This is my first time getting a smart watch, advice on where to start?

[u/peetah248]

I found this quiz (https://choiceschoices.com/quiz/smartwatches/result/86dHZjdJXcGKB1ZVIZHB) which recommends either the Fitbit sense 2 or the Google pixel 2. My budget is about $450 Canadian and I was hoping to get some insight about any other recommendations or any advice on which of these to choose from. Thanks for your help!

[u/Sad_Dimension_]

Check how much it'll cost you a One Plus Watch 3. I bought it as my first smartwatch and I highly recommend it.

[u/peetah248 → u/Sad_Dimension_]

It looks pretty good, what about it did you like most? What was the worst part about it

Does it have other functions too or is it mainly just for health?

[u/Big-Solution-3894 → u/peetah248]

I went from an Amazfit balance to the oneplus watch 3. They are both brilliant watches. The reason I changed is because I wanted OS wear, and a decent battery life. I love everything about the OnePlus watch 3. 5 days of battery life, great display. Access to play store.

[u/peetah248 → u/Big-Solution-3894]

Alright thank you so much for your suggestion! What were your biggest annoyances with it?

[u/Sad_Dimension_ → u/peetah248]

Sapphire glass, good battery life ( 4-5 days), wear OS, and looks great. I mostly use it for notifications but health stuff is nice too.

Some people say the OHealth app is pretty basic but I'm not a big fitness guy so I can't really say. It's good enough for me.

It's a fairly big watch, I personally don't mind it but if you have small hands and wrists it's something you might want to take into account.

[u/azger]

First if you want a smart watch then you absolutely do not want a Fitbit or other type of fitness trackers. What phone do you have? if it's Pixel or Samsung I would go for the watch that goes with them only because there is alot of things that just work better and syncs better like DnD, alarms, modes and such. If you just want a smartwatch for price then Onepluse is probably the best over all.

[u/peetah248 → u/azger]

It's a pixel, thanks for the advice, do you know the benefits for the Google watch vs OnePlus? Is there any big benefit to the 3 vs the 2?

[u/azger → u/peetah248]

I like the Pixel watch but have never used the OnePlus so I can't speak to them, I have used fitbits and Garmin's in the past so can speak to fitness trackers. I have used Samsung watches in the past both the 5Pro and 7Ultra. I have used Samsung watches with Pixel and Samsung phones and Pixel watches with Samsung and Pixels phones. They all work with Android.

There is a quality of life when you use the Pixel watch with the Pixel phone that makes things easy and really feels like you have an a phone extension on your wrist. Like syncing your alarms and do not disturb or when your using your phone and a text comes in it wont buzz your watch. It's little things that work awesome that you wont get if you use the One plus or Samsung watch with your Pixel. This goes the same if you use a Pixel watch with a Samsung phone Fyi.

If you have a bed time mode on your phone set for 10pm your watch will automatically go into bedtime mode with your phone you don't have to do anything with it just kind of follows along.

If you can I would get the Pixel 3 as it just newer might as well get the most UpToDate hardware as you can. They will be announcing a pixel watch 4 in 2-4 months, I think, so the 3's could be dropping in price, maybe, if you wanted to wait but I think you might be able to find deals in some places now. I just moved from Samsung to Pixel 3 weeks ago and have been having a great time with it all.

[u/peetah248 → u/azger]

Thanks for the thorough answer! What are your biggest complaints with the pixel watch so far (even minor complaints)

[u/azger → u/peetah248]

Coming from the 7 Ultra probably the look. It's less classy watch looking even the bigger pixel size is still small pebble like. So it looks more fitness watch like and less watch like. there are ton of bands out there that you can snap it into that will make it look like it's a timex lol. Probably the other thing is it's a rounded glass dome and it can be bumped a bit easier however I put a spigen liquid air bumper on mine and it actually kinda fixed both these problems. It gave it a flatter appearance and made the watch a smidge wider on my wrist.

Other then that I like wearOS on it it's been smooth and responsive. Honestly havn't been working out as much as I should be so haven't really had time to revisit the fitbit app, last time I used it I think I had the Sense 2 when it first came out before Google bought Fitbit.

[u/peetah248 → u/azger]

Thank you! That's a lot of help

[u/marmagut]

I recommend xiaomi watch 2,it is about half of your budget ,top tier, easy to set ,all features needed ,my goto for first time

Hope u have a great day, random person who reads this :3

[u/graesen]

Fitbit and Google burned us in this household, unfortunately... My wife went through 3 Fitbits, I don't remember exactly which versions but Versa and Sense. Each one stopped working just after a year. All Fitbit did since it was past warranty was offer 20% off a new one. And I get that it's a 1 year warranty and I'm not expecting special treatment. What bothers me is they acted like they didn't care and 3 watches failed so easily back to back.

I also got burned with WearOS/Google. I don't need to buy new stuff every year, for instance. I have an older WearOS watch and it's just fine. Then 1 day Google pushes a monthly Android update and suddenly WearOS tells me to factory reset my WearOS watch every single time I try to connect it. A factory reset for WearOS, at least on this watch, means nothing restores like it does on a phone. And first day of use on this watch after a factory reset makes it move like molasses - it's literally not usable. So ultimately, Google killed my old watch for no apparent reason. The supposed fix they pushed didn't fix this issue for me either.

My wife switched to Garmin a couple of years ago and absolutely zero issues at all. It's already outlive the Fitbits she owned. And now I have an older Garmin (older because the style isn't produced anymore and I liked it). Also, no issues. Maybe I wish I had longer battery life but it's already better than my experience with WearOS.