I’m looking for a watch that is able to do basic “smart” things like show notifications and ping my phone if I misplace it. A timer/stopwatch would also be good, and a long lasting battery.
I have no interest in an Apple watch or Galaxy watch, so I’m looking for something comparatively cheap.
I would suggest to look at the models supported by Gadgetbridge and pick one from there. I know I can trust Gadgetbridge not to leak my data since it doesn’t ask for network permission.
https://gadgetbridge.org/gadgets/
I used it for several years, through multiple gadgets (in chronological order)
- Pebble
- Pebble Steel
- Pebble Time Steel
- Mi Band 4
- Amazfit Bip
- Bangle JS2
- Casio GBD-200
I’d second the recommendation for Gadgetbridge and would add most of the Amazfit watches to the list. I have the Amazfit GTS 4 and it has run flawlessly with Gadgetbridge.
I thought about using Amazfit products but all the new ones require Huami/Xiaomi server pairing. How was that process?
I just used a throwaway email to initially sign up to get the Key, then deleted the app. Was very easy.
Alright that doesn’t sound that bad. I have a Mi Band 3 and haven’t upgraded to anything else due to the need to get a key with anything newer.
I miss the pebble and fsck Fitbit for killing it.
I more dissapointed that Pebble was unable to find a viable financial path forward :(
Agreed. Kinda glad I didn’t back the third watch.
How was the Bangle JS2? What made you switch away from it?
Initially the software wasn’t very stable, but that was fixed over time. Overall I liked it a lot, and the available “apps” for it all filled a niche I looked for.
I switched because I wanted to go back to a more classic watch I can simply wear and forget about. I don’t have all the bells and whistles from the BangleJS2, but now I have a watch to see my notifications and step counter that I don’t need to recharge every week, the battery (CR2032) is said to last about 2 years in the GBD-200.
Pine Time probably
Pine Time
I agree with that. It only has really the basic features, but honestly, I’m not using any other features on my Samsung smart watch anyway. I had one and it has one feature which makes it better then the regular smart watches, the battery life. If I remember correctly it ran for almost a week before I had to charge it again.
When bluetooth and wake-on-raise is disabled, it can even last 1-2 months
I also second this, has basic smartwatch features and if you want to get in the weeds and install your own OS just get the developer kit. For 30 bucks I said it’s worth a test at least.
Pinetime.
I was looking for something similar to this. Will research if it goest smooth pairing with iOS. Thank you
Garmin is pretty good and respects user privacy.
I would highly consider leveraging the AsteroidOS project – a privacy-focused linux smart watch effort – on one of their approved devices. That link should bring you straight to the watches they support.
Pine Time works well with Pine Phone, but only has basic functionality with other Android devices, like notifications. Not much else last I looked, but I may be out of sync with the community’s development efforts.
The Bangle.js 2 smart watch is another open source device you could look into.
Oh how cool, I didn’t realize that Florent Revest is still keeping his AsteroidOS alive, great to see! I’ve worked with him a couple of years ago and he implemented over the air updates in our custom Linux distribution. I see AsteroidOS is still build with Yocto, cool stuff and great guy!
I’ve heard good things about Gadgetbridge but can’t speak to it myself
Fully recommend the bangle.js
Super simple, hackable smartwatch. Perfectly compatible with gadgetbridge etc.
Had no issues whatsoever since I bought it a year or so ago
That one looks cool! GPS receiver makes it interesting compared to the pine time.
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That one looks cool! GPS receiver makes it interesting compared to the pine time.
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InfiniTime on PineTime, been using it for years
I personally would prefer a mechanical watch, we have too many things that are battery powered in our life already.
I use a Fossil Hybrid Smartwatch and I love it. It looks and functions like a mechanical watch but it has smart features. It won’t show your messages, but you can set contacts to numbers so you k ow if it vibrates weather or not it’s worth checking your phone. For example, I have my wife set to #1 in the app, so when she calls or texts, my watch vibrates, and the both the minute and second hand point to 1 on the face (and go back to telling time shortly after). There are 3 programmable buttons, one of which I set to ring my phone when I can’t find it, another I set to take a picture with my phone (works great for group photos when you setup your phone on the other side of the room), and the 3rd one points the hands to tell me that date. It has a pedometer with a goal meter that fills up through the day, and the one feature I probably live the most is that it uses a normal watch battery that needs to be replaced like once every 9 months or so. So no worrying about recharging etc. And this is all on an old version of the watch. There are newer ones with more features. It’s the smartest dumb watch you can get. I love it.
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Bangle.js
AsteroidOS
Or any smart band supported by Gadgetbridge
What would be the best for pixel 8 running grapheneOS? (I’m unsure if the pixel watch can run third-party firmware).
The watch cannot, but you can pair it with a pixel running gos. (I have the 1st gen watch, 8 pro, and gos)
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Indeed, waiting for my Watchy
Indeed, waiting for my Watchy
Indeed, waiting for my Watchy
I doubt that any of the smartwatches is really private, at least it can’t be more private than your phone by definition.
