Weekly poll: how many of you have a smartwatch and what kind?

Time for a Headcount – Who here owns a smartwatch? What kind of smartwatches do you have? Smart wearables are already a big business for tech companies and wearers like the convenience of having notifications or a payment system on their wrists. But we’re curious how popular they actually are.

There are many smartwatches with Apple watchOS and HarmonyOS. Some older models have Tizen. Those have access to a rich selection of apps from their respective app stores and tend to have more fully-featured communication options (including walkie-talkie functionality and even calls over the carrier network).

They have a poor battery life but can last for a couple of days or less. You can get smartwatches with a longer battery life, which may last up to a week. You may not need all the apps that some smartwatches have, however. This is part of our second question, and we will get to it.

If you only need basic health monitoring (e.g. heart rate, sleep and exercise tracking), then a smart band can do the trick. A smart band is also a good option if you only need basic health tracking (e.g. heart rate, sleep, exercise, and at-a glance notifications). These smart bands are less expensive, which means you won’t have to feel the band as soon as you touch it.

So, who has a smart wearable and what kind?

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As to our second question, which features do you prioritize? There is some advanced functionality that arrived in recent years like ECG for more accurate and detailed heart info than a simple heart rate tracker. That tends to be reserved for the pricier models, however. Many people want to be able to run with their phones off the phone, and have a GPS tracker or music storage. Having voice calling available helps with that too and mobile payments are quite convenient.

What features do you look for when considering a new smartwatch or band? Note that you can tick several options, including a custom answer by filling in the Other option.

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