These days, a smartphone is an indispensable part of daily life. People use them for everything, from scheduling their day-to-day tasks to browsing the web. A very handy accessory to complement a smartphone, is a smartwatch.

So, what can a smartwatch do? A smartwatch is able to link up with a smartphone, and is able to access its key features. A few features available to smartwatches include: being able to answer phone calls from the watch, keeping you posted on reminders you’ve set up, and even accessing your phone’s media library. While paired to a phone, a smartwatch is also capable of pinging the phone to make it easier for users to find their phones. 

A smartwatch should come standard with  a number of applications for health monitoring. These include apps to keep track of your heart rate, quality of sleep, number of steps taken, and calories burned to name a few. 

Together with smartphones, smartwatches have quickly come to be an important piece of our daily lives.

Smartwatch Features to Consider

When buying a smartwatch, there are a number of important details potential buyers need to look out for. First, buyers need to be aware whether their phones are compatible with the smartwatch they’re thinking about buying. For instance, if users own an Iphone, an Apple Watch would have no problem syncing up with their phones. However, if they instead use an Android device, an Apple Watch would be off the table as it would be incompatible with their phones. Brands like Garmin and Fitbit are compatible with both iOS and Android devices, but require a companion app that needs to be installed before use.  

Another important thing to consider would be the aesthetics of the smartwatch. Smartwatches come in all shapes and sizes. From simple “tablet-esque” looks, to designs that resemble more traditional watches, there is a smartwatch design for everyone.

Last but not certainly not the least, potential smartwatch owners should also consider their watch’s battery life. In general, newer smartwatches are more battery efficient with some being able to hold charges between five to seven days. Older smartwatches would definitely be more affordable, but their battery life is far less efficient, topping out at an average of three days on a single charge.

How to Set up a Smartwatch?

Depending on the brand of smartwatch, users may just need to follow the watch’s on-screen instructions, or they may first need to install an app on their phone. Here are some of the more common steps required in setting up a new smartphone: 

1. Turn on both smartphone and smartwatch, and enable bluetooth on your phone. 
2. You will be asked to choose the language that the smartwatch will display from now on.
3. Pair your devices so that the smartphone and smartwatch will be synced. 
4. You will receive confirmation that the pairing is successful, the smartwatch will then usually start updating its firmware. 
5. After the update is complete, you will be prompted to enable notifications on your smartwatch.
6. At this point you will be prompted to sync your accounts be it an Apple account, or Google Account depending on the brand of watch. 
7. Finally, the last step will typically be to set up a security measure for locking your smartwatch. This is usually a code, a pattern, or if available a fingerprint. 

Once you have completed the on-screen prompts, you have successfully set up your smartwatch. You can now download your favorite apps and make full use of your new smartwatch.

Best Smartwatch Brands

When buying a smartwatch, you’ll need to be aware of the most popular brands on the market and their pros and cons. Watching product review videos and reading customer feedback will give you a good and unbiased idea of what to expect.

One of the best brands on the smartwatch market today is Garmin. Garmin watches feature the full gamut of sport and health related tracking. Important features such as GPS tracking and compatibility with both iOS and Android are highlights of the Garmin brand. Moreover, another key selling point of Garmin is that they feature several smartwatch lines that cater to a wide range of price points. 

The Vivosmart line is the budget-friendly series which features a streamlined design but without lacking any important features. There is also the Fenix and Approach series which are for those with a mid-range budget. Unlike the Vivosmart, the Fenix and Approach have a wider selection of designs with a larger screen and have additional features such as pre-loading maps and courses for specific sports.

Finally, Garmin’s crème de la crème of smartwatches is the Descent line — Garmin’s version of a dive computer, which comes with multisport training. Features include air monitoring, a dive log, sonar functionalities, and customizable dive modes. Unlike other dive computers in the market, the Descent line also works just as good above water. Users can enjoy all other features of your typical smartwatch, but better.  

When choosing a smartwatch, you definitely can’t go wrong with Garmin. It is easily one of the best smartwatch brands on the market today.