“Are smartwatches worth it?”
If you have been struggling to find the answer to this question, you’re not alone.
When smartwatches were first launched in the consumer market, their functionalities were very limited.
The majority of first-generation smartwatches mainly served as a tool for monitoring physical activities.
The worse part? — The health and fitness data tracked by first-generation smartwatches were quite inaccurate and unreliable.
But in the past few years, smartwatches have evolved a lot, not just in its fitness tracking capabilities but in many other aspects as well.
So are smartwatches worth buying now that their fitness tracking & other functionalities have improved?
The answer largely depends on your preference and purpose for buying a smartwatch.
Buying a smartwatch is worth it if you’re a fitness enthusiast and want to use the features it offers. Apart from fitness tracking, there are many uses of a smartwatch like heart rate monitoring, GPS navigation, emergency support, and more that make it a worthwhile investment.
But if you’re still struggling to understand why are smartwatches worth buying, I’m here to help you decide.
In this post, I have explained 11 reasons why is it worth buying a smartwatch.
Ready to find out? Let’s get into it!
Are Smartwatches Worth It? Here are 11 Reasons to Buy One
Smartwatches have surely become immensely popular all over the world.
Nowadays, you see people wearing one everywhere.
In fact, I can’t count the number of times I have listened to people praising the benefits of a smartwatch.
But, is buying a smartwatch worth it?
While many people buy a smartwatch primarily for fitness tracking or as a fashion accessory, there are several other reasons to buy a smartwatch.
1 – Heart Rate Monitoring
Heart rate monitoring is one of the main reasons people buy a smartwatch as it can tell a lot about our overall health.
For the uninitiated, smartwatches use photoplethysmography (PPG) technology to measure your pulse rate by detecting blood flow through your skin.
In simple words, smartwatches are equipped with sensors to monitor your blood flow and changes in your blood volume. The smartwatch then converts your blood flow readings and blood volume into heart rate measurements.
For people with an active lifestyle, heart rate monitoring can be incredibly helpful during workout sessions and various physical activities such as walking, jogging, running, cycling, hiking, and so on.
2 – Blood Oxygen Monitoring
The new generation of smartwatches can monitor our blood oxygen levels quite accurately and give us helpful insights into our lungs’ condition.
Unfortunately, only some smartwatches like Apple Watch Series 8, Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, and other high-end models have this built-in feature.
But if you have a certain health condition that requires measuring your blood oxygen regularly, buying a smartwatch with a built-in blood oxygen monitoring feature is definitely worth it.
Smartwatches measure your blood oxygen levels (SpO2) by using LEDs to shine a light on your bloodstream, measure the absorption, and translate it into the amount of oxygen present.
Although, the blood oxygen measurement results from a smartwatch should only be taken as a general estimate and not be replaced with professional blood oxygen measuring equipment.
3 – Blood Pressure Measurement
In addition to blood oxygen monitoring, smartwatches can also provide blood pressure estimates using their built-in sensors. It is one of the few non-invasive methods for monitoring blood pressure.
Smartwatches estimate your blood pressure by using an algorithm based on your heart rate measurement, pulse wave analysis, and changes in blood pressure caused by blood flow.
Just like blood oxygen monitoring, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement in smartwatches can vary and may not be completely accurate like a professional blood pressure measuring medical device.
4 – Fitness Tracking
Almost all smartwatches come equipped with a heart rate sensor, a pedometer, and various fitness activity tracking features.
These features are designed to help reach your fitness goals and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Each smartwatch model offers slightly different fitness-tracking features. But most smartwatches allow tracking basic fitness activities such as walking, running, and cycling along with different types of exercises.
So if you’re working on getting fitter, a smartwatch can be a great companion in your fitness journey.
5 – Sleep Tracking
Sleep is essential for our health and smartwatches can now track our total sleep time and give us valuable information regarding our sleeping patterns.
Today, nearly all smartwatches can sense when we fall asleep, track our sleep stages, and give us helpful insights into our REM sleep cycles, deep sleep, overall sleep quality, and wake time.
Additionally, smartwatches also provide personalized tips on how to improve our sleep habits and achieve longer REM sleep cycles every night.
6 – GPS
GPS is another reason why smartwatches are popular all over the world.
Smartwatches generally have built-in GPS functionality that allows you to track your location, view maps, and receive turn-by-turn directions to your destination on your wrist.
Some smartwatches even allow offline navigation, enabling users to travel to any location even when they don’t have an internet connection.
This feature can be incredibly helpful especially when you’re traveling to a new place and is also useful in tracking your route while you’re running, hiking, or cycling.
7 – Notifications
Just like smartphones, smartwatches send you instant notification alerts about upcoming calls, messages, emails, and more.
Many smartwatches even allow you to access your notifications and respond to them directly from your wrist. This, in turn, completely eliminates the need to take out your phone every time a notification arrives.
Additionally, you can even choose which notifications you would like to get alerted about on your smartwatch.
This can be incredible in some cases especially when you’re expecting to receive an important notification and or when you don’t want to be disturbed by an unwanted notification while in a meeting or at any other place where you need to be quiet.
8 – Offline Music
The majority of smartwatches allow you to control music when they’re paired with your smartwatch via Bluetooth. Using your smartwatch, you can change pause, stop, change track, and even adjust volume levels when you’re listening to music.
Additionally, there are a few models of smartwatches that even support offline music.
For the uninitiated, the offline music feature in a smartwatch allows storing and playing music without having your smartwatch paired with your smartphone or an internet connection.
To listen to offline music, you just have to transfer your music files to your smartwatch’s internal storage via a data cable. Once the music is loaded on the smartwatch, you can listen to your favorite music by accessing the smartwatch music app.
This feature can be particularly useful if you go on runs or do some kind of outdoor activities on a regular basis. In fact, many of the latest smartwatch models even support music streaming services like Spotify.
9 – Calling
Apart from the music functionality, a smartwatch can also help to make and receive calls from your wrist.
That’s right! You can ditch your smartphone and go on about your day without missing any important calls by wearing a smartwatch.
Although, the majority of smartwatches do require you to carry your smartphone with you because they can only send you notifications about incoming calls when paired with your smartphone.
There are, however, some standalone smartwatches that don’t require you to carry your smartphone for using the calling feature.
10 – Contactless Payment
Another great reason to buy a smartwatch is its ability to make contactless payments anywhere that accepts it via NFC device.
I personally love the contactless payment feature on my smartwatch because it has been really helpful in paying for gas, groceries, and restaurant bills among many other things.
The best part? — To make contactless payments using your smartwatch, you just have to hold your watch up close to the payment reader and it instantly processes your transaction.
11 – Emergency Support
Last but not least, smartwatches are equipped with various emergency support abilities such as making an emergency call, sending an emergency message, and triggering a loud alarm to name a few.
Some smartwatches even come with a built-in fall detection feature that automatically alerts the local emergency services if you suddenly meet with an accident or take a hard fall and are unable to respond.
In addition to emergency services, smartwatches can also help you find your phone with the “Find My Phone” feature. This entirely eliminates making a call from another phone to find your own in case you misplace it or lose it at someplace.
Conclusion
Buying a smartwatch is definitely worth it if you value mobility and are someone who is always on the move and wants to lead a healthy lifestyle.
With that said, I hope you found this post helpful and can now make an informed decision.