$300 smartwatch

[NBCB]

Buying one for my 25yo daughter

Her phone is an Samsung A52s

Shes quite fit, likes to exercise but seldom goes out

 

Non-negotiable requirements

• Is a watch, not a fitness band
• Can be used/paired with her phone without substantial loss of functionality
• Under $300. Budget will not be increased. Not buying her a new phone
• Will last at least one whole week of regular use in between charges
• Heart rate, blood oxygen, sleep monitoring
• No subscription required to access features (Fitbit I'm looking at you) unless its one of those things that I dont care for

Great to have

• ECG
• Wifi
• Altimeter
• Work out profiles, activity detection
• Stress tracking
• Calorie burn tracking
• Whatever else it can track that applies to most people
• High screen coverage (less useless bezels) regardless of analog or digital watchface
• Alarm for waking up during favorable sleep stage
• Phone notifications when paired
• Viewing SMS and messages from popular apps when paired
• Phone music control
• Elegant look

Dont care for

• GPS
• Maps
• Contactless payment
• Games
• Cell service (she will rely on phone)
• Onboard music storage
• Voice commands/assistant

 

I have found the Garmin Venu SQ 2 and Withings Scanwatch

Looking for more suggestions

If you know of good alternatives, do let me know and what makes it stand out

 

If it does not meet the non-negotiable requirements, the suggestion will be dropped

 

Thanks

[Commodus]

1 hour ago, NBCB said:

Buying one for my 25yo daughter

Her phone is an Samsung A52s

Shes quite fit, likes to exercise but seldom goes out

 

Non-negotiable requirements

• Is a watch, not a fitness band
• Can be used/paired with her phone without substantial loss of functionality
• Under $300. Budget will not be increased. Not buying her a new phone
• Will last at least one whole week of regular use in between charges
• Heart rate, blood oxygen, sleep monitoring
• No subscription required to access features (Fitbit I'm looking at you) unless its one of those things that I dont care for

Great to have

• ECG
• Wifi
• Altimeter
• Work out profiles, activity detection
• Stress tracking
• Calorie burn tracking
• Whatever else it can track that applies to most people
• High screen coverage (less useless bezels) regardless of analog or digital watchface
• Alarm for waking up during favorable sleep stage
• Phone notifications when paired
• Viewing SMS and messages from popular apps when paired
• Phone music control
• Elegant look

Dont care for

• GPS
• Maps
• Contactless payment
• Games
• Cell service (she will rely on phone)
• Onboard music storage
• Voice commands/assistant

 

I have found the Garmin Venu SQ 2 and Withings Scanwatch

Looking for more suggestions

If you know of good alternatives, do let me know and what makes it stand out

 

If it does not meet the non-negotiable requirements, the suggestion will be dropped

 

Thanks

I'd probably go with the Venu SQ 2. Not as pretty as the Scanwatch, but definitely more functional as... well, a smartwatch. That and Garmin has a better rep for fitness features where Withings is focused more on general health.

 

With that said, the battery life requirement is a bit of a shame. If it were my money, I'd get a Galaxy Watch 5 since it should be a better all-rounder. Plunking a watch on a puck charger at the end of the day is a minor inconvenience in my view; it's only really a problem if you're camping or otherwise expect to spend a long time away from power.

[NBCB]

17 minutes ago, Commodus said:

I'd probably go with the Venu SQ 2. Not as pretty as the Scanwatch, but definitely more functional as... well, a smartwatch. That and Garmin has a better rep for fitness features where Withings is focused more on general health.

 

With that said, the battery life requirement is a bit of a shame. If it were my money, I'd get a Galaxy Watch 5 since it should be a better all-rounder. Plunking a watch on a puck charger at the end of the day is a minor inconvenience in my view; it's only really a problem if you're camping or otherwise expect to spend a long time away from power.

Thanks for the feedback

I want it to be something that really lasts. 

A battery that needs to be charged every 1-2 days is going to deteriorate much more quickly that one that has to be charged every 11 days (Venu SQ 2) or every month (Scanwatch)

 

I am looking for more of a heath/fitness monitoring aid, rather than a little toy phone on the wrist. The only 'phone' feature I would like it to have, is to alert for notifications, quickly reading text messages, and maybe control the music that is playing on the phone.

 

Person I am buying it for might have sleep apnea. And I am a proponent of quality sleep. Which is why I am interested in the Scanwatch in addition to its super long battery life

[Commodus]

1 hour ago, NBCB said:

Thanks for the feedback

I want it to be something that really lasts. 

A battery that needs to be charged every 1-2 days is going to deteriorate much more quickly that one that has to be charged every 11 days (Venu SQ 2) or every month (Scanwatch)

 

I am looking for more of a heath/fitness monitoring aid, rather than a little toy phone on the wrist. The only 'phone' feature I would like it to have, is to alert for notifications, quickly reading text messages, and maybe control the music that is playing on the phone.

 

Person I am buying it for might have sleep apnea. And I am a proponent of quality sleep. Which is why I am interested in the Scanwatch in addition to its super long battery life

On battery life, I'll put it this way: I have an Apple Watch Series 5. It's only now, after three years of heavy use (we're talking 45-60 minute workouts three times a week, loads of Gmail alerts, etc.), that I'm noticing the battery running uncomfortably low on occasion. Someone with more moderate use could probably get another year or two more. If that's still too short I'll understand — I just think it's important to note that even high-powered watches like the Apple Watch or Galaxy Watch can still last a good while.

 

The Garmin watch is what your daughter will want for the features you're looking at. Both devices have solid sleep tracking, but the Withings model is basically a conventional watch with some nice health features tacked on; it won't help much if there's an incoming text, and you certainly can't use it for meaningful notifications or music.

[Imbadatnames]

Yeah that list ain’t gonna happen 

[SansVarnic]

Your only non-negotiable problem is the battery requirement.

 

An example I have a Samsung S3 Frontier has lasted me 4 years now and still going strong. Battery only lasts about 40-48hrs per charge but I have found it worth the purchase. Battery has not degraded any that I have noticed.

 

Learn to be flexible.

[Kc7vwc]

1 hour ago, huilun02 said:

Meanwhile does anyone know of more options that also last at least a week on single charge?

For a smartwatch, I don't know of any. 

 

A simple fitness tracker can do this. I had an Amazfit BiP that would last over 2 week. But ALL it did was step count, heart rate (on demand, 24/7 monitoring killed battery) and notifications. 

 

My current Galaxy Watch 2 averages 2.5 days per charge, and charges completely in 1-2 hours.