A smartwatch was previously synonymous with a rectangular mini-computer for your wrist, with a bad of design and features that could be used just as well – or better – on your smartphone. But there is now a small revolution going on. And the dumb watches, which have become somewhat smarter. In this article, we explain what you can do with a hybrid smartwatch and what exactly it is.
Dumb watches
Ordinary watches, whether they have analog or digital dials, can not be called smart. Watch manufacturers have added some features over time. Not only the time and date but also GPS, so your watch will adjust itself when traveling through a few time zones. Timex was early with a watch in which you could put a list of addresses from a dark PC screen. And there are also sports watches on the market with touch buttons but with the only extra feature an extensive stopwatch.
Hybrid smartwatch as third category
A world of difference, thus, between the watches with screens and smart features and watches with pointers or square digital figures on a gray background. However, a third category has now emerged, which is the middle of the smartwatch and the dumb watch: the hybrid smartwatch.
What is that? Simply put, an ordinary watch with pointers, but with some smart features and a Bluetooth connection with a smartphone. iSmartliving.net has tested a few of these hybrids and we can tell you if this is something you should be looking for.
So, is it any good? As always, there is only one answer to that question: it depends on your needs. Want to talk to your watch, dictate Whatsapp, check your heart rate and view photos on your smartphone: then no. A hybrid smartwatch is not your thing. Then you should look primarily at an Apple Watch, an Android Wear watch or a Samsung Tizen smartwatch.
Fitness tracking
If you’re looking for a watch with a normal but chic look, and if you really want a fitness tracker, then a hybrid smartwatch is something for you. Because that’s what a hybrid smartwatch actually is: a fitness trainer disguised like a luxury watch with pointers. And sometimes some clever features, but they are not as important as creating a photo with your smartphone camera by pressing a watch button.
Notifications
Also, there are always some notifications to a hybrid smartwatch, but we have found that this feature is actually quite unnecessary. If your phone is shaking in your pocket or giving a thrill from your bag, you will just look at your phone and not on a smartwatch pointer that only indicates that a message has been received. We, therefore, find that notification transfer for a hybrid smartwatch is an unnecessary feature.
Classic dial
With a hybrid, all kinds of technology is hidden under the classic dial. A pedometer and a sleep monitor, which determines how deep you are sleeping on the basis of movements. The pedometer calculates distances and calories consumed. This is not always true; Sometimes the pedometer is off by a few hundred yards. And the sleep monitor does not realize that after a visit to the bathroom at night, that you go back to sleep, so it thinks you only slept for two hours.
Always on time
Convenient to a hybrid smartwatch is that it always is accurate and adjusts itself from summer to winter time and vice versa. It simply takes the time from the connected smartphone and, in turn, recovers the time of the telecom provider’s network (which recovers it from an atomic clock on the internet).
A lot of choice in hybrid smartwatches
In the meanwhile, the watch industry, who for some time was suspicious of the smartwatches of electronics manufacturers, pushed the hybrid smartwatch as an alternative. The most beautiful example is Fossil, which has presented tens of hybrids with all its sub-brands like Skagen, Michael Kors, Diesel and of course Fossil. They all do the same, but the appearance is very different, and the watch manufacturer does not have to make the design subordinate to the function. Something with a screen smartwatch often happens.
Guess, Hugo Boss, DKNY
The more expensive watch brands also decided to join and came with some smart watches like Guess and Hugo Boss. DKNY also came with a hybrid during the Baselworld 2017 in Switzerland. Like Mont Blanc and Alpina.
Extra dial
The hybrid watches are usually characterized by a second, smaller dial, in which a pointer turns for the fitness features. For example, in the app on your smartphone, you can set a goal: for example, six thousand steps a day. The pointer keeps a good eye on how much you have achieved that goal. One look at your hybrid smartwatch is as informative as you get your smartphone, open the app, scroll to the correct tab and see how many steps you’ve taken that day.
Battery
Finally, a comment about the battery. In a hybrid smartwatch, it’s usually a regular, non-rechargeable button cell, which you have to replace in every few months. Well, more often than the battery of an ordinary watch, but much less often than a true smartwatch, which has to be charged on the charger every day.
To get back to the main question: Do you need to start with a hybrid smartwatch? We don’t see any obstacles. Where regular watches with a timeless design sometimes go from generation to generation within a family, a real touchscreen smartwatch is dated as fast as a PC or a smartphone. The opportunities continue to expand, making it difficult to choose a moment to purchase one.
Never dated
With hybrid smart watches, you will solve that problem because they look beautiful and do not get dated soon. The app may be, but most watch manufacturers regularly publish updates.