Smartwatch Thread (news/apps/updates)

Orcvader · 11 Apr 2017 at 22:23

ZTE announced the Quartz which is $200: https://www.engadget.com/2017/04/10/zte-quartz/

Out on the 14th April but I have no idea if that's US only. Not really much info either so kinda hard to compare with the Huawei W1, but it is missing out on things like a HR monitor and NFC. On the other hand it does have a 500mAh battery which is "big" compared to other Wear watches.

insane200 · 17 Apr 2017 at 20:54

SO those of you with the G wath R or Urbane and 2.0 hows it been since the update, thinking of picking one up as my 360 is practically useless.

Atari · 17 Apr 2017 at 20:58

My Urbane updated a few days ago, really liking the new 2.0 update, feels like a new watch again. I keep accidentally changing the watch face though which is annoying!

insane200 · 18 Apr 2017 at 11:49

Atari said:
My Urbane updated a few days ago, really liking the new 2.0 update, feels like a new watch again. I keep accidentally changing the watch face though which is annoying!

Cheers.

How is the battery as I've read for some people it's been really bad.

Atari · 18 Apr 2017 at 12:53

insane200 said:
Cheers.

How is the battery as I've read for some people it's been really bad.

Today's been the real test and I'm afraid it's not good - whereas before I'd get an easy two days out of the battery, it looks like I'm gonna struggle to get one after the update. I took it off it's dock at 7pm yesterday, its now 12.51 and I'm at 36%. If it doesn't last 24 hours, I'll be getting rid of it as it'll be near enough useless.

I do have always on display enabled, but when I went to bed last night, I turned the display off.

Edit: Just flicking through the settings on the watch, I've noticed that BT and WiFi are both on (but not connected) I wonder what effect it's having on the battery as before the update, the WiFi would be switched off.

mrgubby · 18 Apr 2017 at 12:55

My LG G seems to using more battery since the update so I've done a full reset today, hopefully that'll help

insane200 · 18 Apr 2017 at 14:48

mrgubby said:
My LG G seems to using more battery since the update so I've done a full reset today, hopefully that'll help

Atari said:
Today's been the real test and I'm afraid it's not good - whereas before I'd get an easy two days out of the battery, it looks like I'm gonna struggle to get one after the update. I took it off it's dock at 7pm yesterday, its now 12.51 and I'm at 36%. If it doesn't last 24 hours, I'll be getting rid of it as it'll be near enough useless.

I do have always on display enabled, but when I went to bed last night, I turned the display off.

Edit: Just flicking through the settings on the watch, I've noticed that BT and WiFi are both on (but not connected) I wonder what effect it's having on the battery as before the update, the WiFi would be switched off.

Cheers to you both, looks like an update is need to fix the issues, might be worth holding off, or keeping on on 1.5 can they be rolled back if you do update ?

Orcvader · 18 Apr 2017 at 14:58

As for the G Watch R batttery life seems to have dropped, before on 1.5 when I got home battery was usually around 75%, now on 2.0 it's around 60%. Ok Google detection on the watchface most of the time doesn't react, but when Assistant does eventually load it works fine. Checking around this is more common when waking up from sleep, possibly the watch still needing to move to a higher performance profile.

insane200 · 18 Apr 2017 at 15:54

Orcvader said:
As for the G Watch R batttery life seems to have dropped, before on 1.5 when I got home battery was usually around 75%, now on 2.0 it's around 60%. Ok Google detection on the watchface most of the time doesn't react, but when Assistant does eventually load it works fine. Checking around this is more common when waking up from sleep, possibly the watch still needing to move to a higher performance profile.

Reading around XDA it seems a common issue, some have said to make sure permissions for OK google are ticked as most have found it's not, the watch can be rolled back to 1.5 if needed https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=71823043&postcount=3 which is good, will keep looking to see if i can find a bargain.

Orcvader · 18 Apr 2017 at 18:17

I made sure all the permissions are enabled as well as OK google detection on the watchface, which initially didn't work so I tried a factory reset. Now it does work but not all the time. Another fix seems to be flashing a custom kernel that enables all 4 cores which gives a big boost in performance and not much hit in battery life.

insane200 · 6 May 2017 at 19:15

So i ended up getting a G watch R from Ebay and it looks like it's new, not a single scratch on it, Updated to 2.0 last night, and it's been off charge since 7:30 and is still on 67% with always on screen mode on, pretty impressive i feel, my M360 would be around 30% now with screen off all day.

Ok google is a pain as others have said, doesnt react 90% of the time, and when it does the screen dim's and cancels it out.

PiKe · 6 May 2017 at 23:09

What's the cheapest smart watch with NFC for Android pay?

sgavan · 9 May 2017 at 20:28

Android wear 2 is rolling out to the Huawei Watch now, just installed on mine.

azibux1 · 9 May 2017 at 20:38

sgavan said:
Android wear 2 is rolling out to the Huawei Watch now, just installed on mine.

Huawei W1? I'm interested in this watch and this was my only real concern in buying 'old' tech that it wouldn't get updates.

Don't like the new Watch 2's by Huawei... don't look as sleek.

If it is the W1 you have... would you recommend it?? Only main downside I see are 'average' battery life and lack of auto-screen brightness?

KraniX · 9 May 2017 at 23:06

PiKe said:
What's the cheapest smart watch with NFC for Android pay?

From what I understand Android Pay is only supported on Android Wear 2.0 (and obviously devices with NFC).

So the list seems to be:

LG Watch Sport - Not available in the UK yet
TAG Connected - £1,450
Huawei Watch 2 - £329 (Bluetooth version)

Gman · 9 May 2017 at 23:09

sgavan said:
Android wear 2 is rolling out to the Huawei Watch now, just installed on mine.

Had to do the force update truck in mine.

One thing I'm not liking Is no "open on phone" option when you get say YouTube notifications. Also I think It's a big waste to have both swipe left and right change the watch face.

sgavan · 10 May 2017 at 06:01

azibux1 said:
Huawei W1? I'm interested in this watch and this was my only real concern in buying 'old' tech that it wouldn't get updates.

Don't like the new Watch 2's by Huawei... don't look as sleek.

If it is the W1 you have... would you recommend it?? Only main downside I see are 'average' battery life and lack of auto-screen brightness?

Yes it's the W1 I have had it since November and really like it, looks great and the battery life seems fine, I charge it fully in the morning and still have around 30% left around 7PM and can charge fully withing an hour, never really timed it. Not sure about wear 2 as only just got it but 1.5 was great and the auto brightness can be an issue but wouldn't put me off buying one. Plus you can also make a phone call on it which is pretty cool. I got mine from the rainforest site for £170 and seen it that price a few times.

azibux1 · 10 May 2017 at 10:57

sgavan said:
Yes it's the W1 I have had it since November and really like it, looks great and the battery life seems fine, I charge it fully in the morning and still have around 30% left around 7PM and can charge fully withing an hour, never really timed it. Not sure about wear 2 as only just got it but 1.5 was great and the auto brightness can be an issue but wouldn't put me off buying one. Plus you can also make a phone call on it which is pretty cool. I got mine from the rainforest site for £170 and seen it that price a few times.

Awesome! Good to have a fairly recent review of it.

That battery level is fine.. As long as it lasts a day I'm not fussed. Which brightness level do you have it set to, out of interest?

I'm going on holiday to dubai soon so hopefully pick one up there a bit cheap... I can't see any issue buying it from abroad other than maybe requiring an adapter for the plug?

You say you can make phonecalls... I thought it didn't have a speaker?

jrodga2k5 · 10 May 2017 at 11:24

azibux1 said:
Awesome! Good to have a fairly recent review of it.

That battery level is fine.. As long as it lasts a day I'm not fussed. Which brightness level do you have it set to, out of interest?

I'm going on holiday to dubai soon so hopefully pick one up there a bit cheap... I can't see any issue buying it from abroad other than maybe requiring an adapter for the plug?

You say you can make phonecalls... I thought it didn't have a speaker?

It definitely has a speaker

It's not the best but certainly capable of dealing with a call in a quiet room.

sgavan · 10 May 2017 at 11:51

azibux1 said:
Awesome! Good to have a fairly recent review of it.

That battery level is fine.. As long as it lasts a day I'm not fussed. Which brightness level do you have it set to, out of interest?

I'm going on holiday to dubai soon so hopefully pick one up there a bit cheap... I can't see any issue buying it from abroad other than maybe requiring an adapter for the plug?

You say you can make phonecalls... I thought it didn't have a speaker?

I have my brightness set to 3 or 4 indoors and if it's bright to 5, it can sometimes be a bit difficult in direct sunlight but not much can be done about this.
Calling on the watch is decent enough, mainly use the phone but still a good feature, except when I hadn't enabled it and just started shouting at my watch