Smart watch - any benefit to pilots?

For 50 quid these DM98 watches look as if they’d run Memory-Map or maybe even EasyVFR.

I have been observing wearables since the first models appeared. I was always of the opinion that they’re not good enough yet due to functionality, battery life and form factor. For instance, I find the Apple watch to be incredibly ugly with its square shape.

Now I’ve bought my first Android watch — LG Watch Style.

The real breakthrough is Android Wear 2.0. It is quick, has a good user interface and it allows watch apps that do not depend on a phone app. Therefore it works equally well with Android phones and iOS phones. The watch does not have all of the classical first generation smart watch features for fitness (heart rate, etc.) but it has the same form factor as a traditional watch and it can take standard 19mm wrist bands.

I’ve been using it for about 2 months now instead of a Rado watch and I have to say that I will not go back. It is a useful device and it is mature enough to not be a constant annoyance. The quirks are small. The most useful feature is the signalling of incoming emails and messages. It is not useable to create messages even though it has voice recognition that works quite well.

I’ve been looking at potential use cases in combination with autorouter using a dedicated watch app but so far haven’t come up with anything compelling. Having Telegram on it gives me the most important features.

And no — the Android watches are not all the same. Forget everything that is not Android Wear 2.0 and even there, the differences are large. Battery life is manageable, I have 3 chargers, one next to the bed, one on my office desk and one in my travel bag so I usually always find an opportunity to charge it during the day. Less than ideal but manageable.

This is my newest smart watch… ordered from Wish. It got here 2 weeks later and does pretty much what was advertized.

Other than the other watch I described earlier this is a pure slave to a smartphone when it comes to connectivity, but it will work as a watch with few apps on its own. I use it as a trigger for the smart phone camera mainly or simply as a very cheap small watch to carry.

Battery life with bluetooth off (I sync about once a day but keep bt off the rest of the time) is an astonishing 5 days or probably more. I never waited until it stopped working.

The price: USD 6. yes, six dollars plus postage where applicable.

I must say, I used this one a lot more than the big phone watch.

Finally an useful function in smartwatches, for pilots – Garmin has a pulse oxymeter https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/fenix5plus/EN-US/GUID-4D425925-D4EE-4C26-B974-5375D0670860.html

Peter wrote:

I wonder how long the battery lasts?

Previous models run for like a week or two as watches (real-life tested by me). Far less with GPS turned on :)

Peter wrote:

I wonder how long the battery lasts? AFAIK none of these smart watches run for more than a day before you have to take them off for charging.

I use the Garmin D2 Bravo watch for flying, it usually lasts around a week without flying, last week I was flying every day for at least 3 hours a day and was recharging it every third day when it reached about 20%. The benefit is that it does not have a backlit display, only when you choose to have it lit up – that saves on battery life.

Noe wrote:

Finally an useful function in smartwatches, for pilots – Garmin has a pulse oxymeter

I did send them the feature request when the previous generation got out, I will take credit for it. Sticking to my mechanical movement for now though, said credit does apparently not include getting a free watch.