Smart Watch: Buying Guide Malaysia Edition

Smart Watch: Buying Guide Malaysia Edition | The wearable world now is filled with high-quality devices with a ton of functionality to make your daily lives easier. There are so many different smartwatches available on the market right now that fit a range of budgets. If you’re reading this article, it means you’re looking to get a smartwatch yourself! But which is the best one for you? 

In our guide today, we will be talking about some of the key features you need to pay attention to when deciding which is the best smartwatch for you. Without further ado, let’s go straight into our best Malaysian smartwatch buying guide.

OS and Phone Compatibility

Most smartwatches are designed to serve as companions to your smartphone, hence device compatibility is very important. Some smartwatches will only work on certain operating systems, for example, Apple watches only runs on iPhones while Google Wear OS runs on Samsung Galaxy Watch 4. Some devices such as Fitbit and Garmin watches work with both Android and Apple OS. 

The smartwatch OS will also dictate the type and number of on-watch apps you get access to. However, many of these apps are not a must-have and more of good-to-have features that may not be too high on your requirements list. 

Screen Display

Most smartwatches have a colorful LCD screen or AMOLED display that gives a view of photos, apps, and content with richer and brighter colors. While this is nice, the trade-off is that your watch will have shorter battery life. However, it’s worth noting that smartwatch manufacturers have been working on major improvements to enhance the device’s efficiency to last several days, if not weeks with a single charge. Alternatively, you can opt for a simple black and white display for longer battery life. 

Touchscreen 

Most are not all smartwatches now come with a touchscreen and picking one with a touchscreen seems to be a no-brainer. However, there have been a few reports where users found it difficult to select items on a smaller touch display and that some gesture-based interfaces aren’t as intuitive. 

The Wear OS does a good job at presenting card-based notifications where you can dismiss them easily with a swipe, but you may need to deal with a lot of swiping to get to other apps and options within apps. Alternatively, you can also switch between cards with a flick of your wrist. 

On the other hand, Apple has gone with a combo approach for their Apple Watches – offering a touch display, a digital crown, and a side button. The crown can be used to quickly zoom in on content or to scroll while the screen uses Force Touch technology to better differentiate between a tap and a long press. The side button on the right brings you to your dock of favorite apps. 

Design

Higher quality smartwatches come with a choice of straps and/or the ability to swap them out for a third-party option to match your preferences. The ability to personalize the look and display of your device is quite an important point, especially for those who do not watch their watch to clash with their outfit. 

Most smartwatches today offer plenty of customization options such as the ability to pick band color and material, face color, finish, and size. However, you should also keep in mind that comfort counts for a lot, hence it is advisable to avoid smartwatches with cumbersome clasps that require too much force to open and close. 

Recent smartwatches are sporting round faces now to look more like traditional timepieces. Newer models are also getting slimmer and smaller, such as the Garmin Lily, which is a particularly attractive choice for smaller wrists. 

Fitness Tracking

Activity and fitness tracking are some of the biggest reasons why many turn to smartwatches. A fitness smartwatch can log your steps, calories, workouts, and even heart rate. Many also have GPS built-in to help runners and bikers map their routes. Swimmers may also want to look for something that’s water-resistant to withstand being submerged in a pool for an extended period. Over the past few years, health tracking has also become more advanced on most smartwatches with the introduction of blood oxygen levels and ECG monitoring. 

NFC

Many smartwatches today also come with NFC to let you pay for things without your wallet. You can choose to save your credit or debit card information into your smartwatch and just hold your wrist up to an NFC reader to pay for your groceries or cup of coffee on the way home. You should keep in mind that different watches support different payment systems: Apple Watches use Apple Pay, Wear OS use Google Pay, and Samsung devices use Samsung Pay.