Smartwatches: the battle for hearts and wrists

They are sure to take off, whatever the price, just like high-end mobile phones have – because people like glitzy gadgets that keep up with, or ahead of (briefly) their peers. Providing they can afford them, why not? It is when these gadgets take priority over essentials, or put pressure on parents, that problems arise.
My £30 phone does all I want – so does my 10 year old car. But other people like I phones and the latest models of luxury cars – their choice. And it keeps the wheels of industry turning. A pity though no one in the UK seems to make these profitable gadgets.

You have to charge your smartwatch and the phone it is used with. The novelty might soon wear off.

Still, it’s a far cry from the Sinclair Black Watch of 1975, if anyone else remembers that.

I have a watch that runs for about 8 years between battery replacements, which are admittedly expensive as they must be done by the manufacturer. I think this is normal with waterproof watches, since the local battery replacers cannot re-seal the watch under a vacuum, so after battery replacement the watch is no longer waterproof.

So, the thought of buying a watch that needs recharging as often as my phone does fills me with horror! I carry a spare battery for my phone and also a portable charger, and the latter plus phone can go together in a pocket if needed, but what use is a watch in your pocket? You might just as well check your phone. I see no point in these watches unless they have a very long battery life.

I like analogue watches with a clear face and a thin body. I can’t abide clunky watches.

It’s likely that smartwatches will eventually be thin enough, but these are like wearing an iPod Nano on your wrist, and that does not appeal.