Are Smart Watches a Thing

The decision to purchase my first smartwatch was fueled almost entirely out of my constant desire to buy new tech. The real point being that I wasn't even close to being sold on the fact that I needed a smartwatch. I bought the first version of the Moto 360 about two months ago when Bestbuy started clearing them for the new Moto 360. When I bought it, it was a great deal and I figured if the whole smartwatch thing ended up not floating my boat, I was still getting a nice stainless steel watch with changeable watch faces for $149, not bad. Two months later I now own two Moto 360's, have a (metal band, leather band, and silicon band), and firmly believe I will always wear a smart watch from here on. So, what happened?

I was walking down a steep hill in San Fransisco. I had an espresso in one hand (of course) and I heard the familiar buzz of a text in my pocket. Without even thinking about it I lifted my wrist to stare at a dead, blank, screen. Shit, that's right I didn't charge it. Switch the coffee to the other hand, and dig into the pocket of my skinny jeans to try and navigate my new Moto X Pure Edition out, all while trotting down a 30 degree incline of screen destroying pavement. What an inconvenience. That's when it hit me, my smartwatch wasn't just neat, it was needed. Having a large phone lends itself to using a smart watch and phones aren't getting any smaller.

Another  trouble of having a large smart phone is streaming some jams while your breaking a sweat. The 2nd Moto X (my last phone) was almost too big to run with, but I made it work. The new Moto X Pure Edition, in my opinion, is just too big to take with me when I exercise. I was really troubled by this dilemma. It wasn't only that the phones size was a problem, but who wants their sparkly new smart phone bouncing along with you getting cover in sweat. Then I discovered my favorite feature in android wear. If you use google music, you probably know that you can download any number of songs or playlists locally to your phone to listen to without internet. There is a setting in google play to select this content and sync it to your android wear device; pair some bluetooth headphones directly to your watch and problem solved. So now when I go for a run my smartwatch, which I use as my fitness tracker, can also stream my google play playlist.

The last real game changer was the first trip I went on with the watch. All the wonderful things that Google now does to make your life easier, android wear takes advantage of. Flight information when you need it. Terminal,  gate, boarding time,  and your boarding pass in a scan-able QR code. Check in and check out reminders for you hotel, Uber pick status updates; for those who travel a lot,  a smartwatch is really nice to have.

If you are trying to decided whether or not you should purchase your first smartwatch I hope my experience helps you. For me, the smartwatch works. Its not perfect, but it makes my life a little bit easier which is exactly what technology is for.