Fortunately, smartwatches can be used for quite a number of different tasks, as there are so many specifications that everyone agrees on. Then there are those that are specialized in one type of circumstance and offer features tailored to it.
This is what happens with sports smartwatches, devices that offer practically the same as any smartwatch, but with certain capabilities oriented towards physical exercise and sports.
There are certain brands that are totally specialized in this type of device, such as Garmin, Polar or Suunto, among others.
But these types of watches are not free from certain errors and oversights that many users have when buying them, meaning that they do not adapt perfectly to their situation and what they expect from these devices.
It is evident that knowing what these mistakes are, we will not make them and therefore the smartwatch we buy will be the right decision. That is why we invite you to continue reading this article and you can find out what these failures are.
Index of contents:
Choose the right size
Although what we are going to tell you next may seem a bit strange, it is something that usually happens more often than we think.
We are talking about users who buy smart watches without looking at the size, not only of the device itself, but also of the measurements of your wrist.
This later causes disappointment because certain watches are going to look excessively large on certain wrists, so the first thing we must be aware of is how much this part of our body measures and then adapt the watch to it.
If we do it this way, we will not have any kind of problem and the watch will be as we expected.
Garmin Fenix 7xHuawei Watch GT 3
Manufacturing materials
Another thing we should pay attention to, even more when we want a sports watch, is the materials in which it is builtsince as when practicing a physical effort with the device on our wrist, we will sweat, which meant that both the watch itself and the strap must be adapted to this circumstance.
In this sense, having polycarbonate, carbon fiber or other light alloys for the box, in addition to silicone or hypoallergenic derivatives on the strap, they are the best options, both for the perspiration of the body, as well as for the weight and, even, for the durability of the sports watch.
The first of the mistakes that is usually made is not looking at the materials in which the watch is made and the second is thinking that all versions of the same watch model are the same, something that is not usually the case.
Dust and water resistance
This is another of the most surprising situations, since the vast majority of users who buy any type of smart watch, sports or not, believe that it has resistance to both water and dustwhich unfortunately is a mistake.
Yes, it is true that the highest percentage of devices sold today come with at least water support, but there may be some sporadic case in which this circumstance is not contemplated or that it is only protected against splashes.
That is why it is another of the data that we must look at and know that, if a device has an IP68 resistance, it means that it withstands a level 6 in terms of dust and a level 8 in terms of water.
Dust resistance level | Incoming object size |
---|---|
0 | no protection |
1 | |
two | < 12.5mm |
3 | < 2.5mm |
4 | <1mm |
5 | protection against olive |
6 | Full Dust Protection |
Water protection level | Protection |
---|---|
0 | None |
1 | dripping water |
two | More intense dripping water |
3 | spray style water |
4 | Water springs |
5 | More intense water jets |
6 | Very powerful water jets |
7 | Submersible to 1 meter for 30 minutes |
8 | Submersible to 1.5 meters for at least 30 minutes |
9 |
connectivity
All smart watches have enough capabilities in terms of connectivity, although it is true that there are differences between them.
Those who are dedicated to sports they practically always bring GPS, in addition to the typical Bluetooth and WiFi connections. In any case, it is preferable not to assume that they carry this connection with the satellites and always check it.
The feature that often goes unnoticed and that we advise you to check is whether the watch can be connected with accessories to measure certain sports parameters.
If we take everything that is the control of our sports activity very seriously, we should have the possibility of buying a smartwatch that would allow us, for example, to link chest straps for the heart rate or accessories to measure the pedaling cadence, among others. ,
All things multimedia
How surely you have been noticing, many of the mistakes that are made are due to taking for granted certain characteristics that, perhaps, that specific model of sports watch does not have, but that we assume that all the watches on the market have.
This also happens with everything that is related to the multimedia section. In this case we must divide this entire section into two aspects, one in which the smartwatch is directly connected to the mobile phone and another in which it is not like that, being more independent.
If we are talking about a watch that we are going to wear connected to our mobile, it is normal for it to have all the basics to be able to manage music and everything you need in that regard.
But when it comes to sports, it is normal for many people to look for watches that are independent of the phone and that allow them, for example, to go for a run and enjoy a Bluetooth connection with headphones to be able to listen to the music they like the most.
In this case, it will be necessary to check that the clock has enough memory to be able to carry sound files, something that is usually normal, but that we maintain the same as we have told you in the previous cases, it is not always the case.
Another option would be to have a smart watch that not only had enough space for music and connected via Bluetooth to our headphones, but could also incorporate a card to make it totally independent of the phone, but receiving all the notifications that we need
Polar Vantage V TitanSuunto 9
The measures
Watches that are dedicated to sports usually have a good number of different measurements dedicated exclusively to our physical effort, but not all of them bring the same ones, so we must make sure that the device we like has all those that we are going to need.
The most common are the heart rate monitor, pedometer and other functions that specifically measure a sporting activity such as when it measures cadence for cycling, laps for swimming, or distance traveled for those who love to run.
Other faculties such as the measurement of heart rate either sleep motorization are also often present.
All of these measurements are usually send to some kind of app to keep track of the data collected, being another parameter that we must consider before buying it, since there are some that are specific to the brands, but others that are used by everyone, so the watch must be compatible with the latter.
With everything that we have told you in this article, we hope that you can choose the best sports watch for you and do not make any of these mistakes, which, as you have seen, are more than anything oversights, assuming that all these devices have great specifications, something that not true for all models.
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism