Has anyone gone from a smart watch back to analog?

[S100HP]

Celtic Dragon said:

Has anyone gone back to a standard analog watch after wearing a smart watch for an extended period?

Up until12 months ago, my only experience of smart wearables was a Garmin vivofit, which I wore along side my analogs, nothing special but a couple are interesting. Then 6 months or so I got a Garmin gps watch and have worn it ever since, day and night.

Recently I’ve been thinking that all the smart tech has become overly intrusive in life (mainly thanks to the bombardment about the election etc) and how much data I’m recording about myself and that I never do anything with it. The thought occurred that life was simpler when a watch told you the time and date, not the latest headlines, when you’ve got a text, call etc, and stopping using the Garmin as an everyday watch.

The thought of something nice but single use now appeals, I must be getting old!

You can turn all the notifications off you know. I've a Fenix 5 with no notifications.

[Blink982]

I owned a smart watch thing a couple of years back until it stopped charging and found it useful. The battery was decent (5 days). I dislike the Apple Watch looks wise and I’ve no doubt it’s an impressive device but the thought of having to charge it daily would put me off. I’ve toyed with the idea of a Garmin Fenix but they’re expensive at £700 or thereabouts. I wear automatics every day and don’t need notifications but some of the other health and fitness features do appeal.

[Bobajobbob]

I alternate between an Apple watch and my mechanical watches. Now the Apple Watch has an always on screen it appeals to me more and I've been wearing the series 5 much more than my previous version.

[anonymous-user]

Thought about it but the last thing I want is another piece of technology interfering in life.

I have no notifications, phone always on silent, no updates, etc, it’s the way forward.

[peterperkins]

I had a nice old Seiko kinetic analog I wore for 20 years but the capacitors/batteries kept dying and £80 a pop to get it fixed.

Bought a fitbit black plastic thing a year ago.
It's been abused, screen is scratched to hell, and the strap is fubar and now araldite'd in position on both sides.
It looks a mess but does record exercise sessions etc etc.

Would I go back to my Seiko? Maybe/probably I liked it but It seems can't be reliably fixed.

[anonymous-user]

I wear analogue watch for ‘special occasions’
Had a nice Seamaster for my 50th 9 years ago

Apple Watch 5 with sim the rest of the time. Apple Pay / Heart Monitor / Can be traced if I keel over when out running !

[grumbledoak]

My Fenix 5 purchase has saved me a fortune. I've barely worn the analog watches since.

[AstonZagato]

peterperkins said:

the strap is fubar and now araldite'd in position on both sides.
It looks a mess but does record exercise sessions etc etc.

The replacement straps (non OEM) can be bought for buttons on Amazon. The replacement I currently have on my Garmin is nicer than the original strap. I think it was £7 delivered.

[bonerp]

I've tried 3, the latest Samsung watch, the one before and an ASUS smart watch. I get bored of them, sick of swiping, and now there is really nothing my phone doesn't do (counting steps, position etc) so why? I must say I'm not a fitness freak and measuring my best time to walk to work isn't high on my priority list!
Always enjoy wearing my small mechanical watch collection though. Not at the same time!

[RizzoTheRat]

S100HP said:

You can turn all the notifications off you know. I've a Fenix 5 with no notifications.

I have a Fenix 5s+ and have notifications on for WhatsApp and phone calls but that's about it.

Garmin Pay wasn't one of the reasons I got it, but it's probably the biggest reason I wouldn't ditch it, it's fantastic, I rarely carry my wallet now.

[Coolbanana]

I've some nice analog watches (Rolex, Tag) but haven't worn them in over a decade and see them as trinket jewellery I grew out of. I just didn't need a watch given I have a smartphone to tell the time either. Then I got a Garmin Fenix 5, and now 6 and wear it all the time. I don't use it to tell the time. I only use it to monitor my daily activity - cycling training etc and send me notifications from selected sources.

I'm probably in a very select minority who isn't interested in a wrist-based time-keeper. Smart watches for me are brilliant at giving me an idea of where I am activity-wise and when I am out on a 2-5 hour cycle ride, I like to see notifications come in so that I can decide if any warrant stopping and getting my smartphone out to reply to. I run my entire business from my smartphone and my smart watch is an extension of that.

I can never see me using an analog watch ever again.

[grumbledoak]

RizzoTheRat said:

I have a Fenix 5s+ and have notifications on for WhatsApp and phone calls but that's about it.

Garmin Pay wasn't one of the reasons I got it, but it's probably the biggest reason I wouldn't ditch it, it's fantastic, I rarely carry my wallet now.

Does anyone take Garmin pay in the UK?

[RizzoTheRat]

grumbledoak said:

Does anyone take Garmin pay in the UK?

Anywhere that takes Apple/Android pay does, and that's pretty much anywhere that takes contactless. The problem you have in the UK is some places (Tesco as an example) still apply the contactless limits so won't let you put more than £30 through on a transaction. I live in NL and haven't come across that anywhere here though, I've paid €200+ on contactless before.

The biggest problem is which banks support it rather than which shops will take it. Santander do but I'm not sure which other UK banks.

Edited by RizzoTheRat on Thursday 19th December 10:24

[grumbledoak]

Thanks! I will check with my bank.

[RizzoTheRat]

Actually it looks like Santander's the only UK high street back that are one it
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/garminpay/banks/

[The Mad Monk]

I have just bought an XWatch.

Have I done the right thing?

Will I regret it?


https://x1product.com/Xwatch/2/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI...

Edited by The Mad Monk on Friday 20th December 09:10

[Jamescrs]

I have a smart watch but I haven't worn it for the last couple of weeks, reason being I use it mainly for running and I haven't done any on the run up to Christmas and new year, i'll be back using it next week.

I also have in my collection an Omega Seamaster and a Rotary Aquaspeed, I've worn both in the last couple of weeks, I'd forgotten how much I like the Rotary in particular.

I don't miss the smart watch other than the fitness tracking use.

[GOATever]

Pricey Analogue watches, are pretty much just a conspicuous willy wave of perceived wealth, a lot of the time. As has been said on a few ‘timepiece’ related threads, a cheap Quartz is as accurate as an expensive Swiss action. But the cheap Quartz won’t get random strangers cooing over it. It’s not always the case, but it is a lot of the time, in my experience. I do like to have a laugh sometimes, if I see someone waving the metaphorical. I’ll just tell them I bought one of those, off a bloke in India, for about 10 quid.

[anonymous-user]

GOATever said:

Pricey Analogue watches, are pretty much just a conspicuous willy wave of perceived wealth, a lot of the time. As has been said on a few ‘timepiece’ related threads, a cheap Quartz is as accurate as an expensive Swiss action. But the cheap Quartz won’t get random strangers cooing over it. It’s not always the case, but it is a lot of the time, in my experience. I do like to have a laugh sometimes, if I see someone waving the metaphorical. I’ll just tell them I bought one of those, off a bloke in India, for about 10 quid.

...as I’m sure you did.

[halfpenny43]

I always wanted a Smartwatch for activity tracking since going back to the gym and running again a few years ago but like others here, own several decent analogue watches.

So bought a smart-ring - and love it. Not as accurate as a watch due to the limited size for the tech - but does what I need it to do

https://mymotiv.com/