International Conference on Biomedical & Health Informatics (BHI). IEEE (2018)

Google Scholar  

Hosseini, A., et al.: HIPAA compliant wireless sensing smartwatch application for the self-management of pediatric asthma. In: 2016 IEEE 13th International Conference on Wearable and Implantable Body Sensor Networks (BSN). IEEE (2016)

Sadeghi, M., McDonald, A.D., Sasangohar, F.: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Hyperarousal Event Detection Using Smartwatch Physiological and Activity Data. arXiv preprint arXiv:2109.14743 (2021)

Inui, T., et al.: Use of a smart watch for early detection of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation: validation study. JMIR Cardio 4 (1), e14857 (2020)

Wu, R., et al.: Feasibility of using a smartwatch to intensively monitor patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: prospective cohort study. JMIR mHealth and uHealth 6 (6), e10046 (2018)

Ciabattoni, L., et al.: Real-time mental stress detection based on smartwatch. In: 2017 IEEE International Conference on Consumer Electronics (ICCE). IEEE (2017)

Ahn, J.H., et al.: Validation of blood pressure measurement using a smartwatch in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Front. Neurol. 12 (2021)

Kim, M.-J.: Building a cardiovascular disease prediction model for smartwatch users using machine learning: based on the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Biosensors 11 (7), 228 (2021)

Sahyoun, A., et al.: ParkNosis: diagnosing Parkinson’s disease using mobile phones. In: 2016 IEEE 18th International Conference on e-Health Networking, Applications and Services (Healthcom). IEEE (2016)

Alhussein, M., et al.: Cognitive IoT-cloud integration for smart healthcare: case study for epileptic seizure detection and monitoring. Mob. Netw. Appl. 23 (6), 1624–1635 (2018)

Mishra, T., et al.: Pre-symptomatic detection of COVID-19 from smartwatch data. Nat. Biomed. Eng. 4 (12), 1208–1220 (2020)

Han, D., et al.: Smartwatch PPG peak detection method for sinus rhythm and cardiac arrhythmia. In: 2019 41st Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC). IEEE (2019)

Tison, G.H., et al.: Passive detection of atrial fibrillation using a commercially available smartwatch. JAMA Cardiol. 3 (5), 409–416 (2018)

Dibia, V.: Foqus: a smartwatch application for individuals with adhd and mental health challenges. In: Proceedings of the 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (2016)

Kumar, P., et al.: A machine learning implementation for mental health care. Application: smart watch for depression detection. In: 2021 11th International Conference on Cloud Computing, Data Science and Engineering (Confluence). IEEE (2021)

Polonelli, T., et al.: H-Watch: an open, connected platform for AI-enhanced COVID19 infection symptoms monitoring and contact tracing. In: 2021 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS). IEEE (2021)

Quer, G., Radin, J.M., Gadaleta, M., et al.: Wearable sensor data and self-reported symptoms for COVID-19 detection

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Mobile Technology Lab, Department of Information Technology, Kristiania University College, Oslo, Norway

Avnish Singh Jat & Tor-Morten Grønli

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tor-Morten Grønli .

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

Marcelina Siebold Guest Relations Dept., University of Granada, Granada, Spain

Ignacio Rojas

Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

Olga Valenzuela

ETSIIT. CITIC-UGR, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

Fernando Rojas

ETSIIT, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

Luis Javier Herrera

University of Granada, Granada, Spain

Francisco Ortuño

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Cite this paper.

Jat, A.S., Grønli, TM. (2022). Smart Watch for Smart Health Monitoring: A Literature Review. In: Rojas, I., Valenzuela, O., Rojas, F., Herrera, L.J., Ortuño, F. (eds) Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering. IWBBIO 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 13346. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07704-3_21

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07704-3_21

Published : 08 June 2022

Publisher Name : Springer, Cham

Print ISBN : 978-3-031-07703-6

Online ISBN : 978-3-031-07704-3

eBook Packages : Computer Science Computer Science (R0)

Share this paper

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

  • Publish with us

Policies and ethics

  • Find a journal
  • Track your research
  • Tips & Tricks
  • Buying Guides
  • Wearable Explained

21 Reasons Why You Need (& Why You Should Use) a Smartwatch

Himanshu Kansal

  • February 22, 2023

We always discuss different smartwatches, their advantages , and new technologies in the smartwatch industry. Many people are adapting this gadget and using it daily for different purposes. But, there is still a side of people who think differently about smartwatches and don’t think of getting one for themselves. Therefore, in this article, we will share the top reasons why you need and should use a smartwatch.

essay on smart watches

Also, Read | 20 Sensors Present In Smartwatch: How They Work, Pros and Cons?

Table of Contents

Benefits Of a Smartwatch and Reasons You Need One!

There are many different uses of a smartwatch that can make your day more productive. It can also improve your health by providing alerts and data on activities like running, walking, etc. Follow up on the article to know more.

1. Notifications On the Go

A smartwatch’s most useful and important feature is notifications on your wrist. You can receive all your phone’s notifications on the watch whenever it arrives in real-time.

essay on smart watches

You can check all the important app notifications, call notifications, and SMS alerts directly on the watch. When any notification hits your phone, it also arrives on the watch, showing the message on the screen.

2. Calling on the Wrist

You can make and receive calls directly on the watch. Most smartwatches feature Bluetooth calling , which allows you to make and receive calls through the watch over a Bluetooth connection. It is possible with the built-in speaker and microphone on the smartwatch.

essay on smart watches

There are some cellular smartwatches on which you can use a dedicated eSIM for calling and data. It is available on popular watches such as Galaxy Watch and Apple Watch. The calling feature on smartwatches ends the need for a smartphone to make and receive calls.

3. Recording Daily Steps Count

You can record your daily steps count with the help of a smartwatch. When you wear a smartwatch, it automatically starts counting the steps you walk and run throughout the day.

essay on smart watches

After recording, it shows you the steps counted on the watch and the calories burnt. This smartwatch feature uses a pedometer to count your steps and complete daily goals.

4. Activity/Workout Data Recording

A smartwatch has multiple activity/workout modes to record your specific workout data. If you are a workout enthusiast or an athlete, you should register your activity data and check how well you have done.

essay on smart watches

You can check the time of your workout, calories burnt, heart rate data, and activity score based on all these things. This feature is great for checking and improving your workout data.

5. Health tracking on the Wrist

The most useful feature of a smartwatch is health tracking. You can track your health stats, including heart rate , blood oxygen , and stress level, directly on your wrist.

essay on smart watches

The smartwatches have built-in sensors to track all the health data, which detects and shows the data to you. You can also compare your health stats daily to maintain good health. And, if you have a high or low heart rate, you can do a breathing exercise with your smartwatch.

6. Use Torch on the go

essay on smart watches

You can use a smartwatch as a torch or flashlight as well. There is an option to enable the torch that brightens the screen to the maximum level with white light. It can be helpful in emergencies. AMOLED display watches usually have a more robust and bright torch.

So, the torch feature on smartwatches helps light up the dark areas if you don’t have a handheld torch or your phone with you.

7. Calculator on Your Wrist

If you need a calculator urgently, it’s available right on your smartwatch. Many smartwatches also have a built-in calculator for quick calculations on the go. You can use it to do complex calculations if you don’t have your smartphone.

essay on smart watches

So, you don’t have to carry a dedicated calculator or bring out your phone from your pocket for calculations, as it is made easy with the smartwatch.

8. Play Games On Your Watch

People generally play games on their smartphones or PCs, but now you can also play games on your smartwatch. Nowadays, smartwatches come with mini-games that you can play directly on the watch without connecting it to your phone.

essay on smart watches

You can play the games offline anytime on your wrist. If your phone does not have enough battery for gaming, you can play the mini-games available on the smartwatch. With built-in games, smartwatches have got more value.

9. Control Music and Camera

When you listen to songs on your phone, it is annoying to unlock the phone repeatedly to change songs. A smartwatch makes changing songs and adjusting your phone’s volume easier. You can control your phone’s music, including play/pause, playing the next/previous song, and adjusting the volume level from the smartwatch only.

Music Control

Similarly, you can click images on your phone by tapping the smartwatch, thanks to the camera control feature on smartwatches that you can use if you are at a distance from the phone or if it is attached to a tripod to take photos.

10. Use GPS Map Navigation

You can use GPS navigation on a smartwatch directly without taking your phone. Smartwatches with Google’s Wear OS or Apple’s WatchOS support the official maps app. You can use Google Maps or Apple Maps to use GPS navigation on the watch.

essay on smart watches

You can use GPS navigation on the smartwatch and get direction alerts on your wrist. So, this feature ends the need to take up your smartphone to check directions for your destination.

11. Use Voice Assistant on the go

Voice assistants are generally found on smartphones. There are different assistants available on smartphones, like Google Assistant, Alexa, Siri, Bixby, etc. But you can use your phone’s voice assistant on the smartwatch directly.

essay on smart watches

Many smartwatches have a voice assistant feature that uses your phone’s assistant, and you can ask any question and get a response directly on the watch instead of your phone. Apart from it, many smartwatches also have a built-in Alexa voice assistant that does not need your smartphone to answer your questions. It is directly usable, and you can also control smart devices using Alexa on your watch.

12. Get Reminders on Your Wrist

If you don’t want any sound reminders on your phone or have a busy schedule for the day, then you can set up reminders on your smartwatch directly, which will vibrate when the reminder goes off.

essay on smart watches

This feature can be really helpful if you have a strict schedule for daily tasks. You can set reminders on the watch directly and do not need your phone.

13. Find Your Phone Through Watch

This is a helpful feature to find your phone if you have forgotten it somewhere around you. If your smartwatch is connected to your phone, you can easily use the find my phone feature, which will ring your smartphone if it is in the Bluetooth range.

essay on smart watches

14. Take an ECG Test

Talking about a next-level health feature that is found on smartwatches is ECG tracking . Some expensive smartwatches feature a dedicated electrical heart sensor for ECG tracking, allowing you to take an ECG test home.

essay on smart watches

This feature works well on smartwatches like Apple Watch, and you can better understand your heart’s health at home. Furthermore, you can also share the ECG report with your doctor. You can check out the best smartwatches with ECG here.

15. Send Quick Replies Without a Smartphone

If you receive a call on your phone, you can send quick replies when you cannot take the call. This feature is available on smartwatches as well. You can send quick replies to incoming calls directly from the watch.

essay on smart watches

You can also set up custom replies on some smartwatches, which you can directly send without taking up your phone. Quick replies can be sent to SMS and incoming calls through a smartwatch.

16. Emergency SOS Calling

Emergency SOS calling is a very useful feature that is available on smartwatches as well. If you are in an emergency and don’t have your phone or your phone has no power, then a smartwatch can help dial emergency services.

essay on smart watches

The expensive smartwatches have emergency SOS that directly connects you to emergency services when you use the feature and shares your location with them so that you can get immediate help.

17. Fall Detection and Crash Detection

Fall detection and Crash detection are lifesaving features that are now available on some expensive smartwatches. Fall detection can detect when you have had a hard fall and automatically connects you with emergency services and contacts to get immediate help.

essay on smart watches

The Crash Detection feature on the Apple Watch can detect when you have had a car crash/accident. If it detects a crash, it immediately connects to the emergency services and shares your location with them and your emergency contacts.

18. Make Payments Without Your Phone

Smartwatches have become much smarter, and you can now make payments using the watch itself. It is possible through an NFC chip which uses the tap-to-pay technology and makes payments using your saved cards.

essay on smart watches

You can use NFC-enabled smartwatches to make payments offline. You have to touch the smartwatch to the NFC machine at the store and enter your PIN, and it will make the payment instantly without using your smartphone.

19. Play Songs Without a Speaker

Smartwatches can now be used to play songs or any media without a speaker. You can connect the smartwatch to your phone and enable the media sound which transfers your smartphone’s audio to the watch’s speaker. This feature makes your watch a mini loudspeaker that you can wear on your wrist.

essay on smart watches

Expensive smartwatches like Galaxy Watch and Apple Watch, which have Wear OS and WatchOS, support online music streaming apps that you use directly on the watch to play music. Meanwhile, some budget smartwatches connect as an audio device for calling, allowing them to route and play the phone’s audio.

20. Download Third-party Apps

Talking about smartwatches running on Wear OS, WatchOS, or any other special OS, these watches allow you to download third-party apps from the app store. You can download apps from Google Play Store on Wear OS and App Store on WatchOS.

essay on smart watches

Many third-party apps are available on both app stores that you can install directly from the watch and use them.

21. Smartwatch for Kid’s Safety

A special reason to buy a smartwatch for your kids is that you can have a real-time update on your kid. The kids’ smartwatches have a built-in camera for video calls and a built-in GPS for live location tracking.

essay on smart watches

You can interact with your kid anytime using the video call feature and check the live location of your kid anytime on your phone with the live GPS on the smartwatch. These features are really useful for keeping an eye on your child’s safety. You can check out the best GPS-tracking smartwatches for kids here.

Wrapping Up

These were the top twenty reasons why you need a smartwatch right away. A smartwatch can do more than show notifications and time, making your lifestyle much better and more productive. Let us know your thoughts about smartwatches in the comments below, and stay tuned with WearablesToUse for more informative articles!

  • On Which Hand Should You Wear Smartwatch and For How Long?
  • 8 Ways to Avoid Rashes or Burns from Your Smartwatch or Fitness Band
  • Do Smartwatches Emit Radiation: Are They Safe to Wear?

nv-author-image

Himanshu Kansal

Himanshu roams around the Internet to find the latest happenings in Tech Industry to stay updated about everything Tech. Apart from being a Tech Writer, he also makes content on YouTube and is passionate about Smartphones and Gadgets.

Related Posts

How Do Smartwatches Measure Your Heart Rate? Are They Accurate?

How Does a Smartwatch Measure Heart Rate? Check Accuracy!

essay on smart watches

9 Best Urban Fit Z Tips & Tricks That You Must Try!

essay on smart watches

5 Ways to Fix Raise to Wake Not Working on Galaxy Watch

CNET logo

Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement

Buying a Smartwatch? Ask Yourself These Questions First

Consider your budget, the type of phone you have and what you want to use it for.

essay on smart watches

The Pixel Watch 2

If you're thinking about buying a new  smartwatch , you should start by carefully considering why you want one in the first place. For example, are you looking for a watch that help you build better sleep habits or train for your next race? Or do you care only about meeting your step goal and seeing notifications on your wrist? Most people likely fall somewhere in between. 

The good news is that you can narrow down your options with just three questions. Do you use an iPhone or an  Android device? How much are you willing to spend? And how do you plan to use it?

You'll also want to consider comfort, size and style. A smartwatch isn't useful if you don't enjoy wearing it. Comfort is particularly critical if you're looking for a smartwatch to use as a sleep tracker.

It's also important to remember that you don't always need to buy a new smartwatch to gain additional functionality. Apple, Samsung and Google routinely release new features through software updates. We're expecting to hear more about what's next for the Apple Watch's WatchOS software and Google's Wear OS in the coming months at each company's respective developers conference. Google's I/O conference happens in May, while Apple's WWDC takes place in June. 

essay on smart watches

Early smartwatches were clunky, expensive and limited in functionality, but there are plenty of worthwhile options on the market today. The best modern smartwatches expertly balance quality design and health and fitness tracking alongside smart features that take some of the burden off your phone. They typically cost anywhere between $200 and $1,000 depending on your needs, but prices will always vary depending on the brand. 

Do you have an iPhone or Android device?

Answering this question will dictate which choices are available. Brands like Fitbit , Garmin , and  Withings  make smartwatches that are compatible with both iPhones and Android phones. But some of our top picks are only compatible with one platform or the other.

The Apple Watch only works with the iPhone, while Samsung's Galaxy Watch 6 and Google's Pixel Watch 2 are only compatible with Android devices. If you're considering the Galaxy Watch 6, know that the ECG feature is only supported on Samsung's Galaxy devices, unless you side load Samsung's Health Monitor app onto a non-Galaxy phone. 

How much do you want to spend?

Smartwatches come in several different price brackets, and finding which one is right for you depends on your budget and what you want from a smartwatch.

General purpose smartwatches

Google Pixel Watch

Google's Pixel Watch.

Most mainstream smartwatches fall around the $300 to $400 range, although you may pay a higher price for extras like LTE connectivity or a fancier finish. These watches provide health monitoring tools, fitness tracking and the ability to replicate some of your phone's functionality. These are the right choice if you want a well-rounded experience, especially when it comes to health and wellness. The Apple Watch Series 9 ,  Fitbit Sense 2 , Google Pixel Watch 2 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 fall into this category. 

Below are some examples of features you'll find on smartwatches in this price range.

Flagship smartwatch features

  • Plenty of exercise mode options
  • Sleep tracking (sleep duration, sleep stages, etc.)
  • Integrated GPS for tracking outdoor runs
  • The ability to view (and in many cases respond to) texts from your phone
  • The ability to take phone calls from your wrist
  • Optional LTE
  • Voice assistants (Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant) 
  • Blood oxygen saturation monitoring (Note that Apple Watches sold by Apple in the US no longer have this feature)
  • Heart rate monitoring
  • Temperature readings
  • Always-on display (keeps the screen on even when the watch is idle)
  • Timers, alarms and reminders
  • Notifications from apps on your phone
  • Third-party apps
  • Onboard storage for music
  • Mobile payments

Features will vary depending on the model, but that's the general package you can expect from watches at that price. Some watches have their own specific extras, too. 

The $399 Apple Watch Series 9, for example, has car crash detection and an ultra wideband chip that should make it function better as an iPhone locator and a digital key for your car and home. Google's $350 Pixel Watch 2 and $300 Fitbit Sense 2 have sensors that can passively monitor for signs of stress, while Samsung's $270 Galaxy Watch 6 can measure body composition. Garmin's $349 Forerunner 255 has more of a fitness focus, with built-in programs for triathlon and duathlon training. Fitbit and Garmin's watches also typically excel in battery life over watches from Apple, Google and Samsung. The latter, however, offer a larger selection of third-party apps. 

essay on smart watches

Lower-priced smartwatches

Apple Watch SE Review

The second-gen Apple Watch SE.

You can also find smartwatches that cost around $250, give or take. These watches include many of the features mentioned above, but not all of them. If you mostly want to see notifications on your wrist, make mobile payments, track workouts and don't care much about deeper health insights, this type of watch is the right choice. Watches like the Apple Watch SE and Fitbit Versa 4 are examples of value-priced smartwatches.

While watches in this price range are usually the right choice for many people, it's important to remember what you're missing. The $249 second-gen Apple Watch SE, for example, lacks an always-on display, ECG, blood oxygen measurements and a temperature sensor. But it has the same software, high- and low-heart-rate notifications, car crash detection, fall detection and selection of exercise modes as the Series 9. 

The $230 Fitbit Versa 4 has many of Fitbit's most notable fitness features -- like active zone minutes, sleep tracking, built-in GPS and the daily readiness score (which requires a Premium subscription). You can also get phone notifications and access Amazon's Alexa on your wrist, and can access  Google Maps and the Google Wallet. But you'll need the pricier $299 Fitbit Sense 2 to get Fitbit's more sophisticated health capabilities, like sensors that scan for potential signs of stress, ECG and a skin temperature sensor. 

Garmin's $250  Venu Sq 2 offers a long battery life (an estimated 11 days) and many health and fitness features for the price (GPS, blood oxygen measurements and sleep tracking). But it doesn't have a speaker or microphone for taking calls, onboard music storage (unless you buy the $299 Music Edition) or access to Google Play Store apps. 

It's hard to find new smartwatches that cost less than $200, although there are some options out there. If you want to pay less and don't necessarily care about using apps, you might want to consider a fitness tracker instead. (Fitbit also works with certain  insurance companies to provide devices for members, so it's worth checking if your provider offers this benefit). 

essay on smart watches

Hybrid watches

Withings ScanWatch Horizon

The Withings ScanWatch Horizon

Hybrid smartwatches are a cross between a smartwatch and a regular wristwatch. These types of watches usually resemble classic analog watches, and therefore lack some smart features you may find on devices like the latest Apple Watch or Samsung Galaxy Watch.

For example, hybrid watches usually have standard, round analog watch faces with hands for the hour and minute rather than color touchscreens. Don't expect to get a full-screen view of your incoming alerts; that's what a regular smartwatch is for. Hybrid watches are designed to be more discrete, so they typically include a small screen located on the watch face for showing notifications and fitness stats. Hybrid watches also usually offer significantly longer battery like compared to standard smartwatches, which is one of their biggest benefits.

Examples of hybrid watches include the Withings ScanWatch and ScanWatch Horizon , Garmin Vivomove lineup and Fossil Gen 6 Hybrid. These watches typically cost around the same price as regular smartwatches, meaning you can expect to pay around $150 to $500 depending on the model. A hybrid watch is best for those who prefer the look of classic watches and prioritize having long battery life over smart features like color touchscreens and full app stores.

essay on smart watches

High-end fitness smartwatches

Garmin Epix

The Garmin Epix Gen 2.

There's another major smartwatch category to consider: premium fitness-focused watches. These devices usually have everything you'd find in regular flagship smartwatches, but with more rugged designs and additional characteristics aimed at sports enthusiasts. If you're training for a marathon or work in remote environments that may require a more precise GPS signal, one of these watches may be for you.

You can expect to pay between $500 and $1,000 for these types of watches. Garmin's Epix Gen 2  and Fenix 7 Standard start at $800 and $650 respectively, and the  Apple Watch Ultra 2 is available for $799. 

You may wonder what makes these watches better for fitness buffs than their cheaper counterparts. While the specifics will vary, expensive fitness watches tend to have better durability, longer battery life, more accurate location positioning, customizable buttons and extra features that target specific sports, like running, scuba diving or golf. 

The Apple Watch Ultra 2, for example, has a 36-hour battery life compared to the Series 9's 18-hour battery life, water resistance of 100 meters compared to the Series 8's 50 meters, a depth gauge with a water temperature sensor, dual-frequency GPS, a titanium build, a larger screen and a programmable Action button. 

Compared to the Forerunner 255, Garmin's Fenix and Epix watches also have increased water durability (100 meters versus 50 meters), lengthier battery life, dual grid mode for showing location coordinates in different formats, customizable hotkeys and an array of golf-oriented features. (The Forerunner 255 still has plenty of running-focused tools, like a race predictor to help with marathon training, since it's largely aimed at runners.)

essay on smart watches

When is the best time to buy a smartwatch?

Fitbit Sense 2 smart watch

The Fitbit Sense 2.

The best times to buy a smartwatch are generally around Amazon Prime Day or Black Friday  and Cyber Monday, when the most discounts are available. For example, several  Garmin devices  and  Fitbit wearables  saw discounts last year. 

If you're shopping at any other time during the year, the biggest factor you'll want to consider is when the new version of the smartwatch you're interested in might launch. Doing so ensures that you'll avoid paying a potentially high price for a device that may be outdated shortly. Plus, older models may go on sale once the new version launches. 

It's also a good idea to research what to expect from upcoming smartwatches before making a decision. The next Apple Watch, for example, is expected to be a significant overhaul that may include new health features, like the ability to detect high blood pressure and sleep apnea, according to Bloomberg . Google will also use generative AI to provide new insights based on your fitness data through its upcoming Fitbit Labs feature , which will presumably be available for Pixel Watches and Fitbit device owners who subscribe to Fitbit Premium. For more on what to expect from new smartwatches in 2024, check out this story .

Here's a look at when the major smartwatch makers tend to release new smartwatches based on previous launches. 

Estimated smartwatch release dates

Should you buy a smartwatch or fitness tracker.

The Fitbit Charge 5 being worn on a person's wrist outdoors

The Fitbit Charge 5

If you want to spend less than $200 and don't care about features like LTE connectivity, virtual assistants or third-party apps, a fitness tracker could be the right choice. 

Fitness trackers typically provide health metrics like sleep and activity tracking, heart rate, multiple exercise modes and blood oxygen saturation in a smaller (and less expensive) package, but skimp on some smart features like those mentioned above. Since fitness trackers usually have smaller screens, you also won't be able to see as much information at a glance as you would on a smartwatch. 

But fitness bands do offer basic smartphone companion features, such as the ability to show call and text notifications and set timers and alarms. Another benefit is that you'll likely get longer battery life from a fitness band than a traditional smartwatch. Check out some of our favorite fitness trackers . 

If you want a simple and minimalist health tracker that skips the phone notifications entirely, consider a smart ring like those made by Oura and Movano . But keep in mind these devices can still be just as expensive as a smartwatch. Samsung is also launching its wellness-tracking Galaxy Ring later this year, so Android users interested in smart rings may want to wait.

Best smartwatches in 2024

Still not sure where to start when buying a smartwatch? Check out CNET's guide to the best smartwatches for our top picks, which range from below $300 all the way up to $1,000. Most tech and health companies release their new products later in the year, but our current list includes our favorite choices based on what's available today. That includes the Apple Watch Ultra 2, Apple Watch Series 9, Google Pixel Watch 2, Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 and Garmin Epix 2 among others. 

We test smartwatches by tracking workouts with them, wearing them overnight while sleeping, testing how well they automatically detect exercises, relying on them for notifications when away from our phones and running the battery down to see how long they last. We also take readings from the various health sensors and ascertain what they add to the overall experience. Our goal when testing smartwatches is to assess their overall value by evaluating which features they offer, how well these watches execute those functions and how the whole package compares to the competition. 

More smartwatch advice

  • Google Pixel Watch 2 vs. Pixel Watch: The Biggest Differences
  • Fitbit Will Use AI to Connect the Dots Between Your Health Metrics
  • Fitbit Tips: 12 Ways to Get More Out of Your Fitness Tracker or Watch
  • Apple Watch Settings You Can Change to Make It Work Even Better

Logo

Essay on Watch

Students are often asked to write an essay on Watch in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Watch

The importance of watches.

Watches are essential tools for managing time. They help us stay organized, meet deadlines, and plan our day. Without watches, we would lose track of time and miss important events.

Types of Watches

There are various types of watches. Analog watches have hands that move around a dial. Digital watches display time in numbers. Smartwatches can even connect to our phones!

Watches as Fashion Accessories

Watches are also stylish accessories. They can be made of different materials like gold, silver, or leather. People wear watches to express their personal style.

Watches and Technology

Today, watches are more than timekeepers. They can monitor our health, connect to the internet, and even make calls!

Also check:

  • 10 Lines on Watch
  • Paragraph on Watch
  • Speech on Watch

250 Words Essay on Watch

Introduction.

A watch, a simple device worn around the wrist, has evolved significantly over the centuries. From an instrument of timekeeping to a symbol of status and style, the watch has been an integral part of human civilization.

The Historical Perspective

The history of watches dates back to the 16th century when they were worn as pendants. The invention of the mainspring in the 15th century paved the way for the development of portable timekeeping devices. This transition from public clocks to personal watches marked a significant shift in the perception of time, leading to a more organized society.

Symbol of Technological Advancement

The watch has been a testament to technological advancements. From mechanical watches to quartz watches, and now smartwatches, each evolution represents a leap in technology. Today’s smartwatches are not just timekeepers, but also fitness trackers, communication devices, and even personal assistants.

Reflection of Personal Style

A watch is more than just a functional object; it is a reflection of personal style and status. The choice of a watch can speak volumes about an individual’s personality, taste, and socioeconomic status. Luxury watches, in particular, are often seen as symbols of success and achievement.

In conclusion, the watch, while primarily a tool for timekeeping, holds a much broader significance. It is a symbol of human innovation, a reflection of personal identity, and a marker of societal progression. As technology continues to evolve, the watch will undoubtedly continue to transform, adapting to the changing needs and tastes of society.

500 Words Essay on Watch

The timeless significance of watches.

In an era where technology is advancing at a rapid pace, the traditional wristwatch remains a staple accessory. Despite the ubiquity of smartphones and the emergence of smartwatches, the classic timepiece has not lost its charm or relevance. This essay explores the multifaceted significance of watches and their enduring appeal.

A Symbol of Craftsmanship and Engineering

Watches are a testament to human ingenuity and precision. The intricate network of gears, springs, and wheels that power a mechanical watch represent centuries of horological evolution. The craftsmanship involved in creating a single watch is immense, often requiring hundreds of hours of meticulous work. This attention to detail and dedication to precision have made watches a symbol of engineering excellence.

Watches as a Fashion Statement

Watches also serve as an expression of personal style. The wide array of designs, materials, and brands available means that there is a watch to suit every individual’s taste and lifestyle. From the minimalist elegance of a classic dress watch to the rugged functionality of a diving watch, the choice of timepiece can say a lot about a person’s character and aesthetic preferences.

The Functional Aspect

Beyond aesthetics and craftsmanship, watches serve a practical purpose. They allow us to keep track of time, a resource that is both invaluable and irreplaceable. While smartphones and digital devices also provide this function, a wristwatch offers a level of convenience and accessibility that is unmatched. Moreover, in situations where the use of electronic devices is inappropriate or impractical, a watch proves to be an essential tool.

Watches as Heirlooms

Watches often hold sentimental value, passed down from generation to generation. They serve as tangible links to our past, carrying stories and memories of the people who wore them before us. This emotional connection enhances the value of a watch, transforming it from a simple tool to a cherished heirloom.

The Future of Watches

The advent of smartwatches has added a new dimension to the world of horology. These devices, capable of tracking health metrics and providing smartphone-like functionalities, represent a fusion of traditional watchmaking and modern technology. However, despite their growing popularity, they have not replaced traditional watches. Instead, they have expanded the horological landscape, offering consumers a broader range of options to suit their needs.

In conclusion, the enduring appeal of watches lies in their multifaceted significance. They are not merely tools for telling time but symbols of craftsmanship, expressions of personal style, practical devices, and cherished heirlooms. As technology continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how the role of the watch evolves with it. Regardless of these changes, one thing is certain: the timeless allure of the wristwatch is here to stay.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

  • Essay on Washing Machine
  • Essay on Why Should We Vote
  • Essay on National Voters Day

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Watch Your Smartwatch

Ieee account.

  • Change Username/Password
  • Update Address

Purchase Details

  • Payment Options
  • Order History
  • View Purchased Documents

Profile Information

  • Communications Preferences
  • Profession and Education
  • Technical Interests
  • US & Canada: +1 800 678 4333
  • Worldwide: +1 732 981 0060
  • Contact & Support
  • About IEEE Xplore
  • Accessibility
  • Terms of Use
  • Nondiscrimination Policy
  • Privacy & Opting Out of Cookies

A not-for-profit organization, IEEE is the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. © Copyright 2024 IEEE - All rights reserved. Use of this web site signifies your agreement to the terms and conditions.

Tapping to Agree I hereby consent to the use of cookies, confirm that I have read Cookie Policy and allow this website to collect and process my personal data in a safe and secure way

  • Essay Writers for Hire
  • Pay For Essays
  • Plagiarism Free Essays
  • Business Essay Writing Service
  • Scholarship Essay Writing
  • Masters Essay Writing Service
  • Essay Editing
  • Persuasive Essay Writing Service
  • Personal Statement Writing Service
  • College Paper Writing
  • Coursework Writing
  • Dissertation Editing
  • Write My Dissertation
  • Essays for Sale
  • Buy Research Paper
  • Research Paper Help
  • Pay For Research Paper
  • Write My Research Paper
  • Research Paper Editing
  • Write My Philosophy Research Paper
  • Write My Assignment
  • Conclusion Generator
  • Paraphrasing Tool
  • Essay Maker
  • Testimonials
  • How It Works
  • Engineering

Smart Watches

Smartwatches are critical for improving the efficiency of electricians at work. Productivity is enhanced by allowing individual employees to access all the knowledge they need while dealing with various issues. The knowledge-accessed ranges from procedural information, protection information, mission or job distribution to the technical information required to carry out various electrical and plumbing activities. Efficient efficiency is a hybrid between a healthy working atmosphere and good time control. The task of technology is slowly taking center stage in bridging the holes that remain in maximizing the feedback of employees. The gap that exists in most organizations is access to information and the advent of smart technology is perceived to be a perfect opportunity to make up for periodic trainings (Bertin, Emmanuel, Crespi, & Magedanz, p 175). By letting the employees to have the information by their wrist, is expected to transform the transform the workforce and improve their productivity. The Smart watches will have a picture application that will enable the employees to read-through the information that is captured in a picture format. In addition, the smart watches will have document reading application to support reading document files, and video support to facilitate demonstration via video graphics. The overall objective is therefore to save time and subsequently cost for the organization.

Task allocation: The smart watches are programmable and can be customized to allow supervisors to create teams and allocate them specific task. Supervisors will create accounts for teams and link up the same with the smart watches allowing the employees to access their work schedule ahead of time. The employees will then plan their time based on the task allocated and gather all the resources needed before commencing their work. Smart watches make communication between employees and their managers in relations to the resource allocation for completion of assigned tasks efficient. The information provided in the captured images will be shared among the target employees and that would make it easy to trace any breakdown in communication if the employees feel unsatisfied with the provided information. The smart watches will therefore enable the employee to know the tasks due for completion and plan their time adequately to allow them address all the work (Cho, Namjae, p3). The employees in a team will know their suitability to handle a task based on their skills combination as a team.

Information hub: The new gadgets are equipped with the latest information on plumbing and steam fitting and that means employees can learn the new techniques progressively and become acquainted. Employees handling a task as a team are able to consult with the available information and reduce the time it would take to have the interpretation from senior staff of supervisors on duty before handling a task.

The constant contact and repeated use of work related information is the magic bullet that helps the employees to improve their performance. Unlike periodic trainings on safety, having and using the information to complete task and minimize workplace accidents on a daily basis helps to improve employee consciousness to workplace procedures and safety content (Osman, Ibrahim, Abdel, Anouze, & Ali, p473). Unlike traditional methods of improving employee skills and performances, the smart watches enables the organization and staff to access latest updates relating to different approach to solving construction work challenges. Smart watch will act as an interface for the employees to access and use the latest information to increase efficiency and productivity.

The different codes used in construction and electrical work keep changing and that could mean addition and or removal of older codes. By accessing these information on codes, employees will become more efficient when interpreting diagrams, and or conducting troubleshooting in the course of their duty. Keeping the team updated makes it easy to communicate technically and through reports are addressed directly to the employees. In addition, learning new codes makes it easy for the employees to pick up and work on tasks in future dates when their services are needed (Provost, Fawcett, & Foster, p 317). This aspect of the smart watches has the effect of increasing employee productivity by ensuring that the workforce transform their knowledge and work with the latest and efficient work related content.

Employee autonomy: employees in a work place appreciate all the efforts that enable them to take charge of their tasks in terms of planning and finding solutions. If an employee wants to learn and apply new technology in handling a task, they will likely deliver once they have all the access to information, and tools. Employees who thrive working in a team will become efficient when they access information and freedom to execute a task on their own.

Most employees in the past learned from their supervisors and that explains why it takes longer for one to improve their performances. When a team consults among themselves while getting guidance from documented materials, they internalize the principles and operation procedures better compared to when they get instructions from a supervisor whose knowledge is limited. Pictures and short videos of complete tasks enable the employees to have a pictorial idea of the expected work before commencing their work (Mankins, Michael, & Eric, p67). This will enable them to assess the sufficiency of the tools and materials provided to plate the task. The smart watches in this case provide the employee with a sense of recognition and that is important as a social incentive to inspire positive attitude towards work.

Improved safety: the safety of the staff is important when handling any task that involves the use of heat, electricity, cutting tools among other equipments at the workplace. Every organization understand the importance of prioritizing the safety of the employee and the organization in the course of undertaking any operations by the employees. Smart watches provide a good platform for sensitizing the employees on the safety procedures when handling tasks using different equipments and applications. In this case, the smart watches will have all the safety aspects that are specific to different plumbing and steam heating situations at the work place (Miller, Michael, p248). Different safety gear and procedure of operations are the most important aspects of minimizing workplace accidents. Providing employees with safety information increase their adherence to safety requirements when handling different tasks and that will increase optimum use of labor. The video application in the smart watch will have access to exclusive video graphics that demonstrate the right approach to safe working against the wrong way (Arezes, Pedro, p391). This approach will reinforce the employee commitment to improve on their adherence to safety procedures.

Inspection procedures: The success of every task in the workplace is based on the way in which the operation manual and the inspection manual are drafted. A smart watch give the employees an opportunity to establish the closeness between the operation and the inspection manuals. This information gives the employee a head start in ensuring that they address all the steps in the operations manual satisfactorily (Duhigg, p 231). Giving the employees access to critical information on past inspection findings will ensure that each employee appreciates adherence to operations procedures, hence minimize time needed to conduct a rework. The documented procedure is important in the making of a discipline employee by enabling them to own the process and the results of their work. Improvement and overall productivity of the employee will be realized by making the smart watches employee’s closest and reliable reference material. The time it takes to consult experts is utilized otherwise in a productive way.

Works Cited

Arezes, Pedro M. Occupational Safety and Hygiene Iv: Selected, Extended and Revised Contributions from the International Symposium Occupational Safety and Hygiene, Guimarães, Portugal, 23-24 March 2016. , 2016. Internet resource.

Bertin, Emmanuel, Noel Crespi, and Thomas Magedanz. Evolution of Telecommunication Services [recurso Electrónico]: The Convergence of Telecom and Internet: Technologies and Ecosystems. , n.d. 2013. Internet resource.

Cho, Namjae. The Use of Smart Mobile Equipment for the Innovation in Organizational Coordination [recurso Electrónico]. , n.d. 2012. Internet resource.

Duhigg, Charles. Smarter Faster Better: The Transformative Power of Real Productivity. New York: Random House, 2017. Print.

Mankins, Michael C, and Eric Garton. Time, Talent, Energy: Overcome Organizational Drag and Unleash Your Team's Productive Power. 2017. Internet resource.

Miller, Michael. The Internet of Things: How Smart Tvs, Smart Cars, Smart Homes, and Smart Cities Are Changing the World. , 2015. Internet resource.

Osman, Ibrahim H, Abdel L. Anouze, and Ali Emrouznejad. Handbook of Research on Strategic Performance Management and Measurement Using Data Envelopment Analysis. , 2014. Internet resource.

Provost, Foster, and Tom Fawcett. Data Science for Business: What You Need to Know About Data Mining and Data-Analytic Thinking. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Media, 2013. Internet resource.

  • The founder of Kodak - George Eastman
  • Investment Casting
  • Information technology and architecture creativ...
  • Effects of Technology in Our Lives
  • War and Engineering
  • Lean Manufacturing

Academic levels

Paper formats, urgency types, assignment types, prices that are easy on your wallet.

Our experts are ready to do an excellent job starting at $14.99 per page

We at GrabMyEssay.com

work according to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which means you have the control over your personal data. All payment transactions go through a secure online payment system, thus your Billing information is not stored, saved or available to the Company in any way. Additionally, we guarantee confidentiality and anonymity all throughout your cooperation with our Company.

Try our service with 15% Discount for your first order!   Try our service with 15% Discount for your first order!   Try our service with 15% Discount for your first order!  

Smartwatches got bigger to avoid solving their biggest problem

Massive watches like the Apple Watch Ultra 2 or the upcoming Galaxy Watch 7 Pro dodge the real issue with smartwatches.

A hiking activity on the Apple Watch Ultra 2

There are three main ways to make a smartwatch last longer than a day. Fitness watches with weeks-long battery life have the easiest method: use a wimpy, efficient CPU that sticks to health data and notifications. The other two solutions for longer smartwatch battery life come with drawbacks and compromises, and I'm not sure that'll ever change.

Smartwatch makers know we're sick of recharging our watches daily. They've sped up charging times in recent years so you can top them off quickly before or after bed, making it easier to sleep with a watch . For many, that stopgap measure isn't enough, and they switch to "dumber" watches from Garmin or Fitbit to avoid the hassle.

Apple doesn't make its Series watches last 18 hours year after year for kicks. It can't take a year off from adding new, battery-guzzling features or sensors without consumer apathy and stockholder panic. Nor can it add extra battery capacity without ruining the design.

Wear OS watches have done better, to an extent. The Galaxy Watch 6 's 40-hour battery is certainly an improvement — even if it's a 10-hour drop-off from last year — and the 24-hour Pixel Watch 2 does, at least, make it easier to pick a consistent time to charge it. 

The problems arise whenever you try to last any longer than that.

Massive batteries only work for larger wrists

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Pro (left) and Apple Watch Ultra (right) side-by-side.

If you've followed my weekly column, you know I prefer fitness watches to traditional smartwatches, mainly for running metrics and battery life. I do miss the option of proper wrist apps, though. That's why two of my favorite smartwatches of the last two years are the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 .

The Watch 5 Pro and Ultra 2 hit 80 and 36 hours, respectively, well beyond the norm for smartwatches. Equally important for my purposes, they're supposed to last 20 or 12 hours while tracking your GPS location for workouts — in the same ballpark as a Garmin watch. We've also heard that Samsung will bring back the Galaxy Watch 7 Pro with a slightly larger battery .

Be an expert in 5 minutes

Get the latest news from Android Central, your trusted companion in the world of Android

Aside from costing an arm and a leg, what's the downside to these watches? Once you factor in the watch band, both smartwatch flagships weigh about 2.5–3oz, more than double the weight of your typical fitness tracker. 

Regular smartwatches keep steadily gaining weight, even if it's usually only a gram per year, like the Galaxy Watch 4 (26g) versus the Watch 6 (29g). They keep squeezing in more components and battery capacity, like subtle weight training for our wrists. But to double your battery life, you also have to double the weight.

Side view of the thick Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro and its two side buttons.

Tech brands know that their target audience — eager tech fans who read sites like ours and always need the latest flagship model, plus credulous journalists getting $800 watches for free — will accept wearing a giant chunk of metal on their wrists for extra battery life. When people complain that their mainline watches die quickly, Apple and Samsung can point to their well-reviewed premium watches and call you a "power user" who should spend more.

Again, I love that these watches finally "solved" smartwatches' core flaw for me. But some people can't afford that solution, and others don't have large enough wrists to wear the solution. And so long as these high-end models exist, smartwatch brands have little incentive to make the cheaper models more efficient. Packing in flashy new features is the higher priority.

The OnePlus Watch 2 solves this problem... with tradeoffs

OnePlus Watch 2 Play Store icon

The OnePlus Watch 2 blew us away when it first launched, consistently lasting four days per charge. The more we used it, however, the more we realized that the longer battery life came with serious tradeoffs.

OnePlus credited its longevity to a dual-processor design: the 4nm Snapdragon W5 chip handles the heavy-duty app tasks, while its 12nm BES2700 co-processor handles "background tasks" like notifications and health data via the lightweight RTOS. Google and OnePlus worked together to make this system work, calling it the Wear OS Hybrid Interface .

It sounds great in theory, but in practice, two AC reviewers found that it undercounts steps by thousands across a busy day, claims you're standing when you're sitting, overreports stress on calm days, and can't properly track higher anaerobic heart rates during workouts. It also failed to deliver notifications, sometimes.

These issues stem directly from OnePlus' hybrid OS system. Its co-processor struggles to sample your health data quickly enough, either by design to save battery life or due to its clock limitations. Either way, it undercuts one of the main reasons to wear a smartwatch.

OnePlus also saves battery life by using Google's special XML Watch Face Format, which saves battery life. The only problem is that our reviewer found the watch faces boring, and when he tried installing a custom one with Facer , it cut his watch's battery life from four days to one .

OnePlus Watch 2 watch face highlighted

OnePlus is relatively new to the smartwatch game, and other brands like Google or Apple might handle hybrid systems better. Relegating background tasks to a more efficient chip is probably the only way that smartwatches could last longer.

I simply can't take it for granted that the compromises of a hybrid system won't outweigh the benefits. Most smartwatches already have a power-saving mode, and a hybrid mode feels like a rebranding of that same principle: disabling battery-guzzling features and slowing the sampling rate for your heart rate or location. And I don't see much point in wearing a heavy smartwatch if you're not going to use its smarts.

If smartwatches of the future can track dozens of health metrics in the background using a low-powered chip while extending battery life, that'd be fantastic! But I'm skeptical that tech brands can pull it off without making your data too inconsistent to be reliable; let's hope I'm proven wrong.

Smartwatch AI probably won't change anything

My Vitality score reveal showing new Samsung Health feature launching later this year.

This is the year of AI, at least on smartphones. What this means for smartwatches and their battery life isn't certain yet.

With Gemini essentially replacing Google Assistant on Android phones, it feels like only a matter of time until these same brands try to get Gemini and other AI features on Android watches . Of course, most AI versions today rely on cloud-based computing, and pulling data from wi-fi drains a watch's battery pretty quickly.

Other AI features will work in the back end. We know that Samsung plans to introduce a "Vitality Score" this summer for the Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Ring , based on your sleep and health data. And if I'm going to rely on this data, I'd rather my watch get the most accurate data possible, not check in at random intervals to save battery.

Ultimately, my guess is that smartwatch chips will start becoming more and more like phone chips, with multiple cores and processors and AI-focused NPUs all chugging along on your wrist, adding more and more features over time. We'll see what kind of impact that has on smartwatch battery life, but I think breaking even is about all we can hope for.

Michael L Hicks

Michael is Android Central's resident expert on fitness tech and wearables, with an enthusiast's love of VR tech on the side. After years freelancing for Techradar, Wareable, Windows Central, Digital Trends, and other sites on a variety of tech topics, AC has given him the chance to really dive into the topics he's passionate about. He's also a semi-reformed Apple-to-Android user who loves D&D, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings.

For wearables, Michael has tested dozens of smartwatches from Garmin, Fitbit, Samsung, Apple, COROS, Polar, Amazfit, and other brands, and will always focus on recommending the best product over the best brand. He's also completed marathons like NYC, SF, Marine Corps, Big Sur, and California International — though he's still trying to break that 4-hour barrier.

T-Mobile SyncUP Kids Watch review: A smartwatch for your kid that actually feels smart

How to automatically unlock your Pixel with Watch Unlock

Android 15 could 'quarantine' rogue apps for your safety

  • kigmatzomat The Pebble got 7 day battery life with apps and hundreds of watch faces. it didn't have cellular or gps and used ultra-low energy always-on e-ink/e-paper displays. Those displays were fuzzier a decade ago but now they are much higher res, have better contrast and colors are brighter. Reply
  • dwterry I've been wearing Galaxy Watch Classics for several years now (most recently the GWC 6) and always thought they were great. But just recently I picked up a Garmin 965 for running. It's a beautiful watch with an easy to read color display. It's tracking my steps, my heart rate, my running (using GPS), oxygen levels, sleeping, etc. I was surprised that it works pretty well as a replacement for my GWC6 with notifications (I had expected I would only wear the Garmin watch while running). But what surprised me most was that I used the watch for 6 days straight before I recharged it. Usually running with my GWC6 (with the GPS turned on) would drain it pretty quick, so I expected my Garmin to drain quickly by running with it, but it didn't. I never really used any other apps on the GWC6 (besides the built in stuff for health monitoring including running), so I'm not "missing" anything in switching over to Garmin - except for the daily recharge cycle. And honestly, I don't miss that at all. Reply
  • Scott Schofield 80 hours on the Wear? You/ve got to be kidding. Lucky to get 20... No GPS, no always on. Basic stuff... As another poster noted.. LOVED my Pebble. Did everything I needed and lasted a good week... Reply
  • kbobrwpj I regularly get 48-60 hours per charge, on a 2 plus year old Galaxy Watch 4. Over time, I figured out that "dumbing down" some functions really helped the battery life. No auto brightness - I just manually set it usually once for day, and again at night. Turned off lift to view and gestures. Like others, I use mostly the health stuff, no gps, notifications display on all emails and texts, answer a few calls but only when alone and I have no other choice, heart rate monitor every 10 minutes, media controls auto pops. I even have a rotating photo background with 15 pictures currently in rotation. I think turning off the auto sensing for brightness, and turning off gestures may have seriously extended my typical battery life-but your mileage may vary. (And yes, I wear the watch at night, though sleep tracking is still hit or miss for me). Reply
  • View All 4 Comments

Most Popular

  • 2 T-Mobile SyncUP Kids Watch review: A smartwatch for your kid that actually feels smart
  • 3 Best Earth Day deals 2024 — your sustainable tech shopping guide
  • 4 Best T-Mobile phones 2024
  • 5 Hear, hear! The best earbuds we've ever used just scored a massive discount at Best Buy

essay on smart watches

How-To Geek

5 ways to make your smartwatch battery last as long as possible.

Get every last drop of battery life.

Quick Links

You probably don't need the screen always on, make sure you're using auto screen brightness, enable "do not disturb" mode to reduce screen waking, enter into "low power mode" during down times, turn it into a "dumb" watch to add days to the lifespan.

Smartwatches are some of the smallest gadgets we use every day, which means they also have some of the smallest batteries. Every drop in the battery percentage is felt even more. We'll show you how to squeeze as much battery life as possible from your Apple Watch, Galaxy Watch, and Wear OS watch.

Let's start with something that may be controversial: you don't need your watch screen always on. The face on a regular watch is always visible, and some people want that same functionality on their smartwatch. Why should we expect less from a smarter device? I understand the argument, but is it worth the hit in battery life?

In reality, you're probably not actively looking at your smartwatch screen very often. A quick glance to check the time only takes a few seconds. Modern smartwatches are pretty good at detecting when you lift your arm to look at your watch. You may have to wait an extra split second for the screen to light up, but the battery savings are worth it.

We'll use the Apple Watch as an example. With some background activities disabled, an Apple Watch Series 7 can last around 49 hours with the Always-on Display enabled. However, with AOD disabled and "Wake on Wrist Raise" enabled, it lasts around 67 hours. You probably won't have those same background activities disabled, but it shows the difference the AOD makes.

Android smartwatches with Wear OS can disable the Always-on Display by going to Settings > Display > toggle off "Always On Display."

Over on the Apple Watch, go to Settings > Display & Brightness and make sure "Always On" is turned off.

Another way to take advantage of your smartwatch's, well, smarts , is with auto-brightness . There's no need to adjust the brightness for every situation manually. There's a good chance you already know this, but it's easy to accidentally leave auto-brightness disabled. Then your watch won't dim the display when needed to save battery.

On an Apple Watch, you don't have to do anything. Auto-brightness is the default setting, and you can manually tweak the brightness on command. Go to Settings > Display & Brightness and tap the sun icons to adjust the brightness.

For an Android smartwatch with Wear OS, the auto-brightness setting can be found in Settings > Display. It may be called "Adaptive Brightness" or "Auto Brightness."

If you haven't figured it out yet, the display is the biggest battery killer on a smartwatch. So, limiting the amount of time the display is on will increase battery life. Another way you can do that is by preventing every little notification from waking up the screen.

It's generally a good idea to disable unimportant apps from sending notifications to your watch to begin with —no need to distract yourself constantly. However, a quick way to do this when you need some extra battery life is with "Do Not Disturb" mode. Just toggle it on and only important stuff will get through.

On an Android smartwatch with Wear OS, you can simply swipe down from the top of the screen on the watch face and tap the Do Not Disturb toggle (circle with a minus sign in the center).

For an Apple Watch , go to Settings > Focus > Do Not Disturb and toggle the switch on. You can also use one of several Focus Modes or create your own .

For those times when you really need to stretch the life of your smartwatch's battery, turn to " Low Power Mode " or some variation of a feature called "Battery Saver." These modes will be slightly different depending on your specific watch, but they will generally disable things like the Always-on Display, tilt-to-wake, background apps, and GPS.

On an Apple Watch, you can open the Control Center, tap the battery percentage, and toggle on the "Low Power Mode" switch. You'll also have the option to turn it on for one, two, or three days.

With an Android smartwatch running Wear OS, you can swipe down from the top of the screen while looking at the watch face and tap the Battery Saving toggle (usually a battery icon with a recycling icon in the center).

Some smartwatches have a battery-saving feature that goes beyond "Low Power Mode." On a Samsung Galaxy Watch, it's called "Watch Only" mode. Apple Watches used to have a similar feature called "Power Reserve," but now it's a little less intuitive.

As the name implies, a "Watch Only" mode essentially turns your smartwatch into a dumbwatch. Everything is disabled, and you can only see the clock. This can extend the life of your watch by several weeks . It's nice to have when you want to be at least able to use your watch as a watch for a while longer.

On a Samsung Galaxy Watch, go to Settings > Battery and Device Care > Battery > Watch Only. Tap the "Turn On" button to enable it.

Apple Watches used to have a feature called "Power Reserve" that could be enabled from the Settings. However, after WatchOS 9 , it's simply enabled when the Apple Watch is powered off with battery remaining—you can check the time by clicking the dial button.

Thankfully, battery life in smartwatches has somewhat improved over the years. It's not terribly difficult to get from morning to bedtime with juice to spare. Whether you'll be able to stretch it to the next night, however, is still not often possible without some help.

IMAGES

  1. Conceptual Smart Watches Free Essay Example

    essay on smart watches

  2. What Is a Smartwatch and What Do They Do by Nogado123

    essay on smart watches

  3. Explanation text about smart watches

    essay on smart watches

  4. SMART WATCH REPORT

    essay on smart watches

  5. SMART WATCH REPORT

    essay on smart watches

  6. 5 Ways Smartwatches Are Improving Our Health

    essay on smart watches

COMMENTS

  1. What Is a Smartwatch and What Do They Do?

    Often engineered for advanced durability to protect against bumps, drops, dust, and water. Examples include the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus, the Suunto 9 Baro, and the 2022 Apple Watch Ultra. Diving watches: Connect your first-stage regulator to a Bluetooth transmitter to use a diving watch. Garmin's Descent Mk2i and Suunto's DX offer depth, time ...

  2. Health at hand: A systematic review of smart watch uses for health and

    Second, smart watch research should be reported according to standardized criteria such as the STARE-HI (Statement on reporting of evaluation studies in Health Informatics) guidelines [33] or mini STARE-HI for conference papers [34]. 5. Conclusion. Consumer-grade smart watches have penetrated the health research space rapidly since 2014.

  3. Smartwatches: Developments of Niche Devices Essay

    Introduction. In recent times, the niche of wearable devices has grown tremendously, and it will continue to grow until there is a demand for such technologies. One such wearable device is a smartwatch - a portable gadget intended to be worn on a wrist and aimed to record heart rate and other vital signs. The Pebble watch designers created ...

  4. Short Essay On Smart Watch

    Short Essay On Smart Watch. 887 Words4 Pages. High-tech Wrist Watches From ancient times there are different tools used to measure time. With the advancement of technology the watches just move towards more sophisticated and advanced style. Now watch not only measure time, but also perform multiple tasks. 21st century brings the uniqueness and ...

  5. Understanding continued smartwatch usage: the role of ...

    Smartwatches are the most popular wearable device and increasingly subject to empirical research. In recent years, the focus has shifted from revealing determinants of smartwatch adoption to understanding factors that cause long-term usage. Despite their importance for personal fitness, health monitoring, and for achieving health and fitness goals, extant research on the continuous use ...

  6. (PDF) Smartwatches

    Abstract. Wearable computers are expected to become the next big thing but popular press is divided on whether they will be successful. In this paper we review the existing literature on one type ...

  7. Inside the Technology: How Smartwatches Function

    Smartwatches are equipped with an array of sensors and features that elevate their utility beyond basic timekeeping. These sophisticated devices integrate a multitude of sensors to enable diverse functionalities, catering to users' health, fitness, communication, and productivity needs. One of the most prevalent sensors found in smartwatches ...

  8. Health at Hand: A Systematic Review of Smart Watch Uses ...

    Introduction: Smart watches have the potential to support health in everyday living by: enabling self-monitoring of personal activity; obtaining feedback based on activity measures; allowing for ...

  9. Smart Watches: Minimizing Ageing Issues through the Technology

    The main aim of building the smart watches is to improve communication and also make the gadgets more useful in the day to day lives. SPOT is a technology that is used to deliver the necessary information and domains that aid in improving the welfare of the technology used. SPOT uses the main mode of technology has the FM broadcasting does.

  10. A qualitative study of smartwatch usage and its usability

    Abstract. This study aims to explore usability issues of watch-type wearable devices and to suggest guidelines for improved operation of smartwatches. To do so, we conducted a series of surveys ...

  11. Opinion

    There's no clear answer yet. One study found that people trying to lose weight who used wearable technology to help actually lost less weight than their watch-free counterparts. A review in the ...

  12. Essay On Smart Watch

    Essay On Smart Watch. 2347 Words10 Pages. What is a Smart watch? Although there is not a well-structured definition for a smart watch, but apart from the basic feature of showing time there must be many other features should be present that actually makes the watch smart.

  13. Wearable devices: monitoring the future?

    Smart watches demonstrate high sensitivity but generally speaking, lower specificity, although with improving technology this is likely to also increase. Therefore, episodes of an otherwise benign dysrhythmia, may be misinterpreted as abnormal, resulting in patient stress, downward testing and even unnecessary anticoagulation treatment [ 6 ].

  14. Smart Watch Essay

    This watch has 240 x 240 resolution IPS screen, 2.5D Gorilla glass, to give you ultimate touch sense and viewing experience. This can be easily …show more content…. The smart watch has 1.5inch, touch enabled display set within a metal, silicon plastic shell that is completely waterproof. The display is planned to recognize your handwriting.

  15. Smart Watch for Smart Health Monitoring: A Literature Review

    A total of 24 publications' full text was reviewed. Finally, 20 publications were included and summarized in Table 2. Most of the papers selected were published in 2021 (6, 30%), followed by 2018 (5, 25%). There were three publications chosen in 2016, 2019, and 2020 (15%), and the least was from 2017 (1, 5%).

  16. Smart Watch Essay

    1313 Words6 Pages. A Beginners Guide to Smart Watch Testing. As technology has evolved, people wish to live "smarter". This lead to the evolution of smart devices. We started to upgrade the traditional devices we use in our everyday life to smart devices. Wanting to carry computers with us started the evolution and led to the invention of ...

  17. Essay On Smart Watch

    This watch has 240 x 240 resolution IPS screen, 2.5D Gorilla glass, to give you ultimate touch technology and viewing experience. This can be easily …show more content…. The smart watch has 1.5inch, touch enabled display set within a metal, silicon plastic shell that is completely waterproof. The display is designed to recognize your ...

  18. 21 Reasons Why You Need (& Why You Should Use) a Smartwatch

    5. Health tracking on the Wrist. The most useful feature of a smartwatch is health tracking. You can track your health stats, including heart rate, blood oxygen, and stress level, directly on your wrist. The smartwatches have built-in sensors to track all the health data, which detects and shows the data to you.

  19. Buying a Smartwatch? Ask Yourself These Questions First

    Fitbit and Garmin's watches also typically excel in battery life over watches from Apple, Google and Samsung. The latter, however, offer a larger selection of third-party apps. Apple Watch Series ...

  20. Smart Watch for Smart Health Monitoring: A Literature Review

    Abstract and Figures. This review paper focuses on analyzing research work related to the utilization of smart watches in health informatics. In recent years, we have seen an ascent in life ...

  21. 100 Words Essay on Watch

    500 Words Essay on Watch The Timeless Significance of Watches. In an era where technology is advancing at a rapid pace, the traditional wristwatch remains a staple accessory. Despite the ubiquity of smartphones and the emergence of smartwatches, the classic timepiece has not lost its charm or relevance. This essay explores the multifaceted ...

  22. Watch Your Smartwatch

    We followed the proposed framework using Apple Watch. We found that the watch stores a lot of personal information such as contacts details, text messages, calendar details, Emails, pictures, and wallet data including: stored payment cards, gate passes, and event tickets, if any. In addition, the logical acquisition of the backup files revealed ...

  23. Smart Watches

    Smart watches provide a good platform for sensitizing the employees on the safety procedures when handling tasks using different equipments and applications. In this case, the smart watches will have all the safety aspects that are specific to different plumbing and steam heating situations at the work place (Miller, Michael, p248).

  24. Smart Watch Essay

    It's waterproof and boasts a weeklong battery life. Instead of using a touch screen display, it has a monochrome e-paper screen like the digital book readers. You navigate menus using a side-mounted buttons. What makes this smart watch so unique is it has to be small to fit one's waist. Information has to fit inside to be readable.

  25. Smartwatches got bigger to avoid solving their biggest problem

    Once you factor in the watch band, both smartwatch flagships weigh about 2.5-3oz, more than double the weight of your typical fitness tracker. Regular smartwatches keep steadily gaining weight ...

  26. 5 Ways to Make Your Smartwatch Battery Last as Long as Possible

    Enable "Do Not Disturb" Mode to Reduce Screen Waking. Enter Into "Low Power Mode" During Down Times. Turn it into a "Dumb" Watch to Add Days to the Lifespan. Smartwatches are some of the smallest gadgets we use every day, which means they also have some of the smallest batteries. Every drop in the battery percentage is felt even more.