What Exactly Does A Smartwatch Do More Than Your Smartphone?

Although digital watches have been present for many years, and some of them hold functions like calculators and unit converters, it wasn’t until the 2010s that technology firms started manufacturing watches with capabilities that were comparable to those of smartphones.

On the consumer market, Apple, Samsung, Sony, and other large manufacturers all provide smartwatches, but the credit for popularizing the modern-day smartwatch should go to a rather obscure upstart company.

Pebble broke the crowdfunding record on Kickstarter with the launch of its first smartwatch in 2013, and it went on to sell more than one million watches in total.

Although the Pebble smartwatch was no longer manufactured after the company that made it went out of business in 2016, it is still supported by a sizable community of users and enthusiasts who continue to use and develop it.

At the same time, developments in the shrinking of silicon paved the way for the creation of additional types of smartwatches with specialized functions.

Smartwatches like the Fenix are supported by companies like Garmin, for example. These smartwatches are designed to be more robust and are customized with sensors and trackers to assist backcountry trips.

Similarly, businesses like Suunto have come up with smartwatches that are tailored specifically for scuba diving and can survive for lengthy periods at substantial depths.

What are smartwatches good for?

The majority of modern smartwatches provide users with a set of basic functionalities, regardless of whether the watch is designed for general usage (like the Apple Watch) or specialized use (like the Garmin Fenix). These features include the following:

Notifications are alerts that are shown on your smartphone screen to inform you of significant upcoming events or activities.

Notifications may come in a variety of formats; some smartwatches merely display a reflection of the alerts that appear on the user’s smartphone, while others show notifications that can only be provided by a wearable device.

For instance, more recent iterations of the Apple Watch are equipped with a sensor to detect falls. If you are wearing the watch at the time of your fall, it will detect the following movement.

If it does not identify any movement, it will escalate the number of alerts that it sends out. If you do not reply to the notice, the watch will presume that you are wounded and will contact the appropriate authorities on your behalf.

Applications: A wristwatch can do more than just show alerts from your phone, but its usefulness is limited to the apps that it supports.

There are many different app ecosystems, and each one is bound to either Apple’s or Google’s environment. The applications that a smartwatch has to support to fulfil its primary function, such as those needed for hiking or diving, are often the only ones that it can support; the user is not given the option to download any more types of apps.

The majority of smartwatches designed to work in conjunction with smartphones can take control of media playing on your behalf.

For instance, if you are wearing Apple’s AirPods and listening to music on your iPhone, you can use your Apple Watch to adjust the volume and choose between songs.

Remember the old Dick Tracy comics where the hero detective used a watch as a phone? That’s how you should respond to messages; by using your voice.

Voice dictation is supported on contemporary smartwatches that are either powered by the watchOS or the Wear operating system.

If you are a serious athlete, it is recommended that you get a specialised fitness band rather than a wristwatch for monitoring your fitness.

However, the majority of modern smartwatches come equipped with a heart rate monitor and pedometer to help you keep track of your exercises.

The vast majority of modern smartwatches are equipped with a global positioning system (GPS) that can monitor your position or send you notifications based on your current location.

Long battery life: the batteries in today’s smartwatches are designed to last through a whole day of average usage while still retaining a little amount of power for the next day.

The amount of time that can be used normally on a single charge varies; the Apple Watch can get up to 18 hours of usage, while the Pebble can get up to two or three days.

Various Categories of Smartwatches

In a broader sense, smartwatches may be placed into one of two categories within the wearables sector. To begin, a wristwatch with a variety of applications, such as the Apple Watch and the majority of devices powered by Google Wear, combine aesthetics and performance.

They are intended to take the role of mechanical wristwatches and are highly reliant on the user’s smartphone. Think of them as a support system for your phone, which you just so happen to be carrying about on your wrist.

The display shows a hand holding an Apple Watch and an app icon.

In the consumer market, you may also find vendor-specific categories of smartwatches that are designed for specific purposes:

Apple Watch is a wearable timepiece that was developed and marketed by Apple.

Pixel Watch is a smartwatch designed and marketed by Google that is compatible with smartphones running Android but is not yet compatible with products manufactured by Apple.

Wear watches are wristwatches that use Google’s Wear operating system and are designed and offered by a variety of manufacturers.

Tizen watches use Samsung’s proprietary operating system, Tizen, which was developed specifically for use in the company’s Galaxy series of smartwatches.

The other submarket consists of specialized hardware that is designed for a limited number of applications. These gadgets often provide a more complete version of a fitness tracker, in the sense that they bleed between a phone-dependent wristwatch and a stand-alone fitness tracker such as a Fitbit.

For example, the former monitors your steps while the latter monitors your heart rate.

These specialized gadgets include, but are not limited to:

Watches are designed specifically for outdoor activities, such as hiking, and offer features such as extended battery life, GPS tracking and navigation, basic vitals, and weather forecasts.

Frequently developed with high durability in mind, it protects against knocks, drops, dust, and moisture. Several models, such as the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus, the Suunto 9 Baro, and the Apple Watch Ultra from 2022 are examples.

Watches for diving: To use a diving watch, connect the first-stage regulator of your breathing apparatus to a Bluetooth transmitter.

Both the Garmin Descent Mk2i and the Suunto DX are capable of displaying depth, remaining time, temperature, and other essential indications.

In addition, the Apple Watch Ultra is capable of diving to depths of up to 40 metres (130 feet), can compute dive times with the help of an app called Oceanic+ Dive Computer, and show a variety of various statistics (40 meters).

There is a limited market for flying watches, but Garmin’s MARQ Aviator Gen. 2 has a barometric altimeter, flight recording, NEXRAD weather reports (using METARs, TAFs, and MOS2), and a jet lag adviser in addition to other features.

Expanding the Smartwatch Market

In terms of adoption rates throughout the world’s various markets, smartwatches began to settle into a sharp growth curve in the late 2010s.

According to research conducted by Statista, the number of units sold throughout the globe increased from five million in 2014 to an anticipated 173 million in 2022.

From the same time in 2017 to the same period in 2021, Apple’s market share increased from 13 to 30 per cent. This is a significant increase. With a market share of 10%, Samsung now holds the position of being in second place.

During the same period, fitness-tracker-only vendors such as Fitbit saw their market share drop by roughly 22 per cent, although speciality suppliers like Garmin had a year-over-year growth gain of 4.1 per cent.

According to Statista’s projections, more than 253 million smartwatches will be shipped all over the globe by the year 2025.

What exactly are hybrid smartwatches, though?

Watches that have the classic appearance and feel of a watch, but also come equipped with the capabilities of a smartwatch, are referred to as hybrid smartwatches.

What distinguishes a smartwatch from a Fitbit is its ability to display information.

Fitness trackers, such as Fitbits, do contain functionality that is comparable to that of smartwatches; however, their primary emphasis is on fitness-related functions, and they do not often come with the sophisticated capabilities that are included in smartwatches.