A smart watch is a device that resembles a wrist watch but does so much more than a traditional watch. It connects to your cell phone and becomes an extension to your handheld device by giving you notifications on the go.

Ultimately smartwatches are wearable computers, and as such they should be able to perform all of the functions that we’d expect from our other devices. - www.oxgadgets.com

What is the allure of a smartwatch ?

A lot can be accomplished with smart watches. From basic activity tracking utilizing heart rate sensors and GPS to making calls, via either bluetooth connectivity or cellular connectivity, smart watches offer a glut of utility. We can also use them for controlling other devices such as speakers playing music, making your phone ring to find it and even using them to pay on the contactless payment systems.

These devices are the best companion to smartphones, they extend their reach to our wrists by keeping us connected to our social media, news, emails and other modes of communication. Some of them have on board storage for storing music and other media. One can even use it to store loyalty cards, boarding passes and get directions while travelling by foot or 2 wheelers. Best of all though, you can customise it and personalise it by changing the watch faces.

Which one is right for you ?

There are mainly two types of smart watches in the market, Fitness watches such as Fitbit or Garmin watches and on the other hand, smart watches which broaden the utility of your phone like the Apple or Samsung watches. Note that these smartwatches also do activity tracking however that is not their primary purpose. In case of fitness trackers, they do one job and they do it well but have limited upside apart from tracking. However smart watches like Apple and Samsung offer lots of benefits as discussed above. Some of the main features to look for when deciding to buy a smartwatch would be :

• Activity tracking (can it do swim strokes, hiking, cycling, etc)

• GPS

• Heart rate sensor

• Notifications

• Battery life

• Styling

• Waterproof rating

• On Board Storage

• Customization

• Applications supported

Apple Watch Series 4

Best Smartwatch on the market in New Zealand is the Apple Watch Series 4. It builds upon its features of waterproof ability, GPS, notifications, access to siri and 4GB storage for music. The apple watch has got a major overhaul over the previous generations with a redesigned body offering 40mm and 44mm variants. The new design reduces the bezels over the older watches giving more screen real estate in the similar sized body. It has a faster chipset offering smoother user interface all the while making it more user friendly. The microphone has been moved to the opposite side of the speaker, offering less distortion. The crown now has haptic feedback but the most talked about feature is that the watch can now generate an EKG test for you. This could be a potential life saver for some, the watch takes a reading and can export it in PDF format to be easily sent as an attachment via email. A good design with numerous benefits, Apple Watch Series 4 offers the best value.

“All you do is put your finger right on the crown and hold it for 30 seconds and it performs an EKG and you can send those right to your doctor,” -Tim Cook

Samsung Galaxy Watch

As good as the Apple watch is it only works in only the Apple ecosystem. For Android users the best watch in New Zealand would be the Samsung Galaxy Watch. Newly released with the launch of Note 9, these come in 2 different sizes 42mm and 46mm. Contrary to the Apple watch, Samsung watches are round in shape and are compatible with Android and iOS. The watch has a crisp and loud speaker for taking calls, GPS tracker and heart rate monitor packaged into a neat little device. The rotating bezel is the pinnacle in its design as it makes the watch very convenient to use. Bear in mind the utility of the watch is limited on the IOS compared to Android. The Samsung watches has the best display out there courtesy of Samsung. It is also available in LTE version allowing you to leave your phone behind when going for a jog. The LTE is exclusive to Spark in New Zealand. The watch boasts a 4 day battery life which is a huge leap in the smartwatch market.

“These days we’re so used to seeing people glued to their phones, but this new watch from Samsung shows there’s potential for that to change in future as the technology keeping us connected gets more sophisticated and integrates more seamlessly into our lives.” - Spark

Garmin Fenix 5

Garmin Fenix 5 is one of the most rugged trackers with stainless steel bezels and reinforced housing, also offering sapphire glass as an option. This allows users to take it to places where you would dare not take your Apple Watch. It offers water resistance upto 100 meters of depth, GPS and GLONASS allowing for accurate measurement of your activity. Fenix 5X offers topographic and cycling maps as well as the biggest screen out of all as a whopping 51mm watch face. It also allows user to get notifications, accurate heart rate readings via the elevate heart rate technology, altimeter, barometer and compass readings to empower the user with freedom of myriad of activities such as hiking, trekking, swimming and tramping. All these features combined with a tough exterior makes it ideal for extreme sports and outdoor adventures. It offers good battery life as well, being a big watch the only downside is it may not look too good on small wrists. For people with smaller wrists the recommendations would be the Fenix 5s instead. One can also get different kinds of straps for this ranging from sport bands that are included to metal bands. Also recommended for accurate heart rate monitoring is the Garmin HRM-TRI.

“Under the hood, Garmin has taken advantage of every square millimetre of space, loading the Fenix 5 Plus with every sensor it could think of. “ - Trustedreviews

Fitbit Versa

It comes as no surprise that the design of the new Fitbit Versa is akin to the Pebble watch which Fitbit acquired a few years back. The Versa offers a nice sleek design with a color display featuring the new look Fitbit OS 2.0 offering quick reply mode for replying to messages. Fitbit also adds the women’s health tracking which is also available in the Ionic. Apart from the GPS tracker it offers everything the Ionic offers ranging from fitness and sports tracking. It also has a built in contactless payment system support called Fitbit Pay and 2.5GB of storage. The versa with its 1000 nits display and waterproof rating of upto 50 meters is the best affordable smartwatch with a good app to boast.

“The Versa also supports female health tracking. While other smartwatch ecosystems offer period-tracking apps, they're not built into the main OS experience. “ - PCmag

Garmin Vivomove HR

This smart watch lies in the hybrid category as it looks and feels like a normal analog watch but has s small hidden screen at the bottom which allows you to view your step count, change tracks, start workouts. The watch also incorporates a heart rate sensor for heart rate measurements, calories burnt and sleep tracking. The watch is swim ready at 5 ATM but does not have a swim mode and does not integrate a GPS. When we need to use the screen, the clock hands move out of the way for ease of use. The watch looks amazing and would definitely manage to get you compliments. The screen legibility suffers outside but inside it’s very bright and reasonably sharp. The battery life is 5-6 days and is charged via a proprietary charger. It has a replaceable 20mm strap allowing for customization. All in all Vivomove HR offers less features than the competition but it does offer lot in a very discreet and pretty package.

”On the surface, the Vivomove HR looks like a stylish timepiece, but a digital display hides right beneath the surface. The cleverly designed and subtly lit screen hosts an array of additional fitness-related features.” - Runnerclick