What would be the best spyware free smart watch?
What would be the best spyware free smart watch?
So I want te find the most feature rich smartwatch that doesn't send data to the manufacure. I have tried the Pinetime watch, but it died after 6 months.
Infinitytime (OS) was not realy that feature rish, so I want to secrufise an Open Source watch OS. But I still want to connect it with Open Source software, like gadged bridge.
What is my best option under €200? Maybe the Xioami Mi band 7 (€50) that is supported by gadgedbrigde?
Personally this has been the most feature rich/open source one I could find, and it's what I ended up going for, there's an opensource app store, direct integration with gadgetbridge, a decent always on display much like the amazfit bip S, which also means a long battery life.
47That’s the closest thing I’ve found to my dear departed Pebble
13This is pretty amazing, I was not expecting it to be such a reasonable price considering the specs. What's the battery life like?
7It can get up to 4 weeks, though my experience is closer to 4 days to a couple of weeks, I think it depends heavily on what apps you're using, how much you're moving about and how much stuff you're installing
4On the website, it says the battery life's 4 weeks.
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That’s the closest thing I’ve found to my dear departed Pebble
2Yep saw that but it said standby time which is not equivalent to normal usage battery life.
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Casio with inbuilt calculator
41If you can find a Pebble, they still work perfectly and the manufacturer doesn't even exist anymore!
26Hmm, fitbit bought most of the company, then Google bought them.
7Shit! You just reminded me I have a Pebble Time, sitting in a drawer. I remember it being such a good watch, then I got distracted by the Samsung watch at the time.
Might see if there's any life in it and test it out with GadgetBridge.
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anything that's compatible with Gadgetbridge should be okay. it keeps everything on your phone and doesn't even request a network permission, so the device can't phone home.
incidentally, I've got the Mi Band 7 (connected via Gadgetbridge] and I quite like it.
18This. I've been using the Fossil Collider HR with Gadgetbridge for over a year. I love it, and I love that it's keeping my data safe
5
I've also used a pinetime running infinitime for the past year, and I agree that it's not exactly feature rich. I like it though.
I've heard that 'bangle.js' is an open source watch as well, with a decent feature set.
13Pebble is peak smartwatch. Fight me on it, I wont change my mind. Its just smart enough, without being too smart. Battery lasts for days, its waterproof, and side buttons instead if some impossible to use tiny-ass touchscreen. Perfection.
13Pebble is a discontinued smartwatch developed by Pebble Technology Corporation.
😶
10Who got eaten up by Fitbit, who got eaten up by Google. 😭
3
Garmin does that too if you want to buy something from a company that still exists.
8Fossil offers a hybrid smartwatch now to full those shoes. I really liked mine when I had one, but it didn't fit my hands free needs well enough.
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I'm in the same boat. The buttons on my Pebble Time Steel are going, and I don't know what I'm going to replace it with.
the Pinetime watch, but it died after 6 months.
Oof, that's a shame. That was on my list of possibilities.
11Ive been considering buying a new old stock "backup pebble" for when mine goes. Basically the perfect smartwatch
2Yeah, there really is no decent alternative, yet. While I agree the LCD screen smartwatches look better and are more fancy, but I really like the e-Ink -- always on, readable in full sun, and only having to charge it once a month or so. The hybrid idea is a decent alternative, but you lose customizable faces; I'm willing to sacrifice that for long battery life, though, so that's probably where I'll go next.
I don't understand why there isn't more of a market for e-Ink watches, though. I mean, there are a bunch of us, but apparently not enough to sustain a company.
2Do consider that if it's never been used, the battery may be so dead that you have to replace it. I have had to do this with a new one I bought, and it seems to be a common issue for new old stock.
1
Been pretty happy with my Garmin Instinct. It has a cloud connection of course but seems pretty decent privacy wise.
8I love my Garmin watches but they aren't really known for privacy or security. They had a ransomware attack in 2020 and the Connect service was down. It's speculated that they paid the ransom.
12Their support is top-notch as well. My Instinct started having serious battery life issues a few months out of warranty. They still replaced it no questions asked when I reached out to their support and asked if they offer a battery replacement service. That said, the Instinct at least isn't a true smart watch. It doesn't run apps, isn't touchscreen, don't have NFC, etc.
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No smartwatch. Fact is, you do not need a smartwatch. Buy an authentic analog watch. For the same price as one of these mediocre or expensive smartwatches, you can get a sustainable, repairable, durable and classy watch that can last 20-50 years easily. Coin cell battery lasts over 5 years.
Smartwatches are novelty.
For €200, you can get a Seiko, Citizen, Casio Edifice or whatnot.
8This is the correct answer. I used to wear a smartwatch before realizing most of the features were useless or actively annoying, and a regular watch will tell me the time just as well and doesn't need to constantly be charged. Do you really want your wrist to buzz every time you get an e-mail? If you're going to spend €50 on a smartwatch, spend it on a Casio instead, that's what I did and it's much better value for money.
4Spent about $150 on an Edifice back during high school days. I graduated from college. This thing still works amazingly, though I have gotten bored and now want to change it. Wondering what would be good, analog Edifice/Seiko, G-Shock or a Casio terrorist watch.
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not wanting a smart watch is as good as having one
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I would say amazefit is the better option, check the compatibility with gardggetbride before buying.
I bought an Amazefit bip 3 years ago and am using Master for Amazefit, sadly the developer stopped updating the app. The watch/band supports only step counter, heart rate measure, sleep tracking. So, whatever options the app provides work fine for me.
I need to look for other app options when I upgrade.
7I'm waiting for the next batch of Watchy's so i can't say if it is any good, but I have high hopes. They have a handy spec comparison chart between Watchy, Pine time, Bangle.js, and the beloved Pebble.
7I have a Watchy. It's nice if you'd want to tinker easily, but it's very bulky and cheap in feel even compared to a pinetime.
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Pinetime by pine64
5What happens wit a Garmin watch if you uninstall the app? Mine still processes notifications/etc.
4Don’t know how close this gets to what you want, but I really dig my Withings steel. Small watch, standard analog face with step tracking subdial and a tiny lcd display that you can set to show different stats from the watch. You need an app to set it up, since it only has a single button for input, but after that I think you can just uninstall the app and be fine for the alarms you set up, heart rate readout, and whatever custom step goal you set. Also it lasts a month on a charge, which is absolutely awesome if you hate charging these damned things as much as I do
3I got two Xiaomi bands, I think it was band 4, but neither work after like two years
Also sleep tracking sucks with gadget bridge, it was better with notify, so at that point it's crap hardware with closed software
2How does sleep tracking work with watches in general? Do you have to wear the watch as you sleep?
0Yes, you do, it tracks your movement and heart rate
2
I've mad a MiBand 6 for a while now - seems solid and you could, in theory grab all the data from it and process it yourself (via the Notify app). I don't know exactly how bolted down it is privacy-wise though.
2MiBand 6
The latest 7 looks very nice. 16 days battery life, 5 days with always-on apparently.... sadly if you want to pair it with your phone, you need the Xiaomi App and then (as OP asked) you get trapped in privacy Hell and send all your data (Health, Location, User Content, Financial Information, Contact Info and identifiers) to china. At least on iOS as I can read in the App-Store description. Bummer. It looks like a nice watch.
5You can just use gadgetbridge after the initial pairing and key generation. You need to install the xiaomi app once in some burner phone with empty contacts, or maybe you can pair it without giving it access to contacts first. Once you have the key (described in the gadgetbridge guide) you can just dump the official app and use GB without using any xiaomi data/servers.
6