Wearables

New Monowear Leather Deployment Band For Apple Watch

Dan and I recently did reviews of some of Monowear’s products for the Apple Watch. We were both pleased with the design and quality of their bands. They have just released a new take on band design that combines open loop and closed loop options. The new leather deployment bands retail for $89.99 and are really cool. Let’s take a look! Historically, when using a standard leather watch band, they push through the little loop and hook into whichever hole is best for your size then run through another loop to hold the access. While this style of watch band…



Is Pebble’s Time Up?

The Verge reported on some ominous news from Pebble today; they’re apparently laying off 25% of their staff. Combine that with a competitive wearables market, and it doesn’t look great for Kickstarter’s biggest success story.


Giving Up a Smartwatch Made Me Feel Free!

My wife recently challenged me to turn off my smartwatch. Instead of letting me discreetly stay connected, I was constantly reacting every time it buzzed, even if I didn’t check my phone. It was interrupting dinner, playtime with my son, and distracting me during meetings. Surprisingly, I’m not the only Gear Diary person who has disconnected from their smartwatch!


Avia Stride Activity Tracker Review

CES is now over and activity trackers and other wearables were all the rage at the show this year. With Under Armour, Casio, and others releasing devices, it looks like almost everyone has a tracker now. Avia, who I know more for sneakers than electronics even has one, and they sent me an Avia Stride; I am underwhelmed.


Casio Announces the WSD-F10 Outdoor Watch with Android Wear

Casio is diving wrist first into the Android Wear world with their newest release, the WSD-F10 Outdoor Watch. It combines Casio’s trademark rugged designs with the power of Android Wear, perfect for those times when you need to check Facebook while at Basecamp for Mount Everest. All joking aside, Casio has thrown a lot of extra features into the WSD-10 to make it stand out in the smartwatch world. It has GPS, is water resistant to 40 meters, offers dust and shock proofing, and has a number of Casio-specific apps for outdoor activities. They also offer a time-only display to…


Polar Balance Smart Scale Adds Weight Tracking to the Polar Flow Ecosystem

Polar has been expanding their fitness portfolio beyond just heart rate monitoring, with a slew of activity trackers and GPS watches. Now they’re making the whole ecosystem even more holistic by adding weight management with the new Polar Balance scale! The Polar Balance scale is a wifi connected scale that hooks into the Polar Flow app. At only $99 it falls on the cheaper end of the connected scale options, but obviously it works best if you already have an investment in Polar via their activity tracking devices. Also, it can accommodate up to 10 profiles, so your entire rugby…


Fossil Updates Their “Q” Smartwatch Line at CES 2016

After successfully launching wearables last fall, Fossil continues on the path again this year at CES with their newest addition to their collection, the Q54 Pilot. “As a brand, we are really proud and excited about the initial response to Fossil Q wearables—to date it has exceeded our expectations. Given that, we are more committed than ever to bring our design expertise as watchmakers into the wearable technology space,” said Jill Elliott-Sones, chief creative officer at Fossil. “Today at CES, we are thrilled to show off the next generation of Fossil Q wearables and look forward to introducing CES to…



Fitbit Announces the Fitbit Blaze Smartwatch!

Fitbit is putting their mark on 2016 early, with a new device called the Fitbit Blaze. It’s a smartwatch with a full color touchscreen, but no GPS, and it will sit between the Charge HR and the Surge price-wise, at $199.95. The Blaze will be able to receive basic smartphone notifications, tracks your steps, various workouts, and heart rate, but it does not have standalone GPS; instead it uses what Fitbit calls “connected GPS”, which is just a smokescreen way to say the Blaze uses the GPS from your smartphone for outdoor distance tracking. There’s DNA from the Fitbit Flex…


Alcatel Onetouch Releases New Phones, Tablets, and even a Kid’s Wearable!

Alcatel Onetouch is very busy at CES this year. They’re covering a ton of areas, from Android phones to Windows tablets and child-focused watches with safety features. Basically, whether you want a phablet or a device to keep your elementary age kiddo safe, Alcatel has a product for it. On the Android front, Alcatel has a tremendous number of new phones available in the Pixi 4 line. Do you hate the trend towards bigger and bigger phones? Alcatel has a 3.5in phone coming. Looking for a phablet? They’ve got one with a 6 inch screen. And if Android tablets are…


Original Pebble and Pebble Steel Receive the Timeline Update!

Pebble promised when they rolled out a new user interface that it would reach the first generation Pebble and Pebble Steel by the end of the year. They’re cutting it a bit close, but with two weeks to go they’ve finally announced that the original Pebbles could share in the new software with their Time siblings!


The Monowear Silver Ceramic Apple Watch Strap: Unexpected Femininity

Most of the bands I’ve tried on my Apple Watch have been leather or sportier rubber styles. I’ve stayed away from the metal bands because they either looked too fussy, clunky, or masculine. The Monowear Silver Ceramic Strap is a lovely change of pace; it’s a feminine metal and ceramic combo that elevates the 38 or 42mm watch’s appearance.


The Upcoming Moto 360 Sport is a Little TOO Retro!

Motorola blogged today detailing the release of the new Moto 360 Sport. If you’re in the UK or France, you can grab yours starting December 18th, and in the USA, they’ll be hitting January 7th for $299. I do question who would buy one at that price, because they’re quite ugly AND look like an old Garmin Forerunner 405!


Pebble Has a Pricing Problem

I love my original generation Pebble, and have kept an eye on the company and their subsequent watches. I even toyed with backing the Pebble Time, but after seeing how fast prices plummeted, I’m glad I didn’t. Understandably, many who did back the Time and Time Steel are a bit surprised by how fast prices have dropped!  



Get Great Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals on the Huawei Watch

Did you read my Huawei Watch review? If you did, you’ll recall that it is currently my favorite smartwatch. If you’re interested in one, this is the time to buy! On Black Friday, Huawei will be offering $50 to $100 off select watch models through GetHuawei.com, BestBuy.com, select Best Buy stores, Amazon.com, Target.com and Google Play store.


If You’re Feeling Nostalgic, Casio Has an (Expensive) Watch for You!

We were in Macy’s over the weekend, and my son was excited at checking out the watches (aka “clocks” in toddler-speak), when I saw a display that made me do a double-take. Apparently Casio is tapping into the general nostalgia wave that’s brought back flannel, vinyl records, and JNCO jeans with their new Retro line…unfortunately, the price isn’t retro too!



Martian Envoy G10 Review: The Smart-ish Smartwatch

I love my original generation Pebble, and I am hooked on notifications via this simple smartwatch. If Pebble is a basic smartwatch, Martian watches are even simpler, and I’ve had the chance to test them with the Martian Envoy G10. It’s a traditional watch with a small notification ticker, but it’s got some voice tricks up its sleeve too!


The Huawei Watch: An Android Watch That Goes Great with an iPhone

Until recently, if you used an iPhone you had only two real choices in smartwatches: Apple Watch or the Pebble line. Android users, on the other hand, had multiple companies vying for their business including Sony, Samsung, LG, Acer, Huawei, Motorola, Alcatel and others. Android Wear for iOS has given iPhone users options; now there’s a real smartwatch selection.