Fossil Hybrid Smartwatch - Q Commuter Stainless Steel FTW1153

The idea of a hybrid watch is pretty fun -- who doesn't want the connectivity of a phone-enabled watch with the stylish look of a men's dress watch? -- but the reality is that the watch's analog face requires some significant compromises that impair its functionality. There are only three buttons on the watch which means despite the diverse functionality, in practice you'll only be using three functions. It's also a big, heavy watch that affects how you'll likely use it. Let's take them from the top:* NOTIFICATIONS: The watch can vibrate and notify you when you have a text or phone message. The way this works, you assign a contact to a number (1 to 12). The watch then moves its hands to that number to let you know you have a message. You need to memorize who is assigned to what number. The good news is the notification is tied to your contacts, so if you receive a call from a variety of phone numbers from one contact, they're all grouped under the same notification number on your watch. The bad news is...who is really going to memorize 12 numbers when you could just look at your phone to see who called/texted?* ACTIVITY TRACKING: This happens on the app via the watch. Standard, but welcome, as it will show you your sleep and steps. But nobody is going to sleep with this thing, unless you want a watch-shaped impression on your face.* NO CHARGING REQUIRED: This is a welcome change from other smart watches and definitely a net positive. It's only six months though.* CUSTOMIZABLE BUTTONS: Well, yeah, but there are only three. The features range from managing music volume up and down, to taking a picture, to starting and stopping a video. I ended up giving this watch to my father, who is a musician and frequently listens to music. He used the top right button to increase the volume, the middle button to start/stop music, and the bottom right button to lower volume. As someone who recently tried over 10 attempts to snap a family photo with myself in the picture, I can appreciate the value of remotely triggering the camera -- but my dad doesn't use his phone this way so that function isn't particularly appealing.The watch's biggest flaw was installing the app. I kept getting a message that the connectivity wasn't good enough to connect to the server when creating an account -- and then after a few tries got a message that the email was already registered. I took that as a sign that the registration worked and entered the password -- and kept getting the same connectivity error. I finally ended up just rebooting the phone, and then suddenly everything magically worked. As is increasingly typical with smart devices, the instruction manual is pages of "install the app" in a variety of languages. Less technically proficient or determined users would probably give up long before I did.Overall, my dad's quite happy with the watch. I was less impressed. Given the cost, you could get a less attractive watch for less hassle.

The college student was excited to try this smart watch. First, let's talk about the style. The silver-tone link band is classic looking -- but the college student has a small wrist, so links always have to be taken out of the band. The face is about 1.75 inches in diameter. It is a thick watch, because of the smart watch feature, about 1/2 inch thick. In the past, he's worn a G-Shock watch, so the thickness of the face isn't anything that bothers him. With the large, thick face and the link band, the watch is very heavy on the wrist -- that might bother some people, though not the college student.As to functionality, the hands and time markers are fairly easy to read. Not numbers, but slash marks at the five-minute intervals. The smart watch inset dial does overlay the time markers at the :20 and :25 marks, so you just have to infer what time it is at that point. There's an outer ring of numbers, which corresponds to the date. Tiny, tiny numbers -- you'd probably just check your phone if you really don't know the date.The smaller inset dial is for notifications and smart watch functions. After downloading the app, you can choose what notices you want to get. The college student had no problem getting it to work with his iPhone. On the side of the watch are three buttons; he set them to provide text notifications, time and a phone search function. He has set notifications to different numbers on the dial -- for example, if he gets a text from me, the minute hand swings down to the 6 position; if it's from his girlfriend, it swings up to the 12. Other than that, you can set the watch to record progress toward goals you've set, like fitness tracking. The college student is fit and active, and doesn't need to lose weight, so he's not really interested in that feature. He likes the remote feature that allows you to take a selfie without having to hold your phone.The vibration received with a notification is subtle -- I suppose that's great if he's checking his watch when he should be listening to a professor in class! But he says it's adequate. The hands and time markers are white, which doesn't stand out really well against the silver background, but you can read the time okay. The white is somewhat reflective in the dark -- you might be able to read the time if you woke in the night, but you'd probably just look at your phone instead.As a gift, the watch isn't packaged attractively. It's all bunched up in a styrofoam-y cardboard mold. (See photo.) The outer box is a white cardboard that's dented and marred by black scratches. For a $175 watch, I would expect better. The watch face is protected by a plastic covering that you remove. All in all, this is a classic looking watch with modern functionality.

Un excelente reloj! Todo vino como en la publicación !