I’m thinking about making a return from Garmin in the near future with Samsung announcing the Galaxy Watch 6 making a return with the ever-so-popular rotating bezel, and Google is now focused on their own Pixel Watch. For people who are currently using a WearOS device, what are your thoughts on the current state of the platform as a smartwatch and fitness tracker as of mid 2023?
I’ve been pretty happy with my Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. Have access to apps I value like Bring, Home Assistant, Todoist, Google Maps, Yatse. Google Assistant actually is pretty responsive and useful. Music controls are effective, as is responding to texts, dismissing notifications. I get about 2.5 days battery life allowing me to do sleep tracking. So I’d recommend it!
Man, you’re reminding me why I didn’t get a WearOS device. 2.5 days is really short for a watch. How’d you use Google Maps on such a tiny screen?
I do miss the Tizen battery life, more like 4 days, but >2 is my minimum. The Maps app is pretty great for showing the next turn when walking, and you can pull up a map view if there’s confusion about the exact direction. It works pretty well and the large display is very readable.
Ah ok, I’m used to having to hold my phone in my hand when using Maps in an unfamiliar place, but maybe I just haven’t tried using a watch with that feature. I’m not sure I want to go to 2+ day battery life though.
I’m very simple with my watch, it just needs to tell the time, and buzz me on notifications. WearOS sounds like overkill for me. xD