• The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
  • We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules

Smart watches. Let's talk about em.

MattMan81

MattMan81

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2020
Messages
5,014
Location
The Mitten
What are using? What do you like? What don't you like?
Not just for hunting but what other things are they helpful for?
How durable are they?
Do I need one?
Why don't I need one?
Best values?
I feel I'm kinda out of touch on these. So talk me in or out..
 
I have an Apple Watch series 7. I didn't wear a watch for a few decades before this, now I feel like I need a smart watch. I bought it to keep me on my toes with my fitness goals and it has. I enjoy closing circles as well as being able to see my pace when running etc. I also like it because I can leave my phone at home when I exercise but I can still listen to music/podcasts/be contacted if necessary.

I rely on it basically all day because I use Siri a lot to remind me to do things. If I wasn't so addicted to Siri I would buy a Garmin. Yes I could use my phone for Siri, but like I said I like to leave my phone at home when I run.

For Hunting purposes I like a smart watch because I can get important alerts from people/apps that I authorize while hunting and not have to pull out my phone to look at it, making less movements. I can also look at alerts when my hands have gear in them and otherwise would not be able to pull out my phone. I also use a cool watch face that visually tells me with a graphic when sunrise/sunset is.

Unfortunately you missed some great sales that ended yesterday on both Apple Watches and Garmin watches.

As far as durability - I had one issue with the external speaker on my Apple Watch. I contacted apple and they replaced it immediately. I did not have their extended warranty or anything, it was a few days shy of being a year old when they replaced it.
 
The new iPhones are getting harder and harder to properly mute (you have to mute each application and the button/volume controls are not global).

No way I want another gadget to have to charge up and also learn how to always make quiet.

The tech people keep fixing these things until they are broken.
 
I had an Apple Watch & it felt too technical…. I got a garmin solar instinct for Christmas 3yrs ago & love it. Their integrated app gives you a lot of good feedback & you can nerd out as much as you want or as little. I basically use it as a watch that I can see a text msg or phone call & track activities. It does a lot more than that…… oh btw it looks like a watch
 
I just listed a Garmin Fenix 5X in the classifieds this morning. The only reason is because I got a newer version. That should give you some indication of how I feel about smart watches. I first started with an Apple watch series 2 and wore it for a good many years. The battery life was horrible, it required daily charging. It eventually sort of cracked itself open from the inside (battery swelling) and got really hot on my wrist, it was toast. I then moved to the Garmin 5X and have been infinitely happier with it on function, battery life, and just general usage and thats coming form someone who's entire eco system is based on Apple products.

As for uses, I use it for many things, from tracking my sleep, steps, general fitness. It can be used for navigation and in my case I use a Garmin Xero bow site and it even pairs with that and can combine with the GPS function to tell me where my shot went. The uses are endless.
 
raisins said:
The new iPhones are getting harder and harder to properly mute (you have to mute each application and the button/volume controls are not global).

No way I want another gadget to have to charge up and also learn how to always make quiet.

The tech people keep fixing these things until they are broken.
Click to expand...

if you haven't tried using the "focuses" that are built in, that is what you need. I have different focuses for exercising, hunting, working, driving, whatever. Basically you preset all the apps/people you want to hear from while in that focus. and then change your focus with a quick tap.

My phone is muted 24/7. my watch vibrates and shows me anything I said was important enough. I have a few people/apps that can make my phone/watch make a noise, but none of them make noises while in my hunting focus
 
I have a Garmin Instinct. I track my hikes, exercise etc. and pay attention to the quality of sleep I’m getting but, the main reason I like it is it keeps me from pulling my phone out of my pocket at every notification. A quick glance at my watch and I know wether it’s a message or a call I need to worry about now or one of the other hundreds of vibrations my phone makes each day that I can worry about later.

You can also mark waypoints, has a track back feature and a ton of other useful stuff but the thing that sets this watch apart from others I’ve had is the battery life. Other watches have to be charged daily or at best every couple of days. The instinct can go 2-3 weeks depending on use.
 
I always thought they were stupid and not needed. I got my wife a garmin for her to work out with and eventually got myself one. As mentioned already, it's great for tracking activity and work outs and checking heart rate/pace when running. That's my reason for having it.

My public spot is hard to navigate the last 1/2 mile in the dark since it's all one big featureless hillside, so I use the navigate function so I don't have to wander around some in the morning to find my tree.

I also completely leave my cell phone on silent now and just let my watch alert me.

I find it annoying when you're talking to someone and they look down at their watch everytime an alert happens. I try not to do that myself, but every once in a while I catch myself doing it. I'd say that's the biggest downside.

I guess they are still not needed, but the pluses out weigh the negatives.

Sent from my SM-G973U1 using Tapatalk
 
Semi-smart is the way to go IMO. I have had a Garmin Instinct for I think around 3 years now. It has GPS, altitude/barometer/compass, all but the most advanced athletic training (run/bike/hike workouts with customized timed intervals by heartrate, power, however you want to set them up), and integrates with your phone. You can't see photos but you can get text messages and other notifications if you choose to enable them, control music on your phone (play/pause/skip), etc. You can customize what stuff is shown on the main screen and can customize additional pages to show stuff like heart rate, altitude, weather, sunrise/sunset/moon info, nutrition/calorie burning stuff, and a lot more. Battery lasts about 2 weeks per charge, less if using GPS tracking frequently (i.e. actively collecting datapoints as you hike/bike/run/etc) which is a huge benefit over the apple watch and a lot of other smart watches. There's a solar version of the Instinct that costs more but I assume lasts quite a bit longer and possibly indefinitely if it's getting plenty of sun. My wife has an apple watch that does more in terms of phone integration, but there aren't really any features it has that would justify to me having to charge it every day and giving up the ruggedness of the instinct.
 
MattMan81 said:
What are using? What do you like? What don't you like?
Not just for hunting but what other things are they helpful for?
How durable are they?
Do I need one?
Why don't I need one?
Best values?
I feel I'm kinda out of touch on these. So talk me in or out..
Click to expand...

I've got an Apple Watch SE. The 2nd edition. I wore regular watches off and on beforehand but wear this every single day. I bought it mainly for the fall alert detection for hunting but also for workout/fitness motivation. It's been shockingly helpful for having a timer that's on my wrist all the time. Really helps for stuff with my kids or for cooking. Yes, my phone has it, but I never used it on my phone. On the watch I do almost daily. I don't know why. Besides that I like the sleep tracking and that's helped me at least be aware that I need to get more/better sleep. I definitely like being able to see alerts on the watch while I'm hunting instead of having to get my phone out but that's harder to do in late season with layers on.

Unfortunately, I found out the fall detection feature actually does work. Not due to hunting. I fell approximately 6 feet upside down directly onto my head. The watch immediately was asking me if I needed it to call 911 and alert my set up people that I needed help. Luckily I had help around but if it weren't for that I could have used that feature (I'm mainly ok now, somehow didn't break anything, working through PT, and was insanely lucky/fortunate). It has reinforced my desire to have the watch for that purpose alone.

Do you need one? No. If it wasn't for the fall detection I wouldn't have one but for around $200 it was easy piece of mind for me/my wife for what we thought I'd only need during hunting.

I agree with some others on what they've already stated about hating how people check them all the time. I've noticed people doing it when I'm talking with them and it makes me want to take a hammer to their watch. I don't have a problem ignoring alerts but I think it's easier for me since it bugs me so much when others do it. If you think that'd be you don't get one.
 
I've had a Samsung Watch5 for a month or so now. I'm still getting used to it. I use it mostly as a sleep and fitness tracker so I can't speak much to the nav part of it. I really like it for controlling my podcast when I'm working in the yard; I can pause or rewind without pulling my phone out of my pocket.

I generally dislike having earbuds in while in public; using it for navigation would require me to be able to hear it. I've got a bone conduction headset that I wouldn't feel uncomfortable hunting in if I needed to nav with it on foot. I generally use Google Maps for that, which doesn't exactly shine for hunting, or hiking off-trail. I wouldn't want audible turn-by-turn directions while I'm in the woods anyway.

If I were to do it over again I probably would have gone with a Garmin; my cell provider was running a special on them and I'm $30 out of pocket for it. I might take it off my t-mobile account at some point and just let it pair to my phone, without a data connection. We'll see. They are fragile, and not impervious to dings and scratches. You can put gorilla glass screen protectors and cases and armor and whatnot on them, which is nice, but standard equipment on a Timex Ironman.

You really don't need one. At all. A small handheld GPS will probably always nav better than a wearable. A Timex Ironman will tell time and run alarms and timers and do other standard watch functions for $45.
 
hokiehunter373 said:
I agree with some others on what they've already stated about hating how people check them all the time. I've noticed people doing it when I'm talking with them and it makes me want to take a hammer to their watch. I don't have a problem ignoring alerts but I think it's easier for me since it bugs me so much when others do it. If you think that'd be you don't get one.
Click to expand...

Honestly, these are probably the same people that would pull out their phone and check it in the middle of conversation. The watch is at least a little less obtrusive.
 
Any other brands you guys have tried? A quick search pooped up raptor watch. Fair price. The fall detection sounds nice, but annoying. Is that exclusive to Iphone? I could see the benefit out hunting solo. My parents have one now that I recall that. Good idea since he is usually working out side, and my mom is inside. If one of the. Falls while alone.
 
MattMan81 said:
Any other brands you guys have tried? A quick search pooped up raptor watch. Fair price. The fall detection sounds nice, but annoying. Is that exclusive to Iphone? I could see the benefit out hunting solo. My parents have one now that I recall that. Good idea since he is usually working out side, and my mom is inside. If one of the. Falls while alone.
Click to expand...
I don't know about fall detection. If you want to use it as an EPIRB you'll probably want to get one with its own cell connection; Garmin just links to your phone while Apple and Samsung (and probably Pixel) have their own data connection.
 
I picked up an Apple SE gen 2 accidentally. I was looking at them and saying I probably didn’t need one, asked my buddy who is more knowledgeable about them, and he sold me his for $150 with 5-6 extra bands so he could buy the newest version.

Had it about 2 weeks and really like it once I got settings figured out; I don’t have many alerts on. Like it for working out and health reasons. Can get close to 2 days out of the battery but it’s usually just something I charge for an hour or so a day while I’m at my desk working and not using it anyway.

Got an email looking for input from OnX yesterday, sounds like they have some sort of functionality coming for it so that will be nice. I’m not inept in the woods but getting me closer to a pin in the dark without pulling out my phone wouldn’t hurt my feelings.
 
If you're thinking about it for fitness and sleep tracking fitbit is pretty good, I think. I like that, I don't sleep enough. Tracks things like workouts without your phone and no data plan, mine was $150 I think. I'm not sure how useful tracking would be for hunting, but it will give you a reference. I bang mine on metal it seems like constantly and the screen is still perfect. Pretty sure you can see text / phone calls but I don't use that so I'm not sure about it. I also kinda wanted a simple version, especially for hunting so it's not another toy
 
I have a Garmin Vivoactive 3.

One of the biggest benefits of having the smart watch is that it can help you find your phone in case you dropped it and you had the phone on vibrate. As long as your still within Bluetooth range of the phone.

Have my watch setup to display altitude, sunset time, steps/miles and heart rate.
 
SNIPERBBB said:
I have a Garmin Vivoactive 3.

One of the biggest benefits of having the smart watch is that it can help you find your phone in case you dropped it and you had the phone on vibrate. As long as your still within Bluetooth range of the phone.

Have my watch setup to display altitude, sunset time, steps/miles and heart rate.
Click to expand...

I use my Apple Watch at least once a day to see where I left my phone laying.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top