Gear Fit - better evolution of the smart watch

[dawheat]

As a Gear user, I picked up a Gear Fit on Friday since it was pretty cheap and hey gadgets. After a day of use, I have to say I like the Gear Fit quite a bit more than the original Gear.

Positives
- much lighter and more comfortable on my wrist. I'd take off my Gear whenever doing any serious amount of work on my computer since I didn't like the weight and it bumping into my keyboard. The Gear Fit by contrast is hardly noticeable and I've found myself keeping it on pretty much outside of showering or sleeping.
- less "gaudy" - the big metal face on the Gear was pretty in your face. I much prefer the lower aspect of the Fit, though I wish the chrome bezel was real metal.
- Time in portrait mode is fine, along with notifications. I've never checked email on my Gear as nothing is important enough for me to be 'notified'. So the tight display isn't an issue for me.
- Feels snappier and more responsive than the Gear - both in activating and scrolling through screens.
- Being able to clear 'all' notifications across all apps is a nice step the Gear didn't have (could only clear all notifications from 1 app at a time).
- Getting 3 'apps' to a screen is much more efficient than the Gear in finding the right app to launch
- Both had a pedometer, but for some reason (maybe b/c of the above) I find myself checking that I've hit 10,000 a day.
- Battery life seems considerably better than the Gear

Negatives
- Gear Fit Manager on my phone is using more battery than the original Gear Manager. Hopefully this gets toned down in future updates, but it isn't really materially impacting my phone's battery life (Note 3).
- no speakerphone - I didn't use it a lot on my Gear, but it came in handy when your hands were full or your phone was zipped up in your winter coat and you're wearing gloves.
- limited customization - not that you could do much on the Gear, but I'm guessing with this runtime OS, there isn't going to be much here if at all.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Gear Fit design + Google's Android Wear = the first must-have wearable

 

[Red Storm]

I think the Gear Fit is really ugly, more so than the original Gear even. But that's my opinion.

I'll take the Moto 360 (the only one that actually looks nice IMHO) or even LG's square watch over the Fit or Gear.

 

[s44]

Oh, so the rotated text update pushed to release models too...

 

[dawheat]

I think the Gear Fit is really ugly, more so than the original Gear even. But that's my opinion.

I'll take the Moto 360 (the only one that actually looks nice IMHO) or even LG's square watch over the Fit or Gear.

Fair enough, everyone has their own view. Personally I find it sleek and modern, though not 'beautiful' sure.

However - what I realized in owning the Gear (and not liking normal watches) is I don't want to wear a watch. I find them heavy and when spending 8-10 hours a day on a keyboard, it's annoying. I stopped wearing physical watches in the first couple years of my working career.

So while I don't want a watch - I am enjoying it as a smart phone accessory that primarily relays notifications, let's me control whatever media app is running, tells me the time and weather, etc. And I want it in as small, as comfortable, and as unobtrusive a form factor as possible.

I'll still be buying the Motorola watch just to play with it, but I have a feeling that while attractive, I'm not going to like the form factor again. So I'm the contrarian - I don't want a 'watch'.

But the Fit still needs to evolve - integrated Google Now is a no brainer. Being able to use it to also respond to messages in any app via Google Now would be great. Bringing back the ability to answer calls (it's more useful than you'd think) would be good. Slimmer, lighter, better battery life - if it gets to the point you could conceivably wear it close to 24/7 without realizing it, that'd be amazing.

 

[danp142]

It's a great idea but still too expensive for mainstream use.