Smartwatch Thread (news/apps/updates)

[tom_e]

I quite like chunky watches. Wish my Active 2 was chunkier.

The thing swinging the 5 Pro is the battery life to be honest

I'd struggle to go to something that I religiously had to remember to charge every day to be honest. Starts to become a bit of a useless tracker of things if it spends hours charging every day or dead because I've forgotten to charge it

 

[pinkpound]

So I have a Galaxy Watch Active 2 that's getting on a bit.

On the Samsung website, I could trade it in and get either Watch 6 44mm for £209 or a Watch 5 Pro 45mm for £219.

Looking at spec and features, both look similar with the 6 running a newer SOC but the 5 Pro with the bigger battery capacity. Which is the better device? I'm leaning towards the 5 Pro to be honest.

I have the Watch 5 pro and the Watch 6 classic , the 6 since the November firmware update gives me 3-3.5 days the 5Pro 4-4.5 days . I prefer the 6 due to the return of the rotating bezel and larger screen .

 

[GuruJockStrap]

Hmmm.... Watch 6 Classic (47mm) coming up as £264 with trade in.

My budget was £200, so the other two are already overstretching it.

 

[GuruJockStrap]

Ordered the 5 Pro in the end. Arriving tomorrow.

Couldn't justify the extra £45. Was tempted by the rotating bezel of the 6 Classic but my Active 2 has that virtual bezel and I got on well with it.

Besides, 5 Pro should be a mighty upgrade over my current Active 2!

 

[GuruJockStrap]

So Pro 5 arrived. Very nice. Now for questions

Duplication of apps. I prefer the Google versions of the phone, contacts, messages and Calendar apps. The Samsung versions can't be removed/disabled (apart from Contacts I think which can be disabled). So apart from dumping all the Samsung versions into a folder at the bottom of the app screen, is there no other way to disable apart from ADB? Anyone done this with sucesss?

 

[pinkpound]

So Pro 5 arrived. Very nice. Now for questions

Duplication of apps. I prefer the Google versions of the phone, contacts, messages and Calendar apps. The Samsung versions can't be removed/disabled (apart from Contacts I think which can be disabled). So apart from dumping all the Samsung versions into a folder at the bottom of the app screen, is there no other way to disable apart from ADB? Anyone done this with sucesss?

I find most of Samsung apps pretty good except bixby

 

[welshrat]

Just switched from a galaxy watch (had it four years and was still giving me 4 days on a charge) to a tic watch 5 pro. Had it 2 months now and very impressed. Nice to have a wear os watch that lasts 4 days, I get two 5k runs with that plus sleep tracking with spo2 and heart rate all day.

 

[GuruJockStrap]

Does the Tic Watch 5 Pro now have Google Assistant on it?

 

[welshrat]

Does the Tic Watch 5 Pro now have Google Assistant on it?

No not yet it doesn't. Still wear os 3.5 which I am fine with. Unsure if it will although they have promised wear os 4 and they suddenly seem a bit better with getting updates out.

 

[ristac]

Where's the best place for Apple watch straps, is it the Apple store or are there decent aftermarket options?

I've had a look on the gigantic online retailer place but they seem a bit to cheap to be any kind of decent quality?

I’ve tried third party bands and they’ve never been as good.

 

[Captain]

I’ve swapped from the Apple Watch Ultra 2 to the Garmin Venu 3, being delivered tomorrow.

 

[Captain]

First impressions of the Venu 3, screen is nice but not on the level of the Apple Watch. Notifications are also a bit backwards, can’t just swipe down to see them, you have to swipe, then open the notification tab and then click each individual notification to read it.

Fitness is also quite a bit behind, just walked 5km according to my mates Apple Watch but the Garmin is showing 4.8km for some reason. Either or both could be wrong I guess.

 

[stoofa]

There are some deals to be had at Samsung right now - seem to be better trade-in prices and discounts and £75 cashback (you can get £75 trade-in for "any" working smartwatch).
Updated myself from a GW4 Classic 46 to a GW6 Classic 47 for £105 after cashback and upgraded wife's GW4 Classic 43 to a GW6 Classic 43 for around the same.

 

[petridish]

There are some deals to be had at Samsung right now - seem to be better trade-in prices and discounts and £75 cashback (you can get £75 trade-in for "any" working smartwatch).
Updated myself from a GW4 Classic 46 to a GW6 Classic 47 for £105 after cashback and upgraded wife's GW4 Classic 43 to a GW6 Classic 43 for around the same.

I may look into this thanks for sharing. Currently got a GW4 which the battery will no doubt start to drop off on soon so may be a reasonably cheap way to upgrade, especially if they have any of their promotions where you get extra cashback when purchasing other Samsung items.

 

[stoofa]

The best deals have now expired - they were offering (on top of discounts already in place) an additional £75 off. £75 cashback.....
I've managed to upgrade from my GW4 Classic 46 to a GW6 Classic 47 for around £75 after cashback.
Upgraded the wife's GW4 Classic 42 to a GW6 Classic 43 for around the same.

The Xmas cashback deals end EOP tomorrow.

 

[petridish]

The best deals have now expired - they were offering (on top of discounts already in place) an additional £75 off. £75 cashback.....
I've managed to upgrade from my GW4 Classic 46 to a GW6 Classic 47 for around £75 after cashback.
Upgraded the wife's GW4 Classic 42 to a GW6 Classic 43 for around the same.

The Xmas cashback deals end EOP tomorrow.

Thanks, just had a quick play on the trade in page and strangely they don't include my version under the listed Samsung watches (40mm GW4 4g). Pretty much every other version before and after is there so could be an oversight from them. Doesn't look like I can get it down cheap enough to be worth it anyway so I'll hold out for another year or so.

 

[stoofa]

Thanks, just had a quick play on the trade in page and strangely they don't include my version under the listed Samsung watches (40mm GW4 4g). Pretty much every other version before and after is there so could be an oversight from them. Doesn't look like I can get it down cheap enough to be worth it anyway so I'll hold out for another year or so.

R860 - GW4 40mm?
£95

It's a bit strange, go to the trade-in list. You go through the GW4's, then go through 3 GW3's and then there are two more GW4's listed.

 

[petridish]

R860 - GW4 40mm?
£95

It's a bit strange, go to the trade-in list. You go through the GW4's, then go through 3 GW3's and then there are two more GW4's listed.

Yeah mines the R865, you can see the equivalent GW3s in your screenshot are both there (R850 and R855) then the R860 but no R865. Just looked again at my end and it's only saying £70 as well though I suspect that's because I selected the non classic GW6 in the first place. Either way I think I'll leave it. Appreciate you trying to help though!

 

[Fens]

Yeah mines the R865, you can see the equivalent GW3s in your screenshot are both there (R850 and R855) then the R860 but no R865. Just looked again at my end and it's only saying £70 as well though I suspect that's because I selected the non classic GW6 in the first place. Either way I think I'll leave it. Appreciate you trying to help though!

Worth keeping an eye on HUKD as these cashback deals are often repeated or refreshed. I went from a GW4 to a GW6 (sold the 4 on the bay), the smaller bezel/increased screen size and faster charging alone made it a worth-while upgrade imo.

 

[petridish]

Worth keeping an eye on HUKD as these cashback deals are often repeated or refreshed. I went from a GW4 to a GW6 (sold the 4 on the bay), the smaller bezel/increased screen size and faster charging alone made it a worth-while upgrade imo.

Yeah will do cheers