Related
http://goo.gl/oE620
Maybe someone would be interested. I remember people talking about it in the S3 forums. Don't know if it was good or not. What do you think?
$19.99!
Looks pretty cool especially for 20bux but seems kinda pointless like just another thing to carry around...but still cool if it was at a store id probably own it already haha
Someone needs to be the guinea pig and try this out. All the YouTube reviews are old and not done very well.
Sent from my GT-N7105 using xda app-developers app
Based on reading Amazon reviews (constant disconnects), the fact this is 2+ year old technology supporting Android 2.x and up and old BT standard, and the fact I have been in contact with MetaWatch guys (and also keeping up with Pebble smart watch updates) who work on this exclusively and still waiting on resolution from Google to address problems with Android 4.x and remote media connection - I would suggest it's not worth it. Another problem, companies wouldn't even care to send you a review sample for their old product, so it's not even worth contacting them.... Just my humble opinion.
Works great on note 2. $18 free shipping on ebay now. Awesome! Imho
---------- Post added at 12:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:51 PM ----------
And it's micro usb so no extra charger needed. There's now open firmware, open app alternative, sony updated their app last week, lots of 3rd party apps (play store shows about a hundred). Wicked. At $18 the dev on this is going to explode!
Wow for $19 this is a great deal. Just pulled the trigger.
willfck4beer said:
Works great on note 2. $18 free
shipping on ebay now. Awesome! Imho
---------- Post added at 12:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:51 PM ----------
And it's micro usb so no extra charger needed. There's now open firmware, open app alternative, sony updated their app last week, lots of 3rd party apps (play store shows about a hundred). Wicked. At $18 the dev on this is going to explode!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a plug in for this so that Torque can use it as a screen. Best app ever.
plemen said:
Wow for $19 this is a great deal. Just pulled the trigger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah...that's what I thought too when I purchased it last year for $30 from expansys .com
Return/Cancel it if you can. The device never worked properly when it was first released...the Sony App had issues with Android 2.x Gingerbread ,and still doesn't work correctly with any newer version of Android.
The device has to be connected via bluetooth to function. If you are not connected to BT, it will not even display the TIME!!!! Main issue is that the device fails to reliably connect to your phone. Some times it will connect...but most of the time not. There are work around instructions on XDA...but connection issues still exist. Another work around if to always keep the app active...but that drains your battery.
In the even you get it connected to your phone....the plugins for the device are very basic...notifies you that you have a call, a sms, or email. You can see the subject of the email and kinda scroll through ur sms. But the device is more of a hassle than help. Device battery is not great...probably last max 1.5 days if you don't press/use it at all.
Sony released the updated version of this device the "sony smartwatch" msrp 150, but only now for $80...but that still has intrinsic issues. They are just dumping this at low prices before Apple & Samsung announce their "smartwatch" devices
Edit: willfck4beer posted that their is an openDev alternative app. This didn't exist when I owned the device..which is what my review is based off of. Maybe it's time for me to dig it out of my closet
acuratlsfan said:
Yeah...that's what I thought too when I purchased it last year for $30 from expansys .com
Return/Cancel it if you can. The device never worked properly when it was first released...the Sony App had issues with Android 2.x Gingerbread ,and still doesn't work correctly with any newer version of Android.
The device has to be connected via bluetooth to function. If you are not connected to BT, it will not even display the TIME!!!! Main issue is that the device fails to reliably connect to your phone. Some times it will connect...but most of the time not. There are work around instructions on XDA...but connection issues still exist. Another work around if to always keep the app active...but that drains your battery.
In the even you get it connected to your phone....the plugins for the device are very basic...notifies you that you have a call, a sms, or email. You can see the subject of the email and kinda scroll through ur sms. But the device is more of a hassle than help. Device battery is not great...probably last max 1.5 days if you don't press/use it at all.
Sony released the updated version of this device the "sony smartwatch" msrp 150, but only now for $80...but that still has intrinsic issues. They are just dumping this at low prices before Apple & Samsung announce their "smartwatch" devices
Edit: willfck4beer posted that their is an openDev alternative app. This didn't exist when I owned the device..which is what my review is based off of. Maybe it's time for me to dig it out of my closet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my 2 cents:
-Latest firmware from Sony keeps watch functioning even if BT connection lost - so clock never flashes 0:00 as it used to.
Don't know why but Sony keeps this updated - just last week new app update.
-Latest firmware and Sony App seem to work great with Note 2, Evo 3d, Evo 4g across various flavors of Gingerbread, ICS, and Jellybean across HTC and Samsung - unrooted stock even... CM makes it incredibly solid connection.
Nonetheless, imho it is a very solid connection.
-3rd party apps are just constrained by imagination and devs. I'm seeing about 100 different plugin apps.
There seems to be a lot of app dev spawned by new sony smartwatch (while they are not compatible, I'm seeing a lot of apps that have been developed with minor modification and released on both devices simultaneously.)
-at $18 with free shipping, Dev is only going to continue - this thing runs a standard Chi-bios RT OS.
---------- Post added at 03:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:43 PM ----------
willfck4beer said:
my 2 cents:
-Latest firmware from Sony keeps watch functioning even if BT connection lost - so clock never flashes 0:00 as it used to.
Don't know why but Sony keeps this updated - just last week new app update.
-Latest firmware and Sony App seem to work great with Note 2, Evo 3d, Evo 4g across various flavors of Gingerbread, ICS, and Jellybean across HTC and Samsung - unrooted stock even... CM makes it incredibly solid connection.
Nonetheless, imho it is a very solid connection.
-3rd party apps are just constrained by imagination and devs. I'm seeing about 100 different plugin apps.
There seems to be a lot of app dev spawned by new sony smartwatch (while they are not compatible, I'm seeing a lot of apps that have been developed with minor modification and released on both devices simultaneously.)
-at $18 with free shipping, Dev is only going to continue - this thing runs a standard Chi-bios RT OS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My favorite Apps right now:
Remote Camera (allows live view of camera --- and remote shutter release)
Espresso Watch 1 *** Sexy looking watch app
Espresso Watch 4 *** (Watch with brackground downloaded from imgur based on a keyword you specify e.g. "booty")
Fake call (perfect to get out of a conversation that is going on and on)
Confusion
Launcher (recreates your entire app drawer on liveview to selectively launch any app)
SmartChrome --- I set to "classic.slashdot.org"
POSVIEW -- shows your position on google maps
Liams map plugin -- shows position, but allows some better config options like nighttime, hackermode, ...
AH Watch - sexy watch faces
Contact Call
.txt reader liveview
SendSMS
Tell It
Live Watches
Answer-it
Timer
a007 spy app
Watch-Calendar
Light/liveview
Weatherview
Sun clock
Vibrate alarm
Is 4 hours battery life this true? Don't want to have to charge my watch everyday...
one80oneday said:
Is 4 hours battery life this true? Don't want to have to charge my watch everyday...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good question about 4 hour battery life. Is this max batt life even when idling? I mean, even if you don't access any apps, you still keeping BT sync connection so battery is draining. I can imagine that running additional apps will put more strain on the battery. Since this gadget is a few years old, it will not have the highest capacity in terms of what has been available back then. My new Blue Buds X have 8hr battery built into a tiny earpiece by itself. I'm just thinking this Sony device was ahead of its time. If they can re-release it now with updated hardware and support for all the latest BT standards that would have been great!
one80oneday said:
Is 4 hours battery life this true? Don't want to have to charge my watch everyday...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this depends on your duty cycle/usage YMMV
Some data points:
If I engage a program like remote camera viewer - where the processor, bluetooth, and screen are kept on at full blast uninterrupted... it seems the battery will die after about an hour.
If I'm using the watch to browse emails, txts, facebook, that periodically arrive, then the watch may go for 2 days.
If I've left the watch at a friends house on... but disconnected ... It's still been fine after 4 days IIRC.
I think this thing is prime for tweaking, underclocking?, reduced duty cycle, tweaked BT interractions, reduced polling frequency, oled screen tweaks, creative solar projects, battery upgrades, and the like to increase it's life. I'm working on a flexible, thin film solar band that will trickle charge this ***** constantly and/or a tiny coin-cell module to charge on the go.
I really think for $18 this thing is AWESOME and has so much potential - especially at the hands of the XDA Dev community.
I think one promising aspect is the open firmware being dev'ed... if this thing runs a standard Chi-bios RT OS... we could tweak the **** out of it. imho.
---------- Post added at 02:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:06 PM ----------
vectron said:
Good question about 4 hour battery life. Is this max batt life even when idling? I mean, even if you don't access any apps, you still keeping BT sync connection so battery is draining. I can imagine that running additional apps will put more strain on the battery. Since this gadget is a few years old, it will not have the highest capacity in terms of what has been available back then. My new Blue Buds X have 8hr battery built into a tiny earpiece by itself. I'm just thinking this Sony device was ahead of its time. If they can re-release it now with updated hardware and support for all the latest BT standards that would have been great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Generally, I'll see two full days of usage before I have to charge.
"Power: Low usage, 1 week/ Typical usage, 3-4 days/ Heavy usage,1 full day"
But, as you said, this was released several years ago with old technology and the batterylife has been degrading while sitting in the factory, on the shelf, etc..
Perhaps we could simply extricate the old battery and replace with a new one? Perhaps one with a higher mah capacity?
There've been several tear downs and mods to the watch already and it seems relatively straight forward to open her up.
I've noticed that this thing has maintained a connection via bluetooth through a brick wall and spaced about 10 feet apart... as the power usage increases based on distance squared, perhaps the open firmware could allow the user to selectively set a more statistically representative transmit power/distance to go from wrist to phone through cotton vs. brick and 10ft. This might have tremendous power savings. imho. something as simple as "low power mode" vs. "high power mode."?
Sony advertises : "Bluetooth - up to 10m range" this seems like overkill for most use-cases.
As the screen is OLED, I believe that substantial savings can be had by programming an inverse color scheme to use primarily black and thus non-energized pixels.
Sony has released a new one - the smartwatch mn2 - but it's about $100 and doesn't have all that substantial of upgrades.
If you have cash to burn... the Motoactv seems a far superior investment at $150ish... in for a buck... in for a quarter?
But for me, I'm fascinated by what this guy (for less than twenty bucks) can already do and the potential it has once dev interest builds.
If we start looking into more advance options, might as well look into a more superior technology of Pebble or Metawatch smart watches?
vectron said:
If we start looking into more advance options, might as well look into a more superior technology of Pebble or Metawatch smart watches?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
imho none of those can touch the Motoactv... fullblown android, fullblown touchscreen...
But when you start talking advance technology... I believe we are talking $150 and up - about 10 times as much $$$ as the liveview.
When you factor in that liveview also has openwatch api support (in addition to all the native dev and reverse engineering efforts)... I think it's shortcomings are surmountable for $18.
I just got my flexible thin film solar watch band to deliver 59.6milliamps!!!! (on an overcast day) and it successfully charged my BT headset and seemed to accumulate charge in the liveview. If this is the case - we may be able to keep liveview running indefinitely while on your wrist with no need to take off and charge it!!!!
And the liveview can display boobies in full amoled color!!!
Im watch is $300!!!!!
Pebble is $150 and black and white only AND NOT REAL YET : "Preorder"????
both look bulky as hell!!! The Im does look awesome and love the gsm sim.
Liveview:
+standard micro usb port.... use phone charger.
+standard chibios RT OS
+full colour amoled display
+CHEAP
+Sony updates APP; has not deprecated... May30 2013 update with added feature;
+Sony updates firmware;
+Open liveview app reverse engineering effort active and functional
+Open firmware making progress
+CHEAP
+about 100 apps so far (including Solitaire or blackjack, Torque, remote camera control, remote music control, calculator, fake call ...)
+TINY
+imho XDA loves cheap/free. At this cost, we should send a couple to TeamWin or someone like Samsung did for CM7 and just let those fxuckers run wild with it.
link to solar watch band?
vectron said:
link to solar watch band?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I"m actually making the solar wrist band myself.
But this is the thin film I'm using:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Thin-Film-L...675?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a8132e5db
I'm getting promising results but nowhere near 420mA advertised.
After the voltage converter(2V to 5Vusb) on an overcast day... I'm getting about 59.6mA
WHICH is cool because to keep the old girl topped off, she only seems to be sipping 45mA to keep screen on the whole time at full brightness!!!!!!!!!!!!
Current usage in different operating states:
Full battery; NOT CHARGING:
.9ma OFF (LED,charge determination circuit?)
28ma ON, Disconnected, screen off
30ma ON, connected, screen off
36ma ON, connected, screen DIM
45ma ON, connected, screen FULL BLAST
70ma ON, connected, screen FULL, Processor FULL, BT FULL*** running remote camera view on full color, full update freq...
EMPTY BATTERY:
73milliamps draw when liveview is OFF and charging at substantially EMPTY battery;
90ma Standby no connection and charging;
96ma ON with Screen ON and charging;
94ma ON, connected, screen OFF
96ma ON, connected, screen ON.
OK, pulled a trigger for $19.99. As I was looking at the ebay seller who has it in bulk - I see messages pop up every 30 seconds about someone is buying it. For the full use with all the cool apps, battery life is not acceptable as a smart watch. I think it will be just a neat gadget to play around with. I'm very interested in that remote camera thing, like one of our baby monitors I guess. I assume everything works when you have it plugged in on a charger, you can still use apps? BTW, this is going to be my first gadget/accessory I have paid money for in the last 5 months, you really got my interest high!!!
My favorite Apps right now:
Remote Camera (allows live view of camera --- and remote shutter release)
Espresso Watch 1 *** Sexy looking watch app
Espresso Watch 4 *** (Watch with brackground downloaded from imgur based on a keyword you specify e.g. "booty")
Fake call (perfect to get out of a conversation that is going on and on)
Confusion
Launcher (recreates your entire app drawer on liveview to selectively launch any app)
SmartChrome --- I set to "classic.slashdot.org"
POSVIEW -- shows your position on google maps
Liams map plugin -- shows position, but allows some better config options like nighttime, hackermode, ...
AH Watch - sexy watch faces
Contact Call
.txt reader liveview
SendSMS
Tell It
Live Watches
Answer-it
Timer
a007 spy app
Watch-Calendar
Light/liveview
Weatherview
Sun clock
Vibrate alarm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
link to the watch you are using for all this please?
willfck4beer said:
....
My favorite Apps right now:
Remote Camera (allows live view of camera --- and remote shutter release)
Espresso Watch 1 *** Sexy looking watch app
Espresso Watch 4 *** (Watch with brackground downloaded from imgur based on a keyword you specify e.g. "booty")
Fake call (perfect to get out of a conversation that is going on and on)
Confusion
Launcher (recreates your entire app drawer on liveview to selectively launch any app)
SmartChrome --- I set to "classic.slashdot.org"
POSVIEW -- shows your position on google maps
Liams map plugin -- shows position, but allows some better config options like nighttime, hackermode, ...
AH Watch - sexy watch faces
Contact Call
.txt reader liveview
SendSMS
Tell It
Live Watches
Answer-it
Timer
a007 spy app
Watch-Calendar
Light/liveview
Weatherview
Sun clock
Vibrate alarm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where do you search for all these apps? I tried on Google Play, but can't find a lot of it. Like Espresso watch?
Seriously?? Doesn't our phones have clocks on them? Aren't our phones capable of doing all of that? Just my 2 cents. Hey let me go buy a 4 door version of the car I already own
Thoughts on it, display in sunlight, battery life, handling of notifications, look/feel of it on your wrist..... basically anything to do with the watch!
i like it. granted that its a new class of its own, i still get confused especially when i get multiple notifications on an app (ie hangouts). its confusing where the group text starts or if im still being shown a private text..
the screen is kinda hard to read in direct sunlight but tilting it a bit or using a different watch face helps.
i like the feel of it.. i preferred this over the g watch coz of the added feature and the look.
I really like it; however, screen is difficult to see in sunlight at times; screen is also a smudge magnet which adds to difficulties in seeing the display outdoors.
Love it - compared to the sony smartwatch and the Galaxy Gear it really has great improvements. Only Day 2, but my initial thoughts:
Pros
- Look/feel - it is little large (I don't have big wrists) but still stylish.
- Screen: awesome that the clock is always on, this was my biggest gripe about the Gear
- Usefulness: I've spent time training Google Now, and that's really paid off. Notifications mean i take my phone out of my pocket a lot less, and Google Now surfaces reminders and other useful info pretty well (although you don't have a lot of control over the order of notifications etc). The fact that it syncs dismissed notifications on the phone immediately is, in a word, awesome
- Apps: early days yet on this, but most big apps I'm sure will integrate so you can do the key features easily
- Voice recognition works great so far
Cons
- No speaker means if you want to do stuff without looking at the screen with your voice, it's harder. But seems like something I can live with
- Charging dongle is kinda annoying to fit on, and have to remember to travel with
- Starting an app (say Fit) takes a few too many swipes (if you're in a place where you don't want to be speaking to your wrist...)
A lot of the other potential "cons" like not many watch face designs, no feature to locate your phone (I know there's an app for this though) I reckon will play out over time and Google can fix pretty quickly...
A
eurorauser said:
, no feature to locate your phone (I know there's an app for this though) I reckon will play out over time and Google can fix pretty quickly...
A
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take a look at this one for that: Wear Aware
i'm pleasantly surprised with how much i'm enjoying it.
my first full day with it will be tomorrow so i haven't taken it outside in the sunlight much yet, but checking email, counting steps, reading and replying to texts (i use evolve and it works great) is great and much more reliable and smoother than it was on my OG gear, and it's proving to be far more useful than my pebble.
the strap is actually quite comfortable and i'm glad i didn't buy a new strap before getting the watch.
the charging cradle, if you put it on tab side first it snaps in much easier. it's annoying but i haven't found it to be the spawn of lucifer as some people were screaming about it. treat it like part of a $200 gadget and it will be fine. mash it on like the hulk and it's going to break, it is plastic tabs after all.
i used it for about 7 hours today and it's now around 65% remaining. moderate use, but i def was clicking and swiping for no reason since it's new as well. i am pretty sure i'll have to charge it every night, but i don't sleep with a watch on and i charge my phone every night too, so i don't see it as being a big issue. my pebble lasted longer, but it would often die since i didn't have a set pattern on when to charge and would head out and a few hours later realize i had 20% left.
so in short, i'm happy, yes there are growing pains but those are the early adopter blues.
So far very please for what it can do. Regarding bot visible in sunlight, tell me what phone is visible in sunlight. None of them are great, only the kinfpdle due to the ink screen it has. I can wait till indoors or in shade. 9 more days testing and then deciding to keep or not. Off charging cradle at 6:30am today and as of this post still has 34% left. About the same as my previous Gear watch.
Ian B
The number of apps pouring in each day are a great sign for the platform as a whole. The Tizen gears were nothing like this.
Quick reply.... I like it. Had Nero, no comparison.
I've had a few issues and design factors that I'd like changed:
Hate the alarm mute icon. I would love to figure out a way to hide that on the clock face. Would make the watch look more watchie if you will.
Also would like to only wake the watch from the button vice touchscreen, or atleast an option to set that insettings.
Does anyone else find themselves open palming your watch to put it in hybernate?
FynxSyndct said:
Does anyone else find themselves open palming your watch to put it in hybernate?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I pressed it against my forehead earlier because I was in bed and my other arm wasn't free.
SkuzFoz said:
I pressed it against my forehead earlier because I was in bed and my other arm wasn't free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This really made me LOL
I'll be the lone wolf in the wilderness by bucking the trend and saying that I'm very disappointed with my Gear Live. I'm a gadget lover and really wanted to love this device. But I was far more enthusiastic about this thing before I actually received it. Once I had one, I quickly grew disappointed with it.
Out of the box, pairing with my Nexus 5 took multiple attempts. Once I finally did get it paired, only the stock apps would work. Any apps that I downloaded from the Play store would run on my phone but the watch interface would never show up (no matter how many times I tried to force the apps to sync via the Android Wear app or rebooted the watch).
Factory resetting the watch and starting again cleared up that problem but I still found the functionality of the watch to be quirky at best. Add to that the fact that the screen is virtually impossible to read outdoors, the lack of support for continuous heart rate monitoring, and the sudden dramatic drop in my Nexus 5's battery life (which cleared up after I uninstalled the Android Wear app).
Bottom line for me is that this isn't ready to replace my old fashioned watch. So until I read about some new killer Wear app that I can't live without, the Gear Live had gone back into its box to be stored away. I'm hoping that the software will mature quickly to a point where I can give it another try.
Does gear live suport sleep monitoring? Can it automatically figure out that user is cycling?
How good is the fitness tracking on it?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
Ok, so this should have been self evident to me from the start, but a couple real world examples have finally driven it home for me.
I met with my boss today, and during the meeting he mentioned a particular identity theft monitoring service he uses. Our meeting concluded, and I went back to my desk. The very next page I browsed to from my phone contained an ad for the service he mentioned. I did not search for it on this or any other device, nor can I think of a similar reason for it to suddenly start showing up in my (personalized) advertising. This is not the first time it's happened.
I see several posts and articles on the interwebs from others with similar stories. The Moto X in particular is troubling in this regard, for the same reason so many love it - it's ALWAYS listening. Screen can be off, focused on some other app, doesn't matter.
I attend meetings where sensitive information is frequently discussed, in addition to the many situations that most of us would like some privacy from time to time. I'd like to have my phone with me, and preferably not in a sound proof box.
Anyone have a similar experience?
Anyone know a definitive list of apps, launcher features, etc that would need to be disabled on my (unrooted) Verizon device in order to get a little privacy?
Off to dig up my tin foil hat and drag the cone of silence out of the garage...
Thanks!
Welcome to the digital age my friend!
It isn't the fact that it heard him say it. It happened because it is actually tapped into your thoughts and you thought about that service. A good Faraday cage should solve it though. At least temporarily.
I've always found myself explaining to people about how great the Pebble 2 is which many people never really knew about because it's not one of the more expensive and prestigious brands like an Apple Watch. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Tech Junkie and can afford whatever watch I want, but I'm also not one looking to pay a higher price just to wear something to impress people - I want good functionality, practicality and value. Nothing could match my Pebble 2. When I told people I only need to charge it once every 5-7 days, they are flabbergasted. Heart Rate Monitor? Check. HUGE selection of custom 3rd party apps. Check. Design your own custom watch face with dynamic stats (like temp, phone signal strength, etc.)? Check. Waterproof to the point you can swim with it on? Check.
All that, under $150? Check.
Now, my eyes have grown old and I can barely read the text messages that come through as it is a pretty small face. I don't NEED color - I prefer long battery life. So what's out there (I'm an Android Phone User) that people would say is the closest replacement that has a bigger screen? Maybe I just keep wearing my Pebble and wear trifocals all the time - no thanks.
My MUST haves are:
- Long battery life (no more than 2 charges per week are necessary)
- Waterproof (can swim in it)
- Heart Rate Monitor
- Large screen, but I'm not an NFL player so not too gigantic
Nice to haves but not MUSTS:
- SOME degree of customization (some 3rd party apps, custom watch screen design, etc.)
- Built in GPS (I really don't need this - I'm not a runner and my phone is always with me, so would rather avoid paying extra for it, but if I have to have it to get other stuff I must have then so be it.)
All I really need the watch to do is: tell me the date and time, show my text messages and notifications (with setting to increase default text size), track my fitness activities, and don't bug me about charging it every 1-2 days.
Only Garmin Watch
Amazfit bip, Stratos, pace
All Amazfit (bip Stratos....) have almost 0 connected feature, just basic notification a Weather wich works only sometime and nothing else. 0 connected app, so not really smartwatch, maybe just a poor tracker
dersie said:
All Amazfit (bip Stratos....) have almost 0 connected feature, just basic notification a Weather wich works only sometime and nothing else. 0 connected app, so not really smartwatch, maybe just a poor tracker
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you give some examples of "connected features" you think that most users would find extremely useful in their daily lives? I've found with many devices, a lot of bells and whistles are just that, bells and whistles to brag about having and when you look at your actual use of the device, you find you really don't use those features.
For example, on my Pebble 2, I can reply to text messages both using canned text responses or voice transcription by talking into the watch. I've had the watch for like 3 years and I've used the text reply maybe two or three times and the voice transcription once. When I used it, I thought, "that was sort of cool." But then why didn't I ever use it again? Because it wasn't THAT useful considering 99% of the time I have my phone sitting next to me or in my pants or jacket pocket and talking to my watch I look like a complete DORK. I can just easily type the reply on my phone. The notification is what's important as sometimes I'm in another room, or have it in my jacket in a place I can't hear the notification or feel the vibration.
So I'm still quite interested in what "connected features" a Bip doesn't come with that are so useful?
In my pebble I add item to my shopping list every day with WunderVoice, I read my List on my pebble with WunderPebble : shopping, to do,........, I read my Google Task, I look every time at the moon location, I take quick note and view also memo quickly, I look at my next event calendar, I mark read my mail notification, I can select snooze 5,10, 30min or dismiss my event calendar, I use multiple timers for 25min, 30min, 35min, 40min to look at my grilled meat, I look my phone battery, I can set my phone to vibe or mute with my pebble , I start some task with tasker, I use multi counter to count different things.....
All this can be done with few click in 10s, in this time I have not the time to put my phone out my pocket
dersie said:
In my pebble I add item to my shopping list every day with WunderVoice, I read my List on my pebble with WunderPebble : shopping, to do,........, I read my Google Task, I look every time at the moon location, I take quick note and view also memo quickly, I look at my next event calendar, I mark read my mail notification, I can select snooze 5,10, 30min or dismiss my event calendar, I use multiple timers for 25min, 30min, 35min, 40min to look at my grilled meat, I look my phone battery, I can set my phone to vibe or mute with my pebble , I start some task with tasker, I use multi counter to count different things.....
All this can be done with few click in 10s, in this time I have not the time to put my phone out my pocket
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With most all of that, shopping list, tasks, moon location, notes - can you explain what *specific benefits* there are to using your watch instead of your phone to input information (via keyboard or voice) and to read lists of information (considering the phone has a much bigger screen)? Why is using the watch so much better to do those things?
Easier and quicker
dersie said:
All Amazfit (bip Stratos....) have almost 0 connected feature, just basic notification a Weather wich works only sometime and nothing else. 0 connected app, so not really smartwatch, maybe just a poor tracker
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Was not the main scope of the op
dersie said:
Easier and quicker
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Man, you must be beside yourself trying to figure out what to do with all that spare time the watch creates being so much quicker?
I just switched back from an Amazfit Pace to my Pebble 2 SE. Notifications just don't work reliably on the Amazfit, and all the fitness stuff is too much for me. I just want a geeky watch with working notifications. That's a Pebble 2 SE
chaozz said:
I just switched back from an Amazfit Pace to my Pebble 2 SE. Notifications just don't work reliably on the Amazfit, and all the fitness stuff is too much for me. I just want a geeky watch with working notifications. That's a Pebble 2 SE
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I've also returned my pace due to bad battery life and notification reliability. I'm using a BIP and the notifications are there in real time(using gadgetbridge like before with PTS) and it gives me a minimum of 4 WEEKS of battery life :highfive:
No single freeze or glitch since months, absolutely reliable for that price! Custom watchfaces easily made.
My 2nd Pebble 2 HR just died & I've been shopping to replace it, but havent found anything that does everything I need it to, or that my Pebble used to. I had upgraded to Rebble prior to their deaths, paid for voice and weather since Rebble was up. I had found some good sites to investigate: Smartwatch Series website lets you look at detailed valuations of specs and comparisons of many smartwatches.
Battery is one of my biggest anxieties, but glowing screens or timeouts also was a concern. I tried the Samsung Gear Sport, then the Samsung Galaxy Active 2, and although they had many great features and 2+ days of use between charges (Active 2 only) with comparable use-time to my pebble, the screen glowed if on all the time, and when I went swimming, the screen face would change unless I locked it before entering the water.
I settled with a compromise... I was able to get a new PowerWatch 2 Luxe edition (usually $699) for $400. Still, way to expensive, but, I get messages (no reply), health basics, always on LCD screen (no glow) with back-lit ability, Heat Rate and GPS, and NO CHARGING NEEDED. EVER. Solar and thermoelectric engine (backup wireless charging dock included just in case) keep it charged always. I can't do voice, can't customize my watch face, can't load apps (stopwatch and timer are there), and no weather.
dumbquestion said:
My 2nd Pebble 2 HR just died & I've been shopping to replace it, but havent found anything that does everything I need it to, or that my Pebble used to. I had upgraded to Rebble prior to their deaths, paid for voice and weather since Rebble was up. I had found some good sites to investigate: Smartwatch Series website lets you look at detailed valuations of specs and comparisons of many smartwatches.
Battery is one of my biggest anxieties, but glowing screens or timeouts also was a concern. I tried the Samsung Gear Sport, then the Samsung Galaxy Active 2, and although they had many great features and 2+ days of use between charges (Active 2 only) with comparable use-time to my pebble, the screen glowed if on all the time, and when I went swimming, the screen face would change unless I locked it before entering the water.
I settled with a compromise... I was able to get a new PowerWatch 2 Luxe edition (usually $699) for $400. Still, way to expensive, but, I get messages (no reply), health basics, always on LCD screen (no glow) with back-lit ability, Heat Rate and GPS, and NO CHARGING NEEDED. EVER. Solar and thermoelectric engine (backup wireless charging dock included just in case) keep it charged always. I can't do voice, can't customize my watch face, can't load apps (stopwatch and timer are there), and no weather.
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Interesting charging design maybe something for the future watches and prices will drop hopefully...
Why not just buy a brand new Pebble 2 on Ebay for low $100 range? You could by two of them, one for future, and save money while we all wait for someone to actually design a good watch for a good price, like the Pebble 2. The only thing lacking on the Pebble 2 is that it's not designer/fancy looking. Otherwise it is still by far the best bang for the buck - battery lasting nearly a week! Lots of apps and customizations. Puts these higher priced watches to shame in the flexibility of the functionality and battery life. But it's no status symbol that people want for their watch, unless you consider being an intelligent buyer a status symbol. LOL.
jazee said:
Why not just buy a brand new Pebble 2 on Ebay for low $100 range? You could by two of them, one for future, and save money while we all wait for someone to actually design a good watch for a good price, like the Pebble 2. The only thing lacking on the Pebble 2 is that it's not designer/fancy looking. Otherwise it is still by far the best bang for the buck - battery lasting nearly a week! Lots of apps and customizations. Puts these higher priced watches to shame in the flexibility of the functionality and battery life. But it's no status symbol that people want for their watch, unless you consider being an intelligent buyer a status symbol. LOL.
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The problem when buying those pebbles: the battery is several years old and might not have a good capacity.
Actually I'm testing a Honor Magic Watch 2 and it's very good, actually one week usage with GPS and lots of calls and down to 49%:good:
strongst said:
The problem when buying those pebbles: the battery is several years old and might not have a good capacity.
Actually I'm testing a Honor Magic Watch 2 and it's very good, actually one week usage with GPS and lots of calls and down to 49%:good:
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I read a review and it sounds promising if you can live without the ability to download apps.
My main question would be, on my Pebble, I can get notifications from all the apps on my phone and select which ones I want to get and which ones I don't want to get, so I'm not just limited to SMS and Email notifications. Can this watch do that, so for instance if the Amazon app displays a notification about a shipment on my phone, will it show on the watch?
Also wondering if a firmware upate fixed this...
"Talking of notifications, we found these to be a little buggy. Most of the time phone notifications came through to the device without issue, but now and then they didn’t come through until some time after they should have, and we also found some notifications came through to the watch multiple times, though we never worked out why."
jazee said:
I read a review and it sounds promising if you can live without the ability to download apps.
My main question would be, on my Pebble, I can get notifications from all the apps on my phone and select which ones I want to get and which ones I don't want to get, so I'm not just limited to SMS and Email notifications. Can this watch do that, so for instance if the Amazon app displays a notification about a shipment on my phone, will it show on the watch?
Also wondering if a firmware upate fixed this...
"Talking of notifications, we found these to be a little buggy. Most of the time phone notifications came through to the device without issue, but now and then they didn’t come through until some time after they should have, and we also found some notifications came through to the watch multiple times, though we never worked out why."
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Everything is working so far. Your quote to my post for example, was notified by fair mail which I selected and shown then on the watch, see pics As long as a notification pop-up is shown on the status bar it will work, but one app did not work it's delta.chat. Don't know why, still investigating. Maybe a app or health issue
strongst said:
Everything is working so far. Your quote to my post for example, was notified by fair mail which I selected and shown then on the watch, see pics As long as a notification pop-up is shown on the status bar it will work, but one app did not work it's delta.chat. Don't know why, still investigating. Maybe a app or health issue
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I'm guessing you can't prevent notifications from certain apps on only the watch?
Did you consider the Amazfit GTS? They seem similar but the Amazfit I think is considerably cheaper.
jazee said:
I'm guessing you can't prevent notifications from certain apps on only the watch?
Did you consider the Amazfit GTS? They seem similar but the Amazfit I think is considerably cheaper.
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You can select the notification what you want to be shown on the watch, see screenshot. Or do you want to have a notification only to be shown on the watch, but not on the phone?
I ordered both watches and the following are my personal pros and cons.
Amazfit GTS: 128€
-can't make calls
-no storage for music
-GPS not that accurate
-no SpO2
Honor Magic Watch 2: 146€
-round design(I wanted a round watch again)
I've been scouring the web trying to find *current* info about the overheating issue, but all I'm finding is stuff from last year. Nothing new about whether it was ever fixed by a software path, or if current inventory has a hardware fix, or if Google just ignored it as they often do. I'd like to know if I buy a new Pixel 5a today, directly from Google, if it still may have the problem. I'd be grateful for any info, thanks!
IMissPalmOS said:
I've been scouring the web trying to find *current* info about the overheating issue, but all I'm finding is stuff from last year. Nothing new about whether it was ever fixed by a software path, or if current inventory has a hardware fix, or if Google just ignored it as they often do. I'd like to know if I buy a new Pixel 5a today, directly from Google, if it still may have the problem. I'd be grateful for any info, thanks!
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I don't play games and I don't use 4k video on my camera. For me phone is great didn't get worm once, but that is just my use, pictures, fullHD video, chat, video calls, phonecalls and browsing and watching videos.
I meet this problem when I take photos or video ([email protected]).
I have had issues by simply using Android Auto in my vehicle in less than 10 minutes of use. I have also experienced the overheating when recording videos even though I have followed all of the tips in Google's support email.
If I'm using Android Auto, I have to keep the phone in front of an AC vent in my car - otherwise all radios shut off within 1-2 minutes, followed a few minutes later by an overheat message (at that point it's already throttled so bad that the phone is completely unusable anyway).
Any teleconference app that uses the front camera causes it to shut down all radios about 1-2 minutes before popping up the overheat message with no warning before turning off radios (Zoom, Mychart, CVS Minute Clinic, Teladoc, even a Facebook Messenger video call). Drove me crazy trying to do a telemedicine appointment with my doctor, he finally called me instead.
Even just trying to do a phone call with Google Maps running during the call makes this damn thing overheat. Taking it out of the case (Spigen Slimarmor) seems to delay it by about a minute.
Honestly, if Fi didn't require me to keep it active for 120 days to keep the discount I got on it, I would have run the damn thing under an 18 wheeler by now. The only benefits over my old OP8T are the camera app and the physical size. That's it. Luckily I still have it, so once I hit that 120 days, I'm going back to the 8T.
Has anyone tried alternate ROMs to see if they handle the overheating issue any better? I'm especially interested in LineageOS. I imagine some kernel changes to scheduling and clocks could handle things better for this processor.