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Wearable devices are increasingly used according to a statistic regarding smartwatches sold in the United States 1. Their sales are therefore constantly increasing but they are not yet as fashionable as the manufacturing companies perhaps hoped. We are talking above all about everyday life and use among ordinary people. But besides Apple Watches, which ones alternative smartwatches exist?
There Apple in fact it literally dominates the market smartwatches, but the others are certainly not watching either 2. Some companies have decided to make their own operating system on which to run their software, for example Garmin And Fitbit OS (what time is it property of Google 3, we'll talk about it later).
Are all smartwatches the same?
Many others instead have decided to use WearOS. For those who don't know, WearOS is the operating system version Android designed for smartwatches. Initially his name was his own Android Wear, it was later renamed to WearOS. This is the case for example with smartwatches LG, Misfit, Motorola and others.
Samsung's smartwatches, on the other hand, started with Android and then moved on to Tizen (based on Linux). Since 2021 it has returned from Android using WearOS of Google and will use Tizen only for its smart TVs 4.
A year ago, among the alternative smartwatches we would have also mentioned Fitbit, but is now owned by Google. A long and interesting article by EFF (used Mate Translate for the translation) explains the possible reasons for this acquisition. Fitbit it is in fact one of the largest wearable device companies in the world specializing in Trackers and smartwatches that monitor health and fitness. So tracking location, how and how much people train, their heart rate and even the quality of their sleep. We combine all this data with what Google already has in its possession and we have a very precise idea of why Fitbit was acquired. For some, however, Fitbit will be one of the many companies and projects that Google will send to the graveyard 5. You already know the site Google Graveyard?
To learn more about tracking with smartwatches you can read this interesting article: Who's tracking the health trackers?
So are there any alternative smartwatches?
Obviously the choice of a smartwatch also depends on what you are looking for. There are smartwatches to do calls, others with the GPS for the tracking of workouts. Some monitor sleep and others do notifications only of the cell phone.
So think carefully first about what you want yours to do smartwatches and then consequently choose one suitable for your purpose.
AsteroidOS
The first name that comes to mind when we talk about alternative smartwatches is that of AsteroidOS. It's an operating system Open source 6 based on Android. It can only be installed on some smartwatches and you have to know how to tinker with the computer a little to be able to do it. The instructions for every smartwatch though they are very clear And simple and if you feel like wasting some time you could give it a try. According to the authors it allows you to carry autonomy up to 48 hours of your smartwatch and includes a set of pre-installed apps such as agenda, alarm, timer and a weather app.
Bangle.js
Is one innovative smartwatch, Open source 7 And sold at a modest price (around €80). It totally is waterproof, has a GPS and a detector for the heartbeat. Accelerometer with pedometer and a good 350mAh battery. You can install many applications all in JavaScript. We haven't been able to test it personally but we haven't read any negative comments around. Here you can read a review of it.
Garmin
Garmins are great smartwatches and it couldn't be otherwise as they are among the most expensive absolutely. However, they are really very professional and keep all the promises they make. It's not very clear to us what type of operating system they have on top, let's imagine something proprietary and created specifically for their entire ecosystem. Even if later this summer's attack a little fear remains in using it.
Mi Band ed Amazfit
A quote also for Mi Band, Despite Xiaomi certainly hasn't stood out in the past to be attentive to the privacy of its users. However, we know (even if we have never tested it) that it exists for these smartwatches Gadgetbridge, an application Open source 8 available on F-Droid For control your smartwatch. According to the authors of this app you can use the Amazfit and of Mi Band without transmitting data to the servers of the manufacturing companies! An excellent compromise therefore.
Apple Watch
As well as for alternatives to Android, Also Apple it can be an alternative. Unfortunately its products are all closed and proprietary software but, at least in theory, their business It's not our data. If you already have a iPhone, therefore, could be the perfect choice for you. On the other hand, what technical characteristics they really are among the best smartwatches in circulation such as fall detection, emergency calls and a professional ECG.
As anticipated by the article, it also exists Tizen. It's an operating system Open source 9 but with some proprietary parts of Samsung property. So not a completely free and open system.
It also existed too Pebble, which was then decommissioned in 2016. Now it seems that someone wants to keep the community active anyway, renaming it to Rebble.
We know there is also a SailfishOS (of which we have already talked about) adapted for smartwatches. But it seems like an abandoned project as it is the last post it is stuck in 2016. FitbitFinally, it was really interesting but now that it's in the hands of Google it's definitely best to stay away from it.
Lastly, we would like to point out the existence of a "kit" for developers produced by Pine64, if you are interested take a look here.
- Smartwatch devices unit sales in the United States from 2016 to 2020[↩]
- Apple Dominates Global Smartwatch Sales[↩]
- Google buys Fitbit for $2.1 billion[↩]
- Tizen on Wikipedia[↩]
- Don't Buy Fitbit[↩]
- AsteroidOS on GitHub[↩]
- Bangle.js on GitHub[↩]
- Source code by Gadgetbridge[↩]
- Source code by Tizen[↩]
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