Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch(spectrum.ieee.org)
spectrum.ieee.org
Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch
https://spectrum.ieee.org/geek-life/hands-on/watchy-the-hackable-50-smartwatch
162 comments
There is also a new Watchy community on Discord here: https://discord.gg/uKcfZZa2
For those considering purchasing - as a Watchy owner - if you're looking for a polished smartwatch product that you can put on your wrist and not think about how it works - this isn't that product. It's still rough around the edges, uploading new watchfaces takes some work, phone notifications aren't implemented yet, no case, etc.
But if you're intrigued by the idea of hacking on ESP32s, WiFi, BLE and/or e-ink, as a wearable hackable dev device, Watchy can't be beat. It's a lot of fun. Think of it as a wifi/BLE-enabled Arduino on your wrist.
For those considering purchasing - as a Watchy owner - if you're looking for a polished smartwatch product that you can put on your wrist and not think about how it works - this isn't that product. It's still rough around the edges, uploading new watchfaces takes some work, phone notifications aren't implemented yet, no case, etc.
But if you're intrigued by the idea of hacking on ESP32s, WiFi, BLE and/or e-ink, as a wearable hackable dev device, Watchy can't be beat. It's a lot of fun. Think of it as a wifi/BLE-enabled Arduino on your wrist.
Very disappointing to see an "open source" project locking their community behind Discord. Why not IRC, XMPP, or Matrix?
Worth noting PineTime is a similar device and they're reachable on IRC and Matrix.
Worth noting PineTime is a similar device and they're reachable on IRC and Matrix.
Except for e-ink, why should I buy one, instead of this "polished" one:
http://www.lilygo.cn/prod_view.aspx?TypeId=50053&Id=1290&FId...
(i need a new gadget to play with, a watch seems a 'fun' choice, not affiliated with anyone, I just order a bunch of crap from aliexpress)
http://www.lilygo.cn/prod_view.aspx?TypeId=50053&Id=1290&FId...
(i need a new gadget to play with, a watch seems a 'fun' choice, not affiliated with anyone, I just order a bunch of crap from aliexpress)
This isn't polished either, I have one and it registers phantom touches all the time, keeps vibrating, actual touches don't register, etc etc. It's not really usable, I left it in a drawer ten minutes after opening it.
Watchy is open-source hardware: https://github.com/sqfmi/watchy-hardware
BOM: https://github.com/sqfmi/watchy-hardware/blob/main/WatchyBOM...
BOM: https://github.com/sqfmi/watchy-hardware/blob/main/WatchyBOM...
The link isn't loading for me, but I'm assuming that's a TTGO. Also a cool device & a good choice too, but as others mentioned Watchy has placed a high priority on docs, community, and open source - TTGO is more like "here's some hardware good luck". Plus, the e-ink screen just speaks to me :)
How's the battery charge duration?
It will vary greatly with the watchface and whether you use wifi (weather, ntp, etc). In the current implementation it will do a full connect every minute so there's room for easy improvement. With wifi I get about 48h out of it.
With my custom watchface I built, I sync ntp and weather every hour. I get about 100 hours of battery from it (4+ days).
The ESP32 is known for being cheap and featureful. The downside is that some functionality is implemented in software which results in lower battery life.
e-ink is a company, it's a Active Matrix Electrophoretic Displays (AMEPD).
Are there any other companies besides E-ink Corp that sell ^AMEPD^?
Yes, the people who make the Watchy display seem to, https://www.good-display.com/product/6/
Oh wow. They should choose a different image. I looked at that and thought it was using an actual segmented LCD display, not an eInk display simulating the look of a segmented display.
Are there files somewhere for a 3D printable case for it? Such as something you could do on a $300 consumer-grade printer capable of ABS filament printing?
Yes there is something https://github.com/sqfmi/watchy-cases , but join the discord, cases are very actively being developed.
You just pushed me over the edge, ordered a couple just now (I started always ordering 2 of anything somewhat “experimental” so I can mess around with one while making actual use of the other), looking forward to playing with it :)
Are there any videos? [2] is a video but only 5 seconds long and demonstrates 1 small change on screen. I was wondering if e-ink screen suffers the same problems other e ink screens such as ebook readers
The screen supports incremental updates which are pretty fast, so you don't get the full flash refresh every minute. But yeah, it's not "video" fast, it's still the same old e-ink technology with all its pros and cons - you still have to do full screen updates sometimes.
Can anyone find any specs on how long the battery lasts?
The ESP32 is a pretty serious power hog...
The ESP32 is a pretty serious power hog...
ESP's only a power hog when it's using the WiFi... In deep sleep it can go as low as 10 uA! .15mA gets you the low-power processor for doing sensor interrupts.
In reality Watchy currently draws around 1mA while sleeping and 55 hours of battery for me, not using WiFi (not really a priority for me).. I think that can be improved with firmware updates, seems like there is potentially some low-hanging fruit. It's all open source firmware, so you can eg. program it to deep sleep while you deep sleep to save battery :)
In reality Watchy currently draws around 1mA while sleeping and 55 hours of battery for me, not using WiFi (not really a priority for me).. I think that can be improved with firmware updates, seems like there is potentially some low-hanging fruit. It's all open source firmware, so you can eg. program it to deep sleep while you deep sleep to save battery :)
That is a power hog, compared to say an STM32L4 with, per spec, ~250 nA deep sleep w/ RTC & some RAM (to make it at least somewhat comparable to the ESP) and 50uA/MHz dynamic run mode.
Also you shouldn't just take steady state values. I've had various ESP's on a power analyzer. They take a bit more (like 30mA for many msec? iirc) for a while during wake up (w/ wifi off) before the consumption drops to the final value. For example some of that goes into uncontrolled/undocumented oscillations on some pins (for up to 100ms?), thought that is probably a negligible part.
ESP's are only popular because they're the cheapest/easiest option with WiFi. At least that's why I use them...
Also you shouldn't just take steady state values. I've had various ESP's on a power analyzer. They take a bit more (like 30mA for many msec? iirc) for a while during wake up (w/ wifi off) before the consumption drops to the final value. For example some of that goes into uncontrolled/undocumented oscillations on some pins (for up to 100ms?), thought that is probably a negligible part.
ESP's are only popular because they're the cheapest/easiest option with WiFi. At least that's why I use them...
Watch could and should be totally passive. You just fill the screen with one longass bluetooth message, and that is it. Maybe there should be a timer which blanks the screen after a minute, if the screen is not updated, but other hardware functions seem little superfluous. With Eink-display this would work for MONTHS.
Why does this article not have any pictures of the watch? It only has renders, even though the author supposedly has one.
There are a few photos at https://www.instagram.com/p/CLfUCmVrChY/
AFAICT, those are renders too
Real pictures here: https://twitter.com/sqfmi
(scroll down a bit)
(scroll down a bit)
Great link. Shows the product has evolved from the video linked elsewhere.
There is an assembly video at https://youtu.be/PCPxTS1aF3w
I suspect they are having trouble with their claimed 9mm thickness...thinner than the Apple watch.
Photo (of mine) here: https://twitter.com/dandelany/status/1348224456640974850
Just measured it at 9.3mm thickness with the battery - but it has no case.
Just measured it at 9.3mm thickness with the battery - but it has no case.
I'm the author of the article and the editor of the section: a while back we decided to use illustrations rather than photography for this section of IEEE Spectrum—it was a style choice, but it gives us more options in terms of showing components and process diagrams.
Why not do both when appropriate?
Locking yourself into only using real images or renders seems very limiting.
Locking yourself into only using real images or renders seems very limiting.
When we made the switch, I was initially concerned about this as well, but as is often the case, well-chosen limits can promote creativity, just as say, choosing to work only in black and white might be done by a photographer or comic book artist, or choosing to use pixel art in a game built for modern systems. The illustrations also give a unified, and distinct, look to articles in the Hands On section, which is important in a crowded domain: the qualitative and quantitate feedback we've gotten since we made the switch has been quite convincing for me.
I mean no offense, but you obviously know nothing about electronics, what prompted you to write an article on such a specialised subject ?
How exactly does limiting your language give you more options?
It's the nature of abstraction: just like a map versus a satellite photo, it allows us to more easily highlight particular features. It also allows for options like cutaways and x-ray style images, and allows us to compose scenes how we like without the hassle of setting up physical shots.
There are some on the manufacturer's website: https://watchy.sqfmi.com/gallery
Looks interesting! Any word on battery life? Couldn't seem to find anything...
I have one... The battery life is currently OK but not great - something like 55 hours. But I think this can be improved with some firmware changes - and the firmware is open source.
are those batteries available anywhere, or just form them?
They are garden variety 3.7V 200mah 402030 pouch LiPos, which are pretty easy to find. More hardware details here: https://watchy.sqfmi.com/docs/hardware
Funny the picture shows a subway exit. One of the apps I want from a smart watch is a compass. I work(d) in NYC and I’m always turned around when I exit the subway at an unfamiliar stop.
When I lived in NYC during the Summers of 2005 and 2006 I carried a real compass for this exact purpose.
Walking a block in the wrong direction before figuring it out was not worth going without.
Walking a block in the wrong direction before figuring it out was not worth going without.
I found compasses don't work well in NYC either. My phone's compass is always wrong in NYC.
I really wish NYC would paint or engrave a N/S/E/W indicator on the sidewalk at every subway exit.
I really wish NYC would paint or engrave a N/S/E/W indicator on the sidewalk at every subway exit.
How strange. Why is that? They use a magnetometer.
Exactly - the steel everywhere in the infrastructure, buildings, and vehicles messes with the ambient magnetic field so the magnetometer can't consistently get a true field reading.
Relevant link to the project: https://www.crowdsupply.com/sqfmi/watchy
Cool device. A bit short on the sensors, but I understand why for a first iteration. Hope it's successful enough that later revisions will include a few things I'm keen on:
* Pulse ox
* Continuous heartrate
* GPS+Compass
But it's a cool device anyway.
* Pulse ox
* Continuous heartrate
* GPS+Compass
But it's a cool device anyway.
Adding those would be awesome (Especially if they could still keep the price under $100). The primary reason I use a smartwatch is for all the health-related features. I'd otherwise just wear a dumb watch whose battery will last me 10 years.
The pulse ox is pretty cool to have around given that lots of people develop asymptomatic covid and are hospitalized much later with very low o2 sat.
GPS and maaaybe compass are the only two things I lack in Watchy
The problem I have seen is the ultra cheap watches that have these features are so inaccurate that you may as well not have them. I'm not even convinced pulse ox is accurate on the Apple Watch.
This product linked is more of a toy to play with and not what you would use daily.
This product linked is more of a toy to play with and not what you would use daily.
Maybe I'm a curmudgeon, but I have subzero interest in smartwatches, even hackable or open source models. I want my watch to tell me the time, and I want it to do so 10, 20, and 30 years from now without having to fiddle with software.
I love Linux. I cut my teeth on it in high school after one too many viruses on Windows XP made me bite the bullet and try debian. I love my Raspberry Pi. It went from retro-gaming console to brief dev environment to Pi-hole server. There are tons of other hacked up solutions in my home.
But sometimes I just want a tool that does one thing, essentially unsupervised, essentially forever.
Apple Watch, Android Wear, Pebble, and now Watchy... All these devices will be e-waste in 30 years (most in less than 10). My Seiko automatic will still be ticking (and, as I wear it almost every day, I only wind it once or twice a year).
I love Linux. I cut my teeth on it in high school after one too many viruses on Windows XP made me bite the bullet and try debian. I love my Raspberry Pi. It went from retro-gaming console to brief dev environment to Pi-hole server. There are tons of other hacked up solutions in my home.
But sometimes I just want a tool that does one thing, essentially unsupervised, essentially forever.
Apple Watch, Android Wear, Pebble, and now Watchy... All these devices will be e-waste in 30 years (most in less than 10). My Seiko automatic will still be ticking (and, as I wear it almost every day, I only wind it once or twice a year).
I found I had to wind my Seiko far more often than that. Is this because you wear it daily and the self winder keeps it going? How often do you have to adjust the time?
I adjust the time maybe once every three months, which has naturally fallen into a pattern that lines up with daylight savings time. My watch gains at most few minutes over that interval. There's a single complication for date (1-31) that I adjust on the first day of every month.
Seiko watches aren't the absolute best, but as long as I don't leave it on the shelf for more than 24 hours the self-winding mechanism still works. I'd call them the Toyota of watches.
I'm not a watch-o-phile per se (is there a better word for that hobby/interest?)... More like a /r/BuyItForLife [1] person. Seiko fits the bill to buy it for life without spending luxury good money.
[1] https://old.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/
Seiko watches aren't the absolute best, but as long as I don't leave it on the shelf for more than 24 hours the self-winding mechanism still works. I'd call them the Toyota of watches.
I'm not a watch-o-phile per se (is there a better word for that hobby/interest?)... More like a /r/BuyItForLife [1] person. Seiko fits the bill to buy it for life without spending luxury good money.
[1] https://old.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/
Will it?
My guess is that you will need to have it serviced somewhere in that time period.
I am with you in regards to how great an automatic watch is, but unless your seiko has an oil-free escapement of some kind, e.g. silicon or DLC coated, 40 years seems like a stretch.
https://www.rwsmithwatches.com/journal/roger-announces-nano-...
https://www.sinn.de/en/DIAPAL.htm
My guess is that you will need to have it serviced somewhere in that time period.
I am with you in regards to how great an automatic watch is, but unless your seiko has an oil-free escapement of some kind, e.g. silicon or DLC coated, 40 years seems like a stretch.
https://www.rwsmithwatches.com/journal/roger-announces-nano-...
https://www.sinn.de/en/DIAPAL.htm
I'll take one servicing in that period over replacing my watch every 3-5 (2-4?) years as the software becomes obsolete and all support vanishes into the myopically short tech upgrade cycle. It's why I say 'essentially' unsupervised and 'essentially' forever. The point of comparison with smartwatches is so far to the other extreme that I believe the language is largely justified.
Cheaper mechanical watches don't even get "service" - they simply replace the entire movement as it is cheaper than having a skilled watchmaker take it apart. It will still cost a significant fraction of the initial purchase price.
Seiko recommends servicing every three years:
https://www.seikowatches.com/us-en/customerservice/faq/care-...
And Rolex recommends service every ten years:
https://theslenderwrist.com/rolex-service/
I loved automatic watches, but when you account for their regular inaccuracy, relative fragility and high maintenance cost, they are not as practical as quartz, but merely higher status symbols.
Seiko recommends servicing every three years:
https://www.seikowatches.com/us-en/customerservice/faq/care-...
And Rolex recommends service every ten years:
https://theslenderwrist.com/rolex-service/
I loved automatic watches, but when you account for their regular inaccuracy, relative fragility and high maintenance cost, they are not as practical as quartz, but merely higher status symbols.
Sounds like this watch is absolutely not for you then, and that's totally fine! For me, in 2021, a watch needs to display more than just date/time to earn a place on my wrist. I'm also ok spending another $50 every 3-6 years on a new watch, that doesn't seem unreasonable to me.
Conversely, I'm not keen on the idea of having to manually wind my watch, or remembering to fix the date at the start of every month.
More options is good for everyone though, so I'm glad both exist!
Conversely, I'm not keen on the idea of having to manually wind my watch, or remembering to fix the date at the start of every month.
More options is good for everyone though, so I'm glad both exist!
> Conversely, I'm not keen on the idea of having to manually wind my watch, or remembering to fix the date at the start of every month.
Side comment, we're well past this stage now. Pretty much every popular watch vendor (Seiko, Casio, Citizen, etc) makes a multitude of atomic clock sync solar models spanning the price spectrum (~$200 USD+). I am an analog watch fan but have been buying them for at least a decade; you set it up the first time, slap it on your wrist and never touch it again under normal circumstances. Just works.
Side comment, we're well past this stage now. Pretty much every popular watch vendor (Seiko, Casio, Citizen, etc) makes a multitude of atomic clock sync solar models spanning the price spectrum (~$200 USD+). I am an analog watch fan but have been buying them for at least a decade; you set it up the first time, slap it on your wrist and never touch it again under normal circumstances. Just works.
I feel similarly. I bought a hand-wound mechanical watch. And my electric blender - does only one thing i.e. blend. Then there is the stone knife sharpener.
I am making a list of things along similar lines i.e. devices that do one or two things really well, preferably mechanical, well-built etc.. Suggestions?
I am making a list of things along similar lines i.e. devices that do one or two things really well, preferably mechanical, well-built etc.. Suggestions?
I currently own a Pebble Time Steel, but I love the idea of getting an open source watch I can build my own (very simple) UI for that might outlast the hardware.
I guess it's a bit like the itch of building your own desk or some beautiful wooden furniture - I like the idea of slowly refining my own watch software until it's perfectly suited for me.
I guess it's a bit like the itch of building your own desk or some beautiful wooden furniture - I like the idea of slowly refining my own watch software until it's perfectly suited for me.
I feel the same about my Casio Tough Solar. I've had it around 6 years and it feels like it'll never get old. For the last year or so I've been wearing a Pebble Time Steel and while I appreciate the extra features I know that one day it will stop working, and I'm sure my Casio will be there waiting.
About the Pebble -- I am definitely a fan, and haven't yet seen another smartwatch with its particular appeal. After playing around with a lot of watchfaces I ended up almost always sticking with an analog face which I'm finding helps me visualize the passage of time a lot better than a digital readout.
About the Pebble -- I am definitely a fan, and haven't yet seen another smartwatch with its particular appeal. After playing around with a lot of watchfaces I ended up almost always sticking with an analog face which I'm finding helps me visualize the passage of time a lot better than a digital readout.
> Apple Watch, Android Wear, Pebble, and now Watchy... All these devices will be e-waste in 30 years (most in less than 10).
It is interesting, given the amount of environmental concerns people have over cow flatulates, plastic bags, straws, etc... that nobody seems concerned about these obviously short-lifetime hunks of non-biodegradable/non-recyclable plastics, rubber, silicone, rare earth metals, and worse.
All the environmentalists that scream at others for putting a can in the wrong bin, yet buy a new Apple Watch every release cycle...
It is interesting, given the amount of environmental concerns people have over cow flatulates, plastic bags, straws, etc... that nobody seems concerned about these obviously short-lifetime hunks of non-biodegradable/non-recyclable plastics, rubber, silicone, rare earth metals, and worse.
All the environmentalists that scream at others for putting a can in the wrong bin, yet buy a new Apple Watch every release cycle...
Yeah, I recently realized this and am now on a much more streamlined technology (and most products) diet. It definitely sucks because I feel like I'm always missing out on stuff, but it no longer feels right.
Curious - what is your streamlined technology/product diet?
Personally I buy most stuff second-hand if I can. I'm obviously not on the bleeding edge product-wise, but I'm fine with that.
Personally I buy most stuff second-hand if I can. I'm obviously not on the bleeding edge product-wise, but I'm fine with that.
You can give your Apple Watch to Apple and they’ll recycle the parts for you.
Besides, I don’t think it makes a lot of sense to compare the lifetime of an Apple Watch to that of a plastic straw.
Besides, I don’t think it makes a lot of sense to compare the lifetime of an Apple Watch to that of a plastic straw.
Why not?
The plastic straw doesn't require rare earth metals, anywhere near as much plastic, silicone and other materials. Besides, it's been shown time and time again, eWaste is largely a farce, with majority of components being sent directly to landfills.
Ounce per ounce, thousands of plastic straws are far better for the environment than a single Apple Watch.
The plastic straw doesn't require rare earth metals, anywhere near as much plastic, silicone and other materials. Besides, it's been shown time and time again, eWaste is largely a farce, with majority of components being sent directly to landfills.
Ounce per ounce, thousands of plastic straws are far better for the environment than a single Apple Watch.
An apple watch will end up in a landfill where it will lie for millenia harming nothing. Some of those plastic straws will get into the ocean, local parks, streams and on where they will harm wildlife. Landfills are not the worst thing in existence.
The plastic straw thing was made up by a 4th grader[1].
And it's well documented the ocean plastic problem is almost exclusively from fishing equipment [2].
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/business/plastic-straws-b...
[2] https://www.oceanographicmagazine.com/news/ghost-gear-greenp...
And it's well documented the ocean plastic problem is almost exclusively from fishing equipment [2].
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/business/plastic-straws-b...
[2] https://www.oceanographicmagazine.com/news/ghost-gear-greenp...
The problem starts with calling a wrist-worn computer a "watch" of any kind. What parent wants is a "watch", a wrist-worn device whose primary or even sole purpose is to tell time. The Apple product I have on my wrist right now is not a "watch", though it will tell you the time. But that's like saying my car is a clock because time is displayed on the dashboard. And if all it did was tell the time, I wouldn't wear it as I don't need to know the time badly enough to wear a single-purpose device all of the time. Unfortunately, it looks like we're stuck with "smartwatch".
If we could get the terminology straightened out, maybe every discussion on the topic of smartwatches need not require the presence of "that guy" telling us how in addition to not owning a TV, they just need a mechanical time-keeping device they can pass to their kids who are just going to sell it at the estate sale.
If we could get the terminology straightened out, maybe every discussion on the topic of smartwatches need not require the presence of "that guy" telling us how in addition to not owning a TV, they just need a mechanical time-keeping device they can pass to their kids who are just going to sell it at the estate sale.
Mechanical watches need to be serviced every few years, though.
>> My Seiko automatic
Bah, a real curmudgeon would have said a £10 Casio quartz :-)
I flick back and forth on this. The features i actually use on my Apple Watch:
[1] in 2017 when i got my 2nd gen apple watch, my iPhone 7 would be almost dead when i got home from work. When i started using the apple watch, my phone battery would have ~20% left when i got home. I was no longer wakening the phone screen to deal with notifications or fiddling with podcast / music controls. Shortly after that i disabled all notifications but that's another story.
Bah, a real curmudgeon would have said a £10 Casio quartz :-)
I flick back and forth on this. The features i actually use on my Apple Watch:
1. it extends phone battery life[1]
2. I'm UK based but i work with colleagues across APAC & NA - in 3 of the corners of the "infograph" watch face i have NYC, Mumbai & HK times, it shows the city, the 24hr time & handily the offset - i use this all the time because outlook is poor for this simple use case
3. The 4th corner has a timer - i use it for everything from "the dog's out the back garden, i should remember to let her back in, in 5 mins" to brewing a cuppa to reminding me to do something - the UI here is really good, i'm a mixture of "hey siri, set a timer for 25 minutes" vs. just tapping one of the pre-set timers
4. Up next calendar entry - coupled with calendar notifications, the only notifications i still use today
5. Day date complication
6. Temperature - but it's not the current temp i find useful, it's the daily range display - every night "can i let the cat stay out overnight or will it get too cold?"
7. it's super convenient for driving directions in a rental car when abroad, not so much in my own car though
8. Music / audiobook / podcast volume & skipping
9. The vo2 max readout has caused me to change exercise habits and the HRV thing has caused me to pay more attention to my sleep schedule - he says at 11:26pm
10. But my favourite is Apple Pay, personal account, joint account, corporate card & flight tickets back when we used to do that, super handy
1. Every other thing on there - from sleep trackers to camera viewfinder remote view thingy (cool, but useless)
[1] in 2017 when i got my 2nd gen apple watch, my iPhone 7 would be almost dead when i got home from work. When i started using the apple watch, my phone battery would have ~20% left when i got home. I was no longer wakening the phone screen to deal with notifications or fiddling with podcast / music controls. Shortly after that i disabled all notifications but that's another story.
Hey friend, I just wanted to let you know that I love your writing. I’ve got nothing of substance to add but you’ve got a great voice. Do you blog? If so, I’d love a link.
Hey - many thanks for the kind words, it put a smile on my face. I'm afraid i don't blog, i did dabble with it back in 2015-16 http://www.craigjperry.com/quadrifilar-helix-antenna.html
Regarding the "camera viewfinder remote view thingy" I've used it to:
* point my phone at a TV while I aligned an outside VHF antenna
* point my phone at a security flood while I figured out which breaker in the garage controlled it
* point my phone at a TV while I aligned an outside VHF antenna
* point my phone at a security flood while I figured out which breaker in the garage controlled it
I agree. I get way more out of my watch that I initially expected.
The Casio Royale is brilliant, but suffers from planned/functional obsolescence: an inaccessible battery, a face which is susceptible to scratches and a plastic body which is painted.
A smart watch is not a “watch.” It has functionally nothing in common with a Seiko or a Rolex. It’s a computer form factor, like a desktop, laptop, video game console, tablet, or smartphone. Yes they all rapidly become e-waste and that is a problem but Seikos are not really relevant.
Not to be a fanboy, but I love my apple watch for three reasons:
I can see who is calling me without pulling my phone out of my pocket and drop the call. I can also answer calls on it if I left my phone in the other room.
Ditto with text messages
I can see what my next meeting is just by looking at the watch face.
As for e-waste - yeah - replacing the battery costs almost as much as a new watch. Though my last one lasted 4 years.
I actually never use it to tell the time, which I know is weird.
I can see who is calling me without pulling my phone out of my pocket and drop the call. I can also answer calls on it if I left my phone in the other room.
Ditto with text messages
I can see what my next meeting is just by looking at the watch face.
As for e-waste - yeah - replacing the battery costs almost as much as a new watch. Though my last one lasted 4 years.
I actually never use it to tell the time, which I know is weird.
I used to be in your camp but then I got really fit and got into masochism through endurance sports. Now, I see a massive utility to smartwatches but my damned wrists are too small to wear any watch.
justatdotin(1)
I recently switched back to a regular watch recently. I needed vibrating alarms (have 3, which seems to be enough) and I like a countdown timer. I already had a Timex Expedition Shock that fit the bill in the basement from several years ago. I dug it out of my extra gear bin expecting to have to order a new battery. Nope. Running like a top. I use buzzkill on my Android phone to make sure I get exactly the notifications I want. Pretty nice set up and I feel much less distracted.
It's not curmudgeonly to not be interested. But I'm always surprised when people feel the need to comment about their disinterest, and more surprised when such comments do well. Going to, say, a rock-climbing thread and commenting about how I have zero interest in rock-climbing would be a bit curmudgeonly tbh :)
Your Raspberry Pi will be e-waste in 30 years too...
Your Raspberry Pi will be e-waste in 30 years too...
I was dabbling in smart watches for quite some time - jumping between Huawei and Samsung watches mainly. They are very cool, but after a while I switched back to my vintage seiko automatics and Oris mechanicals for two main reasons:
1. The current crop of smart watches felt bulky. I know the newer apple watches are quite slim but they don't suit my tech ecosystem, but the android/etc offerings just feel 'big'. I know this will improve as time goes on of course. (I do have a gshock which I love, but that's another matter)
2. (And this is the main point,) the smart watches made me feel like it was increasing my anxiety. Even though you can disconnect the watch from notifications, having various alerts and things happening all the time with haptic feedback was making me look at the watch more often, fidget with it, and use it as that kind of social escape thing that you do with phones. Once you disable the 'smart' features, it becomes nothing more than a gimmick, and when using the features it seemed to equally help my productivity the same amount that it hindered it.
I don't want to knock anyone who uses a smart watch though, because I do think they're cool. They just so far haven't worked for me.
1. The current crop of smart watches felt bulky. I know the newer apple watches are quite slim but they don't suit my tech ecosystem, but the android/etc offerings just feel 'big'. I know this will improve as time goes on of course. (I do have a gshock which I love, but that's another matter)
2. (And this is the main point,) the smart watches made me feel like it was increasing my anxiety. Even though you can disconnect the watch from notifications, having various alerts and things happening all the time with haptic feedback was making me look at the watch more often, fidget with it, and use it as that kind of social escape thing that you do with phones. Once you disable the 'smart' features, it becomes nothing more than a gimmick, and when using the features it seemed to equally help my productivity the same amount that it hindered it.
I don't want to knock anyone who uses a smart watch though, because I do think they're cool. They just so far haven't worked for me.
> I know the newer apple watches are quite slim
They’re really not. I’ve owned three different Apple Watches (including the current model), and even the most recent models are heaps thicker than even my old Citizen Eco-Drive watch, which already seemed absurdly massive on my wrist when I bought it.
I’m still using Apple’s smart watches for just one reason:
As thick as they still are relative to regular watches, they’re heaps smaller than phones. And if all you want to do is basic phone functionality (check the weather, make/receive calls and text messages, listen to music, set timers, etc), you can do all of that from a cellular-enabled watch+wireless earbuds, without carrying the bulk of a phone around with you at all.
For those of us who feel like phones are getting too large to reasonably carry around all the time, having all the critical functionality in something that just sits on your wrist until you need it is kind of amazing. If it wasn’t necessary to have an up-to-date phone in order to configure the watch, I’m not certain I’d still own a phone at all.
They’re really not. I’ve owned three different Apple Watches (including the current model), and even the most recent models are heaps thicker than even my old Citizen Eco-Drive watch, which already seemed absurdly massive on my wrist when I bought it.
I’m still using Apple’s smart watches for just one reason:
As thick as they still are relative to regular watches, they’re heaps smaller than phones. And if all you want to do is basic phone functionality (check the weather, make/receive calls and text messages, listen to music, set timers, etc), you can do all of that from a cellular-enabled watch+wireless earbuds, without carrying the bulk of a phone around with you at all.
For those of us who feel like phones are getting too large to reasonably carry around all the time, having all the critical functionality in something that just sits on your wrist until you need it is kind of amazing. If it wasn’t necessary to have an up-to-date phone in order to configure the watch, I’m not certain I’d still own a phone at all.
I really loved my Moto 360, didn't feel bulky at all to me. I really lost track of the current smartwatch market though, did they really get bigger? That'd be... disappointing.
Funny about that social anxiety thing. On my end it was actually better - as I could just swipe stuff away instead of having the incentive to click on it and get lost in whatever application I ended up in, I was able to get rid of most of the noise with a swipe without even picking up my phone, and only picked it up for stuff I actually cared for.
Funny about that social anxiety thing. On my end it was actually better - as I could just swipe stuff away instead of having the incentive to click on it and get lost in whatever application I ended up in, I was able to get rid of most of the noise with a swipe without even picking up my phone, and only picked it up for stuff I actually cared for.
i don't carry a watch. my phone tells the time. that's enough. same with phones replacing the camera, i look at smartwatches as a phone replacement. this of course requires that the smartwatch includes a sim card.
i agree, smartwatches that can't replace my phone are not interesting. but if they could replace the phone that would be a different thing entirely.
to put it differently:
i need a cheap portable phone for my children, one that i can control 100%. besides telling the time and setting alarms it must not have any features except calling or sending (and receiving) voice messages home.
nothing that attracts kids to play with the device and interfere with class.
it doesn't have to be a watch, but it needs to be small, lightweight, easy to carry, and appear uninteresting.
even a feature phone has to many features.
and it must be affordable to families with multiple kids (less than $50)
those devices do exist, at that price level too. if only they were hackable so i could control what the kids can do with it...
i agree, smartwatches that can't replace my phone are not interesting. but if they could replace the phone that would be a different thing entirely.
to put it differently:
i need a cheap portable phone for my children, one that i can control 100%. besides telling the time and setting alarms it must not have any features except calling or sending (and receiving) voice messages home.
nothing that attracts kids to play with the device and interfere with class.
it doesn't have to be a watch, but it needs to be small, lightweight, easy to carry, and appear uninteresting.
even a feature phone has to many features.
and it must be affordable to families with multiple kids (less than $50)
those devices do exist, at that price level too. if only they were hackable so i could control what the kids can do with it...
The thing with Pebble was that it was a good watch - a better watch than most modern smartwatches.
Week-long battery and always-on screen are critical "watch" functionality that too many modern smartwatches fail on, and pebble succeeded on.
For me, it was a watch that I could get notifications on, including turn by turn directions which was super useful when cycling.
Week-long battery and always-on screen are critical "watch" functionality that too many modern smartwatches fail on, and pebble succeeded on.
For me, it was a watch that I could get notifications on, including turn by turn directions which was super useful when cycling.
Was? It still is! The great thing about the essentials is that they never go out of style :).
Sadly personal devices live a hard life. My wife's Time Round bit the dust and nothing out there really looks the same.
Edit: Okay, a Pebble would probably not be the top of my list in 2021 for a new purchase but the one on my wrist is doing just fine for me right now.
Sadly personal devices live a hard life. My wife's Time Round bit the dust and nothing out there really looks the same.
Edit: Okay, a Pebble would probably not be the top of my list in 2021 for a new purchase but the one on my wrist is doing just fine for me right now.
I was the same until I realized with a smartwatch I could leave my smartphone at home but still receive phone calls. Helps me disconnect from the smartphone everyday instead of only days where I know I don't need to be contacted.
> Maybe I'm a curmudgeon, but I have subzero interest in smartwatches
I hadn't bothered with watches at all until I got into running, as there are clocks everywhere including on my phone in my pocket.
Though I only use that for specific things (telling the time, pace tracking, and breadcrumb mapping when following a trail route or otherwise in an unfamiliar location).
> All these devices will be e-waste in 30 years (most in less than 10).
Even 10 is a very generous estimate IMO. Even though I'm a light user I've gone through a few in the last six or seven years. First was a gps-only-when-paired-with-a-phone-step-counter-otherwise fitbit thing (given to a cousin when I got my next device), I had a Band2 but not long before MS gave up on that (it went on eBay, I doubt anyone is still using it), one TomTom died, the replacement is now a spare (may soon be donated to a friend who is getting into running), the Garmin I currently use is likely to be replaced this year (I'm sliding down the off-road ultra-running rabbit hole and don't have a great sense of direction, so extra battery life on those "not getting lost" features will be handy! (while pretty good at reorienting myself with a map, the watching beeping before I go far enough off course to need to is very useful)) and demoted to being my spare.
And I'm using it as a utility device - people buying them mostly as toys or fashion/showyness probably upgrade even more often (or just bore of, and stop using, them sooner). Even accounting for selling/donating the old device after an upgrade, I'd say most will be abandoned in significantly less than a decade. Much like phones.
I hadn't bothered with watches at all until I got into running, as there are clocks everywhere including on my phone in my pocket.
Though I only use that for specific things (telling the time, pace tracking, and breadcrumb mapping when following a trail route or otherwise in an unfamiliar location).
> All these devices will be e-waste in 30 years (most in less than 10).
Even 10 is a very generous estimate IMO. Even though I'm a light user I've gone through a few in the last six or seven years. First was a gps-only-when-paired-with-a-phone-step-counter-otherwise fitbit thing (given to a cousin when I got my next device), I had a Band2 but not long before MS gave up on that (it went on eBay, I doubt anyone is still using it), one TomTom died, the replacement is now a spare (may soon be donated to a friend who is getting into running), the Garmin I currently use is likely to be replaced this year (I'm sliding down the off-road ultra-running rabbit hole and don't have a great sense of direction, so extra battery life on those "not getting lost" features will be handy! (while pretty good at reorienting myself with a map, the watching beeping before I go far enough off course to need to is very useful)) and demoted to being my spare.
And I'm using it as a utility device - people buying them mostly as toys or fashion/showyness probably upgrade even more often (or just bore of, and stop using, them sooner). Even accounting for selling/donating the old device after an upgrade, I'd say most will be abandoned in significantly less than a decade. Much like phones.
The only thing that I would miss from a "non-smart" watch is the vibration alarm.
If someone can show me a proper watch with silent vibration alarm I would buy it
This looks interesting, but I’m always leery any time I don’t see any photos of the product - the linked article and it’s source both just have drawings. That’s kinda concerning.
Lily Go have had something cheaper and maybe better, ESP-32 and I think there is a LORA version, that is something worth having
https://www.banggood.com/LILYGO-TTGO-T-Watch-2020-ESP32-Main...
https://www.banggood.com/LILYGO-TTGO-T-Watch-2020-ESP32-Main...
This is a bit bigger, but GPS and LORA, accelerometer, color screen, still cheaper
https://www.banggood.com/LILYGOTTGO-T-Watch-ESP32-Chip-Progr...
https://www.banggood.com/LILYGOTTGO-T-Watch-ESP32-Chip-Progr...
Comment there says they're only selling the "Basic" which doesn't include GPS or LORA
Search around, AliExpress as well, I think it is just that particular vendor is out.
There are no open LoRa alternatives yet?
They have a newer version that's actually watch sized but neither have an eink display like the Watchy.
For cheap esp32-based smartwatches and wristbands, I've had good success with LILYGO and the esp-idf toolchain.
$18 T-Wristband: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000527495064.html
$26 T-Watch-2020: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000971508364.html
esp-idf: https://github.com/espressif/esp-idf
$18 T-Wristband: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000527495064.html
$26 T-Watch-2020: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000971508364.html
esp-idf: https://github.com/espressif/esp-idf
I have a couple of the £30 LilyGo 'TTGO T-Watch 2020' ESP32 based 'watches'. Lots of fun to tinker with and has a colour TFT touchscreen which introduced me to the very impressive lvgl library to create UI. But the battery life is not great (though that teaches you how to write and use deep sleep modes).
An e-ink display would naturally help with the battery life, but the screen refresh times can be an issue for some ideas beyond telling the time.
An e-ink display would naturally help with the battery life, but the screen refresh times can be an issue for some ideas beyond telling the time.
I also got one of those, unfortunately the V1 which doesn't have the microphone. It has a decent feel to it, plenty of features packed into small form and decent amount of open source support.
Hardware wise, display and touch sensor is quite good and I was surprised that I was able to type with 90% accuracy on a tiny qwerty keyboard. The tiny speaker is very low quality and not really usable for speech. There's also a vibration motor, acceleration sensor and IR transmitter (not sure if it can receive, schematics are not available).
I was disappointed by the battery and even more with clumsy charging (micro USB with plastic cover) that I could not see myself using daily. The documentation is very thin and the digging soon hits docs written in Chinese.
I enjoyed the blog post that walks through watch's hardware and brings it to life: https://nick.zoic.org/art/lilygo-ttgo-t-watch-2020/
Community is fragmented across C / MicroPython / Arduino / Scratch environments, as well as across different variants of TTGO watch. It's not too hard to find examples online, but putting them together into something useful takes time and effort.
I chose T-Watch over Watchy because the touchscreen should allow for far richer interaction than 4 side buttons. On the other hand my watch is at the moment loaded with useless and too slow firmware that hangs after few minutes of use. I purchased the T-Watch without any delusions that I'm getting a functional watch. It works well as an isolated handheld ESP32 development platform.
Hardware wise, display and touch sensor is quite good and I was surprised that I was able to type with 90% accuracy on a tiny qwerty keyboard. The tiny speaker is very low quality and not really usable for speech. There's also a vibration motor, acceleration sensor and IR transmitter (not sure if it can receive, schematics are not available).
I was disappointed by the battery and even more with clumsy charging (micro USB with plastic cover) that I could not see myself using daily. The documentation is very thin and the digging soon hits docs written in Chinese.
I enjoyed the blog post that walks through watch's hardware and brings it to life: https://nick.zoic.org/art/lilygo-ttgo-t-watch-2020/
Community is fragmented across C / MicroPython / Arduino / Scratch environments, as well as across different variants of TTGO watch. It's not too hard to find examples online, but putting them together into something useful takes time and effort.
I chose T-Watch over Watchy because the touchscreen should allow for far richer interaction than 4 side buttons. On the other hand my watch is at the moment loaded with useless and too slow firmware that hangs after few minutes of use. I purchased the T-Watch without any delusions that I'm getting a functional watch. It works well as an isolated handheld ESP32 development platform.
> It works well as an isolated handheld ESP32 development platform.
Exactly this. It's great for learning.
I feel that once I get my head around things like lvgl and TFT touchscreens on this 'platform', then I should be able to do any type of (touch)screen UI. eg: 3D printers and other devices.
Exactly this. It's great for learning.
I feel that once I get my head around things like lvgl and TFT touchscreens on this 'platform', then I should be able to do any type of (touch)screen UI. eg: 3D printers and other devices.
Very excited for something like this! I can think of a few fun projects to try that would be useful to me nearly everyday but are too trivial or niche for an Apple or a Samsung to ever spend time actually building. Some ideas off of the top of my head:
- Vibrate a bunch and notify me on-screen if my usual commuter train is running late or cancelled (but only if I haven't left my house yet). Also the same, but in reverse for my commute home
- One-button touch activate my IoT devices (toggle houselights, garage door opener etc)
- Show me how many bikes/docks are left at my local citibike station
- One-button touch to fake a phone call to my phone to get me out of a meeting/conversation in a pinch
- Show me how many minutes until it's predicted to rain
Nothing life changing, but a fun side project that will continue to be useful once it's finished by saving me 5-10 seconds here and there!
- Vibrate a bunch and notify me on-screen if my usual commuter train is running late or cancelled (but only if I haven't left my house yet). Also the same, but in reverse for my commute home
- One-button touch activate my IoT devices (toggle houselights, garage door opener etc)
- Show me how many bikes/docks are left at my local citibike station
- One-button touch to fake a phone call to my phone to get me out of a meeting/conversation in a pinch
- Show me how many minutes until it's predicted to rain
Nothing life changing, but a fun side project that will continue to be useful once it's finished by saving me 5-10 seconds here and there!
These are great ideas that might actually be in the realm of feasibility (assuming your IoT devices run on some open standard), but the shame with this kind of thing in 2021 is that most of my digital life does not run on open standards, and so a programmable device has limited usefulness. I probably couldn't use it to play or control my media, to control my other (non-custom) devices, to display information from social media or from my bank accounts or tap into my subscriptions or interface with my personal cloud data. There are some exceptions and workarounds - most of them based on the web and web scraping - but most of those give you the sense that they only still exist because the company forgot about them, or doesn't care enough to retire them
Walled-gardens have made it really hard to do novel things in your personal digital life
Walled-gardens have made it really hard to do novel things in your personal digital life
Even if your IoT doesn’t, I recently discovered Home Assistant which can basically tie together most IoT devices out there and give you a consistent platform to work against. A Raspberry Pi 4 is all you really need to get it going or you can even run it inside a Docker container.
If you want IoT hardware you can control, check out Tasmota’s supported hardware list. Guys hardware often times can be easily flashed with it as it is all ESP8266 based, though some disassembly is required. Same with Sonoff products. Some really exciting possibilities here.
If you want IoT hardware you can control, check out Tasmota’s supported hardware list. Guys hardware often times can be easily flashed with it as it is all ESP8266 based, though some disassembly is required. Same with Sonoff products. Some really exciting possibilities here.
Home Assistant + Node Red ~= 95% of anything I have ever needed of IoT (and this watch could tie into by extension). Albeit, I have put in easily >120 hours of work over the past couple of years to get it there, I still think it's mostly the answer to the issues you mention.
Half of this stuff could trivially be done on the Apple watch if you develop an iphone app for it.
It would be nice if Apple opened it up to allow custom watchfaces but its already pretty open as it is.
It would be nice if Apple opened it up to allow custom watchfaces but its already pretty open as it is.
The Samsung watches can do it all and custom watch faces, but both aren't really the same premise as Watchy.
Like someone else mentioned, it's more like an arduino on your wrist. An apple watch or samsung watch are tightly bound to a higher level ecosystem. I can't even be bothered setting up the tooling to develop on Tizen anymore. Such a pain in the ass.
Like someone else mentioned, it's more like an arduino on your wrist. An apple watch or samsung watch are tightly bound to a higher level ecosystem. I can't even be bothered setting up the tooling to develop on Tizen anymore. Such a pain in the ass.
For the one-button touch to fake a phone call, add a 60-second delay before call happens and don’t touch your watch during that time, for maximum deniability.
There should be delay that is long enough that anyone would forget the rich, but it should also be "random". You'd want to avoid using it too often around observant people (one every two months, maybe). The watch touch and ringing won't give someone away but thier bad acting will.
Surely the real trick is to activate it blindly with your hands under a table or whatever? (Yes, also with a delay so you can have your hands visible when you get the call)
How often are you little in this situation that you need a fake phone call...?
Possibly a lot more if I could make it convincing...
Never:) Still fun to consider
Even if it never happens, it is still fun to think about.
I might actually steal some of these to develop on my RPi..
Has anyone found a good fitness metrics watch that is more open source (no monthly fee)?
Oura looks new with no monthly subscription fee. It looks like horrible to wear for serious sport though.
I have Whoop but will cancel the monthly fee once my intro period is over.
But Whoop would be worth it for me if instead it would be a flat price own outright + they allow 3p access to all the data not just heart rate.
The whoop in theory is great but it doesn't capture my sport's 'strain' well and the heart rate lags my treadmill band. I can't verify the sleep but it seems to be more accurate at least measuring my interruptions. But if it was flat rate not $30 a month i think it would be good enough.
Oura looks new with no monthly subscription fee. It looks like horrible to wear for serious sport though.
I have Whoop but will cancel the monthly fee once my intro period is over.
But Whoop would be worth it for me if instead it would be a flat price own outright + they allow 3p access to all the data not just heart rate.
The whoop in theory is great but it doesn't capture my sport's 'strain' well and the heart rate lags my treadmill band. I can't verify the sleep but it seems to be more accurate at least measuring my interruptions. But if it was flat rate not $30 a month i think it would be good enough.
In development: https://www.pine64.org/pinetime/
interesting thanks - though these things always look like cool ideas and render but never get made!
I wonder if anyone has tried to read and see if the whoop bluetooth data beyond heart rate is decipherable.
might be a cool way for me to learn something (or try to). i also have a climbing board controlled by bluetooth i wanted to see if i could 'hack'
I wonder if anyone has tried to read and see if the whoop bluetooth data beyond heart rate is decipherable.
might be a cool way for me to learn something (or try to). i also have a climbing board controlled by bluetooth i wanted to see if i could 'hack'
For another hackable smartwatch, see the PineTime.
https://pine64.com/product/pinetime-dev-kit
https://pine64.com/product/pinetime-dev-kit
Yes, PineTime is another low cost and cheaper open smart watch alternative (USD$25) but based on Nordic SoC nRF52832, check the previous PineTime discussions on HN:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25612223
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25612223
I am really stoked on how many opensource smatch platforms are coming out! Between this, the lilygo Twatch, and pine time, I have been drowning in neat tinkering options
Bought this one a few months ago. Received it recently. I guess they were making them on pre-orders?
To be honest I mostly bought it for the looks of it! Have not tried it yet as I’m abroad so can’t leave a review.
I love the idea of smartwatches and owned several ones starting wit Pebble. But since I need reading glasses to read small print I have to give up on them and go back to old-school watch with hands. It is just not practical to stop in the middle of the street and put on my spectacles to read a notification.
So you need a smart watch with a bigger screen and font that you can't get at present. Others are almost certainly in the same boat. People who like tech of this nature are a generation who are aging so the demographic is growing. Everyone needs reading glasses if they live long enough.
There's an opportunity there! I have no doubt it will happen. Who, how etc? We'll see.
There's an opportunity there! I have no doubt it will happen. Who, how etc? We'll see.
"According to the Vision Council of America, approximately 75% of adults use some sort of vision correction. About 64% of them wear eyeglasses, and about 11% wear contact lenses, either exclusively, or with glasses. Over half of all women and about 42% of men wear glasses."
Apparently I am not alone and this statistics shows that smartwatches are not suitable for a significant part of population. In other words they will never be as poppular as smartphones.
As to bigger screen suggestion, depending on how bad your vision is, you man need such a huge screen to read without glasses it becomes impractical.
Apparently I am not alone and this statistics shows that smartwatches are not suitable for a significant part of population. In other words they will never be as poppular as smartphones.
As to bigger screen suggestion, depending on how bad your vision is, you man need such a huge screen to read without glasses it becomes impractical.
>depending on how bad your vision is, you man need such a huge screen [...]
Upper limit of the minimum requirement is probably the size of the screen of the phone being used by the individual? Or do many people always use a phone with reading glasses (eg to check the time in a nice big font)?
Those stats you've listed don't look so great. They seem to include those who are short-sighted and can read just fine without glasses. (Eg most children to people under about 40 who wear corrective glasses).
Somewhere in middle age every single one of us needs reading glasses as our corneas harden. Long sightedness. This is the relevant thing for smart watches & smart phones.
Either all of the middle aged to elderly must put on reading glasses to view their smart watch or they don't use one is the status quo.
It really looks capable of being disrupted to me in a market that appears to be growing. Especially given the potential for health benefits of smartphone monitoring etc. which is more attractive to middle aged to elderly given the greater prevalence of medical conditions.
Upper limit of the minimum requirement is probably the size of the screen of the phone being used by the individual? Or do many people always use a phone with reading glasses (eg to check the time in a nice big font)?
Those stats you've listed don't look so great. They seem to include those who are short-sighted and can read just fine without glasses. (Eg most children to people under about 40 who wear corrective glasses).
Somewhere in middle age every single one of us needs reading glasses as our corneas harden. Long sightedness. This is the relevant thing for smart watches & smart phones.
Either all of the middle aged to elderly must put on reading glasses to view their smart watch or they don't use one is the status quo.
It really looks capable of being disrupted to me in a market that appears to be growing. Especially given the potential for health benefits of smartphone monitoring etc. which is more attractive to middle aged to elderly given the greater prevalence of medical conditions.
[deleted]
For some reason I did think of a "Garbage Watch" after reading the article. https://gizmodo.com/the-garbage-watch-is-a-piece-of-haute-ec...
A couple of coloured wires would make Watchy a much cooler accessory.
One thing I want is a smartwatch that buzzes when I've been talking too long
I've seen some watches from the current wave of open-hardware models and i'm not sure i'm interested.
The mi band 4 on my wrist is almost perfect, except I cannot pull data out of it natively. I'd love to be able to mess with data about myself in a quantified-self style.
the pine time looks like it might be interesting in that sense, but it's bulkier than the xiaomi mi band 4 ...
The mi band 4 on my wrist is almost perfect, except I cannot pull data out of it natively. I'd love to be able to mess with data about myself in a quantified-self style.
the pine time looks like it might be interesting in that sense, but it's bulkier than the xiaomi mi band 4 ...
This looks very good, but what can I do to get a smartwatch with a programmable microphone? The best experience I've had with a smartwatch was being able to respond to SMS with my Pebble Time through voice dictation.
I'd love to have something that'd allow me to reply to voice messages on Signal or whatever platform I can hack on with a little bit of root.
I'd love to have something that'd allow me to reply to voice messages on Signal or whatever platform I can hack on with a little bit of root.
Can’t speak to its goodness but lilygo on banggood mentioned in another comment has mic and looks compelling
Looking up the "LILYGO® TTGO T-Watch-2020" and it does not seem to have a mic.
There are several versions with confusing names. V3 has the microphone. I think V2 was never mass-produced. Differences can be found in this table, which also links to AliExpress item listings: https://github.com/Xinyuan-LilyGO/TTGO_TWatch_Library#-versi...
This looks awesome and I'm gonna order one. Since Martian went away I haven't seen the 'smartwatches for people who are concerned with time and notifications but unconcerned with their own health ststus' market served bet much. The pine watch also looked cool but seemed less like something I could put on my wrist immediately. I think I'll make a F91W face.
Is it just me or is the vibration motor HUGE relative to the overall size of the PCB?
https://www.crowdsupply.com/sqfmi/watchy
https://www.crowdsupply.com/sqfmi/watchy
Can this communicate back to your phone? One thing I loved with my Pebble was being able to pause/skip music on my phone without looking, using the physical buttons.
Yes - the ESP32 is capable of Bluetooth Low Energy to talk with your phone. But, you're responsible for implementing the functionality you want yourself.
someone needs to take those watches that never need to be charged and turn them into an open source hardware platform.
Does anybody knows about something similar ( open hardware/source ) in the fitness watch space ? with a HR sensor + GPS ? I really like my Garmin, but no so found of sending them all this health related data...
I was looking into this but I have not found a satisfying solution.
I ended up buying a Garmin Venu SQ with the following plan: - Use the Garmin Connect app without giving it permission to upload data. This makes the app basically useless expect for managing some settings and creating custom workouts on the device. - Use workoutizer (a pip package) to process my activity data. Workoutizer should be able to import the files from the garmin device and create some nice visuals from them. - For non-activity related data (ie. Sleep and continuos hearth rate monitoring) I am considering two options: 1) Ensuring that Gadgetbridge has support for the Garmin device. 2) Extending workoutizer so that it can also process other kinds of data (assuming that I can fetch that data directly from the device as well).
For a more user-friendly alternative you might look into devices that are already supported by Gadgetbridge (my other option was buying an Amazfit GTS 2e which is already supported by Gadgetbridge).
Still, I was bumped that there is not option that allows this out-of-the-box. But I think that I can get it working for me, without having to upload all my data to Garmin :)
I ended up buying a Garmin Venu SQ with the following plan: - Use the Garmin Connect app without giving it permission to upload data. This makes the app basically useless expect for managing some settings and creating custom workouts on the device. - Use workoutizer (a pip package) to process my activity data. Workoutizer should be able to import the files from the garmin device and create some nice visuals from them. - For non-activity related data (ie. Sleep and continuos hearth rate monitoring) I am considering two options: 1) Ensuring that Gadgetbridge has support for the Garmin device. 2) Extending workoutizer so that it can also process other kinds of data (assuming that I can fetch that data directly from the device as well).
For a more user-friendly alternative you might look into devices that are already supported by Gadgetbridge (my other option was buying an Amazfit GTS 2e which is already supported by Gadgetbridge).
Still, I was bumped that there is not option that allows this out-of-the-box. But I think that I can get it working for me, without having to upload all my data to Garmin :)
Oh, I didn't know about workoutizer, it seems like it could work for me. Thanks !
- Banglejs has GPS but is big and has no established HR or step counting algorithms
- PineTime is more Apple-like, but the firmware is less mature and has no GPS
- TTGO T-Watch has no HR sensor AFAIK, but some versions may have GPS (see https://github.com/Xinyuan-LilyGO/TTGO_TWatch_Library)
- TTGO T-Wristband is like Miband but has no HR sensor again
Of course, you could buy an Android watch or an Apple watch and program your own apps.
Of course, you could buy an Android watch or an Apple watch and program your own apps.
Yeah, I suspect there are no off-the-shelf hr sensor available. Could do with a BLE chest strap tough ?
Please this! I'm in the market for a replacement, but I hate the idea of paying a premium for a device that's still tattling on me.
So, return of the Pebble watch?
Which was bought and killed by Fitbit?
Which was bought and killed by Fitbit?
Would be awesome if it would be waterproof or someone could design a waterproof case for it!
Awesome project btw
Awesome project btw
Ogham? For real? Talk about a USP!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogham
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogham
This reminds me of Aaron Christophel's work [1] to get custom code onto cheap fitness trackers with the Arduino IDE.
[1] http://atcnetz.blogspot.com/2019/02/arduino-auf-dem-fitness-...
[1] http://atcnetz.blogspot.com/2019/02/arduino-auf-dem-fitness-...
Hey this is SQFMI here!
Thank you for all the comments and feedback, happy to see all the interest :)
We are hosting an AMA next Thursday (Mar 11, 2021) at 12:00PM PST
https://discord.gg/tSrR5RWEhw
Join us if you have any questions or suggestions, looking forward to connecting with everyone :)
Thank you for all the comments and feedback, happy to see all the interest :)
We are hosting an AMA next Thursday (Mar 11, 2021) at 12:00PM PST
https://discord.gg/tSrR5RWEhw
Join us if you have any questions or suggestions, looking forward to connecting with everyone :)
Watchy is an open source hardware device that uses an e-ink display and has an ESP32 module builtin [0].
SQFMI, the creator of watchy, has a twitter account [1] which has some very nice screenshots [2] [3]. Even the CrowdSupply website has better pics of the device [4].
This is one of the few watches I've been sorely tempted to buy.
[0] https://github.com/sqfmi/Watchy
[1] https://twitter.com/sqfmi
[2] https://twitter.com/sqfmi/status/1351647180382228488
[3] https://twitter.com/sqfmi/status/1357177624523661315
[4] https://www.crowdsupply.com/sqfmi/watchy