So you want to get a piece of wearable technology? That’s great but there are hundreds of wearables to choose from.
Over the past few years, wearables have started to become more mainstream, meaning that more people are buying them.
There are some important things to note about wearables, that they are all not the same.
Think of it this way, wearables are like cars, they all have four wheels, something to power it and some doors, but then there are also different types of cars that offer different features and look differently. There are SUVs, vans, coupes, sedans and many more types.
It works in a similar way for wearables. All of these devices can be worn on your body but each offers different features and looks different.
The first type is fitness trackers. One of the more popular brands is Fitbit. The least expensive Fitbit device is called the Zip and it starts at $70.
It can track your steps, distance and your calories burned and is powered by a watch coin battery. It also comes in a wide range of colours and can fit into your pocket or clip to your clothing.
If you splurge for something more expensive in the Fitbit family, you can get something like the Fitbit Charge HR or Fitbit Surge. They can do all the things the Zip can do and more including the ability to track your sleep, GPS tracking and continuously monitor your heart rate.
The Charge HR costs $200 while the Surge costs $300. All of the Fitbit devices can connect to your computer or smartphone, so it can sync the data and you can track how you are doing.
The other type of wearable is smartwatches. They are still a relatively new technology. They’ve only been introduced into the market within the last year or so.
Smartwatches are designed to go along with your smartphone as a companion or extension of it. They can show your phone’s incoming notifications, run apps, have health tracking features but are not as accurate as a dedicated fitness tracker like a Fitbit.
There are quite a few manufacturers that make smartwatches and they vary in cost. The Pebble brand is the most inexpensive line of smartwatches. They start at $100 with a black and white e-paper display, to $300 with a colour display. The strong suit of Pebble is its ability to handle notifications and can work with Android and iOS devices.
If you start to look at a higher price point for smartwatches, you’ll see that they’ll only work with just Android phones or iPhones. For Android users, you have the option of an Android Wear watch like the Motorola MOTO 360 which starts at $350. It has a touch screen, can run apps, tracks steps, voice commands, show phone notifications and the battery lasts about two days depending on usage.
For iPhone users, there’s the Apple Watch that comes in two sizes, a number of styles and watch band types that cost different amounts. The Apple Watch will show you notifications, the ability to talk to Siri, built-in fitness tracking and use your watch to pay for things using Apple Pay.
The Apple Watch starts at $450 and can go up to $1,500.
There are a lot of options to choose from for wearables but it just depends on what you want out of it and how much you are willing to spend.
