this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2023
134 points (94.7% liked)

Android

17648 readers
213 users here now

The new home of /r/Android on Lemmy and the Fediverse!

Android news, reviews, tips, and discussions about rooting, tutorials, and apps.

πŸ”—Universal Link: [email protected]


πŸ’‘Content Philosophy:

Content which benefits the community (news, rumours, and discussions) is generally allowed and is valued over content which benefits only the individual (technical questions, help buying/selling, rants, self-promotion, etc.) which will be removed if it's in violation of the rules.


Support, technical, or app related questions belong in: [email protected]

For fresh communities, lemmy apps, and instance updates: [email protected]

πŸ’¬Matrix Chat

πŸ’¬Telegram channels / chats

πŸ“°Our communities below


Rules

  1. Stay on topic: All posts should be related to the Android OS or ecosystem.

  2. No support questions, recommendation requests, rants, or bug reports: Posts must benefit the community rather than the individual. Please post to [email protected].

  3. Describe images/videos, no memes: Please include a text description when sharing images or videos. Post memes to [email protected].

  4. No self-promotion spam: Active community members can post their apps if they answer any questions in the comments. Please do not post links to your own website, YouTube, blog content, or communities.

  5. No reposts or rehosted content: Share only the original source of an article, unless it's not available in English or requires logging in (like Twitter). Avoid reposting the same topic from other sources.

  6. No editorializing titles: You can add the author or website's name if helpful, but keep article titles unchanged.

  7. No piracy or unverified APKs: Do not share links or direct people to pirated content or unverified APKs, which may contain malicious code.

  8. No unauthorized polls, bots, or giveaways: Do not create polls, use bots, or organize giveaways without first contacting mods for approval.

  9. No offensive or low-effort content: Don't post offensive or unhelpful content. Keep it civil and friendly!

  10. No affiliate links: Posting affiliate links is not allowed.

Quick Links

Our Communities

Lemmy App List

Chat and More


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Use the snapdragon w5 gen 1, no more tensor on the wearables for now.

top 47 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Under water butthole?

I mean... You have my attention, but to what end are we implementing this new tech?

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No, it’s Ultra-Wide Butthole. It’s part of a new set of standards, Global Open Access Technology, Second Edition.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Good lordt.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I really like mine, but the battery left a lot to be desired. For day to day I just use one of the smaller fit bits now that have like 10 days of battery. Now I only take the watch when I'm going on trips or driving long distances since the notification system is far superior. If they came with a decent battery life bump I'd be all over a new iteration.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yea I get roughly a day out of mine. If I don't charge it in the mornings it won't make it through the day. I'd love to get a couple days out of it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Eh that’s how my Apple Watch is and I don’t mind because I charge my phone every night as well.

A day is fine, more than a day is nice but not necessary, less than a day is unacceptable.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Well when using it for sleep monitoring it means I can't charge it overnight. It doesn't charge quick enough to get a full day while charging in the shower or something so it's inconvenient

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

After coming from a fitbit, I put it on charge and then forget to put it back on. The wireless charging makes it slow. The versa would charge in 30m

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I've recently changed to a Fitbit Versa 2 after having a Huawei Android Wear for years until it literally fell apart. The Huawei never lasted more than a day, but I can get 2-3 with the Versa, which means I can use it for sleep tracking. Charging up only takes 30 minutes or so, so every few days I just pop it in for a bit. I ended up never using most of the features of the Android, so the Fitbit does me fine. The only thing I miss is the "now playing", but I can live with that.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I have used mostly Xiaomi bands, I'm currently wearing a Redmi Band 2. It is not a smartwatch, it's just a fitness tracker, but it can also control media, take photos and receive notifications, and lasts 10 days between charges. That's all I care about (for now). When smartwatches batteries get better I may consider a full fledged one.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think a lot of people take it off at night, allowing them to charge it for the next day, making the battery issue less important. It sucks for those that want to track their sleep though.

I know my ticwatch only lasts 2 days under light usage, so I make sure to charge it every night. But I don't care to track my sleep, so I'm one of the people it doesn't matter for.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is missing one of the most awesome features of these devices - vibration wake up alarm. It is literally life changing, and doubly so when your partner is using it. πŸ₯²

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't use alarms either, I'm one of those annoying people who just wakes up on time lol

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Not sure whether to be happy for you or sad. πŸ˜„

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

I bought some really nice watch off Temu for $12 and it lasts days. I didn't know if id wear a smartwatch, so i started with that. It's lasts probably 5-7days. I've heard a lot of great reviews on garmins compared to Samsung, pixel, etc. I don't care about all the fancy stuff, just want the time, steps, and texts.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago

Not having to charge it every 1-2 days would be great. Batteries degrade over time and I don't want to buy a new one every 2 years.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Interesting.

I jumped into smartwatches back with the Asus Zenwatch. It was fun but terrible UI, terrible battery life, terrible processing speed. It spent must of its life in my dresser drawer.

A couple years ago, I got the Samsung watch 4, and it was a whole different story. Snappy. Great UI. Great battery life.

I haven't seen any killer features that would make me upgrade or change brands to a new watch yet. UWB Is definitely cool, and I love to see competition, and I'm definitely open to upgrading, but even 2 generations on, in not seeing any new must-have killer features.

[–] bugsmith 7 points 1 year ago (3 children)

...Samsung watch 4, and it was a whole different story. Snappy. Great UI. Great battery life.

Do we have a different Samsung watch 4? Or a different expectation of great battery?

I got one last year, and it's my first smartwatch. It lasts one day. Having to charge it every night makes it a burden. Of it hadn't been so expensive, and if I didn't want to get the body tracking It offers, I'd simply leave it on a drawer.

My friend has a Garmin of some kind. It's bulky, but o kind of like that. He reckons his lasts nearly a week. That would be my idea of great battery.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Maybe your battery is a dud. I get through a day of very heavy use with 50% battery remaining.

[–] bugsmith 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah maybe. But even that is hardly exceptional battery life. And then the watch will be less than 50% by the time you've slept with it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Exactly. Then imagine how bad things will get once the battery degrades, which will be a lot quicker with the constant charging. My Garmin lasts 2 weeks on a single charge in "smart watch" mode.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I've got the Galaxy Watch4 and I love it. I get nearly two days of battery, which is fine by my standards, and the UX is snappy as hell.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

WearOS is just a lot more taxing on the battery than what Garmin has because it does a lot more. The upside is that you get an entire ecosystem of 3rd party apps/services you can install.

Apple's own apple watch doesn't last much longer unless you basically disable everything.

Smart watches that work like a phone are inherently always going to have worse battery than smart watches that are only programmed to do a very narrow set of things.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I was about to say something similar.

I have an Apple Watch Series 7. Average battery life is ~30 hours. Less if it runs on LTE instead of Bluetooth.

That watch is more expensive than the Galaxy Watch 4. At launch and second hand.

Now you can get a good/mint condition used Galaxy Watch 4 Classic 46mm LTE for around ~$150 on Swappa. The same tier Apple Watch Series 7 on Swappa goes for ~$225 on Swappa.

And the Apple Watch doesn't even have blood pressure like the Watch 4 does. Granted, you have to do some sideloading to get it working in the States until FDA clears it, but the hardware is still there.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Here I am looking in the internet to see if Pixel Watch 1 is worth it to buy right now.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I like mine. The battery leaves a lot to be desired but I do use it quite a bit. The coolest feature for me (I know this is standard for all smart watches), I'm frequently wearing an earbud. When someone calls I can check the caller ID on my wrist, accept it and start talking without touching my phone (sometimes it's in another room).

I like it for runs and the health tracking features are really good. I wish they'd come up with a better layout for picking an app. It's just a really long list. Something more like Apple's watch app grid.

If you get one on sale I'd recommend it, or just wait to see what the 2 has to offer

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

As for the launcher, there's Bubble Launcher. Give it a try!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I've owned several Android Wear devices since they launched many years ago. I like my pixel watch the best so far, but looking forward to gen 2 with better battery.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I’d say it’s not worth it unless it’s super cheap. I have one I bought at full price that has been in its box since I bought it. Used it for one week to really give it a go. The issues I had with it in combination with the pixel 6 I also don’t use anymore are the reason I am losing faith in Google’s vision of Android hardware.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What issues? That's so vague...

[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You’re right about the vagueness. I didn’t want to spill about it unless someone wanted the details. Which would you like to know about the watch or the phone?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

The watch has a great size and screen to start with. The main demerits are the poor battery life and locking features behind a paywall. There are features provided with similar products like the Apple Watch that are locked behind a fit bit subscription.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

It's... fine, I guess. I've had several non-Apple smartwatches over time. So far, it's OK. I had a Garmin Vivoactive 3 before this, but it finally died after several years. I don't know that I'd buy another one, but I'm also not actively looking at alternatives.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

UWB is nice, easier finding of wearables if lost :)

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Give this away as a preorder for the 8 Pro please.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

On the notion of batteries, I have a new, galaxy watch 4 LTE. With mobile network always on and everything else off (Bluetooth, wifi, location) I'm getting 16hrs of battery.

Is that expected?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It will get better after a couple of days. Make sure you install all updates so it will not try to update in the background.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I unfortunately dont have one. But you ask about that in the galaxy watch community here.

https://lemdro.id/c/galaxywatch

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Hi there! Looks like you linked to a Lemmy community using a URL instead of its name, which doesn't work well for people on different instances. Try fixing it like this: [email protected]

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

This right here is why Lemmy will never replace Reddit. It shouldn't be this complicated to share a post.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Now just make it in a larger case size and I might consider one

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Hoping for a bundle with the pixel 8, but not holding my breath. Not even sure I want a smartwatch yet tbh, but it does look nice...

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Given what Google did to Fitbit I would never buy a Google branded watch on principle.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

What did they do to Fitbit. I haven't noticed any changes

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What did they do to Fitbit?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

They nuked the Fitbit community. No more achievements.