A smartwatch acts as a discreet window into your smartphone, complete with their own apps and games to keep you from constantly gazing at your phone’s display. Like with smartphones, different smartwatches run on different operating systems (OS) with different apps available.
These OS’s include Android Wear from Google and Tizen from Samsung, with Apple due to release their own Apple Watch with Watch OS later this year.
Want to keep track of notifications without constantly checking your phone? Follow directions on a map simply by glancing at your wrist? Control music playback or track your fitness with ease? If the answer is yes to any of these, then a smartwatch is the next great piece of tech for you.
More functionality can be unlocked through the design of the watch too.
Many devices include monitors and sensors that will help track your activity and pair with an app to give you real time, easy to understand progress on your fitness.
Others, like the Samsung Gear S can stand on their own without a smartphone, letting you make calls, send messages and access the internet thanks to built-in aerials.
You’ll also find your decision when purchasing is steered by what sort of device you currently own.
The majority of watches on the market are compatible with Android smartphones (and even the Gear S requires a Samsung device to set it up for the first time), while very few will work with iPhones or Windows Phones.
