Ask Lemmy

everything that runs well with gadget bridge

I have the Garmin instinct 1, and will be getting the 3 sometime soon.

I love it, because it gives me all of the features I want in a smart watch without all the bells and whistles that I'll never use. The battery still lasts for nearly 2 weeks, and this is 6 years after purchase. It's great if you do any nature activities, and even comes in a version that has a solar panel in the face to extend the battery.

The one thing I did wish it did is broadcast BLE packets so I could use it in my smart home setup to track my movements around the house and turn lights on and off and such

Apple Watch 11

I mostly use it for convenience, so I don’t need to pull my phone out

• Apple Pay
• Weather
• Music controls
• timers. Lots of timers
• Reminders/notifications/texts
• random search questions
• occasionally phone calls

In theory I track

• exercise
• sleep

Feature I’m most interested in

• any health sensor

I upgraded from an Apple Watch 3 because I could no longer update in place, only reset and reinstall.

I’ll upgrade again when a compelling health sensor is added. Probably blood pressure

Samsung Galaxy 6 Classic in 47mm. I've had Wear OS watches since the early days, but this is the first one that didn't involve any obvious compromises. Readability, responsiveness, performance, and battery life are all excellent.

For a long time, my favorite thing about it was that I could design and use my own personal taste in watchfaces. Unfortunately, Google broke that, when they switched watchface formats. The new one simply can't do what the old one made possible.

Making Android and Wear less useful and more annoying seems to be the only thing Google does these days. And Microsoft is doing exactly the same things with Windows. I've begun the move to Linux, but I don't see an equivalent option for smart watches, which is sad.

These days I use my smart watch primarily as a way of not missing notifications on my phone. It is convenient, but the fun has gone out of it.

I have two very nice non-smart watches that I would like to wear, but I do need alarms and timers. The sound on both watches is far too quiet for me to hear, even when there is very little ambient noise. That may be partly my aging hearing, but younger people assure me that they really are too quiet to be reliable.

My next move is likely to be switching to one of my non-smart watches and using my phone for alarms and timers. So basically, giving up and going back to what I was doing fifteen years ago. Thanks for all the forward progress, Google.

Garmin fenix pro 6, I track my runs, bike outings and heartrate during weight training. It also lets me listen to music without carrying my phone.

Samsung galaxy watch ultra.

I've been using Samsungs since they started making them. The main thing (after the time) is in fact the notifications, since it's much less disruptive to me or my conversation if I just check a watch rather than pull out my phone.

Other than that, I hike most weekends during warmer months and I track that on the watch. I don't really use the data too much after the fact, but I like knowing how long it really was, my heart rate, etc.

I work from home now, but when i was in an office setting it was fine to listen to music, and I used the watch to control the player, again without taking out a phone while I'm supposed to be working.

I use a watch face that gives me some quick stuff like the temperature, chance of rain, my last measured heartrate, steps, and my calories (when I was tracking that).

Basically I use it to avoid pulling out my phone for every little damn thing, and for the health tracking stuff.

This is less often, but if i go to a Waterpark or something like six flags in the summer, if you have a data plan on the watch, it's really handy to have that and leave the phone in a locker or the car. That way you can still message your group, and if you have it set up, pay for food and drinks or merch while you're there. They're water resistant well beyond what will happen there so you don't need to get a special case or worry about losing it on a ride.

I have a Garmin Vivoactive 6, and I use it for the following:

• sleep quality tracking. It judges me in the morning.
• steps and calories burned so that I can justify eating or drinking something shitty.
• whether or not to pull out my phone and respond to a text message
• how far from the green I am

That’s… about it. Would love other ideas.

I use the PineTime, a fully open-source smartwatch, but it's not very smart. It shows me the time and my notificafions, which is all I need. (It also does more things I dont use). It only costs like 35 euro as well.

Multiple Refurbished Apple Watch SE

80% setting timers.

15% exercise tracking.

5% finding phone, checking weather and compass.

I’ve tried to go without it - but the ease of setting common timers pulled me back.

Garmin 6S Solar Pro

I use it to:

• Tracking my steps and walks
• Tracking biking & hiking
• Monitoring my sleep

In the past I also used it to pay in grocery stores

Pebble Time 2.

I use it primarily for notifications and secondarily for step / sleep tracking. I also currently use it for media control, home assistant, and various other generic watch things (timer, clock,stopwatch, etc)

Still getting used to it. Perviously had (in order) a CMF Watch, PineTime, Garmin Venu, PineTime, and some nameless Amazon watch (ticwatch maybe?)

As far as advice, personally I load a ton of stuff on every watch I've had thus far, and then remove stuff slowly as I realize that I don't need it. I usually get rid of around half of the stuff I initially added. Honestly, just try new stuff, go through whatever app store your watch uses and find new cool stuff. There's cool stuff hidden all over the place.

Watch6 Classic.

Use it as a watch/for maps/step tracker.

Its pretty nifty. Although I had to disconnect work apps as the notifications were stressing me out

Galaxy Watch 5

Daily.

I use the timer, alarm, weather, hiking (fitness), and...

One more thing.. what is it(snaps fingers in thought)?.. OH! Tell time.

I have a Garmin Forerunner. I have had it for 3 years, but I only really unlocked it's usefulness when I got a power meter and a heart rate strap. It's amazingly useful for training and it is almost always right about my energy levels and other metrics. I am getting older and it's important to not over-train and fatigue myself which I would totally do w/o my garmin and I still occasionally do even when it's telling me to take it easy or rest.

I also use the maps a ton when in the woods, as well as the weather.

I have used the coaching feature but it's not really for me, I'd rather do my own training plan.

You really have to invest in the features and learn about them. My first year of use I really didn't know what the hell I was doing with it or what anything meant on it and a lot of metrics and programs were not useful to me since w/o the data senors it was very broad estimates of my energy outputs. My max HR was set wrong for 1.5 years before I figured it out.

Pebble Time 2.

Mostly sleep and step counting. Media controls on occasion. Just got it so not had a chance to customize it much yet.

Coming from, in order: Garmin Vivoactive 5, 4, 3, 2, Pebble Time, Pebble OG.

Preferred the healthstats on the Garmin out of the box. Great indicator if I'm getting sick based on its measurements or if I'm not being as active as I should be.

Samsung watch 6.

Got it to monitor my heart which does not work on me for medical reasons though. It's one of the cheapest but is still full featured (imo) but only with Samsung mobiles.

Really nice for managing notifications and using for media controls. A little fitness tracking.

Home assistant usage was great like until a year ago and now it simply doesn't really work anymore.

I've had a few. I mostly use it to tell time, overview the weather and get notified about calls. I have a toddler that sleeps with me. I am also on-call for work half the time, so if I get called in the middle of the night it wakes me up so that I can sneak off to work a bit without waking the kid.

My pebble time had a great Google maps app for navigating. It was great. Nothing screams tourist like walking around with your phone to navigate.

I had a pixel watch 2, and my main activity with it was charging. Then I got a OnePlus watch R2, and that thing is way better. I mainly use it to track my activities, sleep, etc. But another benefit I wouldn't want to miss is to quickly check what has been ringing up my phone without taking my phone out. Oh, and having a quick look at the temperature/rain forecast before I go out has saved me thousands of times.

Garmin Instinct Solar: I use it for regular watch stuff, finding my phone when I misplace it, controlling music, and checking notifications.

It can do more, but that's mostly what I use it for. Also, the battery life is great compared to other smart watches, including the efficient ones like the OG Pebble. I charge maybe once a month.

Apple Watch.

Primarily fitness and sleep tracking.

Garmins are a bit better for fitness tracking, but the Apple Watch is one of the best for sleep tracking.

I don’t really use any apps on it besides that, but ringing, and the fine location tracking for my phone is amazing.

Cheap Chinese Amazfit Neo. Basically a fitness tracker with a Casio-like look.

The one advice is, use gadgetbridge (https://gadgetbridge.org/). Replaces the shitty bloated spyware vendor app with something that does not sell your sleep pattern to the highest bidder. Downside, of course, is that you lose features and not every watch is compatible (or in different states of compatibility)

Have a Pixel watch. I use it mainly for, to no ones surprise, check the time. Other than that, sleep tracking, setting timers, silent alarm and exercise/calorie tracking.

I've got a refurbished Samsung Galaxy Watch 3. I picked it up for $30 a few years ago, and I love it.

Mostly just use it to tell time and track fitness. It can do speech-to-text, so I'll occasionally use it to respond to a text message while my hands are full.

I have a Garmin Fenix 5 Plus. I track my activities whether it's a long walk, a hike, or paddle. It helps when hiking because if I get a bit lost, I can look at the map to see the trails I've walked, or how fast I've paddled/hiked/etc. It also has an emergency function so if my heart rate suddenly spikes or if I quickly drop in height (like a cliff, though it has been triggered once when I climbed down a water fall), it'll send an emergency message to my emergency contacts with coordinates.

I have it set to remind me to move every hour if I haven't moved from my desk. This in addition to step counts.

Sleep tracking, though Garmin is/was notorious for poor sleep tracking, so I don't really count on it too much.

Date and time. I also have a little clock on the bottom to tell me what time it is back home so I know when to not call.

I like seeing my fitness go up on the dial. Not so much the other way around.

I also use it for my morning wake up alarm. It vibrates on my wrist instead of an audible alarm to wake up the +1. He doesn't have a smart watch, so I wake up every morning at stupid o'clock.

Badges. I love collecting the badges.

I use both a Garmin Instinct 3 (AMOLED) and a Garmin Instinct 2. When I bought them I added ~ 25 Workouts I do normally. After that I paired it up with GadgetBridge. I use it to track my gym activities and sleep patterns. I hardly ever use the GPS feature, but sometimes I use it when I'm hiking.

 Ultra 3. The second one I’ve purchased on FB Marketplace (wife inherited the Ultra 2 I previously wore). I would never pay retail for one of these, but the battery life is a step up from the regular models. Mainly use it to track exercise, as a flashlight that won’t blind me in the night. When I was last England, my older series 9 was awesome for tap to pay getting around on public transit. Most notifications are turned off, but the calls and messages are useful since I usually miss them on my phone.

Also, good for telling time and date a/o having to pull out my phone.

I dont know if a MiBand9 really count as a smartwatch but i use it to trigger home assistant events either manually or automatically

On my old MiBand5 I could have an automatic alarm after falling asleep during the day, so I wouldn't have too long naps, I miss this feature

I also use it to get the current time.

I still have my Instinct 1. I’m terrible for accidentally destroying watches by mistake in my daily life, so much so that I had given up on watches all together for many years.

I’ve had this thing for like 5 years now and other than replacing the strap every now and then, it’s pretty much been bulletproof.

Edit: terrible for, not terrible at. I am an expert at destroying them.